According to the NHS, type 2 diabetes is a common condition that causes the blood sugar (glucose) level to become too high. Globally, over 422 million people have type 2 diabetes; as high as 19% of Malaysians, 12% of Singaporeans, 11% of the Chinese, 11% of Americans, 8% of Canadians, 7% of Koreans, 6% of Australians (Index Mundi). Diabetes is the ninth leading cause of death worldwide, directly causing 1.5 million deaths – around half of those were in people younger than 70 years.
Many people have experienced health benefits from meditation for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. Recent research has also shown links between meditation and type 2 diabetes prevention and treatment.
Diabetes is a lifelong condition. High blood sugar can damage cardiovascular health, including the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes can increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes, limb amputation, blindness, and kidney failure. It is a very common yet very dangerous disease.
What Is Type 2 Diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is often linked to being overweight or inactive and correlated with hypertension and hyperlipidemia. It can be genetic from a family history of type 2 diabetes. It is an issue with the body’s insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas which regulates blood sugar. Blood glucose comes from the food you eat and is the body’s main energy source. Normally, the pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that helps glucose leave the bloodstream and enter your cells to be used as energy.
However, those with type 2 diabetes experience insulin resistance and insulin deficiency. Insulin resistance is when insulin isn’t used efficiently; insulin deficiency is when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Both insulin resistance and insulin deficiency cause too much glucose to remain in the bloodstream, resulting in high blood sugar.
Recent research has cast light on meditation and type 2 diabetes prevention. Sixty persons with diabetes or coronary artery disease were split into two groups: those who meditated regularly and those who didn’t. All individuals’ blood sugar, A1C, and fasted insulin were assessed at the beginning and conclusion of the trial. Those who meditated regularly had lower blood sugar, A1C, and fasted insulin levels than those who did not.
Fourteen people with type 2 diabetes participated in mindfulness meditation research in a separate, more limited trial. Patients’ blood glucose levels, body mass indexes, blood pressures, and psychological responses to stress were all recorded and analyzed. A month into the trial, 11 of the 14 participants had decreased levels of A1C, blood pressure, body weight, and emotional disturbances (i.e., anxiety and depression).
How Does Meditation Improve Diabetes?
Meditation for diabetes has helped many diabetes patients improve their blood sugar levels. Meditation can also reduce stress, aid weight loss, benefit mental health, boost immunity, and improve sleep.
Below are some of the potential scientific mechanisms of meditation for diabetes:
- The physiological processes that regulate blood glucose levels and maintain insulin equilibrium are improved by regular meditation practice.
- The levels of some stress hormones may be lowered by practicing meditation for diabetes, which helps restore neurohormone homeostasis. Insulin resistance is activated, and insulin homeostasis is restored as a result.
- The oxidative stress for insulin resistance and high sugar levels in your body may be reduced by meditation, which may also help reduce the risk of cell damage.
- Meditation can lessen the inflammatory response typical of patients with type 2 diabetes. It is one of the factors contributing to the progression of the disease.
- Diabetes can cause nasty side effects: depression, disturbed sleep, poor circulation, and immune system malfunction. Meditation may regulate these symptoms.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, diabetes can be caused by improper eating and obesity, emotional dysfunction, and deficiencies of qi and energy in the internal organs, including poor circulation and blood stasis.
Meditation is one way to rapidly replenish the body’s vital energy, improve circulation and digestion, and regulate emotional stability.
Available Options for Meditation for Diabetes
Let’s examine the three approaches to meditation for diabetes and levels of blood glucose:
Standing Meditation
The Meditation of Greater Illumination is one type of standing meditation for diabetes and other issues. It is a guided visualization meditation suitable for all beginners, taught at our Bodhi Meditation 8.5-Day Health & Happiness Retreats.
One of our students, Lin Ji Ren, experienced the following results at a Bodhi Meditation 8.5-Day Health & Happiness Retreat in Singapore.
When I was about 30, I was diagnosed with diabetes. When I turned 60, I retired from my business, hoping to enjoy life. It was then that my diabetic condition worsened. I sought Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment for five years, but my health failed to improve. My blood sugar and blood cholesterol remained high. My blood sugar spiked as high as 18 to 20 mmol/L, while my cholesterol level was between 9 mmol/L and 11 mmol/L.
A few days into the meditation retreat, my blood-sugar level dropped to between 7 and 8mmol/L. My diabetes medication and insulin injections were reduced by half.
After the retreat, I kept up my daily meditation practice. One month later, a medical checkup showed that my blood sugar level was normal at 5.5 mmol/L, and my blood pressure and cholesterol were also healthy.
Read Lin’s full story here.
Prostration Meditation
Transcendental meditation for diabetes includes reciting a phrase or sound, known as a mantra, to help one concentrate their attention and cleanse their mind. The mantra has no other significance; one of the most well-known examples of a transcendental meditation mantra is the sound “om.” Your mind is designed to be propelled into progressively light levels of thought by the mantra, which is meant to operate as a “vehicle” for this purpose.
Typical sessions of transcendental meditation consist of 15 to 20 minutes long. They are performed twice daily (in the morning and right before bedtime).
Peter Lu, from New York, writes the following:
Initially, I never dreamed that prostration could help the major illness I’d been struggling with – diabetes. Before practicing prostration, I couldn’t drink soda or eat bagels and could consume only small amounts of bread and rice. The two medications my doctor had prescribed had both stopped being effective. I frequently urinated, with urgency, often once every 30 minutes.
One morning, I felt weak and tired. I checked my blood sugar level, and the reading was 186 mg/dL, exceeding the normal range. After practicing prostration for 20 minutes, my blood sugar levels dropped to 120 mg/dL. Over the next few months, daily prostration practice continued to help keep my blood sugar levels close to normal.
Practicing prostration not only lowered my blood sugar. Now, most of my diabetes symptoms are much better. I can manage for four or five hours without going to the restroom. I no longer need to urinate at night and now sleep like a baby. I eat my favorite bagels every morning, and sometimes, I even drink soda as a treat.
Walking Meditation
The practice of walking meditation for diabetes is one way to reap the benefits of meditation while simultaneously engaging in physical activity. Energy Bagua is a moving meditation practice that is great for beginners and offers excellent results.
Energy Bagua integrates motion and stillness and focuses on the balance of yin and yang energy. By simply walking around a tree, practitioners attune to energy from Heaven and Earth, melt into Nature, and feel the relaxation of the body, mind, and spirit. This walking meditation offers practitioners the mental benefits of meditation and the additional use of a full-body exercise.
Energy Bagua is an effective and easy-to-learn cultivation and exercise method suitable for people of all ages to achieve better health and fitness. For diabetes, in particular, you may focus on the instructions in the Energy Bagua practice guide to “settle qi in your lower abdomen,” “guide qi toward head and feet,” and “qi flows into the four tips.”
If you have diabetes, you may consider adopting a routine of two Energy Bagua sessions per day, practicing once in the morning and once during the evening. Additionally, you should adhere to health guidelines such as no smoking, no alcohol, eating a vegetarian diet, and limiting sugary and carbonated drinks.
Lin Xuerong suffered from diabetes for ten years, including renal failure, week-long constipation, intense whole-body inflammation, and joint issues. At its worst, she couldn’t walk up the stairs and had to be constantly hospitalized. Her diabetes affected her family relationships and mental health. After the first day of Energy Bagua, she started experiencing relief from her symptoms. From then, her blood sugar levels, creatinine kidney index, constipation, and mobility only improved.
Come Experience the Power of Diabetes Meditation for Yourself!
The favorable and quantitative impacts of consistent, daily meditation on insulin production and glycemic control suggest that meditation for diabetes, even for beginners, may prevent and improve diabetes. Meditation has the potential to be an efficient, low-cost, non-pharmaceutical treatment and management option for diabetes, which has traditionally needed drugs and, for some people, daily doses of insulin.
Bodhi Meditation teaches meditation as part of a holistic, healthy lifestyle. If you have diabetes, consider signing up for a meditation retreat to learn meditation systematically and start getting into the habit of daily meditation practice. Join us at Bodhi Meditation and see the benefits of meditation for diabetes yourself.
