Meditating or praying with candles has been proven to reduce stress in one’s life (Photo courtesy of markpsychiatry.com).
The Benefits of Meditation: Getting the ‘Ooomph’ Back
By Meta J. Mereday
There are many benefits to meditation and, according to About.com, among those benefits include that it is free, always available, and very effective in short-term stress reduction and long term health.
Being free makes it widely accessible to those who could use it to address their stressful circumstances. Also, it plays an important role in its effectiveness because meditation is something that can be done at anytime and anywhere.
With the daily stresses that people encounter in their lives that negatively impact their health and well-being, many can benefit from meditation because it can help to reduce chronic illnesses and provide clarity.
According to the website artofliving.org, the benefits of meditation include calmness, peace of mind, joy, vibrant health, greater energy, positive relationships and fulfillment in life.
The site outlines the four specific types of benefits derived from meditation that positively impact the mind, body and soul.
First, meditation provides opportunities to de-stress, thus allowing you to prevent stress from getting into your system and to release accumulated stress that is in your system.
It is believed that the benefits of meditation provides a rest that is “deeper than the deepest sleep” thus giving more energy to function better.
Second, the physical benefits of meditation are significant as it creates a physiological change that helps to lower high blood pressure, reduces anxiety attacks and decreases any tension related pain, such as muscle and joint pain and tension headaches.
Meditation changes every cell in the body and fills them with more “prana,” or energy, which results in more joy and peace. The relaxation and renewed energy improves the immune system and boosts the inner body’s resources.
Third, the mental benefits of meditation focus on improving brainwave patterns geared towards an alpha state that promotes healing. With regular practice, the benefits of meditation on the mental state includes: improvement of emotional stability, renewed clarity and creativity, happiness increases and problems appear smaller and more manageable.
With the ultimate objective for meditation to lead to peace of mind and improved quality of life, the benefits of meditation increases the self awareness that your inner attitude, and not external reinforcements, determines personal happiness.
Finally, the other benefits include: emotional harmony, steadiness and personal transformation.
Meditation helps one to consciously evolve and to encompass the world in greater measure and clarity of the positive forces, while reducing the negative influences that drain energy and creativity.
In order to maximize the benefits of meditation, there are a few tips to follow.
According to Todd Goldfarb from We The Change blog, meditation should be a formal practice and time should be set aside regularly to incorporate it into a daily schedule, much like a prayer schedule.
Also, he encourages stretching to loosen the muscles and taking deep breaths to relax the muscles and clear your mind.
Initially, it can be frustrating, but the more time you devote to focusing and releasing your mind and body the more the benefits of meditation can increase.
Do not let the frustrations deter your objective. Read books, especially religious books like the Bible, and listen to CDs to provide prompts and supports to help you discover the benefits of meditation.
Find a partner to meditate with or set up a space that will be used for meditation or prayer and fill it with candles and other items that make you feel at ease.
The benefits are derived from a personal journey to gain peace and reduce stress.
With so much at stake in the daily grind, finding one’s own balance for harmony and long life is a small but important step for well being and long life.
Mereday is a contributing writer for Regal Magazine, a publication dedicated to the African American community.
