What Is The Point Of Meditation?
Meditation is a powerful and accessible way to reduce stress.
We live in a world of constant pressure, digital exposure, and social comparison, all of which can profoundly impact our mental health.
Meditation practice is an excellent way to break free of disordered thoughts, bringing a sense of peace and calm with other tremendous health benefits.
If you’re new to meditation or considering a training course to become a certified workplace mindfulness facilitator, let’s look a little closer at how meditation works - and why people do it!
What Are The Benefits Of Meditation?
Meditation is a holistic mind-body practice, often seen as complementary to medicine.
The beauty of ongoing meditation is that the advantages don’t stop when your session ends.
It provides a baseline of balance and calm that can help you manage symptoms of many medical conditions, as well as day-to-day stress.
How Do You Know If Meditation Is Working?
Here are some indicators that meditation is positively impacting your health:
- Your mind has more capacity to cope with stress.
- Your sleep is improving - or sleep disorders are being resolved.
- You experience less anxiety and worry overall.
- You begin to meditate while moving or listening to music.
- Your perception of challenging situations becomes more observant.
- You find it easier to resolve problems and identify solutions.
- You feel more motivated to achieve your goals.
- You have a greater awareness of your actions and make mindful choices.
Meditation is by no means obligatory, but when you begin to experience such positive effects, it becomes something you look forward to - like a cool drink on a hot day for your mind!
Once you achieve this joy in your practice, the benefits become even more amplified.
What Are The Origins Of Meditation?
Meditation has been around for thousands of years, with archaeological estimates that cite the discipline’s origin as far back as 5,000 BCE.
Originally, meditation was intended to help people achieve enlightenment, enhance spirituality, or receive religious guidance.
However, contemporary meditation is a self-care practice and isn’t associated with any particular faith - it is open to everyone and can be practiced anywhere.
But, where did meditation come from? With origins in India, multiple countries and religions have adopted meditation to fit within their own system, which is why there are so many diverse forms of it today.
We can find a history of meditation in:
- Ancient Egypt
- China
- Hinduism
- Buddhism
- Judaism
- Sikhism
- Jainism
Meditation is an everyday mindfulness practice that is done by numerous world leaders, business executives, and professional sportspeople, which offers a testament to its emotional and physical benefits.
Meditation In The Modern World
Stress is a normal, healthy sensation and helps us respond physically and mentally to challenges, dangers, and threats.
However, with substantial rises in stress-related ill health, it’s never been more crucial to take proactive steps to combat anxiety.
Meditation may be an ancient practice, but it transcends borders, ages, belief systems, and languages.
There’s no singular cure for stress, and meditation is a process, not a finite solution.
But, with access to meditation techniques, everybody can learn how to quiet the thoughts in their head and regain a sense of focus and purpose.
If you would like to learn more about how to incorporate meditation and other mindfulness practices into your daily life, you can read more about mindful eating here.
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