How Does Meditation Increase Your Quality of Life
While meditation truly is one of the most ancient practices of human spirituality, it would be silly to expound that has lost its applicability in today’s modern society. If anything, there is a need for it now more than ever.
In this article, we will discuss multiple ways in which meditation can improve your quality of life and make every day a fulfilling adventure.
1. Reduces Anxiety
One of the ways in which meditation improves one’s life is that it reduces the anxiety that can lead us to freeze up, shut down, procrastinate, and play the same scenarios over again and again in our minds.
When meditating you are faced only with yourself, and in the space of total presence, you can observe your angst and begin to understand it from an outside perspective. Becoming aware of your anxiety is the stepping stone that allows for you to notice its triggers, its behaviors, and ultimately how it affects you. Once you can begin to understand your anxiety, it loses its power over you and you gain the ability to move effortlessly traverse your life.
2. Alleviates Stress
It is far too easy — in this modern age full of distractions — to get overwhelmed by all of the possibilities. One thing that meditation propagates, is the realization that everything is possible but nothing is certain.
This acceptance of what is allowed for one to relish in the present moment and be more content with working from now rather than focusing on the past and future and stressing about intangible places that aren’t where one is now.
3. Removes Creative Blockages
As a writer and a musician, creative vision is a large part of my being. When I get overly stressed and anxious, my creativity can become blocked and stifled, which only hinders my ability to write and perform music at the top of my ability.
Through meditation, I can allow my internal processes to dance freely and give attention where it is due; resulting in my creativity expanding beyond the binds of my perceived cognitive limits.
4. Promotes Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence
These terms are often misconstrued and misunderstood, however, they are merely terms that mean being aware of one’s internal self and understanding one’s emotions. For instance, when I meditate, I can begin to evaluate my emotions and understand the circumstances that trigger them.
Through self-awareness and emotional intelligence, I can be more present in my relationships and respond from a more mindful space. This allows for all of my interactions to be grounded in compassion and empathy rather than defense mechanisms and egoic tendencies.
5. Induces Clarity of Mind
Whether the cause is physical or mental illness, a hangover, or heightened emotional distress, we all experience brain fog from time to time. When we do, we find that it is hard to concentrate on our priorities, let alone process our emotions appropriately.
When practicing meditation, we are presented with the opportunity to allow all said foggy factors to be as they are and pass through the gaps in our mind — allowing for greater clarity to accomplish what is important and direct our attention to growing and expanding further.
6. Keeps You Grounded and Centered
It can be quite easy to get swept up in the tide of one’s emotions. Whether someone insults you and you respond with anger and criticism or you lose yourself to the whims of alcohol and act a fool in public, we all experience inconsistency from time to time.
With meditation, it becomes much easier to be centered in your authentic self and act from a place that is unique and true to who you really are. This improves the quality of our relationships, our work performance, and our day to day emotional homeostasis.
7. Propagates Self-Acceptance and Self-Love
One of the biggest obstacles I have encountered in my life experience is loving myself. With all of the advertisements urging us to be better and projecting images of “perfection” onto us at all times, I would say this is quite a common aversion to our happiness.
Through the power of meditation, one can truly learn to accept oneself and love oneself as they are and utilize their power as a unique individual that truly has a place in the universe. There is no need for self-loathing, comparison, or self-depreciation, and meditation is a practice that reminds one of this with little to no effort.
Don’t Negate — Meditate
At the end of the day, we are all searching for the same thing — happiness. While meditation certainly isn’t the only way to achieve this, it is a wonderful tool that will open you up to the vast limitlessness within you. Through meditation, you can heal your emotional wounds, relieve your stress, overcome your anxiety, and develop a deeper appreciation for yourself and the life you are creating.