The Benefits of Meditation - Physical, Emotional, Spiritually, and Mental
“The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will experience true happiness. But if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions.”
– Kelsang Gyatso
Practicing meditation has many benefits and improves one’s life in so many ways. Like everything in life, if you want results and become successful, you will only see those results when you repeat your actions and persevere with what you are doing. This is true when you learn a new skill or a new language, if you want to be better at your job, if you want to build a healthy workout routine, and when you practice meditation. What I like to say is "what you practice grows stronger."
In order to gain results and enjoy the benefits of meditation, you really need to practice regularly. You may skip a meditation session occasionally, but you should ideally practice at least once a day. You do not want to skip all the time, because the more you miss the more likely you will stop meditation altogether. Regular meditation settles the nervous system and trains the brain to be more focused, engaged and less reactive. It calms the restlessness of the mind, decreases your distracting thoughts, creates a sense of inner peace, and relaxes the body.
As your sense of inner peace increases, your ability to concentrate and focus your mind improves. The benefits of meditation manifest on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. Some of them appear quite fast, and others take more time to manifest. This depends on the amount of time devoted to meditation. You have to meditate every day to attain great results.
Here is a list of the benefits in different categories such as physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Here are a few physical benefits of Meditation:
Physical tension eases down, and your body becomes calm and relaxed.
The blood pressure becomes normal.
You gain increased energy levels.
Meditation helps you fall asleep easily at night and sleep more soundly.
Practicing meditation can favorably affect the state of your immune system.
An increased feelings of vitality.
Here are a few of the emotional benefits:
You become able to stay calm and poised in stressful situations.
You become less prone to anxiety.
You learn to stop worrying.
You experience less nervousness, irritability and moodiness.
Your self-confidence gets stronger.
A sense of happiness fills your mind and awareness.
You gain control of your feelings and reactions.
Here are a few of the mental benefits:
Meditation gives you the inner strength and energy to deal effectively with tasks, people and circumstances.
Increase of creativity.
Meditation improves your concentration and your ability to focus your mind.
Improved learning ability and better memory.
Increased self-discipline.
Sharper intuition.
Enhanced common sense.
Here are a few of the spiritual benefits:
You enjoy a sense of inner peace, no matter what you are doing or where you are.
You can become emotionally detached from negative and disturbing thoughts, emotions or people, and from anything that can disturb your inner peace or affect how you feel.
You gain a heightened awareness of your inner self.
You gain the ability to look within you, beyond the body, mind and personality. A realization of who you really are.
Attaining self-realization and spiritual awakening.
Greater connection to your Divine power.
With a peaceful mind, you make fewer mistakes, make better judgments and decisions, and become more patient and tolerant. This of course, improves your relationships with your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues. When the mind is at peace, many problems just disappear, and the ones that do not disappear, become easier to solve.
As you continue to meditate, in time, you will see changes in your behavior, attitude, and manner of thinking. You would become more positive, and learn to react more patiently and calmly in the various situations of your daily life. You will also be in a better position to deal with people and with problems. Your actions would become positive, efficient, and focused. Happy meditating!