Meditation has a variety of benefits for your mental health. Studies have shown that as little as five minutes of meditation each day can help you think better, perform better at your job and generally be able to cope with the stresses of everyday life. Below are five other benefits of meditation.
Better Focus
Meditation is well known for improving concentration as it allows you to ground yourself in the present moment by focusing on nothing else but the meditation itself. Your mind will expand during the relaxation process, sharpening and balancing it out by heightening your consciousness as well. This puts your mind in an Alpha state of being.
Less Stress
Often, we’ll find the stress of our lives combined with that of work coming in the way of our mental well-being. Our bodies, in stressful situations, generate higher amounts of cortisol, known as the stress hormone. Meditation will allow you to let go of problems that are heavy on your soul, shrink them to a smaller size and give you the confidence and inner strength to tackle them before they tackle you. Cortisol levels will be decreased significantly as a result.
Improved Memory
There are so many distractions around us and our minds are constantly abuzz with new information. This is especially true in the age of social media and globalisation where we are always being fed with images and data to process. We might find ourselves easily forgetting a lot of things. Meditation helps you to cut out the distractions, clear and focus your mind as you dig deeper within your consciousness to find hidden meaning and ultimately, remember the things you once knew.
Development of Intuition
Intuition can be best described as the quiet wisdom within, which gives you insight and knowledge about doing the right thing – even when in situations you have never been in before. As you block out distractions and focus better through your meditation, you will experience a silence within you. This silence is the voice of your ego becoming more and more quiet as you go deeper into thought, allowing the voice of intuition to be heard. Listen to this voice because the more you do, the stronger it will become.
Emotional Steadiness
If we are not in control of our emotions, we may find ourselves being trapped by them. When we are trapped by our emotions, we are controlled by them and might find ourselves in an unsteady state of mood swings, depression, and ups and downs, which we feel are beyond our control. Meditation works to neutralise your stress hormones, creating a stable environment in the mind. As you visualise and centre your presence (during meditation), you are able to reshape your thoughts and get rid of the negative consequences of your instability.
