27 Oct 7 benefits of daily meditation
Meditation is always a good idea – no matter how old you are, what job or lifestyle you have. The number of people who practice meditation globally is estimated at 200 to 500 million. Let’s see why they love it so much.
Stress Reduction
Mental and physical stress cause increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This produces many harmful effects and can lead to physical illnesses. Meditation can lower the levels of cortisol which helps you feel more relaxed. So if stress made you anxious, tense and worried: try meditation!
Spending even a few minutes in a meditative state can restore your calm and inner peace.
Better Focus and Concentration
Meditation teaches you to focus on the present, which can improve your concentration in your daily life. When you do focused-attention meditation, you have to concentrate your attention on a single object, thought, sound or visualization. It emphasizes ridding your mind of attention and distraction. Meditation may focus on breathing, a mantra or a calming sound.
You will notice that no matter how hard you focus during meditation sessions, thoughts will come to your mind trying to attract your attention. Your mind will drift away several times. Don’t worry this is absolutely natural. After a little practice you will recognize that it gets easier to ignore distractions.
Tip: Repeating a mantra during meditation can also have a calming effect, and by concentrating on your mantra, you will be able to shift your focus away from distracting thoughts.
Improved Self-esteem and Self-awareness
Meditation can help you to develop a stronger understanding of yourself. It encourages you to slow down, allows for deeper self-reflection, and can help you discover positive attributes about yourself.
See How to Practice Mindfulness Meditation with a simple device.
Knowing yourself can be a starting point for making some positive changes.
Less Anxiety
Less stress means less anxiety. Meditation reduces the symptoms of anxiety disorders, such as phobias, social anxiety, paranoid thoughts, obsessive-compulsive behaviors and panic attacks. It helps to train your mind to focus on the present moment, making you less likely to ruminate on anxious thoughts that can fuel depression.
Improved Sleep Quality
Almost half of the population has some form of sleep disorder. Both the duration and quality of sleep are very important for maintaining the health of the body and mind. Meditation can help to relax your body and to release tension. With some practice you will be able to reach a peaceful state in which you’re more likely to fall asleep.
Overcoming Addictions
The mental discipline you can develop through meditation can help you to break dependencies by increasing your self-control and awareness of triggers for addictive behaviors. Moreover it can alter the brain receptors associated with drug and alcohol addiction, which can reduce cravings for these substances.
Tip: Try meditation if you have any harmful passions!
Emotional Health
Negative emotions – like sadness, anger, loneliness, jealousy, self-criticism, fear, or rejection – can be difficult, even painful at times. It hurts, especially when we feel a negative emotion too often, too strongly, or we dwell on it too long. Practicing meditation can help to manage negative emotions and it can lead to a more positive outlook on life.
Meditation is something that everyone should do to improve their mental and emotional health. If you’d like to improve your focus, reduce stress, or deal with addiction, depression, or chronic pain, you should give it a try.
