It’s no secret that meditation, in whichever form you choose, has amazing benefits for your life. Whether you choose a classic style of meditation, such as sitting cross-legged on a cushion with your hands in any of the classic hand positions, known as ‘mudras’, or perhaps a more active form of meditation, such as practising Tai Chi in a garden or park, and anything in between, the power of meditation is such that once you’ve tried it, your life truly will not be the same.
Benefits of Meditation
Meditating often means you’ll have a healthy mind, but that, in all truth, is a vague statement. Five major benefits of meditation include:
- Lowered Blood Pressure. Along with the peace of, say, listening to a cat’s purring, or simply stroking your animal friend’s fur (which is mutually beneficial for you and the animal), regular meditation has been proven to lower blood pressure in people who were particularly at risk for cardiac issues. Repeated negative stress is not anyone’s friend, however, when it comes to the mind-heart connection, so everyone, not just obvious cardiac patients, will benefit from regular sessions with a meditative practise.
- The Ability to Think and Act More Rationally. While it’s beneficial to allow your emotions to flow and not bottle them up, allowing your inner demons, as it were, to completely control you is not exactly good, either, as those ‘demons’ tend to manifest in the form of anger and feeling defencive and being ‘thin-skinned,’ among other problematic emotions and behaviours. Meditation can put you on the road to emotional healing if you’re in the latter camp, and it can help calm those agitated thoughts that can hamper your actual desire to be rational.
- Improved Relationships. Part of acting and thinking more rationally is not just about using pure reason with no thought towards emotions at all. It’s about learning to think beyond ourselves to what others want and need. Meditation not only allows us to examine our own role in a relationship, but it allows us to contemplate other people’s lives, wants and needs, and may help formulate solutions to any conflicts that arise.
- Improved Creativity. Along with aiding in conflict resolution, meditation benefits your creativity in more personal ways, such as writing, music, or even how to fix something that’s broken without having to spend a lot of money. If you’re stuck on a problem, meditation allows your mind to take a break from whatever creative struggle you’re facing, be it an actual creative block, or allowing you to approach a ‘DIY’ issue from a different angle.
- Boosted Immune System. Because meditation reduces stress, which can lead to lack of sleep, which leads to illness, your immune system is likely to benefit greatly with a meditation practise. This is particularly important in the autumn and winter, when people are more prone to catching various viruses.
Meditation Helpers
While you can sit in a room with no noise or scents and meditate just fine (if that’s your style), many people find it beneficial to use the following meditation helpers:
- Music. Thanks to the rise of the ‘New Age’ genre, music written specifically with meditation in mind, even if it’s just calming piano music with sea sounds in the background, has enjoyed a steady rise in popularity and variety. Depending on the type of meditative mood you wish to set, you can purchase music with specific spiritual work in mind, such as aura cleansing and Tarot readings, or you can simply put on a CD full of nature sounds with guided meditations, or Tibetan singing bowls and chanting, and much, much more. If you’re musically inclined yourself, you can create your own music if you wish.
- Aromatic Herbs. Aromatherapy used to receive quite a bit of ‘negative press’ because it was long thought of as something only ‘flaky people’ did. Now science has caught up to the healing, calming power of herbs and essential oils that can aid in relaxing an anxious mind and heart. Lavender is among the topmost herbs mentioned, as its heavenly scent is excellent for relaxation and destressing. Just plucking off a piece of lavender off the plant and lightly rubbing the leaves between your fingers is bound to bring a dose of calm to your day, no burning required. Sage and sweetgrass are two other favourites, as they not only promote quiet calm, but they cleanse the aura—and your physical space—of negative energies.
Whether you use herbs and sound with your moving meditation practise, or you prefer sitting with no sound or scent (with the exception perhaps, of the ocean, if you’re fortunate to live near a beach), meditation has the power to bring multitudes of benefits, including a healthy mind, to your life.