Mayo Clinic Minute: Benefits of meditation

Stress, anxiety and a lack of sleep are problems that many people deal with every day. But there is one simple practice that can help: meditation.

"Physically, people find they have improved mood, they sleep better and better memory and concentration."

Maria Caselli, a group fitness instructor at Mayo Clinic, says the benefits of just a few minutes of meditation a day can help, especially with stress.

"Meditation, which is the practice of focused concentration, bringing yourself back to the moment over and over again, actually addresses stress, whether positive or negative."

Meditation can also reduce the areas of anxiety, chronic pain, depression, heart disease and high blood pressure.

"The heart rate drops, your respiratory rate drops. There is decreased oxygen consumption, decreased carbon dioxide expired. The body is healing itself and starting repair."

Meditation can help us be less reactive and more responsive to events in our life.

For the Mayo Clinic News Network, I'm Vivien Williams.