I started meditating in 2014 when we lived overseas in Asia. I had no excuses anymore not to anymore as I finally had a bit of spare time to practise. I had attempted to meditate the previous year however I just couldn’t get my mind to calm down; it seemed futile to be honest but something in me knew it would be the best thing for me and that crazy mind of mine. Upon reflection I was obviously listening to an inner calling to meditate. I think back now to how crazy my incessant thinking was then. It never stopped ever and it was probably a year or two ago that I decided that caffeine didn’t help my mind or my nerves too, so I gave it up. And that is what meditation does to you, it brings you awareness of what is and isn’t goof for you and you body & mind. Be it people in your life, food that you eat, alcohol that you drink or your unfulfilling job that you spend an awful lot of hours doing.
This blog has been a long time coming. Like everything, now is obviously the right time for me to share the reasons why I meditate regularly and why love teaching meditation too. I could probably add another ten reasons why but lets not over cook the egg huh? So with no further ado lets get straight in to my reasons and explanations.
A calmer you
Who doesn’t want to be more zen in our day to day life? A calmer you that doesn’t get stressed when life gets a bit hairy is better for you and those around you. A regular practice changes the way certain areas of your brain work and how you respond to perceived stressful situations , its been proven scientifically. Not that I need science to tell me that as I know this from pure experience.
“If every 8 year old in the world was taught mediation, we would eliminate
violence from the world in one generation" - Dalai Lama
Developing your intuition
With meditation you develop the skill of listening to your inner guidance. This has become a lost art due to the our current civilizations obsession with the mind, academics, study, schooling and achieving. We aren’t taught to listen to our own inner guidance system and we are actively taught to listen to those that know better because they are better educated (so they must know better, right?) Well wrong, when you listen to your intuition you are tapping into something that has way more depth than the mind and that something is the universal intelligence.
The mind is not who we are
This is simple to answer, meditation takes you beyond the mind and going beyond the mind is the key to happiness. The mind likes to find problems, it likes to moan and be negative that’s just how the mind operates. It’s not rocket science, Buddhism teaches us that we are so much more than our mind. If we live our life from this deeper place we will live a much richer, fuller life that knows not to believe some of the nonsense in our mind.
It can lead you on a path of…………
It’s up to you where you go with your meditation practice but ultimately it can take you on a path of self-realisation and enlightenment. Not always an easy path to choose however when magic happens in your life or unexpected opportunities arise you are way more open to accepting these gifts .
Your perspective on situations changes
My way of describing this is that you become less dogmatic and ridged with your points of view. Less tunnel visioned and more open to other peoples perspective on subjects. It’s incredibly refreshing is what it is, not only for you but to all those that you are surrounded by. You see when you were in your more dogmatic state, until you experience a new way of being you had no awareness of existing in a different way because that’s all your have ever known.
It’s where the magic happens (and who doesn’t want magic happening in their life right?)
Oh yeh baby magic can certainly happen in many ways. When you meditate not only can you experience things you can’t explain such as noises, smells, feelings of euphoria and a variety of sensations but you also notice things changing in your outer life too. This is because where you choose to focus your attention will be mirrored internally/externally. If you choose to moan and be negative then this will be reflected in your internal world. If you go inward (meditation/reflection) you will bring about calmness and this will have a knock on affect in your outer world.
Understanding why we are here.
I’m not going to go into this one fully here as this is not the blog for big existential explanations however when you meditate you can become aware of and get a sense for why we are here and that is to evolve . When I say evolve, in so far as, I mean evolve spiritually and to awaken to who you truly are. Meditation opens your perspective wide and all manner of possibilities become possible. Being open to new concepts and ideas becomes very possible with meditation
Self-compassion……..yes that’s right compassion for self.
I’m really big on this one. Being kind to yourself has to be number one on your list of values. People like to use the word “selfish,” often, and when you have been accused of being selfish it can bring up feelings of guilt and there is absolutely no benefit in anyone ever feeling guilty. It is totally and utterly self destructive so why would you want to do that to yourself? I encourage others in the importance of putting yourself first and looking after number one. Not to the detriment of others but I see it as an act of self care and ultimately self love. My reasoning is that when your bucket is full you are then able to give to those around you. If you bucket is half empty and you keep giving, seriously where is that going to get you? Huh? Unfortunately it’s going to lead to exhaustion and illness. With meditation you become self aware. Aware of what is and what isn’t working for you. This one is the biggest lesson for mothers, as they are the biggest givers of all. You can still be there for your children but knowing how to filling up your bucket first then you bucket will over flow and you are able to give freely.
If your in a bad mood and you just cant seem to shake it.
Well this is an excellent time to meditate because by the time you have finished your meditation you are in a completely different head space , it’s like magic . Meditation creates a sense of peace and calmness that wasn’t there previously and your mind and any negative self talk has vanished to be replaced by zenness. Magic