The benefits of meditation

The lists of benefits are long and wide ranging but here is a short list that most people would find beneficial:

1. Reduced stress by improving stress related conditions.
2. Improved memory through better focus, mental clarity, and increased attention spans.
3. Lower blood pressure: People who meditate regularly have lower stress related problems. This can reduce strain on the heart and blood vessels and help prevent heart disease.
4. Less anxiety through an improved perspective, and by consequence, less likely to suffer from depression.
5. Greater compassion: Meditation can help you better understand yourself, find your best self, and increase positive feelings and actions toward others.

What is meditation?

There are various types of meditation but broadly they all aim to help focus awareness on cultivating present-moment awareness (mindfulness), cultivate feelings of compassion, love, and goodwill towards oneself and others (loving kindness), or to transcend ordinary thinking and experience a state of pure awareness and consciousness (transcendental).

Does it mean becoming more monk-like?

Whilst some people do indeed spend their whole lives committed to enlightenment of the soul, the majority of people just want a way to relax and ‘let go’. A growing number of people are suffering from anxiety and depression in the modern world. As stress builds in response to ever-increasing demands and distractions, so too does the number of people looking for release from it all. One of the methods that people are turning to, to rediscover their inner peace and happiness, is meditation. Just a few minutes, two or three times a week, can yield impressive results.

What is the simplest method to get started?

There is no single ‘correct method’ but if you follow these simple steps, it will help get you started:

1. Sit or stand in a calm, quiet place with eyes closed or gaze down.
2. Set a time limit, especially if you’re just starting out. It can be five or 10 minutes.
3. Feel your body. Make sure you are stable and in a position you comfortably stay in the whole time.
4. Focused attention practice: Focus your attention on your breathing in two ways. First, you can observe your torso expanding and contracting. Or you can feel the sensation of breath inside your nostrils with each inhalation and exhalation. When your breath focus is stable, you can shift to noticing thoughts, emotions, sensations, and sounds as they rise and dissolve in your mind.
5. Notice when your mind wanders, which will happen. Don’t be hard on yourself when your mind goes elsewhere – just note where your mind drifted and then gently return your attention to your breath.
6. Slowly return from your meditation feeling relaxed and replenished.