why meditate?

''In the same way that rain breaks into a house with a bad roof, desire breaks into the mind that has not been practicing meditation.''

Anonymous

Welcome to your mind, welcome to the chaos. Meditation is the art of sitting with yourself- living utterly and completely in the moment. People have been said to be meditating since 1500 BC according to Elaine Mead, BSc.'s article. She states that it is difficult to say where and when Meditation began- but most evidence points back to India. There is no defining evidence behind who created it. Although mysterious in its origins, fascinating all the same. Having recently started to reap the benefits of meditation myself, I wanted to share the wisdom of this ancient practice and hopefully inspire you to integrate it into your own life. What is meditation? Meditation is essentially learning how to re-direct your thoughts and slowly training your mind to focus at a more optimal level. There is a myriad of different styles and techniques the most basic being to focus on your breath. Mindfulness practice is also a very popular style of meditation. Meditation has been around for thousands of years and has been practiced in multiple cultures and religions. Benefits of meditation There are undoubtedly some great benefits to practicing meditation and some of these points have been scientifically proven to help you. I have compiled a list here below of some of the most appealing points that I think is going to motivate you to get started today.

Can reduce stress and anxiety levels A case study (1+) was done on college students where participants enrolled in a 6-week yoga and meditation practice. They practiced mindfulness meditation and the results found stated that all participants showed a large drop in stress and anxiety. Promotes emotional health It has also been found that mindfulness meditation improves the regulation of emotions and it reduces drug abuse in people. (2+) This absolutely blows me away-why are they not teaching this in schools! Enhances self-awareness According to multiple studies meditation also enhances self-awareness. This has many great effects on our overall health and happiness. Enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators Another study has shown us those beginner meditators had enhancement of everything stated above. The best part of the study was the fact that it proved that the amount of time meditated didn't make much difference-as little as 10 minutes a day had around the same health benefits as longer meditations. That is definitely a comforting thought if you are starting out.

Whilst I could go on and on forever about the benefits of meditating and why you should do it- I believe the feeling and desire has to come from within. I hope some of these tips have proven useful and I'll be back again soon to talk some more about how you can improve your life.