I don’t know if you practiced or are currently practicing meditation, but if the answer is no, this should definitely give you the boost to at least try it out.
Think of meditation as your course that teaches you how to connect with your inner self, your deepest thoughts and feelings that you could not access otherwise. It’s just that it’s a really relaxing course and you don’t need a pen or pencil.
Are you dealing with a wandering mind?
What is, in fact a wandering mind? It’s basically a mind that works against you. I already talked in one of my previous articles about the importance of mindfulness, of being able to stay connected into the present moment, to not let your mind wonder into the what ifs. This is what the wandering mind is about.
We, as human beings have by default minds that don’t stay focused on one specific thought. The problem is, for instance when we try to fall asleep and keep thinking about a work matter or when we try to focus on an exam and our mind thinks about the good old ages. You get my point.
The connection between mindfulness and meditation
It’s a little like the story with the chicken and the egg. Did mindfulness help you achieve meditation or a thorough meditation helped you reach mindfulness? Thing is, meditating in the proper manner has as main purpose the relaxation of the mind and thorough this very relaxation it can reach mindfulness. You can focus better on your tasks afterwards, you can focus better on what matter instead of dwelling over the past and it helps you gain perspective.
Meditation vs anxiety and depression
Anxiety is basically all about us not being able to control or have our emotions in order. It’s sensing a threat even when there’s none. And a recent study shows us how meditation can in fact improve our ability to regulate these emotions. This study offers us a more ample sight on which brain sides are activated and which de-activated throughout meditation.
The set-point of happiness
This is the psychological term used to describe our general sense of happiness. This is mostly based on genetics and conditioning. The set-point differs from person to person. Some people might have a higher one, which means that they are mostly happier than the ones who have a lower set-point. And guess what. One way of breaking this set-point is through meditation. Those who got to that point of being able to meditate an hour or more per day sensed becoming happier.
It helps you understand better the other side
One perk of meditation is that it helps us comprehend better what unhappiness is all about, meaning understand better attachments and change. These are considered to be some of the main causes that lead to us feeling “unhappy”. We, as human beings, fear change. And funny thing is that we fear it whether it’s positive or not.
Obviously when something bad happens and we need to adjust our situation it’s no reason to smile. But at times getting a promotion also doesn’t bring the joy you’d expect. Why? Because it’s still a form of change and we fear of what will happen next, what responsibilities lie behind the position and so on.
That’s another topic where meditation can give you a helping hand. Meditation teaches you how to become detached, let go of things that only drag you down and control better your emotions.
These might not sound like that big of a deal but trust me, once you notice not fretting about unimportant things, not getting angry because of a useless innocent comment, not becoming too involved in something that might not last, you will get a sense of this. And overall think of it this way. Meditation does no harm. On the contrary, it helps you know yourself better and connect better with yourself, which in itself will eventually lead to better life choices.
So Namaste on!
