How Meditation Can Help Improve Your Life?

Meditation has been used to achieve enlightenment since the beginning of time. Being practised as a part of several cultures and used nearly in every religion including Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, modern-day meditators call it the food for the soul to unlock doors to a better life.

Meditation is a simple, accessible way designed to promote heightened awareness and focused attention. Consistent meditation offers time for relaxation as it is all about developing awareness and gaining a healthy sense of perspective.

While meditation is not a cure-all solution, it can be taught and practised in a variety of ways.

Types of Meditation & Their Benefits

There are numerous kinds of meditation practised around the world, each originating from distinct cultures, traditions, and schools of thought. With various kinds of meditation, here are the common types:

1. Mindfulness

The core of this type of meditation is being conscious or understanding of existence in the present moment. It comprises, among other things, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).

Mindful meditation can help you become more observant of your surroundings. This allows you to concentrate on what you are feeling, such as the flow of your breath. You can watch your thoughts and feelings without casting judgement.

2. Loving-Kindness

This beneficial approach, also known as self-compassion meditation, is full of compassion and kindness. It heals your soul while also making you feel cherished and cared for. This style of meditation primarily enhances emotional well-being and provides a sense of control over your life.

3. Focused

The polar opposite of multitasking, this requires you to only focus on one thing at a time. With the preconceived notion that multitasking is required to complete our to-do lists, people tend to do only one thing at a time anyhow. This fleeting between varied thoughts and occupations results in a disorganised mind and a great deal of dissatisfaction.

4. Movement

Though many styles of meditation encourage sitting in one position, movement meditation emphasises physical mobility. Walking meditation is a sort of conscious movement that is related to yoga, tai chi, and other martial arts. It is extremely beneficial to commit to some form of physical discipline.

When you master being present in your body during movement meditation, your awareness expands to incorporate the things that keep you moving. Whether you are gardening, washing the dishes, or walking the dog, the target in each scenario is the movement of your body.

5. Transcendental

Transcendental Meditation is an easy, natural practice. In this type of meditation, the practitioner silently and precisely repeats a specifically assigned mantra, such as a word, sound, or phrase.

This requires no extra effort and may assist the body in settling into a state of profound relaxation in order to create a sense of inner peace.

6. Spiritual

Depending on the tradition, this style of meditation incorporates elements of silent, spoken, or chanted prayer. It fosters a stronger connection with the Almighty by focusing on self-awareness and self-actualization in non-theistic traditions such as Buddhism and Taoism. Non-theistic spiritual meditation offers an ascent to becoming the finest beings they can be.

7. Visualisation

In this meditation technique, a visual that creates a certain feeling or quality is brought to mind. It could be an open sky, a stunning mountain, or any familiar scenery that communicates to you in a simple manner.
This is said to provide meditators with a sense of detachment from undesired mental activity along with a feeling of calm.

8. Yoga

A series of postures combined with regulated breathing exercises to develop a more flexible body and a tranquil mind. As you work through poses that require balance and attention, you are encouraged to focus less on your hectic day and more on the present moment.

Benefits of Meditation

Meditation may provide you with a sense of serenity, tranquillity, and balance, which can enhance your emotional well-being as well as your general health.

Meditation and emotional well-being

Reduce stress and anxiety

Meditation can help you obtain a new perspective on difficult circumstances and develop stress-management skills. Instead of using anti-stress medicine or other supplements to be calm, you can meditate using any of the guided meditations you want, which include a variety of techniques.

Since meditation may assist reduce stress, it can also help reduce anxiety. According to research, a range of mindfulness and meditation techniques may help to alleviate anxiety and depression symptoms such as severe insomnia, loss of appetite, and poor mood.

Increasing self-awareness and self-esteem

Individuals who practise awareness meditation come to perceive themselves more clearly as a result of the technique. You may get more intimate with yourself, your wants, desires, and limitations by quieting the cacophony and watching your thoughts without criticism or inner commentary. As you grow more self-aware of your thinking patterns, you will be able to make better decisions that will benefit your life and your world.

Better focus and concentration

Meditation can help focus better on everyday chores while increasing your attentiveness, strength, and endurance. It can help you concentrate on your objectives and become more productive. A 2019 research of non-experienced mediators discovered that even brief periods of meditation, such as 13 minutes per day, enhanced attention and memory after 8 weeks. It also improved concentration and memory.

Generates Kindness

Although meditation is an internal experience that focuses on one’s own sensations, emotions, and ideas, mindfulness meditation does result in “prosocial” (kind) behaviour. It increases brain circuits involved in detecting other people’s emotions, promotes altruistic behaviour, and lowers implicit or unconscious biases, which are responsible for the continuation of damaging stereotypes.

Meditation and physical well-being

Meditation may also be beneficial if you have a medical condition, particularly one that is aggravated by stress. According to some studies, meditation may help patients manage the symptoms of diseases such as

• Asthma. A study found some evidence that meditation can assist asthma patients improve their quality of life.
• Memory loss. Regular meditation increases blood flow to the brain, resulting in a more robust network of blood vessels in the cerebral cortex and improving internal memory. It can also assist people with dementia by countering usual age-related memory decline.
• Cancer. According to research, several aspects of cancer care are increasingly incorporating mindfulness-based practices. It has been tested in several prospective studies and is still under investigation. The majority of research suggests that mindfulness decreases toxicity and stress in cancer patients.
• Addiction. This mind-body exercise helps people attain tranquillity and relaxation. It can help people release stress and manage triggers that may lead to a recurrence and resumption of drug or alcohol use. There are various ways to incorporate different kinds of meditation in addiction treatment programs.
• Chronic pain. Pain is related to one’s mental state and can be heightened under stressful situations. According to a major meta-analysis, mindfulness meditation can assist people with chronic pain, reduce discomfort, enhance their quality of life, and reduce their symptoms of depression.
• High blood pressure. Daily meditation can decrease blood pressure and potentially lessen reliance on medication. Relaxation techniques promote the development of a chemical that dilates blood vessels and in turn lower blood pressure.
• Irritable bowel syndrome. Mindful meditation assists with IBS while also working to enhance the general quality of life. It has been demonstrated to be particularly helpful in contributing to the regulation of neurotransmitters, lowering inflammation, enhancing the gut microbiome, and managing stress as it operates on the mind-body connection.
• Sleep problems. Meditation before bedtime helps to relax the mind and increase sleep quality. According to studies, mindfulness-based meditation programmes can benefit those who suffer from insomnia.
• Tension headaches. Meditation has been shown to diminish the component of the nervous system responsible for stress. Mind-body treatments such as meditation can help cure migraines by lowering underlying stress, which can cause or aggravate migraine symptoms.

Talk to your doctor about the advantages and drawbacks of meditation if you have any of these conditions or other health concerns. It is not a replacement for adequate medical care. However, it may be a useful addition to your previous treatments.

How to begin your meditative journey?

The best aspect of meditation is that it is simple to begin, does not require any special gear, and doesn’t take much time. To begin, simply sit back and relax. Remove any distractions or interruptions. A cross-legged stance promotes deeper meditation and is an excellent choice for novices.
Once seated, close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing- take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Continue in this manner for a few minutes. Allow ideas to come and go without criticising them. Allow the mind to wander; if it does, concentrate on the breath.
Since there is no right or wrong method to meditate, just patience and persistence are required to focus for prolonged periods of time. If you are having trouble and want to try guided meditation, get help from a professional wellness coach to take you through your spiritual journey.