Many people would agree that meditating regularly can have a beneficial physiological effect on the brain. Given that it is able to alter the neuroplasticity of people's cerebral cortices, it has often been asked as to whether other physical effects can be enjoyed by meditating. Yes, meditating will help you to get into a better mental state so that the body is more receptive to other treatments. Still, it cannot – in any direct sense, at least – be shown to improve natural bodily healing functions. And yet, this is not the whole story. You may not see a wound heal more quickly as a result of meditative practices, for example, but you can use them to lower your heart rate and blood pressure so the wound could easily stop bleeding sooner. Some people also find that dealing with chronic pain is much easier if they meditate regularly. Whether this is because the body produces less pain from its nerve signals or the brain is better equipped to ignore them is an open question, however, to which there is still no known definitive answer.