5 Reasons to Meditate
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
— Wayne Dyer
The wisdom of Wayne Dyer cannot be logically understood but only emotionally (or spiritually) felt.
And I came back to that quote thanks to meditation (and writing this article).
I have been meditating on and off for more than four years now.
The time I was on I forgot how much good it was doing. So I went off . . .
The time I was off I forgot how much I was missing out on.
That’s the thing: we only notice the difference. So I noticed the difference somehow. And got back!
I started meditating a lot.
A lot?
Well, minimum twenty minutes at night (not for newbies). Even thirty. Minimum 20 minutes during the day.
And I feel like a new person. No kidding.
There is a million reasons why you should meditate, but I will only cite seven:
- Better sleep quality
Interrupted sleep cycles can be cured with meditation. This is all scientific. Emily Fletcher, famous meditation teacher and author, in her beautiful google talk explained how the deep sleep cycles grow longer when people start meditating regularly. Deep sleep is what you need to feel fresh. Shallow sleep will leave you sleepy even after you wake up.
In fact a few bad nights were the main reason I thought of seriously going back to the refuge of meditation. And it paid off the very first night. I meditated only 20 minutes and the morning after I woke up feeling fresher and happier.
A good night sleep is reason enough to try meditation (for the first time) or to get back to this scientifically proven technique, in case you somehow forgot.
2. Clearer State of Mind
I observed how I am less reactive. Things go wrong and I have bit of lapse before I resort to my favorite swear word (won’t tell you which). Not only do I have more control, I experience less stress and can persuade myself to do the right things. In other words, my willpower is stronger. Meditation does that to you (also scientifically proven).
The process of meditation (bringing your attention to one thing, be it your breathing, or a mantra) is the process of using your pre-frontal cortex, which is the more human part of brain. It allows us to think long term and in other words is our better-self-brain. Meditation can make this part of our brain (right behind our forehead) stronger.
3. Better emotional state
Happiness, sadness, lows, highs, they are all part of life. But if you want to be more detached from every state and experience more of just “being,” do more meditation. The process of calm breathing itself can induce a peaceful emotional state. The state of anger has a high-heart rate and blood pressure to go with it. By learning to meditate, we are teaching our body to stay calm.
On a physiological level, that’s like emotional hygiene 101 (to adapt Guy Winch’s words).
4. Be More Creative
I love to write (proof: I’m writing this post!). But meditation did more than that. It made me go back to drawing. My recent visit to Udemy last night proved to me that my higher artistic self was making a come-back after months. When I meditate, I literally run a cosine-wave graph through my mind to map my inhaling and exhaling pattern. Playing with my imagination becomes easier when I start meditating.
And so could you . . .
Whether drawing, painting, writing or paper-bird-making, you will have more creative flow. Art is about letting the creative energy flow through you. And the flow of meditation is the right practice to cultivate the right kind of artistic flow states. I can confirm that.
5. Procrastinating Less / Doing More
Who doesn’t suffer from procrastination? Be it the monkey-mind holding you back or your chronic stress symptoms, meditation can be the magic elixir — literally!
As I work full-time, I often have a lot to do (like basically literally everyone else, except those students who chill, watch Netflix and occasionally read Medium.com) and thus a lot I can postpone and procrastinate on.
But here’s the thing. Now that I meditate every day a few times, I have more willingness to take on challenging tasks. I procrastinate less. I still procrastinate.
In fact, I realized I am even more willing to help others. I like helping people in general but on a usual work day I’m usually stressing out over how to get the To-Dos done. The stressing out doesn’t help me or anyone around me.
Meditation helps.
In other words, just 5 minutes of meditation can make you a better worker. A more helping colleague.
Just sit or lie down. Close your eyes (wear a sleep mask, maybe). Breathe in for 4–6 seconds. Hold for 2–4 seconds. Breather out for 4–6 seconds. That’s all. There, you meditated already.
Start with a simple habit of 2 minutes of morning or bed time meditation. Set a repeatable alarm on your phone with the label “Meditate for 1 minute”.
Trust me, that can change your life, 1 minute at a time.
