Many of us women are living fast-paced lifestyles trying to balance our work, family and social lives which leads to stress and negative impacts on our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. One simple and effective stress relieving technique I recommend is meditation.
Meditation can bring a sense of calm and inner happiness to our lives and promote a feeling of peace and tranquility that often times get lost when we are busy trying to juggle everything we have to accomplish on a daily basis.
Despite of its popularity today, very few of us truly know what meditation truly is. Some think it is a form of mental concentration; others consider it as a visualization of something to feel peace and satisfaction.
Indeed, both of these concepts are part of mediation. The ultimate purpose of mediation is to slow down and eventually stop all the restless thoughts in your mind.
Meditation is a state of thoughtless awareness. It is not an act of doing, but a state of awareness – a state of profound, deep peace, calmness and silence.
The concept of meditation is often misunderstood. Here are 5 facts to help you understand about meditation and how this leads to a healthier and happier you.
1) Meditation Does Not Require Spiritual or Religious Beliefs.
Meditation is beneficial for everybody and it does not require any form of spiritual or religious beliefs. In fact, some meditations have no particular religious beliefs at all or are considered atheist. The purpose of meditation is to experience the inner quiet and feel the numerous physical, mental and emotional health benefits that come with practice.
2) Meditation can be simple.
Meditation is not only reserved for saints and yogis. It is for everybody and you can meditate anytime and anywhere. Meditation techniques can be self-learnt as simple as focusing on your breathing or silently repeating a mantra.
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3) Meditation is Not Controlling Your Thoughts.
Don’t be overly focused on how to stop your thoughts or empty your mind as both of these approaches only lead to frustration thoughts instead decide how much attention to direct to them.
As you meditate on a regular basis, you‘ll find the space in between your thoughts which is quiet and silent. In this space, you’ll then become an observer of your thoughts rather than a controller.
With time and practice, you’ll have an increasing state of expanded awareness and silence.
4) The Effects of Meditation Can Take Place in a Short Period of Time.
The benefits of meditation are both immediate and long-term. Many scientific studies, such as Harvard University, provided evidence that meditation has profound effects on the mind and body within just a few weeks of practice.
Women have experienced decreased anxiety and great feelings of calming and growth in the brain with association of memory, empathy and the sense of self.
5) A Few Minutes of Meditation is Better Than None.
Even as our life is filled with a busy schedule on a daily basis, remember that a few minutes of meditation is better than none. In life’s paradoxical way, when we take the initiative to practice mediation on a regular basis, we actually have more time.
The nice thing about meditating is that it doesn’t take very long at all. As little as five minutes, once or twice a day, can do wonders for your health.
This is because during meditation, our breathing and heart slows down, blood pressure lowers and our body decreases the production of stress hormones.
Some of the benefits you experience in your health and life are:
- You feel as though you have a purpose in life
- Your decision making skills are enhanced
- Your memory works much better than it used to
- You stop abusing things such as cigarettes, drugs and alcohol
- Your energy levels are increased
- Your immune systems works better
- Your self confidence levels are increased
- Your relationships are better
- You just feel happy and optimistic about your life
- You become much healthier overall
So if you are not totally happy or satisfied with your health and life then you may want to incorporate a meditation practice.
[info_box]Begin today to be more mindful with meditation. Sign up for The Art of Meditation E-course for FREE today.[/info_box]
Affirm to yourself:
“I meditate and feel my body and mind getting healthier.”
No Excuse Action Step:
Pause and take one breath. Breathe in love and breathe out stress.
Remember, I am here for you, to support and believe in you.
I would love to hear about how you slow down and stop restless thoughts in your mind.
Leave us a comment below and share on facebook.
Tina Games
3 Jun 2015Many thanks for such an enlightening and informative post! ~ I agree that meditation is so much more than most people portray it as. I’ve heard many refer to a visualization or a guided imagery as a meditation, so I’m glad you’ve shed light on that here. :-)
Kailean Welsh
3 Jun 2015You have some really great points here to take the mystery and complication out of meditation. I think many people have concerns, but you have made it clear what a powerfully helpful and really simple activity it can be.
Dana
4 Jun 2015Great timing because I was just talking about this today with a client. She doesn’t like the word meditation and I said to view it as her taking time to clear her head, to just “Be.” Thanks for the tips, Josee!
Patricia Young
4 Jun 2015Great post Josee! So true, meditation offers so many benefits for our health and wellbeing! I feel that some people avoid practicing meditation because they don’t really understand it. You did a great job sharing those 5 facts and I hope that this post inpires other to start their meditation practice!
Melissa Rapoport
24 Jun 2015Meditation is a non-negotiable as far as I’m concerned. “Keep it simple.” What a great reminder. I find that when I’m complicating my meditation practice resistance is at the root. Thank you for the tips!
Puja Madan
24 Jun 2015Love this blog Josee! I love that you’ve simplified meditation and made it accessible for everyone through this post. I’ll be sharing it in my community :)