September 22nd, 2021
David Peachment
How Meditation and Mindfulness Benefit You
In the previous blog post, I described mindfulness and a quick exercise to try it yourself. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out HERE! For this post, however, I wanted to dive into some of the benefits of such a practice. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I chose to focus on the positives that research has shown and that I have personally experienced in my own meditation and mindfulness practices. If you haven’t tried meditating or mindfulness, I highly recommend you give it a try! But if you aren’t convinced to do it just yet, hopefully, showing the benefits can sway you to give it a go! So, without further ado, let’s dive right in!
Lowered Stress and Increased Calm
The first benefits I experienced shortly after starting mindfulness and meditation practices were an overall lowered stress level and increased calmness about life. By taking a few minutes every day to be mindful, I noticed that over time my life wasn’t nearly as stressful as it once was. Having some space to not focus on what was happening in my life and instead focus on something as simple as my breath caused me to calm my mind. No longer was I dominated by anxious feelings, and rather, if I were ever feeling overwhelmed, I would simply close my eyes and take a little time to be aware of what was around me. This act grounded me to reality and realize that my troubles weren’t as dire as my mind would make them out to be. In general, my life became calmer, and my mind didn’t race nearly as much as it used to race. Many, many studies have shown this effect after participants engaged in meditation and mindfulness. In fact, there are more than 10,000 published research papers that focus on mindfulness-based therapies! It has been well researched and documented, and the benefits that arise out of it are astounding!
Higher Levels of Energy
The next positive aspect of mindfulness is higher levels of energy. For me, this took a bit longer to appear than lowered stress, but I did begin to realize how much my energy levels were improving throughout the day! I wasn’t tired nearly as much, and I felt like I could get a lot more done in a day. By mastering my mind and controlling my levels of thoughts and emotions, I was also able to regulate my energy levels. It also gave me a more considerable zest for life overall! Now, I am much more excited to start my day and don’t feel like staying in bed all morning.
I’ve learned to crave my little mindfulness and meditation practices as they always put me in a better state of mind!
Self-Compassion and Compassion for Others
Finally, the last couple of benefits I want to discuss is the improved compassion for myself and for others. This was a little unexpected, but upon doing some research, I found that this is common in people that regularly do mindfulness activities. By connecting to our minds and the peace in our surroundings, we can bring peace to our minds and hearts.
This peace can contribute to loving ourselves more and expressing more love towards others. After all, a calm and peaceful mind is not an angry one! Studies have shown that even doing mindfulness practices once a week can improve one’s compassion towards others and feel way better about their own life! Just another reason to be mindful.
These are just a fraction of the benefits that can be experienced from mindfulness and meditation. There are tons more I didn’t even touch on that can be garnered. I encourage you to give some meditation and mindfulness practices a try to see what you experience and what benefits you can get! Try to take a few minutes every day, and you’ll see some serious improvements to your life in no time! Just keep in mind that it can take longer for some people than for others, so make sure to stick with it for a few weeks before you give up. In case you’ve been doing some mindfulness exercises but haven’t tried meditating specifically, my next blog post will be about how to meditate and some helpful tips for it. Make sure to keep an eye out for that next week!
Until next time,
David Peachment
Comments