It’s official: meditation is one of the absolute best practices you can do to nourish all parts of yourself—mind, body and spirit. Its health benefits reach way beyond the physical realm into mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Let’s look at three amazing benefits of meditation and see how they can motivate you to finally begin your daily practice.
1. Meditation slows down time
One of the primary reasons life is so stressful is that it seems to be moving so darn fast, with speeding cars racing down highways, bullet trains zipping across the landscape, and airplanes traveling faster than our minds can sometimes fathom. We live in a busy, bustling world, and this fast-paced lifestyle unleashes stress and anxiety upon even the most mentally and emotionally balanced among us.
But here’s a little secret: the more you meditate, the more you actually perceive life as moving at a slower pace. Your perception changes, and rather than being blown around by the speed of the external world, you get to determine the pace at which life flows to you and through you. This slowing down of perception does wonders for your nervous system. When done regularly, meditation creates a calming effect like no other practice.
2. Meditation expands our entire outlook on life
At the very essence of yoga and meditation is the transformation from constriction to expansion. Regular meditation practice gradually moves us from seeing ourselves as a small and limited self to an empowered and connected Self, one that’s expansive and totally plugged into the powerful rhythms of nature and the universe. In this state of expansion lies heartfelt compassion and true wisdom. Meditation helps us live from this place.
3. Meditation improves the way you relate
The more you meditate, the more your transform the way you relate to others. You become less emotionally charged and reactive and more open, aware, calm, and intelligently responsive. The space that regular meditation practice creates allows you to see more clearly what’s really going on in a particular situation rather than viewing it through a fogged-up lens.
Your responses to texts, emails, phone calls, and in face-to-face conversations become less conditioned by your subconscious mind. You get to choose the way you relate when you allow your mind to become clear. Rather than relating to others as if you were on auto-pilot, you get to decide exactly how to behave in any and every situation. You can become a master of your relationships. Now, doesn’t that just sound deliciously divine?
These are just three amazing results of regular meditation practice. There are loads more. Choose one that resonates with you, and take to your cushion. You won’t be disappointed!
The Dailygreatness Journals are a great way to start and maintain a daily meditation and mindfulness practice. Check them out here.
