As a kid, I was a hyperactive, restless kid with lots of questions. My attention span was really poor. I had too much of energy. And that’s when my father told me about meditation. Initially, I was asked to do sit quietly with eyes closed only for 2-3 minutes in a day.
Needless to say, I had no understanding of its benefits. In the beginning when I started meditating it would be difficult. Then I got into the mode of meditation at a certain time in a day.
As I grew up, I could gradually feel its benefits. It was like charging the batteries. When I was in college, you could put me in the chaos and I will still finish assignments.
Of late, I just practice mindfulness meditation. But it’s easier than sitting in one place and trying to meditate and get distracted. Mindfulness can be practiced anywhere, even while reading a book or walking on the road. There’s a book, Walking meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh. That book actually made realize me much how much we miss things around us under the pretense of being busy. Mindfulness is rejuvenating. It brings a loy fresh air/ oxygen in that reduces procrastination or laziness.
I have never been in a phase of negative mindset for a long time. I generally pick myself up from the sad stage or angry or frustration quicker than I generally see people around me. In fact, I started writing when I got back to meditation (yes for many years I stopped, giving the age-old excuse “I don’t have time”).
And with time I found these are the benefits that I had with meditation which I would love to share
- Improves focus/attention span
Meditation helps us to improve our focus on the particular subject. Thus you can finish a project or an analysis quicker. This helps memory retention as well.
- Increases patience
It is linked to focus and clarity. Once you get better at focusing on topics, your patience also increases. Imagine yourself on a busy day stuck in traffic and you probably are late for a meeting. You would realize that certain situations are not under your control and you would need to let go at times.
- Helps me with sleep
Every day before I go to sleep I do mindfulness meditation by Oak (an app on iOS). The duration and the quality of the sleep are so much better than on days I don’t meditate.
- Helps to release stress
Mindfulness practice brings me back to the present. It is my observation that lot of our stress is for some event that might happen in the future. Author Eckhart Tolle in his book Power of Now has mentioned that we need to look at this present moment and think if we have any problem right at this moment. The answer will be no. You will notice right at that moment our body will automatically relax and feel better.
- Brings in clarity & frees up some space in mind
There’s a famous thought when there is too much ripple on the surface of the lake you cannot see the bottom. Only once the lake is calm and without any ripples, you can see the bottom of the lake which shows you the depth. It is very much similar to the mind. Mindfulness helps you clarity and create that space in your mind. It gets rid of the unnecessary thoughts.
And of course, other than this we might huge internet resources which gives insight on scientific findings, spiritual benefits. These are some of my experiences that I have shared, benefits that I have reaped.
Meditation is a process I slow myself down, stop and see around. For most of us, the life is always in a rush.
Confessions of a Reading Freak 