We’ve all heard that we should start a meditation practice, but most of us don’t keep up with it.
Meditation seems daunting. Like, who really has time to sit still in a quiet place for 20 minutes? Not me!
But the truth is meditation can really be anything you want it to be. It can be 2 minutes here or there or just 30 seconds before you get out of the car and go into work or even the grocery store.
Here are some reasons that I think will help you commit to a regular meditation practice.
Meditation Reduces Mental Clutter
Many people assume that in order to be good at meditation you have to keep you mind calm, but that’s not the truth.
The goal of meditation is to stay in the present which means that you notice when your mind has wandered off and you bring it back.
There is a term called “monkey mind.” This means that your thoughts bounce all over the place and are hard to control.
Regular meditation practice can help to calm that “monkey mind” and reduce mental clutter to help you quiet the internal noise.
Meditation Can Reduce Stress Levels
One of the aspects of meditation that is important is breathwork.
Breathwork can be as simple as focusing on your breathing and can have a very calming effect on the physical body as well as the mind.
The simple act of inhaling for a count of three and then exhaling for a count of six can actually help to regulate your nervous system and move you into a state of rest.
Try this simple practice whenever you feel stressed.
Meditation Can Improve Decision Making
Our lives are so crazy that it is estimated that the average adult makes more than 35,000 decisions in a day.
When you are stressed out and in a rush, we all know those decisions aren’t always the best.
A 2014 study found that one 15 minute meditation per day could actually positively affect our decision-making skills by helping us stay in the present and not focus so much on the past or future.
Meditation Improves Focus
Much of our stress comes from the fact that we don’t stay in the present moment. Harvard researchers found that we humans are lost in thought 47% of the time.
This lack of focus causes stress, anxiety, sadness, and depression.
During meditation, we work to bring our minds back to the present moment when we notice it start to wander.
After a time, this practice will get easier and easier and will begin to transfer to other settings…making it easier to focus when we need to.
Be sure that you give yourself time to really work on this skill in short daily bursts.
Meditation Can Make You Enjoy Life More
Being calmer and less stressed can make anyone enjoy life more, but there is a type of meditation that is specifically meant to help you be more kind and loving.
This type of meditation is called loving-kindness meditation.
During this type of meditation, you spend time focusing on sending loving thoughts to yourself, your friends and family, your acquaintances, and others who may be in need.
This type of meditation and focus helps to improve positivity and connectedness with the world therefore helping you to enjoy your life more.
As we just covered, there are many benefits to starting a daily meditation practice…and this was just the tip of the iceberg, there may be many, many more that you will discover once you get started.
I’d love to invite you to join my Habit Masters Membership where we’ll work on building healthy habits by establishing a mindfulness practice, establishing healthy eating habits, and including movement daily.
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