3 Reasons Meditation Will Change Your Life

Posted July 31, 2013 by Rebecca Niziol in On the Ladder

Meditation is like a mental shower, it cleans the mind of the thought impurities that have built up over time. Without it our thoughts seem to take control, limiting beliefs haunt us, and overwhelm tends to be our go-to feeling. I’m a huge advocate of meditation, maybe even an ambassador for this practice. It’s so simple yet effective, and absolutely anyone can do it.

Let’s be clear about what meditation really is: the practice of creating space in between your thoughts. There’s a common misconception that your mind will be devoid of all thought while meditating. That’s a big fat lie. As long as you are alive, you will have thoughts in your head. Meditation is more a focus of those thoughts, so you can direct them as you’d like. Dr. Deepak Chopra debunks some other meditation myths in this Huffington Post article.

There are many different forms of meditation, and all are brilliant and acceptable ways of making this practice your own. You can sit or lie down, or even do it walking. I sometimes am in a state of meditation when I dance. Other people meditate on the train to work. Some people chant or sing, others do it in an almost dreamlike sleeping state. There are even people that do chocolate eating meditations. Who knew? Some people enjoy guided meditations, or music, others prefer complete silence. Play around and find what your meditation style is, and then stick with it and make it a daily ritual. Not sure on how to get started? Check out your local community for meditation classes (if you’re in Chicago I’ve my Summer Bliss Meditation Series starting August 6th).

It’s not always easy creating a new habit, and meditation is no different. Think about why you want to meditate in the first place. Do you want to reduce stress, quiet your thoughts, connect spiritually, gain clarity? No matter what you’re looking for, meditation will help. Trust that over time and as your practice develops you will feel a shift towards what you want. When I started meditating 15 minutes every day (I never miss a day), my entire life transformed.

Here are 3 reasons meditation will change your life:

  1. Meditation gives you a fresh start, whenever you want it. When’s the last time you had one of the days where it just feels like everything is going wrong? You probably were wishing it was over long before the clock struck midnight. Meditating is like pressing the reset button. No matter how crappy your day is, or how awful that thought you just had was, you get to start over. Our minds get cluttered with thought during most of our waking hours. If you don’t take the time to clear some of that clutter, it will build up, and you will feel the effect in the form of exhaustion, confusion, overwhelm, or frustration. You get to dump your mental garbage through daily meditation.
  2. Meditation gives you space. Life can feel suffocating. All of our responsibilities pile on top of each other, people get up in our faces, and finding time alone can be tough. Dropping into a state of meditation gives you some mental and energetic space, even if you don’t have it physically. This allows you to tune into yourself, and tune out from the chaos around you. When you turn your focus inward you reconnect to who you really are and what you want. From this place you start living life in a more powerful and present way, and are no longer at the effect of your circumstances. You walk away from a meditation feeling like you have room to breath and space to think, and that is priceless.
  3. Meditation gives you resilience. Each time you bring your mind back to peace you are training yourself to do that when you are under stress. Every time you refocus when your mind starts to wander you flex your mental muscles. Meditation is a lot like strength conditioning, and will help you bounce back from disappointment while making you stronger. When you know how to access your meditative state, you can use it when the going gets tough. You actually feel less pain when you are meditating because your mind is focused on your breath or a mantra your mind doesn’t wander into worry, fear, or pain. And even if it does, you know how to bring yourself back to a calm relaxed demeanor. Over time, you will notice you don’t zig and zag between extremes as often, which is a major cause of stress and exhaustion. This allows your body to maintain homeostasis, the stable state of equilibrium.

If you’re looking for an easy way to start meditating or deepen your practice, sign up to receive my free Stress Melting Meditation. I’ll guide you through a simple practice in under 15 minutes, leaving you with peace of mind.

About the Author

Rebecca Niziol
