Why Meditate? A Quick Beginner’s Guide to Meditation
Why meditate? Since you asked the question, I assume you are going through one of life’s busiest seasons as a working mom.
Your kids have signed up for every sport. You agreed to bring snacks to the next school event. You desperately need to clean your house. Oh yeah, and you have to make a valuable contribution to your J-O-B every day! All while continuing to operate the day-to-day of keeping your household running.
You are taking care of everything and everyone, but who is taking care of you? Here is where meditation comes to the rescue.
Meditation Saved My Sanity
Meditation has saved my sanity over the past several months. I knew meditation’s physical and mental health benefits but never thought about it seriously until a compelling podcast interested me enough to explore it.
I run 100 mph daily, so taking a meditation break was initially hard for me, but after just a few days, I was hooked. It helped me worry less, relax more, and opened up space for grace for myself and others I didn’t have before I started meditating.
What amazes me about meditation is it only takes 10-20 minutes of my day, yet it has been the most life-changing habit I’ve ever adopted. That’s my short answer to “Why Meditate?”
Meditation has opened my mind to creativity and clarity and has positively influenced my mental health. So often, we over-identify with our emotions, thoughts, and feelings, giving them more power than they deserve. This mind trickery increases our stress and anxiety levels, negatively impacting our mental health.
Meditation is a simple way to reduce stress and anxiety and quickly delivers calmness and positive energy. Meditating for just a few minutes daily increases mindfulness, reduces negative emotions, and increases self-awareness.
So, What Exactly Is Meditation?
Meditation can be categorized as a variety of practices that focus on the habitual process of training your mind and body to focus and redirect your thoughts, creating calmness to enhance your overall well-being.
There are many meditation styles and techniques ranging from guided to unguided meditations and methods such as mindfulness and spiritual to transcendental and yoga, to name a few.
I won’t go into detail about meditation styles or techniques here, but if you are interested in exploring what is available, Headspace does a fantastic job explaining them. Here is a link if you are interested in learning more!
Why Meditate? Benefits of Meditation
Meditation is becoming more popular as people realize the many benefits they experience from the practice. Many people encounter an array of personal benefits outside of the list below, but some of the most common benefits from daily meditation include the following:
- Improvement in Sleep
- Controlling Anxiety
- Reducing Stress
- Mental Clarity
- Brain Enhancement
- Enhanced Self-Awareness
- Emotional Regulation
How Do I Start Meditating as a Beginner?
I found the easiest way to meditate was, to begin with, guided mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation teaches the mind to remain stable and present, worrying less about distractions within or around us. It also uses the breath as an anchor, which is very helpful as you begin the practice.
My personal favorite guided meditations have come from using meditation apps. Many great resources are available for guided meditation, but I suggest starting with a free or inexpensive app on your phone. These apps do a great job of providing resources and options for beginners.
If you are looking for a recommendation, my all-time favorite meditation app is Unplug. Unplug features numerous meditation techniques through video, has multiple certified instructors, and offers a range of session times.
I love the flexibility it provides. I can choose the topic I’d like to focus on, such as productivity or anxiety, and I can filter based on the time I have available for meditation that day. If you are interested in Unplug, click here!
If you need help making meditation a new habit, check out Use a Habit Tracker for Success.
Meditation Tips Before You Get Started
- Schedule a time for meditation. This can be any time of the day, but schedule it on your calendar just like you would an appointment or a workout.
- Pre-determine how long you want to dedicate toward your mediation. Start with 5-10 minutes and see how you feel.
- Sit in a quiet area where you won’t be interrupted. I’ve used earbuds and sat in my closet before. Do what you have to do!
- Have an open mind with no expectations for yourself.
- Don’t give up, and don’t judge yourself when it feels hard. Remember, it is called meditation “practice” for a reason. It can be hard to quiet your mind. I have felt benefits even on days I struggle to focus.
Conclusion: Why Meditate?
Are you still asking yourself, “Why should I meditate?”
Trust me when I say it is worth it! Challenge yourself for the next seven days to block off 10 minutes a day and begin practicing meditation.
We can all agree that life is hard. It’s complicated, and it’s messy. Meditation is a way to de-stress, breathe deeply, and gain clarity and perspective when life gets stressful.
Each day you practice meditation, you will positively impact your mental health, productivity, and happiness. I can’t wait to hear how much better you feel once you practice meditation!
