Written By Telisa Boston, Staff Writer
Why meditate you ask? In a nutshell: If you ever suffer from anxiety, stress, depression, fatigue, headache, menopause, PMS, ADHD, upset stomach, acne, bad day, bad hair, insomnia, boredom, bitchiness, Erectile dysfunction, weight gain, weight loss, tooth ache, road rage, STD, food craze, whatever the case–meditate. It will make a positive difference to your life. Period. Want more reasons? Fine. This article published in The Daily Zen is great in reminding us of Eight key benefits of meditation.
Why Meditate You Ask?
Stillness
… If you feel overwhelmed, as many of us so often do, meditation will help. It will probably be difficult at first; sitting in silence sounds less enticing than eating a tasty snack or watching a sitcom. But once you start meditating, you’ll come to appreciate stillness and tranquility. If you practice meditation for a long time, you’ll find you can retain your stillness even when the world around you is harsh and chaotic. There’s a reason why meditation coaches have been so popular among companies with generally high-stress employees, like investment banks and law firms– meditation helps keep people grounded. Your surroundings may be crazy, but over time meditation allows you to feel secure and at peace internally, in basically any situation.
Focus
Recent studies show that meditating just 5 minutes a day improves focus. That’s pretty impressive. 5 minutes is less than .5 percent of your day. You’ll find that the time you spend meditating is anything but wasted, since the benefits affect you 24/7. Improved focus makes us better at our jobs, our studies and more engaged as conversationalists. Meditation promotes productivity over distractions, and the focus is results in is not stressed-out focused, but diligent, calm focus. That’s a pretty huge benefit.
Decision-making
This ties into the previous two, but I recall one time I was a little kid and couldn’t make a decision, and my teacher told me to stop and count to ten, and then try again. Meditation in the morning is like stopping and counting to ten, but sometimes it lasts for the whole day. The clarity of mind that develops over time will undoubtedly improve your decision-making skills.Non-attachment
When you first learn meditation, the breath is the most important part of your practice. Breathing is your anchor, meaning it serves as a support you can count on when distracting thoughts pop into your head while you’re sitting. When a thought comes up, just go back to the breath. .
Posture
Sitting in Zen meditation promotes upright posture, which not only improves the way you feel physically but also helps with self-confidence and body image. Zen aims not to concern itself with appearances, especially physical appearances, but chances are, if you’re feeling better, you’re looking better too.
Brain power
Not only have studies revealed meditation’s benefits on focus; brain power might improve, too. People who meditate frequently tend to have a thicker cortex in certain parts of their brain. Granted, according to that article, these are people who meditate 20 minutes twice a day, but you can always start small and work your way up to a regimented long-term meditation schedule. Like anything, it just takes practice.Creativity
… Doesn’t matter if you’re a painter, writer, or businessperson– new ideas and a new perspective can aid you in anything you do. I’m currently reading Steve Jobs’ biography, and it’s cool to see how many of the ideas he had for designs and business models came from his Zen meditation and Eastern-inspired personal philosophy of minimalism.
Discipline
Lastly– and maybe most importantly– is a benefit of meditation that ties into every other benefit. When you consciously commit to do something for a specific amount of time every day (like meditate twice a day for 10 minutes) you’re training yourself to have self-discipline. This attitude will ideally carry over into other aspects in your life, like work, study and personal problem-solving… Original Story Here.
I’ll say it again - Meditation will make a positive difference in your life. Don’t take my word for it, try it.
