THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

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"The gift of learning to meditate is the greatest gift you can give yourself in this life."   

 -  Sogyal Rinpoche

The benefits of meditation can be divided into four parts:  medical, concentrative, spiritual and emotional. 

Medically, meditation may improve your physical health and it does this in two main ways:-

1.     It helps the body to relax; and

2.     It helps to calm the mind.

This helps to restore the body to a state of balance.  Stress affects every system in the body in a negative way, for example high blood pressure can lead to heart disease.  The immune system also weakens under stress, making you more susceptible to various illnesses.    

Meditation can lower blood pressure, calm the nervous system, reduce muscle tension, lower cortisol levels in the body (a hormone associated with stress) and strengthen the immune system.  Serotonin is known to increase by meditating (a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood, appetite and sleep). 

Being calmer in body helps us to be more mentally, spiritually and emotionally peaceful too.  Studies have also been done which suggest that meditation may also help manage chronic pain and assist (as an adjunct to treatment) in healing various illnesses. 

There have been several studies that suggest that meditation may also slow the ageing process. 

Meditation can help to increase your powers of concentration, a mental skill that’s useful in all areas of life, especially in areas of study, career and sport, where an increased ability to focus can improve your performance and help you to become more successful at what you do.   

Spiritually, it can help you live in the present moment (making the most of what you have) and give your more clarity, insight and self awareness.  It can also help to increase your powers of intuition, which is useful for making the right decisions in your life.   

Emotionally it may help you to be more balanced and give you more happiness, calm and inner peace. 

Remember, consistent regularity is the key to gain the benefits of meditation.  But the good news is, once a routine is established, meditation can become pleasantly addictive. 

An important tip for beginners:  it’s best to start off slow.  Rather than trying to meditate for half an hour to an hour, start off with five to fifteen minutes, then gradually increase the time as you get more comfortable with it (if you wish to do so).  If you start off with too long a meditating period, you might find it too much of a chore, and that might discourage you from continuing on with your practice.   

As a general rule of thumb, aim to meditate for a minimum of ten to fifteen minutes a day.  As your concentration improves, you might find yourself naturally wanting to extend this time.

Another good book on meditation I can recommend is “The Meditation Experience” by Madonna Gauding.  It includes a meditation CD and journal to record notes, meditation and mindfulness excercises and techniques and a section on combining meditation with yoga, walking, Tai chi and Chi kung.  Click on this link to check it out at Amazon bookstore. 

For further reading on the many benefits of meditation, check out these books: 

Do you want to meditate? by Eric Harrison

Hurry up and meditate by David Michie

Working with meditation by Madonna Gauding

How to meditate by Paul Roland

Meditation for wimps by Miriam Austin