5 Reasons Why You Should Meditate

Meditation has changed my life. I have been meditating for four years consistently on a daily basis. I cannot begin to tell you how much my life has improved. Above all, my relationship with myself and others has improved as well. As someone who dealt with anxiety, depression and PTSD in the past, I cannot even recognize myself. There are so many benefits to meditation, but in this post I will talk about my top five reasons why you should start meditating today.

1- Helps You Manage Anxiety

Meditation is all about reducing the number of thoughts we have and learning to let them go. Anyone who suffers from anxiety most likely suffers from thinking too much about the future and worrying about what may happen. With meditation you learn to stay in the present as well as control your thoughts. The thoughts will come but you learn not engage with them. During meditation your thoughts come, you acknowledge them as an observer, and let them go. You do this over and over until you become better at not engaging with your thoughts. Of course it takes a lot of consistency and practice but if you stick to it, you can reduce your anxiety levels tremendously. Learning to stay in the present and accepting this moment is the key to dealing with anxiety. How amazing to imagine that you do not have to worry about the next minute, tomorrow, or next month?

2- Improves Sleep

By reducing your anxiety levels and learning to control your thoughts you will, by default, sleep better. It has been proven by research that meditation improves sleep quality because you learn how to deal with your racing thoughts. Our minds are constantly working and this leads to insomnia. When you meditate, you learn to relax your body and your mind. When body and mind are relaxed and when you know how to control your thoughts you will sleep better. Not only that, but the quality of your sleep improves, meaning you can fall asleep faster and stay asleep for longer periods of time. Who does not want to sleep well and feel rested and refreshed the next day?

3 – Helps You Become More Self Aware

The more you meditate the more you learn about yourself. There is no other way to put it. By sitting still you are spending quality time with yourself. You end up observing your thoughts and learning what is always on your mind and even your patterns. Trust me, I am not saying this will be a breeze. Most of us have not been taught to spend time alone and to enjoy our own company. In meditation you not only spend time with yourself, you also learn about yourself. Self awareness is one of the greatest benefits of meditation, in my opinion. You become familiar with how you react to things and your thought patterns. This is huge in our day to day lives because we learn not to react right away. Instead, we pause, take a breath and respond. Responding is what wise people do. Reacting is what people who are out of control are used to doing. Only through self awareness can we have clarity and only through clarity can we have wisdom. Know thyself!

4- Reduces Stress

Meditation leads us to a less stressful life. Because of the process of relaxation of body and mind, we learn to deal with stress better. Things that used to bother you will not have the same effect. You end up learning, once and for all, not to let mundane things get to your nerves. When you meditate and learn that thoughts will come and you will not engage with them, you take the same approach to every situation in life. Stress is something our minds create. When you learn to control your thoughts, you will live a stress free life. 

5- Improves Relationships

Meditation helps us improve the relationship we have with ourselves. But, most importantly, it helps how we deal with others. When you meditate on a consistent basis, you become calmer, more self aware and you react less impulsively. This can be a game changer in dealing with others. By learning to take a step back, pause and process information, you become more kind and careful with how you talk to people. The more you meditate, the more you will see things and people around you change. But in fact, it is you who have changed. Becoming a more balanced and kind person, can save and create new fulfilling relationships. Who does not want that?

There are over 100 benefits to meditation and most of them are backed by science. If you want to change your life and become a better version of yourself, I encourage you to at least try for thirty days. Keep in mind meditation is not one of those things you do once and bam, you are done! No, it takes time, discipline and consistency. Once you give it a try, I promise you, life will be so much simpler and so much easier. You will become happier and even healthier.