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5 Benefits of Everyday Meditation

By Theresa Cofield

Being a human being means being responsible for your happiness daily despite the hardships life throws your way. Daily meditation plays a crucial role in this as it provides clarity of mind and purpose, and this article explores some of its key benefits.

What Is Meditation?

Buddha once said that meditation trains the mind to not dwell in the past or contemplate the future. It helps the mind settle in the “Now” and allows people to see the present’s beauty. But what exactly is meditation?

Meditation is a set of techniques that encourages a heightened state of awareness and focused attention. It is a consciousness-changing technique with a wide variety of benefits on psychological well-being. Meditation is popular in different cultures, especially in Asia communities.

So, if you’re looking to meet an Asian woman on Japanese-women.net, don’t be surprised if she practices meditation every day. Asides from cultures, religious denominations also incorporate some form of meditation in their practices. However, beyond culture and religion, meditation is used in the science field for psychotherapy treatments.

To this end, there are two main types of meditation:

1. Concentrative Meditation: It involves focusing your attention on a specific object. You tune out everything around you, leaving only what you are focused on. It could be a mantra, your breath, or particular words. The goal during concentrative meditation is to reach a higher state of being.

2. Mindfulness Meditation: It includes mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Mindfulness meditation targets several issues like depression, meaning it differs from practice to practice. It involves being aware of the present moment and staying in it while being open, knowledgeable, and accepting.

In summary, meditation offers you nothing but benefits. The list goes on and on, from decreased stress, improved concentration, and low blood pressure to reduced anxiety. So, let’s take an in-depth look at what everyday meditation does for you.

5 Benefits of Daily Meditation

Below are some of the benefits of meditating daily:

1. Better Focus and Attention

As mentioned earlier, mindfulness meditation helps you keep your mind in the present. By not fretting about the past or saddled with the concerns of tomorrow, you free your mind of encumbrances and focus on current tasks. In 2011, a study from the Harvard Medical School showed meditation has effects on the brain.

The study revealed a connection between mindfulness meditation and how people process new information. The researchers studied the brain of 17 individuals before and after an eight-week meditation exercise. Brain scans disclosed an increase in gray matter, responsible for memory, emotional regulation, and learning.

Considering the number of distractions in the world today and the number of tasks begging for attention, meditation is essential to our daily routine. With it, you eradicate the feeling of being overwhelmed and increase your general output.

2. Reduces Stress

If you are constantly stressed or pressured, like you have the world’s weight on your shoulders, there’s a solution. Rather than adding more stress to yourself by considering a vacation and looking for effective ways to save money while at it, try meditating. Meditation comes at zero cost and works effectively in reducing stress.

Mindfulness meditation can lower your level of cortisol, the stress hormone. In 2013, a review stated that 200 studies of mindfulness meditation among healthy people showed decreased stress. Also, concentrative meditation works in stress reduction.

Focusing on an object or repeating a mantra while meditating produces a calming effect. This is because the more you chant the mantra, the easier it is to shift your attention from your stress triggers. Another technique that works here is transcendental meditation, where you silently keep repeating a word to maintain your focus.

3. Manage Depression and Anxiety

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 264 million people of all ages suffer from depression worldwide. It is a global disease that affects more women than men. But thankfully, it is treatable using prescription medicine and psychological therapy.

Meditation, as already mentioned, is psychotherapy. Rather than focusing on thoughts and events that fuel anxiety and depression, you bring your mind to the present. You concentrate on the things you have at the moment, accepting things as they are.

Mindfulness meditation is useful in quelling depressing thoughts. While meditating, you calm your mind and clear it of all triggering thoughts. Consequently, it helps you eliminate depression symptoms like insomnia, loss of appetite, and low mood.

4. Control Pain

People dealing with pain often find focusing on something other than their discomfort helpful. This is why doctors recommend mindful meditation practices. It is usually part of a comprehensive pain management plan.

While it would not cure the pain or make it go away, it provides momentary relief. This is because while you recognize the pain’s presence, you don’t allow it to overwhelm you. Thus, you can control even chronic pain and your response to it.

5. Makes You More Loving and Kind

It may sound a bit far-fetched, but meditating every day increases your capacity for love and kindness. It achieves this by strengthening the brain circuits that pick up on people’s emotions and promote altruistic behavior. This means a decrease in implicit or anxiety bias towards others.

You can engage in a loving-kindness meditation daily to achieve this. Put the image of a loved one in your mind and wish the person happiness. Then extend it to yourself and others. You can do this by repeating a simple phrase like “May you be joyful always.”

Tips for Practicing Meditation

If you have never meditated and want to begin after reading this article, here are some tips to help you:

• Choose a quiet place devoid of distractions.

• Set a time limit like five to ten minutes as a beginner.

• Pay attention to your body by finding a posture that works for you.

• Focus on your breathing by taking deep breaths that expand your belly.

• Clear your mind of thoughts, and if it trails off, bring it back to your mantra or breathing.

In Conclusion

Meditating every day would improve your physical, emotional, and mental health. If you want to live a life free from stress, anxiety, and depression, start meditating every day. Once you do, you’ll see all the benefits we’ve discussed and have nothing but gratitude.

About the Author

Article by Theresa Cofield.

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