The habit of meditation is one of the most powerful things I’ve ever learned. It can take just one or two minutes if you’re busy but the rewards are huge.
“The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” -Albert Einstein”
6 benefits of meditation
1. Meditation is about mindfulness, which helps you to live in the present moment and also helps you develop more constructive thought patterns.
2. Meditation helps you to focus. It helps you to prioritize and plan your day with clarity which transcends into productivity.
3. It helps relieve pressure and stress and helps you to relax. We live in a fast-paced world where everyone is busy and this can be quite overwhelming. Meditation helps you to relax and calms your day before it starts.
4. It helps you savor the moment and be happy. We all have this monkey-mind tendency whereby our minds jump from one thought to another. Meditation helps you gain control of your thoughts.
5. It gives you self-awareness. Regular meditation builds an inner reservoir of self-sufficiency and self-trust.
6. Other health benefits include improved heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure, and, easing stress and anxiety. Meditation stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, slowing your heart rate and breathing rate, and improving blood flow. All these physiological benefits, helps you to be more relaxed, less stressed, or anxious.
With our everyday routine, we may find it very difficult especially after we wake up to find a couple of minutes to just sit down and meditate but the greater benefits far outweigh the time that we may think we have lost in doing so.
5 steps on how to start meditation and do it daily
1. Rise up a bit earlier and commit the extra minutes to meditation. You don’t have to start by meditating for 30 minutes or try to beat the monk, just start rising up five minutes earlier, and meditate for 3 minutes. In this scenario, consistency is better than intensity.
2. Find a quiet spot. If you can’t go outdoors, maybe you can even find a spot in your bathroom, all you need is a place in which you won’t be disturbed.
3. Sit comfortably. Every time we see people meditating, we see them sit cross-legged but that is not a rule. If sitting cross-legged doesn’t make you feel comfortable then you won’t enjoy the benefits. My rule is that just sit in a manner that’s comfortable for you.
4. Concentrate on your breath. While breathing is the utmost important thing in life, a lot of times, we hardly pay any attention to it. But right now, you need to focus on your breath. Follow your breathing through from your nostrils, down your throat to your lungs, and into your belly then back. You can choose to look down on the ground with your eyes, focus your eyes between your eyebrows or you may completely shut your eyes, whatever helps you relax and focus. I find closing my eyes more comfortable for me. It’s most likely that at first, your mind will wander off but that’s okay, keep refocusing it. In the end, do not judge your thoughts or try to control what comes into your mind, just choose which ones serve you and disregard the rest.
5. Commit to doing it at the same time every day until it develops into a habit. Practice makes perfect and meditation is no different. You are learning to harness your thoughts and master your emotions so it will take practice for you to fully adjust. Think of meditation as a workout for your mind and your emotions and this will help you adjust to the routine. Meditation is a practice therefore you may not get it right at the first go but the more you practice, the more it will develop into a habit.
I would love to hear from you on how you start your day so please, leave a comment for me below, and if you found this useful kindly subscribe to the site and share it with others.
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