Article #550

Author: Lisa Hepner

According to an international survey of 400 people from 44 different countries, here are the top 10 benefits of meditation:

#1 Inner Peace, Peace of Mind

#2 Calmness

#3 Stress Reduction

#4 Increased Focus/ Clarity#5 Relaxation#6 Health#7 Connection with Source/ Others

#8 Balance

#9 Wisdom

#10 Increased Energy

Peace of Mind

With meditation you realize that you are NOT your mind (or your thoughts)! You are the peace beyond the thoughts! Meditation helps you not get so wrapped up in the drama that often arises from most of your thoughts.

You become the observer of thought, instead of the reactor! You become that “witnessing Presence.”

This is complete freedom!

Gandhi said that “Peace to be real, must not be dependent on outside circumstances.” Meditation helps you realize the peace beyond any circumstance that Gandhi spoke of.

Regardless of what is going on externally, you can experience peace. And meditation is that portal to peace!

Calmness

Again, by becoming the observer of thought, the drama is lost. Underneath is a stillness, calmness.

Meditation teaches you to become responsive instead of reactive. This is a calm place of Being in the world.

You’ll notice with regular meditation practice, that you “respond” to situations more calmly, rather than “react” from a place of anger or stress.

Stress Reduction:

Meditation helps you live in the moment, which alleviates stress.

Most of us spend our lives trying to get somewhere. We need to finish this project by such and such deadline. We need to accomplish a specific result by a specific time.
And while that is necessary in the real world, taking action while being fully in the moment reduces stress tremendously.

We get stressed out because we’re living in a future that doesn’t even exist, except in our minds.

For example, let’s say I’m working on a writing assignment and I have a deadline of four weeks to complete the project. I can spend that four weeks stressing about that deadline, (which is counterproductive) or I can live in the moment and do the necessary tasks to move me in the direction of the goal.

When we live in the moment, our whole way of working is different. Our whole way of living is different!

I know, for me, once I incorporated meditation into my daily life, I don’t think as much about the future and I work on my projects in the moment. From this place of living in the moment, I experience increased joy and creativity and my projects are completed on time, or even early.

Whereas, before if I had a deadline on a project, I would worry about what would happen if I didn’t finish the project, I would think about how my life was going to be over the next few weeks while working on such project, I’d think about the things I was giving up working on such a project. These are all useless thoughts that don’t help me get any project done! And not only are the thoughts useless, but they take away the joy and creativity of working on any project!

If you’re stressed, it’s most likely because you’re thinking about future events (or worrying about the past).

When you live in the moment, you are better equipped to handle the tasks in life!

Meditation helps you to be grounded in the present moment.

Increased focus/clarity:

Meditation is an excellent tool for clarity. Often, if I’m unsure what direction to take, I will meditate and the answer becomes clear to me.

And I can say that since I’ve started meditating regularly, I’ve been more focused and more clear on the things I’m doing in my life. But I approach them from a place of Being.

Relaxation:

Meditation is a peaceful process. If you’re feeling stressed, meditation can be used to help you relax.

Health:

The benefits of meditation on overall health have been widely publicized, so I’m not going to go over them in detail here, all you have to do is Google “the health benefits of meditation” and you will find numerous studies and reports.

Meditation has been shown to lower blood pressure, decrease stress, increase immunity, decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, promote healing and increase energy.

Meditation is one of the greatest things you can do for your health.

And when you live from that meditative place, you naturally make choices that are also conducive to your overall health and well-being.

So the practice of meditation also helps us make other choices that are beneficial to a healthy lifestyle!

Connection with Source/ Connection with Others:

Meditation helps you experience your connection with Source. (And I’m not sure the word “connection” entirely describes it because you are always connected with Source, but most of the time unaware).

Meditation helps you be aware of the truth of who you are! Beyond your body, your mind and your thoughts you are pure Spirit.

It’s the “energy” that remains even after our physical bodies have disintegrated.

Some call it Source, Soul, Essence, Energy, God, Consciousness, Presence or Being.
It does not matter what “name” you give It. It is you and you are It.

You are Consciousness expressing as the form, Jane Smith (Insert your name here).

However, most of the time you are not aware of the truth of who you are. Meditation helps you live from that awareness.

And when you are aware of the truth of who you are, you also know the truth of everyone else. You realize that connection with others. You understand that we are all one!

Meditation helps you experience deeper connections with others. You realize that people aren’t their clothes, their status or even their actions. You are able to listen to people with this awareness of the truth of who they are! What a gift to give others!

So meditation helps you live from the awareness of the truth of who you are, and recognize the truth of others and know that there is no separation.

Balance:

Meditation helps us maintain balance in our lives. We realize the truth of who we are and yet understand that we live in a world of form. It helps us balance the two.

Wisdom:

Your inherent wisdom is revealed through meditation. Most of us go seeking outside ourselves for answers, when the answers are within.

Meditation helps you to go within. From this place of Presence, answers are revealed to you.

Increased Energy:

A 15-20 minute meditation can have the same effect on your body as a good night’s sleep. If I feel tired in the afternoon or evening and I do a short meditation, my body is rejuvenated.

While all of the benefits above are true, there are a few more that weren’t mentioned in the survey that I, and others, have experienced. They are:

Increased Joy

The greatest benefit that I have experienced personally from meditation is more joy in my life!

Meditation is a blissful, joyous process!

There is more laughter in my life! I even find myself laughing at my thoughts. Situations that would have bothered me before become laughable.

Increased Creativity

From a place of centeredness that meditation provides, you become more creative. I’ve had some of my most creative ideas stem after meditation sessions.

Ever since I started meditating, I’ve had surges of creativity.

And if you think about it, it makes sense. All creations come from a place of stillness, nothingness. When we are “in this place” through meditation, ideas and opportunities present themselves.

Positive effect on the world:

The effects of meditation on our environment have been documented, and this book isn’t going to cover this topic in detail. A great book to read about the positive affects of meditation on the world is Permanent Peace by Dr. Robert Oates.

While Dr. Oates’ book scientifically documents the positive effects of meditation in our world, we don’t even have to read the studies to know this to be true, we can see this in our daily lives.

Have you ever been around someone who is very stressed out and then when you left his/her presence, you found yourself feeling wound up?

And have you ever been around someone so peaceful that when you left, you felt inspired, peaceful and noticed the beauty around you?

Our energy affects everything around us. When we live from a place of Presence, we have a profound affect on others, and ultimately the world!

As you can see, the benefits of meditation are vast. It truly is the greatest gift you can give yourself and the world!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/the-top-10-benefits-of-meditation-2377213.html

About the Author

Lisa Hepner is an author, speaker and meditation facilitator. She is the creator of the international Don’t Wait-Meditate (R) campaign and the founder of Project Meditate. Get your free report and free video meditation library at: http://www.projectmeditate.com