While mindfulness techniques and meditation may not be as widely appreciated as other aspects of dating, there’s no doubt they can go a long way towards improving your love life for the better. There are numerous activities which anyone can employ to enhance their dating experience, from being calm and upbeat when you indulge in online flirting on sites like this, to the spiritual preparations you can make before a face-to-face encounter. Even if you are new to Internet dating and unsure of how to go about searching for your ideal partner, taking a step back to adopt some meditative techniques can go along way towards getting your spiritually prepared for the potentially fraught business of connecting via a dating site.
Are these techniques scientifically proven?
An important point to stress is that mindfulness or meditation is so much more than some kind of hangover from the hippy days of the 1960s. Scientific research has discovered mindfulness meditation is not only a tangible thing, but it can also physically alter the structure of the subject’s brain. During extensive studies, it was discovered that eight weeks into a course of mindfulness-based stress reduction, the cortical thickness in the hippocampus (the part of the human brain which governs memory and the ability to learn new facts) was found to be significantly increased. Mindfulness techniques also proved to decrease the brain cell volume in the part of the brain called the amygdala – twin almond-shaped clusters of nuclei buried deep within the temporal lobes. These are the parts of the brain which are responsible for triggering negative emotions such as stress, anxiety or fear, so meditation not only alters the brain physically, it can change perceptions and feelings.
Effect on a dater’s mental health
One aspect of health which can have a wide-reaching impact is mental well-being. This is particularly the case for singles who are entering the dating market, full of trepidation about the type of strangers they are likely to find themselves interacting with, particularly if people are shy or hesitant when it comes to connecting socially. While going online can certainly give them the confidence to surmount this, it can also place them in a position where they are dealing with people who are not always 100% trustworthy. For these reasons, another positive effect of mindfulness or meditation is these techniques can prove to be an invaluable counter to depression or anxiety. It’s all about training the brain to be perceptive at all times, rather than spending long periods of nervousness, punctuated by short sharp spells of acute stress. Meditation is all about increasing awareness of the environment around you. While it certainly isn’t a silver bullet in terms of countering mental ill-health, it’s certainly a valuable tool in managing the often debilitating symptoms of mental ill-health or depression.
Learning the techniques
One of the positive aspects of this type of meditation is that it isn’t difficult to master, and even after a few days of training, there will be a significant improvement to concentration and the attention span. This would be especially useful when it comes to the intricacies of online dating which can sometimes require a lot of focus, especially when dealing with people you are completely new to, and whose characteristics you are only just beginning to find out about. As well as giving people a sense of confidence when it comes to reaching out to prospective partners, meditative techniques are proven to be a valuable arsenal in the battle against anti-social activities. It’s no coincidence that doctors frequently prescribe courses of medication to patients who are attempting to wean themselves from cigarette cravings.