Beginner's Guide to Meditation: Why you should meditate

In the second part of this “Beginner’s Guide to Meditation,” we will explore some of the benefits that come from continuous meditation practice and why it makes so many people in love with this technique. Once you start your practice and begin to feel changes in the way you relate to the world, you will easily advise it to everyone you know.

If you haven’t read it yet, I invite you to read the Beginner´s Guide to Meditation: What is meditation about? and getting a little more in-depth knowledge about the foundation of meditation.

You have certainly come across someone who has told you that since he started meditating that he has undergone several transformations and that his life has changed, however, in the end, that person spoke, spoke and you learned the same thing you knew before. Right? I’ve been on both sides of this story 😂.

In fact, it is challenging to put into words all the subtle changes we feel in our lives with mediation practice because it is very much based on an internal transformation. However, I challenged myself to organize my mental side to be able to explain some changes that we feel when we practice meditation continuously and why we should do it.

My mental side likes lists, so with a list, we’ll go on!

7 REASONS TO START MEDITATING TODAY

1 | MEDITATION DECREASES THE STRESS LEVEL

Let´s start with the basics 😁 It is well known that stress is the disease of the 21st century. We live in stress because we feel the need to be great at everything, namely in our work, with our family, with our friends, and in our relationships. We are always running after something and forgotten, there at the beginning of the race, is where you are.

When was the last time you forgot everything and everyone around you and dedicated yourself to you? When was the last time you spent time with yourself without distractions? That you sincerely asked yourself “what do I want”? When was the last time you put the world on Off?

In this rush of meeting expectations from everywhere, it is no wonder that now and then we will be on the verge of madness.

We all experience stressful moments, it is inevitable. However, a life full of stress is not healthy and is highly damaging if you cannot fight it.

Using deep breaths and bringing your whole Being to the present moment, it will not effectively make all your stress disappear, however, you will feel a significant decrease of it and a very great inner peace. Just closing your eyes and focusing on your breath has a giant effect on your body and can take you to another state of mind.

2 |YOU BECOME MORE PRESENT AND CONSEQUENTLY MORE CONSCIOUS

It is estimated that we have about 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts a day. Whaaaat ??? Yeah. And that 70% to 80% of our thoughts are negative. Whaaaat ??? Yeah.

Being present means that you will be more aware of your thoughts and actions in general. And what do I mean by that?

We are not aware of all the thoughts that go through our heads every day, often this unconsciousness causes us to be dragged by this mental confusion, especially when we tend to negative or critical thoughts. Our mind easily feels identified by thoughts, which will later generate emotions and which will generate actions.

The practice of meditation teaches you to have some control over it and to understand which thoughts are favorable for your life or which thoughts are blocking you. As it gives you time to understand what thoughts and feelings you have inside you, focusing on the breath or another aspect of your Being and keeping yourself in the present moment.

If I could give you a piece of advice it would be not to make the mistake of thinking that you know everything that goes on inside you. Because this is an illusion and we sometimes pay dearly for it.

3 | YOU WILL HAVE MORE POWER OVER YOUR EMOTIONS

Continuous meditation practice will make you more aware of yourself, even outside meditation time, as your Observing Mind is more active. Therefore, the more you meditate the more you will realize what are the thoughts and events that trigger you for certain emotions that you do not want.

This knowledge allows you to react intelligently to your emotions without them controlling you, which consequently teaches you to react better in stressful situations. Once you take the time to observe how your mind is reacting to a given situation you learn to act instead of reacting.

The more you meditate, the more sustained is the knowledge about the distance that exists between the Self and the feelings. As well with meditation, you get used to observing without reacting what give you the practice you need to create this space between thoughts and actions.

4 | YOU WILL MAKE BETTER DECISIONS

If there’s a moment when I stop to meditate yes or yes, that moment is when I have an important decision to make!

Meditating brings you tranquility, distances you from the outside world, helps you to distance yourself from emotions and find your center, where all the answers are found. Because when you make decisions from a place of inner peace, you can usually make decisions with greater clarity.

And as mentioned in the two previous points, when you have a greater awareness of your thoughts and greater control over your emotions and actions, you will realize that you also make better decisions in your daily life.

In this sense, instead of reacting automatically to an event, you will have a greater understanding of what is going on in your mind and this understanding will help you not to react blindly or unconsciously. You learn to act and make decisions in a state of presence.

5 | YOU BUILD A PEACEFUL PLACE THAT YOU CAN EASILY ACCESS

Meditation helps you to create a place of deep peace and tranquility that you can access at any time in your life. Wherever you are in the world, or as challenging as your life is at any given moment, you know that if you sit down and focus on your breath, it will take you to a place of peace and calm your spirit, consequently you go out of meditation with lightness to face anything.

Meditation creates a very deep connection with yourself and the world around you which leads to a happier life in general. Self-love is the key. Meditation is self-love.

6 | MEDITATION WORKS

Believe me that I would not be so enthusiastic about meditation if I had not experienced so many positive changes in my life. It is a fact that I didn’t feel its benefits overnight and I did and I have to continue to be persistent in my practice, however, today I can’t live without it 😅

And let me reinforce the idea that I started just like you, thinking that it would be impossible to meditate and making up a thousand excuses for not doing so and today I am writing a guide on the subject. Ah, these beautiful turns of life!

For the most skeptical, it is scientifically proven that those who practice meditation continuously are better able to deal with the ups and downs of life. As well, some physical benefits from this practice are also proven, among them:

Decreased blood pressure;
Decreased anxiety;
Boosts your immune system;
Improves your sleep quality;

At the mental level, meditation gives you more awareness which, as we have already discussed in this article, gives you a greater ability to better understand your feelings and thoughts.

7 | MEDITATING IS FOR FREE

Do you know the crazy backpacker who loves free stuff? Nice to meet you, it´s me! So I could not fail to mention this point.

Mediation is free! You don’t need a cent and you can do it anywhere, the only thing you need is yourself and a little patience at the beginning 😊. There are so many things that are sold at prices not always cheap to find peace and well-being when meditation has existed for ages, it´s free of charge and accessible to anyone!

LAST WORDS

Certainly, if you research more about meditation you will find more benefits from this practice. However, here I wanted to bring you what, for me, turned out to be the most transformative, since all the information I share is always based on my experience about something.

There is a spiritual side about meditation that I chose not to bring to this guide, because I believe that it distances some people and meditation exists and is a very powerful tool for all of us, regardless of our beliefs or religions, so I decided to focus in its most “scientific” part or in what is most palpable and thus, to cover everyone, believers or unbelievers 😃

By now, you will have understood the countless benefits that come from this practice and how it can help you better understand yourself and how it directly influences your reality.

Meditation is becoming one with the universe and maybe discovering something about yourself that you didn’t know before you started meditating. But to achieve that you need to take time out for yourself and have your experience. Never forget that you can only have a true understanding of something when you experience it in yourself.

In the next article “Meditation Guide for Beginners 3” I will take you through some ideas that can help you create the mindset needed to start meditation and commit to it. It all starts in our minds so sometimes, all we have to do is change some beliefs that block us by others that favor us!

See you soon!