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Why you need to add meditation to your daily routine
Hello, and welcome to one of my first posts of 2020! Routines are one of the best ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and today I’m going to go over adding meditation to your routine. The benefits of meditation are both mental and physical, so this is a great way to maintain an overall healthy lifestyle.
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What is meditation?
When people hear the word “meditation”, a lot of them think it’s directly related to religion or spirituality.
Not necessarily.
Meditation is a great tool for those things but is not directly related. As a Christian, I know that we are called to meditate on God’s word, so it’s also not only something used in eastern culture.
Meditation is focusing on the present.
When we meditate, we are focusing on our breath, letting go of all tension in our bodies, and accepting the now as it is.
The goal of meditation is to let go of everything outside of the present moment, to let all stressors go. This is how we connect better with our own mind and body, and it can be a very healing process.
Benefits of Daily Meditation
Be more in tune with your body
When we sit, work or rush around all day, we can easily lose touch with ourselves.
Our bodies and minds work best when they feel connected.
Meditation can help you re-center, and feel in tune with everything that is going on with your body.
Shavasana, or corpse pose, is relaxing and meditative. Especially after a workout or yoga session, Shavasana is a great way to meditate and connect with your body.
Mental Clarity
Do you ever feel mentally foggy?
Meditation is a great tool for freshening up your mind.
When you sit in meditation for even just 15 minutes per day, it can help clear up your mental space and feel more in tune with the world around you.
Lower Blood Pressure
There are studies being done today that point to meditation as a good way to lower blood pressure.
Stress is one of the biggest triggers for high blood pressure, next to lifestyle, and telomere dysfunction.
By using meditation techniques twice a day for 20 minutes, you can increase your ability to lower your blood pressure naturally.
(I feel like I also need to state that I am not a Doctor and that high blood pressure is a condition that should be taken very seriously. Consult with your health care professional if you think high blood pressure is a problem for you.)
Be more energized
This seems like it should be counterproductive because meditation is supposed to help you calm down, right?
Turns out, meditation can also help you to have more energy.
Nowadays, having a high level of the stress hormone cortisol is not uncommon.
This hormone can keep us from relaxing, sleeping well, or de-stressing.
Daily meditation can help reduce cortisol levels by up to 50%, according to a Doctor from the University of Rutgers.
If you are able to relax and sleep better, you will no doubt have increased energy levels throughout the day.
Motivation
What better way to hone in on your focus than with meditation?
During karate classes last year, we would practice meditation during class. I really liked this because it helped me refocus and kept me motivated.
Meditating and focusing will keep you motivated and ready to smash your goals.
Decrease stress
It should be a no-brainer that one of the best benefits of meditation is decreased stress.
Meditative breathing can help slow down your heart rate, lower blood pressure, and make you forget about all the things that cause you to stress during the day.
Meditative exercises like Yoga and Tai Chi are amazing for decreasing stress.
Better Memory
Meditation has also been shown to reduce brain aging, and improve memory.
Researchers found that by implementing regular meditation, people could increase the blood flow to the brain. This leads to stronger blood vessels in the cerebral cortex, which can positively affect memory.
The benefits of meditation are so incredible and so great for your mind and body!
With the new decade ahead of us, pressing into techniques like these will be a great way to improve your health, and quality of life.
