Meditation… If you watch a lot of television, surf the Internet, or even have a discussion with your circle of influence, you have probably heard a different understanding of what meditation is. You have probably thought of the idea of starting it yourself or even just to try it for a session! Many people often misunderstand it thus being hindered of the benefits. Do you know how bountiful the benefits of mediation can be to you and your life in general? Well, today you can learn reasons for meditation and some benefits that you will hopefully incorporate into your life!
But what exactly is Meditation? You hear about it all the time, but very few people take the time to actually explain what it is. Meditation is a process that involves training your mind to refocus your thoughts from what is happening around you. It is increasing your awareness and gaining a healthier perspective on yourself and your life. As you continue to meditate on a daily basis, you begin to see the benefits becoming more evident!
With this in mind, Meditation is nothing more than a tool you use to help you gain concentration and perspective. It is not mystical. It is not magical and it’s not unscientific. It is simply a tool to help you achieve mental and emotional clarity. Think about it this way … We exercise our bodies in order to stay healthy, gain lean muscle, and lose excess body fat. It works the same way, except it is for the mind instead of the body. Just as exercise is a tool for keeping your body in check, meditation is a tool for keeping your mind in check.
“Meditation is like a gym in which you develop the powerful mental muscles of calm and insight.”– Ajahn Brahm
Unfortunately, a lot of people believe that meditation takes up too much time and that they are too busy to be involved in the practice. This is a myth. Anyone, even the busiest of people, can and should incorporate meditation into their daily routines in order to experience the full benefits of meditation.
Having said that, there are a lot of successful individuals who are busy and yet find time for Meditation and swear by it. These include the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Ariana Huffington and many others. So it is possible to find the time and incorporate Meditation into your daily life as it will be beneficial in the long run. I have grown to see my meditation sessions the way I view my workouts because I know the benefits are incomparable. It’s something I developed into my life over time, so it is possible.
One of the great things about Meditation is that it doesn’t have to cost you a penny! You can do it in the comfort of your home. It can take as little as 15 minutes of your time whereas some individuals prefer to take a longer time, so it just varies according to your needs. So if you’ve been wondering whether to do it or not, I hope this information will help you take the first step and start.
There are different types of Meditation (which is another topic on its own) that you can choose to focus on but the important thing to know is that all of them have one main powerful effect and that is; they assist you to decide what it is you want to focus on and how to feel. You can carry out your research on what different Meditations look like, and then try them out. You will like some and hate the others, that is why it is important to take the first step and try for yourself. Remember it is completely fine if you don’t like certain meditations.
The more you try out different meditation styles, you will become knowledgeable and decide what you enjoy doing and what would be most beneficial to your life.
The Benefits of Meditation
Let’s look at the Top 6 Benefits of Meditation and the reasons as to why you should start today.
Meditation Reduces Stress
Stress is something that is unavoidable in life and you will experience some form it from time to time. Life is a challenge today and many people experience chronic or severe stress, which is very negative to our overall well-being and health. Stress is our body’s natural response to tense or dangerous situations. When you find yourself in these situations, your body releases hormones that prepare your natural flight or fight mentality.
Stress can be a good or bad thing, depending on the length of time that stress is experienced. Stress is good in short bursts because it can motivate us to accomplish our goals or finish tasks by their assigned deadlines. Long-term stress, though, is not good for our health because it can cause physical damage to our bodies and mind. The reason for this is that long-term stress leads to a number of illnesses such as depression, personality disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.
Studies show that meditation is one of the most effective ways to combat stress. Meditation works to reduce your stress because it focuses your attention on the present and eliminates jumbled harmful thoughts.
Reduces Anxiety
Since meditation reduces stress, it also reduces anxiety. The reason for this is that the bodily processes that create stress also create anxiety. So, if you combat stress, you also combat anxiety. It was found in a study done over a period of eight weeks that meditation was able to reduce anxiety symptoms like paranoia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and many others. Alleviating anxiety is helpful because it will allow you to accomplish tasks more effectively and confidently. It will also give your body a break, which will benefit your health and make you feel better in general.
Meditation Better Health
Countless studies show that meditation leads to better health in general. On top of the reduction of stress and anxiety, meditation benefits the immune system, lowers cholesterol, reduces blood pressure, and protects against heart disease. Meditation also leads to better emotional health because it enlarges the regions of the brain associated with positive behaviour and shrinks the regions of the brain associated with negative behaviour.
Improves Concentration
Meditation also helps to improve your concentration levels, which will allow you to be more effective at your work. In fact, some studies even show that meditation improves your concentration even during the most boring of tasks. What was interesting was the fact that it allowed some development of cognitive skills such as maintaining consistent attention and abstaining from distractions. The more you meditate, the better you’ll be at concentrating. Similarly, meditation improves your memory and focus as well.
Meditation Increase Your Self-awareness
In today’s world, it can be difficult to develop your self-awareness skills. Social media, individual responsibilities, and distractions around all around, there just isn’t enough time to focus on yourself and self-reflect. However, honing your self-awareness is so important as it allows you to improve yourself and create the future you want. Meditation increases self-awareness as it forces you to focus on the moment and reflect on yourself and your life.
By taking up meditation, you are giving yourself a chance to have a greater insight into your life and perspective about where you’re headed, researches conclude.
Meditation Improves Relationships
If you’re looking at ways to improve yourself to connect with people in your circle or spice up your relationship, meditation has been found to come handy by a long mile. It will equip you on how to reduce stress in your relationships, work on your feelings hence help improve your attitude to people. It will help see the benefits of kindness and also teach you to be more grateful! Practising meditation will allow you to feel more connected to important things and people around you more.
In Closing
The benefits of Meditation are endless and theses abovementioned are just the top ones with evidence-based backup for you to you go out and try them. It is a beneficial practice that results in a total life transformation both mentally and physically. More importantly, we learnt that it does not have to be that time-consuming, thus allowing anyone to practice meditation.
I hope this will help you in some way to transform your life for the better and look back one day and thank yourself for taking the first step. Now that you know some of the benefits of Meditation, you can. find out more of which type of meditation you would be interested in pursuing. You will then be able to deal with one of those bad days at the office by redirecting your thoughts and focus on something positive in your life or around you. You will be able to gain control of where your thoughts go or what you want to focus on.
This process tells your brain what you want to focus on and what you want to remove from your thoughts. Meditation allows us to feel happier and when we are, we tent to make better decisions, eat well and become more productive in general.
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