We humans have a tendency to relish in the pleasure which includes endangering others. It is an old custom for many of us, so please be gentle with yourself if that is where you’re at this time. But let us be cautious about becoming trapped in a cycle of victimhood. Even though there’s a place for anger and rage, those feelings are only helpful if they inspire one to take positive actions. Otherwise, we’re just drinking poison and expecting someone else to fall sick.

Holding to blame, hate, and anger only hurts the person feeling these feelings, not the individual they’re directed toward. Fortunately, the quickest methods to forego these old negative emotions is forgiveness. It is important to realize how resentment might be negatively impacting your physical and mental wellbeing and find out about powerful tools which may help alter your brain chemistry and make it possible for you to forgive and move on–once and for all.

In a recent research, psychologists observed 71 people. For the first 15 seconds everybody in the study was shown triggering images intended to evoke feelings of resentment, followed by five minutes of pictures intended to soothe the brain. Those focusing on resentment had a collective increase in heart rate and blood pressure up to 250 percent after just four seconds. Four seconds later, since they diverted their ideas toward compassion and forgiveness their pulse and blood pressure decreased by 200 percent. Individuals who always focused on compassion and forgiveness had heartbeat and blood pressure levels 150 percent lower than those focusing on bitterness and hate.

Based on a research conducted in the National Center for Biotechnology Information, holding on to resentment and hate can imply increased blood pressure and heart rate, which may lead to:

• Chronic emotional distress
• Eroded health
• Cardiovascular reactivity
• Impoverished sleep quality
• Depression
• Production of stress hormones like cortisol, which can lead to some of serious health issues.

Conversely, forgiveness promotes instant feelings of peace and well-being and supports cardiovascular health.

OK, so what exactly does forgiveness have to do with meditation? Two words: gray matter. Two years back, researchers analyzed a specific portion of the brain and discovered that the more gray matter the person had, the more inclined they were to forgive people who have made a serious error. Scientists detected significantly larger gray matter volumes in meditators in the right hippocampus. Both orbitofrontal and hippocampal areas are implicated in emotional regulation and response control. More gray matter in the brain accounts for meditators’ ability to cultivate positive emotions, emotional stability, and engage in mindful behavior.