Long gone are the days when we used to think meditation was only practiced by Buddhist monks or tree hugging hippies.
The image of a gathering of people clad only in robes, sitting cross legged and honouring a sacred statue still exists but we use it now to honour them, not mock them as we once did years ago.
In this day and age of stress, noise, air and electricity pollution, rising debt, falling house prices and the news that continues to pollute our minds with negative stories from around the world, more and more of us are tuning in to meditation to tune out. Tune out the bad, the stress, the anxiety and so much more.
Yes, long gone are the days when our beliefs were you had to be a spiritual guru to practice meditation.
With natural healing remedies more popular now than taking a handful of prescribed drugs from your doctor, meditation has become one of the fastest rising natural healing modalities that people are turning to. If you think you need those pills to help you sleep at night, think again.
Here are the reasons why people are tuning into meditation every single day.
1. Increases dopamine.
And that’s a BIG deal! What exactly is dopamine?
It’s a hormone and a neurotransmitter in your brain that triggers happy or sad emotions, it can give us drive or shut us down, help us to sleep better or keep us tossing and turning all night.
You see dopamine is a pretty important hormone to have so lack thereof can have significant negative effects on our health and our motivation.
2. Decreases depression.
For those of us that suffer from depression, from mild to severe, you know it’s a dark lonely place to be.
Practicing meditation daily can lift your spirits and remove that dark cloud hanging over your head, and help you to think positive . Even if only temporarily, 30 minutes of peace and happiness is certainly better than an hour or two of darkness and hopelessness.
3. Keeps you calmer and better able to handle stressful situations when they arise.
{.alignleft}
Not every day is going to be a happy cheery day.
We’re going to run into roadblocks that send us spinning sideways. Daily meditators are calmer and can handle these situations with clearer thinking and without getting too frazzled or out of control.
4. It’s the new age happy drug.
And as ridiculous as that does sound keep this in mind, when your co-worker asks you what kind of antidepressants you are on, because Lord knows half the world is on some kind of happy drug today, you can tell her you meditate.
She’ll be shocked, want more info and maybe you can help her get off of her daily meds and take up meditating. She sees how happy you are daily and will want to be in that natural state just like you! Meditating just makes you happier. Period.
5. The health benefits are mind blowing.
Did you know that meditation focused for health helps increase your immune system, decreases pain/inflammation, increases blood flow and slows down your heart rate? Who knew? When we are in a state of fear or worry or anxiety, our heart pumps fast and is greatly overworked. Meditating slows that down hence reducing fatigue and stress.
6. It’s the cheapest and quickest way to get healthy.
Well it is free, right? Not only that, it’s super simple and can be quick too. While some people like to take up to 30 minutes or more a day to meditate, you can still effectively do it in less than 5 minutes. This will take some practice but it certainly can be achieved.
7. Gives your metabolism a boost hence helping you lose weight.
Yes! Who doesn’t need a boost in that department? Research shows that as we age our metabolism slows down. Meditation helps keep that metabolism right up there which in turn helps us to either a) lose weight if we need to or b) help us to maintain our already healthy weight. Awesome.
Before you even start shouting “But I don’t have time” take heed. You sit at your computer for how many hours a day on Facebook or Twitter or Buzzfeed?
You have 5-10 minutes to watch mindless videos about cute babies with puppies or listen to Cleo the Crystal Ball Expert tell you, in 15 minutes, how this is going to be your best life ever.
If you have time to do all those things, then you definitely have time to meditate. Trust me, the benefits will far surpass the ones Cleo is telling you about.
We can always make time. All you need is 20 to 30 minutes a day. That's how long our guided meditation sessions last, too. So go ahead, make some time in your day - we recently made all of our meditations available to listen to online for free, browse our free guided meditation mp3s.
And please leave a comment below - how has daily meditation changed your life? What is the single one benefit you have experienced? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
