In recent times, meditation has almost become a household name.
And there are some really big reasons for this. We all experience on an almost daily basis how fast-paced our lives have become. There is a constant demand for high performance and frankly, it feels like we are all living inside a pressure cooker!
On top of this, there is a non-stop bombardment of information from everywhere and this has resulted in unending noise and chaos all around.
If you question from time to time who even allowed such a civilization to be established in the first place, you are definitely not the only one.
In the world that we live in, it’s only obvious that our physical and mental health take a persistent beating.
That is why there has been an unchecked increase in lifestyle diseases like stress, anxiety, depression, diabetes, heart diseases, obesity, and so on.
This is exactly where meditation comes in and why it has gained so much popularity.
Why Meditation is Important?
The sad part of modern life is that you don’t have a choice.
You still need to live your life and do your work.
But thankfully, there are practices like meditation that not only helps you keep your sanity but also helps build a stronger you.
It’s not a coincidence that humanity has “rediscovered” this ancient practice. After all, you need something to counteract all the adverse effects of the stressful lives we live!
Yes there is a real need of meditation and we will see why it is important.
For decades, scientists have conducted numerous studies and almost every single time, they find that regular practice of meditation has immense benefits for both your physical and mental health.
Those who have instilled meditation into their daily lives have experienced first hand all the positive changes that it can bring forth.
If you have been on the fence about giving it a try, you should definitely read about the below listed positive effects or benefits of it.
1. Much Better Sleep
One of the first things that get disrupted due to stress and anxiety is sleep.
This is quite unfortunate because most people need sleeping: it is biologically a vital function of the body. It literally recharges your body and mind to be able to do all the work that you have to do.
But it is also this work that is causing your sleep to get disrupted. Oh, the irony!
Meditation, however, fixes this.
You will find that it is a much stronger sleeping pill than all the other pills combined!
If you practice meditation daily, you will fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up feeling refreshed and recharged.
The reason for this is that it influences many brain functions, hormonal secretions, and other important processes of the body. Due to this, the body is able to fall asleep more easily and this helps you function better during the day.
2. Enhances Self-Esteem
Having low self-esteem can be really counter-productive.
It is often the result of that naggy internal voice that says nothing but bad stuff about you. And this, in turn, is often the result of all those flashy advertisements that we are all bombarded with perpetually.
These ads are tailor-made to make you feel that you are lacking something and this can have a terrible impact on your self-esteem.
Luckily, meditation can forever change this for you.
What it basically does is, it helps you loosen the grip you have over your identity.
In other words, it creates a sense of detachment from who you consider as “you”. This might sound weird or too “spiritual”, but it is a very powerful thing.
It stops the negative chatter and you are able to look at yourself in a non-judgmental manner. This eventually enhances your self-esteem and makes you more confident in the long run.
3. Decrease In Stress and Anxiety
Stress and anxiety are two of the most prominent traits in the average human being of today.
As I stated earlier, the constant demand for high performance is driving people crazy and since we are not machines, we are bound to break down at some point.
Stress and anxiety are natural outcomes of our robotic lives. What makes matter worse is that they give rise to a lot of physical and mental disorders that can be very difficult to deal with.
But if you practice meditation on a regular basis, stress and anxiety will leave you like the atmosphere left the planet Mars!
Meditation essentially calms your brain down. It literally rewires your brain and makes you mindful of the present moment.
So, you are able to take better decisions in real-time but without the added effects of stress and anxiety. This not only improves your productivity, but it also means that health issues won’t take root in your body.
4. Enhanced Clarity
You don’t need to imagine what a world full of chaos and noise does to the clarity of your thoughts.
I am sure you experience it on an almost daily basis.
No wonder so many people complain of feeling foggy. Without clarity of mind, you are not able to think or do anything clearly. All your dreams, goals, your plans to achieve them, and everything else feel immersed in a pool of confusion.
Trust me, this is not a state you want to find yourself in.
Meditation is a great way to enhance your clarity of thoughts.
It calms your mind and organizes your thoughts. Basically, your mind becomes a much faster and more efficient computing system.
It also frees up a lot of space and you feel much clearer about your life, goals, dreams, and ways to achieve them.
5. Emotional Stability
If the sheer amount of things that go on in your daily life don’t have any emotional impact on you, you are probably a robot or a Tibetan monk.
For most people, their emotions fluctuate wildly from day to day. Sometimes, they might feel like everything is okay, and at other times, they may feel like the world is crashing down on them.
Such is the dreadful impact of high levels of stress, pressure, deadlines, expectations, and so on.
It is vital that you are emotionally stable if you want to conduct your life optimally.
Your emotions play a huge role in the decisions you make and ultimately, your decisions are what shape your life.
Meditation helps you organize your emotions by keeping you calm and peaceful. Just 10-20 minute practice daily is able to help you achieve this effect.
You might not instantly reach Tibetan monk levels of emotional stability but you will definitely be much more stable than you were. Wanna bet?
6. Wards Off Addictions
The modern lifestyle is riddled with tons of addictions to bad habits.
We already live in a world that is not conducive to our health and on top of that, we indulge in habits that further deteriorate our physical and mental health.
Who said we are an intelligent species? I don’t see any intelligence in the way we function!
But anyways, these addictions can have serious consequences and efforts should be made to ward them off.
Practicing meditation can help you do that.
It instills a sense of discipline in you and you are able to gauge whether a particular activity, thing, or person is conducive to your growth or they will have negative consequences.
Basically, you are able to make more conscious choices and so you gain control of your life. It is this that shields you from falling into the trap of addictions.
7. Enhances Self-Awareness
We, humans, are born scientists.
Right from our childhood, we are curious about the outside world and like to poke around to figure stuff out.
However, there is one area that we totally forget to delve into. The internal dimension.
You see, the core of your being is just as important as the outside world.
If you don’t know who you are, you are unlikely to find direction or do anything meaningful in your life.
Certain practices of meditation help you get into touch with your deep internal self.
You come across thoughts and emotions that you may have buried inside you. You become bare to your own self and you have a sense of understanding of who you really are as a person.
This obviously enhances self-awareness which can be greatly beneficial in helping you deal with the outside world.
8. Increases Attention Span
One of the most awful impacts of digital technologies has been a reduction in our attention span.
One study had revealed that our attention span has dropped to just 8 seconds.
Logically, this negatively impacts the quality of any work you do. Without sustained focus, good work is not possible.
Meditation helps lengthen your attention span.
In some forms of meditation, you literally have to keep your attention on a single object.
If you do this regularly, your mind is trained to enhance focus on one particular thing. This then carries over to other tasks in your life.
The best thing is that you don’t have to spend hours meditating daily to achieve this effect. Just a few minutes daily will suffice.
You may wonder how something so simple such as meditation can be so beneficial. Yes, it is. But what truly matters is practicing. The only way to really benefit from meditation is to pratice. But I admit sometimes it is not as easy. We always find good excuses not to….. We get lazy sometimes. It is ok. Just do your best.
A lovely, inspiring article. I could read it again and again.
thanks for your support 🙂