You Should Start Meditating and Here's Why | Onthemuv

It's been a very stressful week and everything feels overwhelming. You are desperately in need of a moment of calm, but it just seems so difficult to make time for yourself these days. We've all definitely been here before. So what can we do when we need to calm ourselves and become one with our thoughts?

MEDITATE — there is no better time than now to explore meditation. COVID-19 has been invading our lives, and with it comes a sense of anxiety that we all experience from time to time. If this sounds like something you've experienced before then I encourage exploring what mediation can do for your overall wellness. If you are a little skeptical, I get it, but these 4 reasons will have you meditating on the daily.  

Better focus and concentration  

With distractions all around us in our daily lives, it's easy to lose track of our goals. Strengthening your focus and concentration is always a plus in my book. Luckily, this can be archived through meditation. In fact, a study done by Harvard Medical school in 2011, found that mindful meditation helped with learning, memory, and emotional regulation. Practicing mindfulness techniques help you become more aware of your thoughts and what's going on around you, but not letting them absorb you.

Meditating doesn’t require reserving a large chunk of your time. Simply saving a few minutes per day has been proven to reduce distractions and increase focus. - Columbia University

The more you practice meditation, the better you get at releasing unwanted thoughts and preventing your mind from wandering. 

Improve self-esteem and self-awareness 

In all honesty, I personally struggle — a lot — with my self-esteem and self-awareness. Being able to compare yourself to so many people instantaneously through social media can be tough not letting it get to you. However, self-esteem and self-awareness is what I focus on the most, because that's what I struggle with the most. 

When you meditate you slow everything down, start collecting and organizing your thoughts, which in return makes you more aware of yourself. This is the part of mediation where you become one with your thoughts and analyze how you truly feel. Being able to do this, gives you a more positive outlook on yourself and your thoughts.  

Reduce stress  

In the middle of a pandemic, we all could use a stress reliever. The beauty of meditation is you can find relief in 60 seconds or less. For instance, the other day I was super stressed at work because my section was slammed (for context, I'm a waitress). I was sweating, running around all crazy, tense, and completely overwhelmed. When everything had calmed down physically, I was so mentally frazzled I couldn't form a thought. I didn't have the time and resources —in the moment — to do a full blown meditation, however, I was able to go in the back for a minute and just focus on my breathing. That was all I needed to ground myself enough to get through the rest of my shift. It's crazy how something so simple can make such an impact on your stress level. 

"Mindfulness meditation lowers the cortisol levels in the blood suggesting that it can lower stress and may decrease the risk of diseases that arise from stress such as psychiatric disorder, peptic ulcer and migraine" — National Library of Medicine 

Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, has been proven to decrease with mindful mediation according to a 2013 study. When cortisol levels decrease, your stress level will follow! This also makes more room for the feel-good hormones, serotonin and endorphins, to be released.  

Help manage your depression  

Depression can look so different from person to person, and while this isn’t a cure all, it can help reduce some of those negative thoughts and feelings. With mediation you will become more self-aware, like we talked about before, meaning you will become more mindful of your thoughts and feelings. This helps with identifying negativity, and working past it. Managing depression can be a huge struggle, however with meditation, it can be an easier fight.  

New to meditation? Start here 

Meditation is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety in your life, but it can also help you sleep better, improve your memory, boost creativity, and more. It's hard enough to keep up with all the demands of modern life without a coping mechanism like meditation. I hope this makes you think twice about whether or not you are practicing regular meditation exercises. But if not… maybe now is time that changes.

Do you already meditate? Let us know what benefits/results have helped make meditation an important part of your routine--we love hearing from our readers!

Keep it Muvin'