3 Reasons to Start A Meditation Practice Today

by Julia Barber | October 24, 2015 12:17 am

These days we tend to let the overwhelm and stress of our everyday lives crowd our mind beyond all reason. If only we could find just a few minutes to sit back, close our eyes and turn it all off.

Well, the good news is that we can.

Meditation is an effective – and wait for it – relatively easy way to clear your mind and reconnect with your body and soul. As a yogi you will of course know how important meditation is to a well-rounded yoga experience. It allows you to focus on your breathing, the movements and achieve a great sense of presence.

But how often do you really engage with the practice fully?

Whether you’re trying to evolve your yoga focused meditation or simply find a greater peace of mind, here are a few of the benefits you will experience by integrating meditation into your day to day life.

And it only takes a few minutes – honest!

3 Reasons to Start Meditating Today

 1.  Improve Focus and Work Efficiently Under Pressure

Do you ever feel your mind wandering? Talking back to you, chattering away in the background? It happens to the best of us.

Meditating teaches you to channel your energy and focus on one specific task. And this practice can benefit you in multiple other areas of your life.

For example, those who meditate are more likely to stay focused on a task at hand. If you were a student and had an essay due tomorrow, but also had several other projects to complete, someone who was unfamiliar with meditation techniques would be more likely to hop between tasks, than focus their energy on one at a time.

Meditation is also beneficial for multitasking and working under pressure. As I’m sure you’ve experienced, multitasking creates a unique sense of stress. It’s not the badge of honor people paint it as!

Whether your version of multitasking involves responding to emails while answering the phone and handing off paperwork to a coworker or feeding a baby while trying to get your 5 year old out the door to school, meditation has been found to help you retain and manipulate information. It does this by improving our working memory capacity (WMC). Simply put, when you’re under pressure meditation can help you accomplish more than you thought possible.

By splitting your energy between multiple tasks, you effectively procrastinate and lose valuable time as you move from one to the other and back again. Meditation can help you remain focused for longer periods of time and improve not only your efficiency, but feelings of positive emotion after task completion. [Source: ]

 

2.  Become More Self Aware

Studies have found that those who meditate regularly are much more self aware and have a more positive sense of self. Self awareness is a happiness multiplier and can breed contentment in several areas of your life.

The reasons for this are quite scientific, but essentially the more you meditate, the greater your feelings of well-being which leads to an enhanced awareness. [Source:  ]

3.  Slow Down the Aging Process

We’re all looking for the fountain of youth and – hold the front page! – it would seem that meditation can provide the elixir.

As we age the cells in our body stop growing and reproducing. This is a result of several things, but most notably, stress. By introducing regular meditation into your life, you effectively reduce stress and your body can continue to grow and reproduce the cells needed to keep you feeling young and healthy.

While it can’t keep you young forever, a strong meditation practice can put the brakes on the aging process and give you a greater quality of life for a longer period of time.

The ability to live longer, as a happier and more productive human being are just a few of the many ways meditation can improve your life. For only a handful of minutes each day you could enjoy a far better quality life. What’s not to like?

So tell me – does daily meditation sound worth your time now? If you’re already an avid meditater, how has it improved your life? Share in the comment section below.

 

Source URL: https://yogadigest.com/3-reasons-to-start-a-meditation-practice-today/