The Amazing Benefits of Meditation on your Mental Wellbeing
Let’s talk about our mental well-being for some minutes. While physical health is essential, it is also crucial to discuss mental health and well-being. In a busy world where most people are emotionally exhausted, burn-out among other negative emotions, we sure need to talk about how to manage our feelings.
One of the effective ways to improve our mental well-being and relieve stress is through meditation. Meditation is a common way of training your mind to relax, focus, gain clarity, and change your state of mind. This method has gained popularity and is widely practiced because of its numerous health benefits. Constant practice helps you become more aware of your environment, be self-conscious, and increase your ability to concentrate.
While this term is famous, not everyone knows how to meditate. Which begs the question, how do I meditate? Before we discuss the benefits of meditation, let’s quickly talk about how to perform this ritual.
How to Meditate
According to the Mindful.org website, meditation is learning to focus on the breath as it goes in and out and noticing when the mind wanders from this task. The practice of returning to the breath builds the muscles of attention and mindfulness.
Although it appears essential, it is more complex than it is imagined. Here are the basic steps for meditating
- Find a suitable place to sit that makes you feel calm and quiet.
- Choose a time to observe; for starters, it can be 5 or 10 minutes.
- Observe your body; you can either sit in a chair with your feet on the floor or sit loosely while crossing your leg. If comfortable, you can as well kneel. However, ensure that you are stable and in a comfortable position.
- Feel your breath; follow the sensation of your breath as it goes in and out.
- Observe when your mind wanders; immediately you notice your mind has wandered within seconds or minutes, return your attention to your breath.
- Be gentle and kind to your wandering mind; don’t judge yourself or obsess over what your mind is thinking. Come back.
- End with kindness; when you are prepared, if your eyes are closed, open them. Take some moments and observe any sounds in your surroundings. Observe how your body feels in that moment, including your thoughts and emotions.
Now that you know how to practice meditation, below are the benefits of practicing meditation.
Eases Stress
Easing stress is one of the significant reasons people practice meditation. Typically, mental and physical stress is responsible for elevated levels of cortisol- a stress hormone resulting in to release of inflammatory substances. When stressed, the effects may lead to anxiety, sleep disruption, depression, and elevated blood pressure. But with meditation, research has shown that meditation may reduce inflammation response caused by stress and improve post-traumatic stress disorder.
Promote emotional health
We all want sound emotional health in a noisy world. Some meditation may help improve self-image and a better positive outlook on life. A study showed that people who completed a meditation exercise experienced fewer negative thoughts.
Can enhance kindness
Many people are walking on eggshells, and the world needs kind people as much as possible. What better way can we make the world better if we are not kind to one another? Some meditation may enhance positive feelings and actions towards self and others.
Metta, a form of meditation also called loving-kindness meditation, helps by first developing kind thoughts and feelings toward yourself. Constant practice enables you to extend kindness and forgiveness to others and even your critics.
Improves sleep
With each day, quality sleep seems to be a luxury to some people. Knowing the adverse effects and feelings of not getting ample sleep has on one, it is a good thing to make meditation a lifestyle. A study shows mindful meditation helps people stay asleep longer and improve insomnia.
Furthermore, constant meditation may help you control or change the thoughts leading to insomnia.