Why Meditation is Beneficial
How Mindfulness Can Improve Your Life
One quick search can show the practice of meditation has been around for thousands of years. With human beings constantly evolving and creating new things that work better, it's important to take note of the things that haven't changed.
So what's the deal with meditation?
Meditation Has Many Benefits.
Most of which are psychological, but it even has some benefits that are physical as well. This simple act can help people with mental illness, help memory loss, and aid those who have high blood pressure.
One of the reasons I got into meditating is because of constant fatigue. I tried sleeping for five hours, six hours, seven, eight, nine, even ten hours a night. I ranged from sleeping the day away to not sleeping very much at all. It isn't healthy for a person to function that way. Bodies thrive on routine and care, and changing the times I fell asleep and woke up, altered my ability to function efficiently. Meditating helped me.
Meditation is one of the best ways to start connecting with your mind and body. It is one of the cheapest (FREE) ways to solve endless problems. I'm going to list some things that meditation has been shown to affect.
Improves Sleep
Creating a regular practice of meditation can aid fatigue. You don't need to spend hours a day doing this. If you were to set aside twenty minutes a day where you sit and become mindful in your meditation, it can help your brain function more efficiently.
I'm diagnosed with depression, PTSD, ADHD, and anxiety. These things make it very hard for me to focus on one thing at a time. But meditating helps a person gain control over the thoughts and functions of their own body. Practicing it can make it easier to relax in stressful situations or when you are trying to fall asleep.
One of the reasons I sought out meditation was because I was taking anti-depressants, going to psychotherapy, and I was still unsettled. Meditation is an excellent aid in mental health.
Aids Depression and Anxiety
The practice of habitual meditation can strongly influence depression and anxiety. Some doctors prescribe meditation like they would anti-depressants.
A lot of times, overthinking about the future, the past, oneself, friends, family, or the utter non-control we truly have in the world can cause moments of stress and depression. Practicing mindfulness helps to reinforce good habits about how to handle stress, this then makes it easier to lead ourselves away from overthinking.
In our brains, the mPFC (medial prefrontal cortex) controls a lot of decision-making and thoughts about ourselves. This area in people with mental disorders tends to overreact when stress occurs. Meditating can help create and solidify calm responses to these thoughts that may appear in one's mind.
This breaks bad habits of falling down the rabbit hole of despair and hopelessness and reinforces more calm thoughts if not positive ones.
Reduces Stress
Because mindful meditation focuses on breathing and being in the present, this can calm a person and even lower blood pressure. Sitting in a comfortable position and focusing on just breathing deeply and only allowing the present world to come into one's mind can help ease thoughts of anxiety and stress.
As a beginner, it can be harder to sit still and only focus on breathing. Some people chant while meditating. Yes, the classic 'om' comes into play here, but so do phrases like "I exist." "I am powerful." A quick search can open up a world of mantras that assist in mindful meditation, you can pick any that speak to you and use them to better focus your mind.
In the long run, it will aid in making your attention span longer. You will be able to spend more time working on projects or figuring out how to solve problems that come your way.
Reduces Anger
Anger is often a front for a different emotion we subconsciously do not feel ready to confront yet. It can be a front for feelings like worry, sadness, feeling out of control, and just being disappointed.
Habitually practicing meditation can help people have stronger control over their emotional responses to the world. If someone says something rude, or maybe gives you a look that you think is bad, meditating can help you rewire your own brain to understand other circumstances.
Maybe it doesn't matter how they looked because they don't know you. Maybe they are just having a bad day and don't feel like smiling. Being mindful of your control over your thoughts and emotions can help remove unnecessary negativity from your life.
There is an idiom like 'Don't borrow trouble.'
Mindfulness is a great way to live this narrative. It is the key to not focusing on past pains and instead focusing on the current present life and learning to just be grateful and happy with the bare minimum life has to offer. It's a course in how to be grateful for the ability to breathe, love, feel, and exist in this world.
Aids Neuroplasticity
This is one of the best effects of meditation in my opinion. I grew up in a not-so-great family, being taught that confidence means cockiness. And that relying on anyone but yourself to take care of you is a suitable way of living. I was taught a lot of things that require unlearning. One of the hardest things to do is unlearn narratives that have been practiced or engrained in our minds from our youth. Everyone has their own variations of thoughts and beliefs that should be challenged.
Meditation aids in helping to break these thoughts and beliefs that can be poisonous to us. Neuroplasticity is the ability of brains to change the way they function and process things. Mindfulness increases our neuroplasticity and makes it easier for us to change our own minds. This can be groundbreaking for people starting a new career or perhaps overcoming an addiction.
There have been studies done that show ritual meditating can lead to more surface area in the brain. This helps people in many ways. From having a stronger memory to making decisions easier, habitual meditation can genuinely better you in every way.
Final Thoughts
One of the factors that makes me a huge fan of meditation is that it's accessible to everyone. It doesn't cost any money. If you feel uncertain to just sit and focus on your breathing at home, there are plenty of apps and YouTube videos made for guided meditation sessions.
If I haven't said it enough, the most important thing to achieve is making it consistent. If you can only donate ten minutes one day, do it! Having longer meditation sessions can aid in making some of these effects stronger but consistency is truly the key to achieving all you can from this practice.
So after listing just some benefits of meditating it's easy to see why mindfulness is so important. It can be easy to believe this is just crazy-hippy-lady writing and none of this is true. I listed a few websites that support this information below.
Happy Meditating.
About the Creator
C.J.
Writer/ Pasta Enthusiast/ Amateur Guitarist/ Trained Violinist
I like to try new things.
Comments (1)
Lovely article. I am so sorry to read about your mental health challenges, yet it is clear through your words that you are gaining the benefits of meditation, and how it promotes more restful sleep and mindfulness etc. All the best.