There’s a part of me that can’t believe I’m writing this blog.
A year ago, I thought meditation was interesting. For other people.
That was before I joined a candlelight yoga class on Thursday evenings (what’s more amazing than that?!?!), and learned that meditation is restorative, relaxing, and freaking fantastic for ME!
If you’re sitting on the “that’s interesting” side of the fence when it comes to meditation, read on…
Incorporating a regular meditation practice will improve your life in these specific ways:
Increased Focus
Reduced Stress
Greater Creativity
Being more Present
Improved Conflict Management Skills
Higher Levels of Happiness
Increased Confidence
Better Health
And all of these benefits can be yours for an investment of 10 – 15 minutes a day!! That’s an ROI that’s hard to ignore.
Sound a little bit too “woo woo”? Here’s why doctors and scientist believe meditation provides these benefits:
Brain scans show that mindfulness and meditation helps to trigger the relaxation response (this is the opposite of the “Fight or Flight” response)
People who meditate exhibit higher Emotional Intelligence and listening improves due to their increased ability to be present (less MSU – Making Stuff Up)
Stress is a major cause of illness – Reducing your stress lowers your risk for heart disease, stroke, clinical depression, and the list goes on…
A few of the most interesting benefits from incorporating meditation into your day are increased confidence and creativity. When your mind is quiet, you are able to connect with your thoughts and dreams in a very personal way. The feeling of possibility comes with being calm and connected, and this often sparks creative thoughts immediately following meditation.
Meditation also helps to quiet our inner critic. That pesky internal voice that attacks us when we are most vulnerable and damages our self-confidence. (For tips on how to quiet your inner critic, check out my previous blog post: Is Your Inner Critic Designing Your Future?)
How often do you sit quietly and drown out all of life’s daily demands, negative comments, and self-criticism?
My guess, is not often enough!
If you’ve been thinking about starting a meditation practice, now is a great time to act! Set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier for the next month and give it a whirl.