Meditation seems to be a hugely important aspect of spirituality. It’s almost as if it wouldn’t make sense to practice spirituality without at least trying to meditate. I want to tell about all the advantages – physical, mental, emotional – meditation can have if done correctly and what it does for you spiritually.
Like everything in life, nothing is easy when we try it the first time. Likely, meditation will do nothing for you in the beginning or even bore you. But when practiced on a regular basis it will bring you so much peace and calm that you don’t want to start your day without it.
How do I do it correctly?
The basic concept is very simple. You sit down at a quiet place, either in a sitting upright position with your back to a wall, a chair or your bed, lying down, again on your bed or on a mat, and there are walking meditations as well. Make sure you won’t be disturbed as sitting in silence is recommended. You can put on music if you like. I’d do music without lyrics, as they could be distracting. But personally, I prefer to do it without music. Put your hands on your knees or on your lap and close your eyes. The goal is to calm the chaos inside your head by distancing yourself from your thoughts. Slowly, you breath in and out and try to leave the world and all your worries behind.
There are several breathing techniques. A common one is to breathing in for 7 seconds, holding your breath for 7 seconds, and then breathing out for 7 seconds. It doesn’t really matter though how you do it. Just try to breath as deeply as you can as that will calm you down the most. If you catch yourself overthinking, don’t judge yourself for it. Instead, just try to bring your focus back to your breathing. You can meditate for however much time suits your feelings and timetable. You can meditate on your own or do a guided meditation. These you can find on YouTube or Spotify for example. You can look up meditations for your specific needs, such could be; against stress, for pain relief, for self-love and self-acceptance, for unblocking chakras, for manifestation, for relief of doubts and so on.
Remember, practice takes time. You will probably have to do it many days to ‘get good’ at it. However, remember that there is no right or wrong.
What are the physical advantages?
Mediation reliefs stress by reducing blood pressure. The constant slow breathing has shown to calm us down and reduce our stress levels a little. It seems like the world today is in a constant rush. Slowing down once in a while and breathing slowly but deeply can help immensely with this.
It improves your sleep quality. Not being able to fall asleep often lies in the fact that we have too much going on in our lives and don’t take the time check in on ourselves. If you do that, if you take care of your well-being, you can calm the storm within you, which will enable you to fall asleep faster. The calming down by breathing more deeply than usual will also provide better sleep quality.
When combining meditation and exercise, your physical performances can increase as well. It will better your discipline too, since it takes will power to sit in silence every day for a few minutes.
… the mental ones?
Mediation has shown to increase concentration and focus. Especially in the times of endless scrolling on social media it has become much harder for us to focus for longer periods of time. Our attention span has sunk to around seven seconds. Meditation will strengthen your ability to focus on something for a longer period of time.
Meditation reduces overthinking. Sitting in silence and actually having to cope with our thoughts helps us calm the chaos in our heads. It also enables us to dive deeper into our minds and get to know ourselves a little more. During mediation sessions I have often found the cause of something that has been bothering me that I wasn’t aware of before. And if you’re lucky you’ll get an answer to your problems as well 🙂
Emotionally?
Emotionally, meditation helps you get to know yourself better. If you take them time to think about what’s going on, you’re more likely to find out what has been making you miserable lately. Then, you can work on improving your mindset.
There are mediations for self-love, self-acceptance, for your inner child, etc. These will help you treat yourself better when you have been a little harsh or too critical with yourself lately. They will make you thank you for showing up for yourself, they will make you imagine how you can show your inner child some love, what you can say to yourself in order to elevate your confidence.
It can make you happier. Meditating is way of ‘checking in’ with yourself. It shows your subconscious self that you will put in a little extra work to take care of yourself. It keeps you in check with your mental health and helps you figure out what has been bothering you lately. During the meditation you can speak affirmations to remind you that you are loved and appreciated, and it can help with your manifestation, as I said above.
How can it help me get more in touch with Spirituality or my faith?
Meditation, especially when done often and on a regular basis, will help you connect to your subconscious and your higher self. Both are an important part of your soul. You have gone through many lifetimes and have made many experiences – that your souls still knows of – that you forgot before you were born. Being more connected and in touch with the core of you – your soul – will give you access to higher understanding of how the universe works.
At the same time, it will be more in touch with the present moment, which is where all happiness lies. It’s where you find peace. Anxiety usually comes up when we fear the future. And regret mostly comes from things we did in the past. When you can truly live in the present moment you can free yourself from those stressful emotions and realize that you are totally safe.
Let’s conclude
I tell you that meditation is beneficial in a hundred different ways. It’s totally worth adopting the habit of doing it every morning or evening – or both. It will calm you down, relief stress, ease anxiety, lower blood pressure, improve sleep quality, increase your attention span, concentration and ability to focus. It will send a message to your subconscious that you take the time and make the effort of checking in with yourself and your inner child. You will be able to connect to your higher self which will enable to make more sense of this world and the purpose of your life.
So … do it : )
I hope, you liked this little essay.
With much love, Valentina : )
