I was looking up health benefits and reasons on why you should meditate but I just could not get myself to read the reasons why. I thought that it would be much more interesting and personal if I just tell my story on meditation and how it has affected me in my life. To me,
someone’s personal experience is more interesting then reading facts.
I officially first stared meditating my second semester junior year of college (I was 20). It has been about a year and a half since I officially started meditating so by no means am I an expert. Since I started this practice, the biggest difference that I have seen with myself is how quickly I can forgive. That kind of sounds silly saying it out loud but I used to be the best at holding grudges and just quick to say “I don’t like this, and I don’t like that” about someone. Such little things would bother me. Now, I almost feel that if something happens that is not in my favor it is easier to let go and not hold on; not hold a grudge. I can realize that these little things that used to bother me are not worth my time to be bothered over and meditation has taught me that. I also have seen major improvements in my friendships. I usually use head space when I meditate (I will talk about that in a bit), but they tell you that meditating is not only for you, it is also for the people around you. This really stood out to me because when you have a mind and heart that is at peace, that is spread to the people around you; friends, family, relationships, or even someone who you pass on the street. My Yoga professor always said that meditating makes your eyes sparkle and your heart sing (I mean that must be contagious right). Another big difference that I have seen is my patience or temper. I was never an angry person to begin with, but I just feel more relaxed and not in a hurry or feel like I always need to be doing something. I can be content with people taking their time or if something goes wrong, I can simply say “it’s ok” with a smile on my face. These are my major improvements that I see when practicing meditation, but they are different for everyone. Other benefits are improvements in sleep, stress levels, and increase in energy.
There are many types of meditations out there, but I want to share with you three of my favorites. When I first started meditating, I did a mantra meditation that I commonly still use. This is when you say a mantra I your head over and over again. You are seeing, feeling, and breathing that mantra. My mantra that I repeat is So Hum which means “I am that”. This is the mantra that I was taught, and I continue to stick with it, but everyone can have their own different mantra. I now use headspace (a meditation app) on an everyday bases for 10 min. These are mostly guided meditations where a man or women talk you through a mediation. I highly recommend this app for beginners so you can get the feel of meditating and then eventually a new meditation and like always make them your own. I often use my mantra during a guided meditation when I am focusing on my breathing. The last type of mediation that I just started practicing is called Tonglen. When you inhale you feel, imagine, or say a word that you wish for someone else or the world and then when you exhale you are releasing that wish. For example, my first word when practicing Tonglen is always “love”, so I imagine a heart and the word love when I inhale and then when I exhale, I imagine a ton of tinny hearts filling the earth. It is different for everyone because all our minds work differently. You can say the same word over and over again or you can use a different word each inhale.
Try some of these out and see how they can make a difference in your life and if its not for you then at least you might have learned something new. I hope you try meditating once in your lifetime. You can mediate anytime and anywhere, 2 minutes of mediation while sitting in the car before work is better than no mediation at all. I hope you have a great rest of your week <3
xx
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