The Powers of Meditation

When I first heard about meditation, I was very skeptical about it. I was like everyone else, I thought it was a deep religious practice that religious people or Buddhist monks do. I honestly thought it was stupid and a waste of time.

Last summer, of 2015, I discovered that my role model Brandon Carter, practices meditation 10 minutes a day. I also learned that professional athletes and highly effective people in the world meditate as a part of their morning ritual. From that point on, I decided to open up my mind and research about it. I learned that it isn’t something only monks and religious people do. It’s something we humans do to connect with ourselves and the universe. I was dumbfounded when I read the facts, benefits, and how it can literally change the way your brain works.

There are many methods and techniques for meditation, but I wanted to keep it simple. I decided to implement mindfulness meditation for 7 days consistently and see how it will turn out.

I was pumped up to try this for the first time. I decided to meditate for the first time right after my HIIT workout because I wanted to get it over with. I overestimated myself thinking that everything will go smooth. I set my timer for 10 minutes and sat on a chair with my back straight up. I relaxed my whole body, closed my eyes, and started concentrating only on my breath.

Little did I know, it was one of the most mentally painful experiences of my life. Clouds of thoughts were flying through my head from the things I had to do that day to things that happened in the past. I felt like a drunken monkey on drugs trying to calm down. Every time that happened, I cleared my thoughts and brought back my attention to my breath. I felt like I sat on the chair for 30 minutes. I opened my eyes to take a peek if anything was wrong with my phone, but surprisingly, only 7 minutes passed by. I was frustrated and wanted to give up, but I decided to finish up.

After that session, I was curious on why my mind wandered around so often. I thought something was wrong me.

I came to a conclusion that the reason why our minds wandered off so often, I believe, is because of how society trained our minds to react. Modern society has taught us how to be busy by doing multiple tasks at once. For example, using smartphones, one of the most popular features in a smartphone is the ability to switch from one app to another. This harmful habit that we humans formed can cause a lot of unpleasant side effects. It can make us lazier by robbing our willpower, it can potentially decrease productivity and creativity, and it can make us stressed out.

I decided to meditate everyday to see what would happen.

As a result, I learned that meditation has the ability to free your mind from emotional attachment whether it’s negative or positive. This can be extremely beneficial for people that suffer from anger issues, anxiety, and depression. This is a much more powerful alternative compared to ingesting harmful pills just to cure it temporarily.

Fast forward to 2016, I started noticing the benefits of meditation after doing it consistently.

• My self-awareness has increased. Every time an unnecessary or negative thought popped up in my head, I recognized and accepted it and simply let go. That benefit alone changed my life because I used to let my emotions control me. For example, if I were mad, I wouldn’t be aware of that emotion, which would result in crazy actions that I mightt regret in the future.
• I noticed I am less anxious when it comes to socializing. I used to have social anxiety. Every time I’d meet new people, I would get nervous and rub both my hands pretending my hands were cold.
• I tend to judge less compared to before. Now I think before I judge.
• My willpower and focus has increased significantly, which has allowed to me to push myself mentally and physically.
• I am more mindful when it comes to eating food, which has allowed me to eat less and healthier.
• Overall, I have an increased sense of peace, happiness, and empathy for others.
• I don’t get stressed out as often.
• I tend to be more grateful for my life.
• I am more present.
• I became a better listener.

Are you convinced yet?

Should you meditate?

I want to ask you a couple of questions. Have you ever made a stupid decision based on your emotion? Have you ever had a conversation with a friend and got lost in your thoughts and ended up not knowing WTF he said? Are you always stressed out? Do you have problems with focusing and concentrating on a task? Do you have trouble being productive and creative? Do you have a bad memory? Do you want to become a better athlete? Do you want to become a more peaceful person? I can go on and on. In conclusion, I would recommend everyone to try meditation. There are literally tons of positive scientifically-proven studies that show the powerful healing effects of meditation. Meditation is like lifting weights for your brain. It’s mind blowing!

How to Meditate for Anyone

First off, anyone has the ability to meditate. You don’t need any fancy equipment or attend an expensive class. All you probably need is something comfortable to sit on and a timer. You can do it anywhere and anytime, preferably in a quiet place

• 1. Sit on something comfortable with your back straight up and relax your body. You can either close your eyes or leave it open.
• 2. Set a timer for around 5–30 minutes.
• 3. Concentrate on your breath or on nothing.
• 4. Try not to move and stay still.
• 5. If your mind wanders around(it will happen), be aware of it and bring back your attention.

To get the fastest result from meditation, I recommend everyone to eat a clean healthy diet because it can act as a catalyst for meditation. Consistency is key if you want to become extremely good at meditation. Remember, practice makes perfect!

See How it Goes

Like everyone in the world, everyone has a unique perspective about everything. That’s the same for meditation, not everyone will enjoy it and some people will. If you want to read a somewhat negative article about meditation, check out Stefano’s unique perspective with meditation. And here is Andre’s journey with meditation

In conclusion, I want everyone to try meditation at least once in their life to see how it goes. It’s an extremely powerful habit that has benefited thousands of people including me. It LITERALLY changed my life and it can potentially change yours if done right. I hope this article changed your perspective about meditation and I hope you give it a shot.