Why meditate
The world feels stressful right now
Make space for a healthy mind
Doing two, or three or five things at once has become normal. But while our lifestyles have adapted to a never-ending barrage of distractions, tasks and events – our minds and the systems that control our stress levels are yet to catch up. Getting stressed is not bad for you, but staying stressed is toxic.
Meditation will make a big difference
Research shows that meditating, even just for a few minutes at a time, can help us cope better with the ups and downs of daily life. It can help us manage stress better. Think more clearly. Sleep deeper. Work more efficiently. Be a better friend. Live in a calmer, more considered way.
Today doctors are increasingly citing stress as a major contributing factor to most illnesses. Even though meditation should not be considered a cure by itself, research has shown it to be beneficial for a wide range of health problems.
Principles of Meditation
1. BREATHE
Get grounded and experience your breath.
2. Focus
Focus on something (a mantra, a word, your breath, your body).
3. Let go
Let go of the focus and experience nothingness.
4. Think
When a thought pops into your head, acknowledge it and let it go.
5. Repeat
Repeat from Step 2.
Science-Based Benefits of Meditation
Reduce your stress levels
Meditation regulates our ‘fight or flight’ response to everyday situations. So we panic less over little things.
It also reduces our ‘negativity bias’, which is our tendency to remember negative memories over positive ones.
By forcing us to be in the present, it stops us from worrying so much about the past or future.
Keep your emotions in check
Scans have shown that long-term meditators have brains that are ‘hard wired’ to think positively.
Meditation helps us create a mental “buffer” from our emotions. It makes it easier to stop and consider how we want to respond, instead of flying off the handle.
Concentrate for longer
Thanks to ‘neuroplasticity’, the more we train our minds to focus on one thing only, the easier it gets.
Regular meditators find their attention spans increase and their minds wander less frequently.
Develop people skills
Meditation helps us develop feelings of compassion towards ourselves, which makes it easier to form stronger relationships.
Long-term meditators have also been shown to be more empathetic towards others.
You never know:
Strange & wonderful things may happen
- Little things may not bother you as much.
- Wonderful coincidences pop up more often (or at least you start noticing them).
- You need less of the material things you use to fulfill yourself, whatever those might be.
- You are more aware of the present moment. That can mean that when you are with your kids or your mate, you are actually with them. When you eat, you stop shoveling and start experiencing.
- You get more done.
- You trust your gut more because you can actually hear it or feel it.
- You conversations, friendships and relationships go a little deeper. Even the people you don’t like start to seem a little more likeable.
- You could tap into your life’s purpose.