7 Benefits Of Meditation (my experience)
Practicing mindfulness improved my life, cured addictions, helped with focus, and discovering true love, sensitivity, and insight.
1. Mindfulness took me to the place of love.
Before I started meditating I felt a deep feeling of loneliness.
After spending years in school I was deprived of a sense of purpose and meaning. High school was an especially hard time for me. I didn’t like where I am, what I do and how I am being taught. I didn’t know who I was, and the world looked gray to me.
It seemed like I was abandoned by warm feelings like love, excitement, and joy. I felt completely lost and disconnected. This would continue if I haven’t started to question everything, especially conventional society, religion, and the modern approach to the consumption of goods.
At that point, I strongly needed to find an alternative lifestyle so I searched through the internet with phrases that came to my mind.
After a while, I stumbled across dozens of articles and videos about meditation. My interest in researching different ways to live rose to the roof, and a door of infinite information opened right in front of me, on the computer screen.
I’ve read, listened, and thought deeply about reality. I went out to nature, contemplating and noticing what was around me.
What I found was
…
beauty.
All the colors, plants, rivers, trees, birds singing, and the feeling of walking barefoot in grass or mud proved to be truly amazing.
Life wasn’t that gray anymore.
Being in the natural environment, observing, and experiencing all of it mindfully opened my heart, and I began to feel deep love for nature, and the universe.
Suddenly the stars appeared in the sky; and the occasional clouds gliding with the breeze, made the moon look even more majestic. — G.F.F.
All of this love and magnificence made me want to share the practice and philosophy of mindfulness meditation. It worked for me, so it might as well work for others.
Another improvement I’ve experienced through meditation is …
2. Greater insight
I wrote about the power of mindfulness in my previous article, but I haven’t spoken much about my personal experience.
I think insight is greatly undermined in the fast-paced world of today.
A traditional way of thinking (from what I observed living in Europe and North America) says life is about going to school, getting a job, maybe finding a hobby, marrying, consuming, and dying.
This lifestyle was supposed to bring me happiness, and success in life.
But it didn’t click with me. I personally saw this approach as shallow, boring, and meaningless (not to say that’s an objective truth, just my experience).
I wanted something more.
And that was to understand me, truthfully, and completely.
I started to write a journal, where I would ask all sorts of questions. Who am I, what do I like and dislike, what are my tendencies, and what do I agree and disagree with?
When the answers didn’t come, I would sit down comfortably in silence, and meditate until my mind lost focus and my body got tired.
Answers would often pop up during meditation, or shortly afterward.
Insight helped me fill the void of displacement from my core self.
Profound self-knowledge proved to be a reliable navigator through life. — G.F.F.
My other great benefit of mindfulness was developing a higher awareness.
3. Higher Awareness
Meditation and mindfulness philosophy made me aware of what’s happening in the internal and external world.
Individual thoughts, feelings, and sensations became much easier to access, and acknowledge. I developed a better relationship with my inner self.
On the other hand, I noticed people’s behaviors and tendencies better. I dove deeper into the mechanisms behind social events.
After years of meditation, observing humans, and other animals gives much clearer picture of what they are actually doing. — G.F.F.
Raising awareness also increased my sensitivity.
4. Increased sensitivity
After just a couple of meditation sessions, I noticed an increased intensity of my senses. Visuals, sounds, smells, feelings, and tastes became much more vivid. My emotions were more intense in both ways, positive and negative.
I also discovered who I really am.
5. I discovered my true self.
It’s like I’ve been trapped all this time fulfilling expectations of others; what I am supposed to do, say, or even think about certain subjects.
Meditation erased those barriers and limitations.
I can safely say;
Meditation set me free. — G.F.F
6. I can focus better.
Meditation is an excellent tool for improving cognitive performance.
Before I started meditating, I had trouble concentrating at school, talking to people, and doing everyday tasks. For a long time, I couldn’t stay quiet during lessons, which I thought were really boring. Now after years of meditation, I see a great improvement in controlling my attention and holding it for longer periods.
Developing a meditative mind dissolved my mental fog, which I struggled with for about 5 years from the age of 17–23. What helped me was a regular practice of meditation, a simple Yoga routine, and discipline in the everyday life.
After doing meditation and yoga daily for about 6 months I realized how great and confident I feel. My grades in the University went up from 4.1 to 4.8. I designed a research study on the relationship between extraversion/introversion with psychological well-being during Covid-19. When the year ended I received a scientific scholarship!
Everything started to go great for me. And all of that wouldn’t be possible without mindfulness, meditation, Yoga asanas (body postures), and discipline.
I got more benefits from regular practice in 6 months than from 3 years, doing it in and out, without daily yoga, and discipline.
The last benefit which I would like to mention is quitting addictions.
7. Meditation helped me cure addictions
I was never the type who needed rehab. My addictions were never that harmful. However I did struggle with saying no to substances offered to me ( cigarettes, alcohol, and weed); during parties, hang-outs, on the street or on a train, etc.
I just couldn’t say no to people and to the change of perception, and stress reduction that substances provided.
So I came up with a plan.
Firstly I quit spending time in toxic environments (negative people who took me down).
Secondly, every time people offered me something like beer or cigarettes I just said no. Meditation strengthened my will!
Lastly, I had to figure out what to do when my friends are for example smoking cigarettes or drinking beer. Instead of scrolling through social media, or distracting myself in other ways, I began doing mindfulness; by observing the surroundings, trees, infrastructure, clouds, people passing by, birds singing, and going inside, focusing on the breath or other sensations.
I was finally able to quit all of my addictions, so no more occasional cigarettes, alcohol, or other drugs.
Many years have passed since my last cigarette or being drunk at a party, and I gotta say …
It feels wonderful!
Relying on substances to increase well being is not the way to true happiness and independence. — G.F.F.
After meditating a person experiences a decrease in a need for stimulation. — G.F.F.
According to science good meditation practice calms the mind, balances release of neurotransmitters (which play a crucial role in brain functions), raises levels of awareness, and stabilizes the mood. — G.F.F.
It is also a fun thing to do and is super versatile. You can do it whenever you like, and whatever you do; whether you are standing, sitting, lying down, walking, running, you name it. Just focus on the present moment and don’t let thoughts, emotions, or external events control you.
If you are doing that then you are practicing mindfulness meditation; a calm observation of the experience. :)
Conclusion
To sum up I’d like to say that I am grateful for the practice of meditation and the life-changing effects it had on me. I believe this amazing practice can transform the world into a better place.
Thank you for reading! :)
For more insight into the scientific research on meditation, click HERE.
I devote my blog to meditation, psychology, and philosophy, so stay tuned by following me if you are interested in those areas :)
If you’d like to improve your life, quit addiction, be listened, learn to meditate or get psychological advice contact me via medium.com or send an e-mail to blissful_breaths@proton.me.
Take care :)
