Meditation has many benefits that can help in improving both physical and mental health.
Through the past five years, meditation has begun to explode onto the mainstream as one of the significant personal development trends.
There have been books, podcasts, apps, blogs, and social media pages dedicated to nothing but meditation and meditative techniques and practices.
The benefits are aplenty and more research is being conducted on the topic every year.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH DAILY MEDITATION
Meditation has changed my life.
It has given me an opportunity to tap into my subconscious mind, get behind my anxious thoughts, and release my past painful emotions.
Meditation was not something I actively pursued. Believe me when I tell you that meditation was the furthest thought from my mind during the years leading to my experimenting with it.
I had struggled for many years with obsessive thoughts, suicidal ideations, and negative thought patterns. The pattern of these nagging thoughts slowly began to wear on me until I couldn’t even tell the difference between the real me and the overthinking me – they became the same in my mind.
I needed to find something to calm my mind naturally.
THEN A FUNNY THING HAPPENED…
I was introduced to meditation back in 2016 when one of my best friends sent me a book he had read that inspired him to meditate. After reading it, I was curious and cautiously optimistic. I had tried meditation in the past and it didn’t last more than a few days before giving up.
But I decided to give it another go.
The only problem was – I had no idea what in God’s name I was doing.
The first few times I had tried meditation years earlier, I stayed there for only a few seconds, and my mind began racing, thoughts circling like wolves pursuing a meal. I tried to be “silent,” but nothing seemed to work.
So I did what any enlightened person would do.
I quit!
But the second time around was different.
I told myself, “you’re going to sit here for twenty minutes and not move, eyes closed, in this chair.”
It was the longest twenty minutes of my life, bar none.
Each second that passed felt like ten, and each minute like an hour.
But I did it; I managed to get through each of the twenty minutes. I was so proud of myself, and then it hit me – I need to do this again tomorrow.
How will I survive?
Yet, with patience, practice, and consistency, I turned mediation into my best friend.
WHAT IS MEDITATION
Meditation is “to engage in contemplation or reflection, or to engage in mental exercise (such as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness.”
I want to clarify that you don’t have to be spiritual or religious to practice meditation. Meditation is the act of sitting still and letting your thoughts flow through while trying to maintain a steady focus on your breath or another area of awareness.
Many people complain that they can’t stop their thoughts, and that’s perfectly normal!
You will never be able to stop your thoughts entirely. Even meditation gurus who have been practicing for years can never eliminate all of their thoughts.
The key is to become the awareness that observes the thoughts passing through.
Whenever my awareness gets pulled away into a passing thought, I try to center myself by focusing on my breath until that’s the primary center of my attention. Sometimes I do this a dozen times during one twenty-minute meditation sitting.
Meditation takes practice, patience, and perseverance.
But I promise you the journey is well worth the effort.
7 BENEFITS OF DAILY MEDITATION
HELPS TO GAIN NEW PERSPECTIVE ON DIFFICULT SITUATIONS
Meditation helps us in many areas of our lives, but gaining a new perspective on difficult situations may be one of the most overlooked.
Since meditation can slow us down and observe our thinking, we can spot patterns that may be self-destructive and counter-productive. When dealing with difficult situations, such as a breakup or divorce, career change, or loss of a family member or friend, gaining a new perspective can be incredibly beneficial.
Here are a few quick examples of gaining new perspectives from my own meditation experience.
There was a period of my life when I was struggling with a relationship loss. I was hurt and sad, and I wasn’t sure how to get past the pain from it all. Then I began using meditation to slowly allow me to observe my suffering from a higher perspective. I began to see it for what it was – a passing storm. Sure, it hurt, but it didn’t define me, nor did it have the power to stop me from being a happier version of myself in the future. Meditation helped me emerge from that hurt.
Another example would be finding purpose or meaning. Meditation gives you the ability to view your thoughts and associated emotions with clarity. You can begin to see through the illusions of your subconscious mind while forming new perspectives. I clung on to many old perspectives about myself, my career, money, relationships, and passions, which lead me to lack confidence. This mindset also hindered me from understanding my purpose. Once I started to meditate regularly, I began to see things more clearly.
You can accomplish this by stepping back behind your thoughts and deconstructing them into working and what is not working for you. Clarity elevates purpose to the forefront.
INCREASES SELF-AWARENESS
Self-awareness is the ability to view yourself with the knowledge of who you are as a person (thoughts, feelings, motives, desires, traits, etc.). Increasing your self-awareness through meditation can help you become more aware of the present moment and the reality of who you are without the ego and subconscious mind’s facade.
For example, you may believe that you are an awful public speaker because of a class presentation you did poorly on when you were in college. Ever since then, any time you have to speak in front of people, you automatically assume the worst. But in reality, you have improved your public speaking skills and are, in fact, reasonably good at it. But your subconscious mind keeps telling you the opposite. Meditation can allow you to gain a level of self-awareness that elevates you above those negative thoughts and allows you to see yourself in a new light.
Meditation can also allow you to become self-aware of poor habits and traits as well as the positive. Self-awareness can lead to all sorts of breakthroughs and habit adjustments, which can, in turn, change your life for the better.
HELPS TO DECREASE STRESS
Meditation can help to reduce both stress and anxiety.
Studies have shown that meditation can reduce the inflammation response caused by stress and symptoms of stress such as PTSD, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia.
Meditation can also help us “slow down” within our daily lives, helping relieve anxiety about specific challenges or troubles we may be facing. Because meditation can observe our thoughts and troubles from a new perspective, we can also develop new techniques to combat those challenges, helping to reduce stress.
Meditation is an excellent “stress reliever” to fall back on when you are having a rough day.
LENGTHENS ATTENTION SPAN
Attention span is critical in just about any area of our lives.
Whether it’s focusing at work, listening to a friend or family member, or playing an instrument or sport, attention span is essential.
Studies have shown that meditation helps to increase the “strength and endurance” of your attention span.
One study found that people who had listened to a meditation tape improved their attention span instead of those in the control group. Another study found that people who practiced meditation regularly performed better on a visual task while improving their attention span than those with no meditation experience. And another study even hinted that meditation can reverse certain brain patterns that contribute to mind-wandering, worrying, and poor attention.
One of the more fascinating findings of some of these studies was that the amount of time didn’t hinder you from the positive effects. For instance, one study found that meditating for as little as thirteen minutes enhanced memory and attention after just eight weeks.
IMPROVES SLEEP
Meditation can help improve sleep.
Anyone who struggles with anxiety knows that getting quality sleep every night is essential in reducing stress levels. You can’t adequately function when you’re running low on sleep. And since almost half of the population will struggle with insomnia at some point in their lives, improving sleep is a big deal.
In one study that compared different mindfulness-based meditation programs, researchers discovered that people who meditated stayed asleep longer and improved the severity of their insomnia, compared with those in the study who had an unmedicated control condition.
Another benefit of meditation is that it could help you tame or control racing and obsessive thoughts, which often leads to insomnia.
Meditation also helps to relax the body, which helps to release tension and create a more peaceful state of mind conducive to improved sleep.
HELPS DECREASE BLOOD PRESSURE
One of the often-overlooked areas when talking about the benefits of daily meditation is how it can help decrease blood pressure.
For many people, blood pressure issues are a significant issue. And because meditation helps improve physical health, it can help reduce strain on the heart. Over time, high blood pressure makes the heart have to work harder and harder to pump blood, which can lead to poor heart function. High blood pressure also contributes to a condition known as atherosclerosis, which is a narrowing of the arteries and can lead to heart attack and stroke.
A meta-analysis of twelve different studies with nearly one thousand participants found that meditation helped reduce blood pressure, especially amongst older volunteers and those who had higher blood pressure before the study.
In conclusion, meditation helps reduce blood pressure by relaxing the nerve signals that coordinate blood vessel tension, heart function, and the fight, flight, or freeze response that increases alertness in stressful situations.
ENHANCES EMPATHY
Empathy is a powerful tool that can be used to help ourselves and others.
One of the little known facts about meditation is that it can help us become more empathetic.
It’s yet another perk in practicing daily meditation.
Meditation, specifically known as loving-kindness or compassion meditation, helps to fire neural connections to the brain sites that regulate emotions such as empathy and kindness.
Meditation can bring about a deep state of flow that helps make us more affectionate and amiable as a person and build social connectedness.
IN REVIEW
I wrote the following in a previous article that summarizes my experience with meditation:
Day after day, week after week, month after month, I improved my meditation practice.
I became more focused, more relaxed.
And now, years later, I crave my morning meditation.
It’s become a part of who I am.
Whenever that alarm clock goes off, I automatically smile inside, knowing the first twenty minutes of my day will be peaceful, quiet, and therapeutic.
I’m now learning how to breathe during my meditation to enhance the experience. With each passing breath, I begin to travel further and further into my subconscious. Thoughts will creep back in, quite naturally, and that’s okay. I let them float around. Then I go right back to my breathing. Eventually, things begin to slow down, and my thoughts fade into a euphoric sense of peace.
It’s a transcendent process of illuminating the stillness of your subconscious mind.
I’ve noticed some changes in myself since I started meditating.
- I’m more self-aware
- I feel more compassionate and understanding towards myself and others
- My road rage has mellowed out
- I’m more mindful and aware of my thoughts and emotions
- My blood levels improved
- I’ve become a better listener
- I feel a slight calmness that I didn’t feel before
Although we strive to provide accurate general information, the information presented here is not a substitute for any kind of professional advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. Always consult a professional in the medical and health area for your particular needs and circumstances prior to making any medical or health-related decisions. For your health-related questions, please seek the advice of a licensed physician or any other qualified health care provider immediately.
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