Why you should try meditation. Admittedly, this is a post I never thought I would write. I’ve always pushed through everything, I never believed in slowing down and I wanted to power through my life surrounding myself with lots of high paced energy. While I’m still like that to an extent, for a while now, I’ve been rethinking this whole meditation thing.
A number of years ago now, my dad had a heart attack with subsequent heart surgery. One of the things he was told was not get overly excited and to try and stay calm. Now if you know my dad, you’ll know not to even talk to him about something like mediation because it’s all a “bunch of of crap,” right? On the flip side, however, he is one of those people who is really quick to anger, so I thought “what the heck” and I downloaded a very simple lead meditation and sat down to do it with him.
It’s a really good thing we were both sitting on the floor because we both fell asleep roughly 15 times in the 15 minutes it took to finish. The insane part was that the mediation did its job as my dad’s heart rate went down considerably. We were both shocked in the best way. To be completely transparent, I felt better and more relaxed as well.
BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
Okay, so you might be saying that you can handle everything and that you are fine. While that might be true, here are some things to consider.
Helps You Focus. When there’s a lot going on it can be difficult to cut through the noise and concentrate on any one thing and then we wind up not getting anything done. Meditating can help you break through that and focus on the important things.
Reduces Stress & Anxiety. My dad’s experience was the perfect example of this point. There’s an additional level to it though. Since meditating helps calm you down and reduces anxiety, it’s good for your health.
Thicker Skin. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t overthink things and then stress about them. Or we start finding that the smallest things set us off and make us overreact. When that happens, our stress levels rise and we become more anxious and then the chances of making bad decisions increase.
Reacquaint with Ourselves. It’s very easy to get sidetracked and to stray from our path. Life has a way of coming out of nowhere and blowing everything up. Taking the time to look inward gives you the opportunity to get to know yourself better. What are your hopes and dreams, what makes you feel safe and confident to proceed forward?
I think we forget that there are all kinds of different ways to meditate. It’s not about spending hours a day seated in a quiet room. There are lots of different ways to meditate. I can often find the same feeling of inner strength when I hop on a treadmill for 30 minutes. I’m not interacting with anyone and I have a very specific soundtrack that I listen to. The other day I actually found myself getting emotional while I was running. I was focusing on each step, on my posture and how my muscles were feeling and I was able to relax my body and move with an ease I only sometimes feel. What I love most is that mediation has no hard and fast rules. It’s not religious, but rather it forces you to be mindful of you and that is priceless.
Additional Note:
A friend of mine, blogger and awesome human being, Emily Levenson, is working through 100 days of meditation and her experiences have been quite the revelation. I urge you to check out her Instagram account and follow her journey: MEDITATELY
Continue the conversation on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ARTICLE PLEASE SHARE IT
AND JOIN MY FREE LIBRARY
