Welcome dear readers! Another Monday article for you! As you’ve noticed, I frequently post motivational quotes and photos every morning because I want my readers to see something good when they wake up. That would be better, right? Anyway, I started incorporating meditation in my morning and evening routine as I wake up and before I sleep in bed, and there are things I’ve realized since I started meditating. Therefore, let me impart some benefits and importance of meditation.
Meditation? What is it, anyway?
According to an article from Psychology Today, meditation is pretty simple:
Meditation is the practice of turning one’s attention to a single point of reference. It can involve focusing on the breath, on bodily sensations, or on a word or phrase, known as a mantra. In other words, meditation means pivoting away from distracting thoughts and focusing on the present moment. Meditating is deceptively simple.
Most people mistakenly interpret meditation being used by a specific religion or belief. As I see it, all kinds of religion utilize meditation by connecting to their inner self and/or connecting with a higher being. I have my own belief that a supreme being exists and whatever religion we follow (if we have), we must be living up on what we really preach. Thus, I think God would want me to take care of myself (because that’s the only thing I have when everything’s gone) and I guess I could acquire that in many ways including meditation. Once again, take note, you don’t have to belong in a specific religion just to practice this.
Meditation is simple. Most of the time you have to close your eyes and focus on your breathing and your bodily sensations. You can tweak it. Modify it. Meditation is always your way of doing things.
How Meditation Helped Me: Top 5 Benefits
Now, let me share you how faithful meditation affected me (even I just started recently)!
1. Get ready for a night of wonderful sleep!
Before I sleep at night, I can’t help it sometimes to use my phone. However, since it is definitely hard to avoid that, I used my phone in a better way. I downloaded the application Calm (available in AppStore and Google Play) and got the Pro version. I had been using this for sometime already by listening to the fireplace sound since it helped me sleep fast. However, you can get access there from a list of stories, or meditation guides (when you don’t know where to start). Remember those times when someone tell you a bedtime story and you fall asleep? For me, it is a way of meditating. It enhances your imagination and soon enough you’ll know, you’re off to dreamland.
2. You can build your focus.
At 23, my focus is still not that strong. I still procrastinate at times. Whenever I do things, I tend to be excited to the next thing even when I’m not yet done with the former. I have written an article on time management and I think it will be very effective if you concentrate your focus and have discipline. When doing meditation, I have this mindset that I am meditating. Therefore, I set it to myself that I will not do anything but meditate. With this, whenever I do things, I make it a point that when this time is meant for something, it should be sacred and no other interference (unless urgently important) will make me stop doing it. Is it backed up by research? Yes it is. Check out this article that tells mindfulness meditation practice can help you increase attention span.
3. It can somehow clear and free you from unwanted thoughts.
Mental health has become a wide-known issue and advocacy nowadays. My take on this is that, before, though people are already experiencing mental health issues, the focus of other generation is more on survival. Imagine a beggar asking for help on the streets. Are they mentally healthy? Probably not. But do you think that is their priority? I don’t think so. Their main purpose is to survive the next day by getting food to eat. Perhaps what is happening in this generation is an awareness of more issues since we can already find ways for basic survival. I myself experience instances wherein negative thoughts are being flooded on my mind. However, it is completely normal. Let yourself experience it because it really happens and take some time to meditate. When you meditate, it does not eradicate your negative thoughts; rather, it helps you how you can overcome them. Have so much bills to pay for the week? Meditate, you’ll see that you’ll definitely overcome it.
4. It can let you control pain.
Pain comes in many ways. Whether it be physical, emotional, and the like, pain is still pain. Let me share you an experience when I got sick. Last time I got dengue fever, there are all kinds of pain in my body (I am totally crying in pain because it is really painful). However, thinking about how painful it is would not help to make the sensation stop. In fact, it worsens the pain because your mind tells you more that it is painful. There are techniques I developed on my own as simple as telling myself that “the pain will be gone soon” made me control of my pain. Remember it does not really remove the pain, but rather it enables you to take charge of it. Do you know the placebo effect? That is how the power of mind affects our bodily functions.
5. Lastly, it develops happiness and kindness.
Whenever I ask people, what is their goal in life, they always tell me: I just want to be happy. When I think about it, being happy is fairly simple: you just have to have a better outlook in life despite all the challenges we encounter. However, it is not definitely easy for most of us. Thus, with meditation, you can train your mind to be happy by having a positive outlook in life as I’ve mentioned on #3 and could reduce stress. There are certain therapies that includes meditation techniques in addressing mental conditions which hinders our functioning, such as anxiety. Thus, by giving yourself a 5-10 minutes to meditate, you are advancing yourself to your goal of being happy. Why kindness? Well, I rarely or never seen unhappy people show acts of kindness. With developing good thoughts to others by meditation, you can think of the world as a better place to live in.
I hope you learned something from my experience. I never regretted incorporating it on my daily routine as I know it can awaken my spirituality which is one thing I’d like to focus on this incoming year. Of course, as I set my goals for 2019, I started most of them already by this month. Share me your meditation stories through comments or chats on my social media. Namaste. Link(s):
- All About Meditation, Psychology Today – https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/meditation
- 12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation – https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation
- Effects of the transcendental meditation technique on trait anxiety: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24107199
- Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810010000681
- Discover Calm: No. 1 App for Meditation and Sleep – https://www.calm.com/
Leave a Reply