5 Reasons I Meditate
So I've been practicing meditation for about two years or so now, and let me just say I’m not an expert. It’s a constant journey, as it is for everyone. I’m not as consistent as I’d like to be with it but like I said, it’s a journey and I’ve committed to not being too hard on myself about it. With that being said, I really enjoy doing it. It’s allowed me to look deeper within myself and has personally helped me grow in ways I didn’t even expect when I first started. If you’re looking to get into meditating but need some sort of a starting point or guide, I’d suggest using a meditation app to help you. It has worked really well for me (I use Oak). My greatest piece of advice for those who struggle to sit quietly and calm their mind: don’t judge how well you think you are or are not doing. If 50,000 thoughts come and go during your meditation, that’s fine. Often, we get so wrapped up into whether or not we’re doing something right or not but I think one of the main points of meditation is to just sit with all that you are, whatever thoughts may be and just observe yourself. After awhile it becomes easier to simply just release all the mental noise.
5 Reasons I Do It
To Practice Peace
So once you’ve gotten into the groove or habit of meditating, it allows you to find this inner stillness and calmness. The goal is to keep this sense of calmness with you even when you’re not meditating so that life’s obstacles don’t disturb you as much as they usually would. The peace that I’ve gained through meditating is pretty special to me, it’s allowed me to put a lot of things in perspective.
To Clear My Mind & Help Me Focus
While it can be a task to get past the learning curve of meditating, it’s worth it. It took me awhile to actually get my mind to be quiet for long periods of time but once I got the hang of it it provided a way for me to clear my mind of random clutter thoughts. Afterwards, it became a lot easier to focus on other tasks at hand in my life.
Lower Stress
Meditation has proven to lower stress levels in scientific studies and I can honestly say that I feel it after practicing it for a good amount of time. Things that use to stress me out don’t have as much of a hold on me as they use to before I started meditating.
Increase Creativity
So as a person who enjoys creative activities, at times it’s a struggle to come up with or express new ideas. When I make the time to meditate I feel that it allows my mind to easily access the creative spaces that sometimes get buried by other worries and thoughts in my mind.
Self-Care
As part of my self care routine, meditation has become non negotiable. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t always stay as consistent with it as I would like to depending on how life goes but I can without a doubt tell the difference when I’m missing out on it. My favorite place to meditate is outside so that I can listen to the unfiltered sound of nature in the background.
