All of us have stressful days, some days worse than others. We think that the day is never going to end, constantly watching the clock. However, there are things that you can do to manage stress, which can be beneficial for your mind and body. An effective way of improving the health of your mind and body is meditation for stress. It might seem a little ‘woo woo’, but mindfulness can be great for both your mental and physical health.  

As stress can worsen your symptomsof urinary incontinence, because it triggers your fight or flight response,¹ iD has gathered the top ways in which meditation can help the psychological and physical, which can positively affect your bladder health.  

What is meditation? 

Briefly, meditation is a way of training your awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective². During meditation, you focus your attention and try to rid your mind of any jumbled thoughts that might be causing you stress.³ You can do this by focusing on your breathing by counting breaths, through visualisation exercises or honing in on your heartbeat. If that sounds difficult to you, don’t worry – there are loads of apps out there to help you with guided meditations for stress.  

Why and how does meditation help your mind and body? 

1. Reduces stress and anxiety 
   The main benefit of meditation is stress reduction. Mental and physical stress can increase your levels of cortisol, the “stress hormone”, which produces the harmful effects of stress⁴, including an urgency to go to the loo. It can also help to reduce anxiety.⁵ Meditating for stress is, therefore, a really useful tool for improving your overall mental health.  
   
2. Meditation improves emotional health and wellbeing  
   It does this by improving cognition, stabilising stress and increasing empathy.⁶ With these positive effects in place, it’s hard not to feel better in your mind and body!  
   
3. Reduce feelings of pain and alleviate issues certain conditions
   If you experience chronic pain, mindfulness can also reduce pain sensations in the body without using the brain’s natural pain relievers.⁷ Also, it may help with fibromyalgia (a long-term condition that causes pain throughout the body), migraines and irritable bowel syndrome.  
   
4. May reduce age-related memory loss
   As meditation improves your attention span and clarity of thinking, it helps keep your mind young. A review even found initial evidence that it can boost attention and memory in older volunteers.⁸

As you can imagine, all these wonderful benefits of meditation can leave you feeling refreshed, relaxed and healthy in both your mind and body. 

Bladder weakness doesn’t necessarily exist on its own, so if you experience any other health conditions, meditation may help them too! Now you’re meditating for stress relief, you might like to improve your bodily (and bladder) health even further; if so, check out our blogpost on bladder-friendly food.  

At iD, we want to help everyone live life in full view. If you would like to purchase discreet and comfortable continence products, approved by dermatologists, you can shop our full range here. Make sure to subscribe to the iD Newsletter for future articles, promotions and product updates!

---

[1] “Is stress contributing to your incontinence?”, Lily Bird, n.d., Source: https://www.nafc.org/bhealth-blog/is-stress-contributing-to-your-incontinence
[2] “What is mediation?”, Headspace, n.d., Source: https://www.headspace.com/meditation-101/what-is-meditation
[3] “Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress”, Mayo Clinic Staff, 22 April 2020, Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858#:~:text=Meditation%20can%20produce%20a%20deep,physical%20and%20emotional%20well%2Dbeing.
[4] “12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation”, Matthew Thorpe, 27 October 2020, Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation
[5] Ibid.
[6] “5 Health Benefits of Daily Meditation According to Science”, Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury, 17 November 2020
[7] Ibid.
[8] “12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation”, Matthew Thorpe, 27 October 2020, Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation