This past Tuesday in yoga class, one of our students had never meditated before. Big surprise? Probably not. I mean, how many people have actually tried it, or if they did, gave up because it was too hard, didn't seem to work, or just wasn't for them? Sound familiar? Well... I have to admit - I was one of those people.
Antonia is much calmer than me as I'm a type-A, relatively hyper person, so meditation is super difficult since I find it hard to stay still most of the time. When I first got into yoga, I mainly did the asanas (Sanskrit for "seat" which are the poses/movements), and I always traded meditation for headstands and faster sequences.
Then I started researching (mainly because I love finding scientific proof for stuff) and what I discovered forced me to get with the "Sit Still, and Give Your Mind a Break!" program. Truly, who really wants to always be thinking about 10 million things simultaneously in their head anyway? Meditation gives you the space and openness to get out of the monkey mind that rules you, and actually find some, ah ha! Peace.
So what's up with meditation? Over the past 40 years, dozens of universities across the world have studied it, specifically looking at the effects of meditation on human physiology and behavior. The research essentially says that meditation produces benefits for your mind, body, emotions, mental functioning and relationships.
- Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning
- Improved Ability to Focus
- Increased Creativity
- Deeper Level of Relaxation
- Improved Perception and Memory
- Development of Intelligence
- Natural Change in Breathing
- Decrease in Stress Hormone
- Lower Blood Pressure
- Reversal of Aging Process
- Reduced Need for Medical Care
- Reduction in Cholesterol
- Increased Self-Actualization
- Increased Strength of Self-Concept
- Decreased Cigarette, Alcohol, and Drug Abuse
- Increased Productivity
- Improved Relations at Work
- Increased Relaxation and Decreased Stress
- Improved Health and More Positive Health Habits
And if that doesn't give you reason to try it, check out the video below of a newbie meditator :)
xo
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