Why meditate in the first place?
When am I going to begin?
When I have more time… the start of next month… Why not today? Why haven’t I begun?
What the hell am I afraid of?
Why Meditate?
The benefits of meditation are documented. They Include:
- stress relief.
- increases attention span.
- may reduce age related memory loss.
- improves sleep, blood pressure, and pain.
I just started a new business, and spend my free time chasing a 2 year old and a dog.
I am stressed and sleep deprived. Oft times I ask: Am I running my life, or is life running me?
Can 15 minutes a day help manage all of that?
What good can be had un 15 minutes. .01% of the day.
Can meditation really help?
This is basically the core of what I am afraid of. It’s the same fear that delays starting the fitness regime, or the diet.
I.e. I don’t want to fail. Additionally, If meditation doesn’t work, what will? Does it mean I’m condemned to a life of stress and sleep loss?
The book book Pain Neuroscience education posits that “patients who better understand their pain, and what pain truly is, experience less pain, have less fear, move better, exercise more and can regain hope.”
I would argue that better understanding why one is strength training, dieting, or meditating will similarly enhance the experience. Understanding the value of change and how it works helps successfully implement the change. So let’s examine how meditation helps. Per Sam Harris via his ‘Waking up’ app (which I’ll be using):
- Everything good or bad thing in your life must appear in consciousness to matter.
- You can’t change the World. You can change the way you respond to the world.
- Meditation helps one look closely at their thoughts, master their consciousness and respond to life in ways that increase happiness.
How meditation helps
In sum: You can’t control the world, but you can control how you respond to it. Meditation is the practice of slowing down, examining thoughts and ceasing to respond in ways that increase pain.
Every thought, good and bad, has arrived… and left. Instead of letting circumstance dictate your thoughts take a step back, examine your feelings, realize why you’re experiencing them, and then ask if they serve your goals. Consequently, if they don’t… let ’em go. That’s meditation.
Previously I wrote a blog about how powerfully your thoughts and self talk influence you. You can profoundly increase strength merely by telling yourself how strong you are. Meditation augments your control of thought: it slows everything down; It heightens focus. Fewer thoughts, less distraction and increased focus increases one’s power over their self talk, thereby increasing their power.
All of a sudden I understand why meditate. Increased physical strength, mental clarity and happiness can materialize at the speed of thought.
And like that I’m back in the driver’s seat; running this life again.
