Are you puzzled when you think of someone sitting on a pillow, eyes closed, legs bent in a strange way, chanting? Maybe the puzzlement comes too quickly. Meditation can be practiced in many other ways as well. Did you realize that you can meditate during a walk in the forest, while out for a jog? It may be that you already meditate but just don’t realize it.
Bettering Your Health
Meditation can be an excellent practice to help better your health. Getting into the habit of training your mind to focus and redirect the ‘monkey-brain’ has proven beneficial in many areas.
Even some teachers are now using the practice in the classroom to increase awareness of students and their surroundings. The practice of meditation helps to develop good habits and feelings, reduce stress and develop concentration.
Reducing Stress
Reducing stress is usually one of the first reasons that people try meditation. Normally, mental and physical stress causes an increase in our stress hormone, cortisol. The effects of this happening can disrupt your sleep, increase blood pressure, promote anxiety as well as create possible fatigue and ‘monkey-brain’. Some people that practice ‘mindfulness meditation’ find improvements of stress related conditions such as PTSD, IBS and Fibromyalgia.
Lessening Anxiety
Just by reducing stress, our minds tend to be less anxious as well. Less anxiety turns into less depression and pain. This also increases positive self-awareness and coping skills, even being able to handle job strains. Studies have shown that mindfulness meditation really helps with emotional health leading to improved self-image and a more positive outlook on life.
Enhancing Self Awareness
Another form of meditation – self-inquiry meditation helps people to develop a greater understanding of themselves and how they relate to those around them. Other styles of meditation may help you recognize thoughts that may be harmful or self-defeating. It’s believed that once you gain better awareness you can direct those thoughts toward more positive patterns. This can help decrease feelings of loneliness and increase social contact.
Increasing Attention Span
Listening to a focus-guided meditation tape is like weight lifting for your attention span. It will help increase the strength and endurance of your attention while improving accuracy of recall. If you tend to day dream, worry or lose your train of thought…this may be the meditation technique for you.
Fighting Addictions
The discipline that you gain through meditation may help you break dependencies. This happens through increased self-control as well as trigger awareness when it comes to addictive behavior. By redirecting your attention, managing your emotions and impulses you may better understand the underlying causes you battle with.
Improving Sleep
Likely the second most common reason that people try meditation is to improve their sleep. There are strong connections between practicing meditation and less insomnia without using medication. Additionally it can help relax your body, release tensions and place your mind in a state of peacefulness where sleep is more easily obtainable.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is meditation is something everyone can do in one form or another and it has been scientifically proven to improve our health in numerous ways.
Connect at BLiSS Ann Green Yoga
To find out what style may suit you best, connect with Ann Green at BLiSS Ann Green Yoga. There is much wisdom to be shared by Ann. Once you’ve had a conversation you may find yourself more interested in trying it out than being puzzled at the thought.
Written by: Jane Laker
Photo Credit: Veronika Kovecses
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