People have practiced meditation for thousands of years. And because meditation offers many rewards, it is still a thriving practice today.

Stress and Its Consequences

Among meditation's many benefits is stress reduction. When we're under stress or sense danger, the body reacts. The sympathetic nervous system, our fight-flight response system, becomes activated. In such cases, the heart rate and blood sugar rise, blood rushes to the muscles needed to fight or run, digestion slows, perspiration increases, the immune system becomes suppressed, and platelets become sticky in preparation for injury and wound healing. The parasympathetic nervous system, which, when balanced, brings calm to the body-mind, can become over-activated, causing us to freeze or faint in certain situations.

Our bodies' reactions are valuable when we face an imminent threat. When we internalize stress, when we worry about the future or ruminate over the past, though, those temporarily beneficial physical processes become chronic states, leading to disease.

Thankfully, meditation can help calm the nervous system, resulting in a state known as restful awareness. Research supports meditation's positive impacts on the human nervous system and our well-being.

Other Benefits of Meditation

Meditation provides many other benefits, including:

Improved Health

Regular meditation can help reverse the harmful impacts of chronic stress. The heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels begin to normalize. Immune function and digestion improve, and platelets become less sticky, among other beneficial changes.

Enhanced Concentration and Creativity

When the nervous system is on high alert, energy and information cannot flow freely through the body and the mind. Consider someone who has test-taking anxiety. In that case, when the test is administered, the test-taker's mind seemingly goes blank. That individual may think about leaving the room or sit frozen in fear.

Therefore, with regular meditation practice, we can balance the nervous system. When faced with a challenging situation, we can think clearly and make better choices. As energy and information flow more freely, we can also access our inner wisdom and intuition more easily. We connect more deeply with our creativity and can fully express ourselves.

Emotional Balance

Because meditation helps bring clarity of thought, we can begin to cultivate greater emotional intelligence, which enables us to make creative choices and address difficult situations and emotions with greater ease and equanimity.

Better Sleep

There are many research studies on the effects of meditation on sleep, many of which support meditation's beneficial impacts on sleep and quality of life overall.

Types of Meditation

I often tell students that because humans naturally crave stillness, there are likely as many forms of meditation as there are people on the planet. But one might wonder, if humans are attracted to stillness, why are we not living in a constant meditative state? The simple answer is that humans are drawn into life's waking state. We forget our innate nature of pure awareness and get caught up in what we believe to be the here and now. That is not our failing. Instead, remembering who we are, spiritual beings having this human experience, is a challenge we all encounter.

Fortunately, there are many simple forms of meditation that we can use in our daily lives to help us stay connected to our true nature, including:

Mindfulness Meditation

This form of meditation involves simply observing the breath, thoughts, or sensations without judgment or attachment. This practice is one of many that can help us cultivate present-moment awareness.

Mantra Meditation

With mantra meditation, we silently repeat a sound, known as a mantra, to draw us away from our thoughts. Whenever we have thoughts, we return to the mantra. Eventually, the thoughts and the mantra begin to cancel one another out, enabling us to dip into stillness, which is sometimes known as "the gap," the space between our thoughts. We can't know we're in that space, but we will recall the sense of peace that we connected with when we complete our meditation and return to the activity of our lives.

Typically, we use a mantra that has no meaning so that we do not become attached to it as we repeat it. However, some mantras have meanings and can help us realize specific experiences or goals.

Guided Meditation

In guided meditation, a teacher leads the practitioner through either a live or recorded meditation. Some forms of guided meditation are yoga nidra, "yogic sleep," which can bring the practitioner into a space between wakefulness and sleep; visualizations; or other guided meditation journeys.

Incorporating Meditation Into Our Daily Lives

Ideally, meditation is most effective when we practice twice a day, for 30 minutes each time. Everyone's life is different; some practitioners only have time for one meditation practice each day. Therefore, we need to establish a practice that best suits our unique situations. Doing that makes us more likely to stick with the practice.

These easy-to-follow tips may help create a meditation practice that is right for you:

Choose an Appropriate Time

We can look at our lives realistically and decide where to include a daily meditation practice. If you have a family, you may have to get up 15 or 30 minutes earlier than everyone else in your home to have some quiet meditation time. Or you may choose to stay at work a few minutes later and meditate before heading home for the evening.

Create a Quiet Space

It's best to meditate without the interference of people, pets, noise, and other interruptions. Sometimes, that seems impossible, so we do the best we can.

When I first began my meditation practice, my household was hectic, and I created a meditation space in my walk-in closet. I would do my morning meditations before everyone got up. In the evening, I let my family know I would be meditating for 30 minutes and asked that they interrupt me only if it was an emergency. There were times when I was interrupted, but I was able to do what I could to cultivate a practice that worked for my family and me.

Create Consistency

Some meditation is better than no meditation at all. There may be days that you only have five or 10 minutes to meditate in the morning before the school and work rush or other responsibilities. Meditate for as much time as you have on those days, allowing for a few minutes of post-meditation quiet time before resuming your day. On days when you have more time, you can do a longer practice. Remaining consistent, regardless of the time you have, will help you cultivate a regular daily practice.

Being Easy With Ourselves

It's important to know that the benefits of meditation reveal themselves when we are not meditating and that whatever happens during each meditation is perfect for that time. If we had many thoughts in our last meditation, for example, that is the meditation we needed that day. If we fell asleep, maybe we needed more rest. By not judging our meditations or ourselves, we will approach the practice joyfully and see its fruits manifesting every day.

Please schedule a complimentary discovery session with me if you would like to learn more about meditation and how to bring the practice into your life. 💚