Are you considering starting a daily meditation practice? Maybe these ten reasons will convince you that it is worth your time and effort.
- Meditation is about cultivating mindfulness, awareness and concentration.
- Daily meditation offers us a sense of connection to all things, and allows us to recognize the importance of being present.
- Meditation enhances our creativity, improves our memory, and sharpens our focus.
- Stress reduction: More then just a relaxation technique, meditation has the wonderful side effect of reducing stress, quitting our minds, and bringing a sense of peace to our daily lives.
- Meditating regularly can lead to an increased sense of empathy and compassion, towards others and towards yourself.
- Meditation can help free the mind of distractions. A recent study showed that meditation could help treat ADD, OCD, anxiety disorder, major depression and other disorders marked by distracting thoughts.
- Meditation can give us more control over how we respond to our thoughts and emotions, so we don’t have to feel as if our minds are our own worst enemy.
- Meditation may help us cope with pain. A new study reports that meditators have lower pain sensitivity both in and out of a meditative state compared to non-meditators.
- Meditation can be an excellent tool for self-discovery. Becoming aware of our unconscious behaviors and habits we gain insight into ourselves, others and the world.
- Ultimately, meditation is about transformation, waking up to the beauty and reality of the present moment, and finding happiness in our lives.
Still not convinced? Check out these research papers (on this page click on Specific benefits of MBSR -science and research papers).