The benefits of meditation are well known throughout the world. Many documented studies have proven that meditation is something to enjoy and respect; besides helping you find revelations deep within yourself, it will also assist you in making untold improvements in your life.
If leading a healthier life filled with joy and contentment is your ultimate, you may find these 20 meditation tips indispensable:
1. Meditation regulates your breathing and helps you focus
Meditation helps you regulate your breathing and keeps you focused, even when you’re not meditating. Being consciously aware of when you’re inhaling, exhaling, and resting in between breaths helps you to become a more focused person in life by effectively dealing with multitasking issues.
2. Meditation literally slows down ageing
Studies have shown that people who practice meditation tend to live longer, thanks to the increased telomerase activity that stems from regular periods of meditation. In fact, scientists even dared ponder the possibility that the telomerase enzyme may one day halt cell aging. In other words, we may someday discover what’s it like to be truly immortal.
3. Group meditation sessions up your social interaction
Group meditation can increase your social skill level and social interaction. It can also improve your social standing with people that trust and love each other as friends.
4. Meditation allows you to analyze yourself
When you learn to meditate effectively, you get a glimpse at your true self. Mediation allows you to analyze pretty much everything about yourself. What you like, what you don’t like, ways to improve yourself, and more!
5. Meditation training improves the military emotional health
Besides being able to improve soldiers’ state of emotional health, meditation can also help them sleep and relax better, which would then lead towards a clearer state of mind. Doing so will allow the soldiers to make wiser decisions on the field.
6. Meditation helps you quit smoking effectively
How many times have you heard smokers say “Just one more stick – I’ll quit tomorrow”? With meditation to put them in the right frame of mind, smokers can now successfully quit smoking. Compared to smokers who tried to quit simply by relaxing their physique, those who meditated reported 60% chance of success.
7. Meditation gives better control over pain and emotion conflict
Meditation can help you to overcome chronic pain and emotional conflict. Many Zen Buddhist masters have experienced this benefit from meditation firsthand. Meditation practitioners discovered that they can deal with pain effectively by first accepting that it exists, and then detaching or disassociating themselves from it.
8. Meditation improves immune system
When you meditate, you bring your body into a state of total and complete relaxation. This enhances the creation of antibodies that will strengthen your immune system, which can be likened to a shot of vitamins. Besides, meditation gets rid of negative thoughts, purging your mind of the discomfort it brings and in turn creates a feel-good state that will permeate your being – physically, mentally and emotionally.
9. Meditation dramatically lowers level of cholesterol in body
One of the main killers in the medical world today may very well be attributed to cardiovascular diseases. Most of the time, high cholesterol levels might be the culprit. The root of the problem occurs when our body undergo a massive amount of stress that will potentially kill lots of cells – to counter this, cholesterol is called upon to fix the damage done to the cells. And even though they did do their job, the high level of cholesterol in the body could lead to deadly cardiovascular conditions. To avoid being part of the deadly statistics, you may try meditation which will lower stress levels and prevent cholesterol from intervening negatively.
10. Increases Serotonin Levels
Naturally occurring serotonin plays a major role in our mood, behavior, and happiness. The more you practice effective meditation, the more beneficial serotonin you produce. Experiments conducted with teenagers and women produced results showing that meditation can also produce higher levels of endorphins, which are considered feel-good hormones and mood-uplifters.
11. Increases self confidence and eliminates fear or phobias
The more you meditate, the more in-tuned you will be with your inner emotions. Knowing what you want to be and what you want to achieve in life can be a major confidence booster. According to reliable sources, as many as 19.2 million Americans suffer from some form of phobias. Unknown to many, meditation offers a cost-effective way to combat debilitating phobias – if you are one such sufferer, you need to immerse yourself in Transcendental Meditation which will help you reduce anxiety caused by phobias.
12. Improves Creativity
You’d be amazed at the things you can create and the amount of creativity you’re capable of as a person. Meditation helps you to realize the true scope of your abilities.
13. Enhanced motor skills performance
People who meditate frequently are able to perform better in the work force and have much better motor skills performance. Additionally, they discover that their cognitive skills can be enhanced through meditation, which lets the people go into a deeper state of awareness. What’s more, meditation practitioners find that their minds are able to effectively and speedily communicate with their body, thus resulting in enhanced motor skills performance.
14. Increases productivity
People who meditate are almost always more productive people because they’re able to focus at a higher level than people who don’t. Take Steve Jobs for example. The late Apple founder reportedly uses meditation to improve his focus and mindfulness. Corey Volkers, Director of Transportation for Beltmann Integrated Logistics, also meditates daily to increase his productivity and clarity.
As you get better at meditation, you can expect an increase in your productivity levels in all areas of your life, including work, family and leisure.
15. Meditation aids recovery and alleviates injuries
Stress can be a major roadblock in the effort to overcome injury. In case you didn’t know, stress is a major hurdle in the injury recovery process. If you don’t learn to meditate effectively, then any injury you sustain may be prolonged and more difficult to recover from.
16. Meditation leads to reduced stress and better health
According to the National Institute on Occupational Safety & Health, approximately 110 million people die every year due to conditions caused by stress. This is indeed a shocking statistic, one that can be averted with the right steps, with meditation perhaps being one of the more natural alternatives there is.
