MindThe Beginner

Are you having trouble focussing on a single task, being constantly distracted by thoughts? Have you ever listened to your mind chattering away in your head?

You have, haven’t you!

At night when you lie in your bed you can’t stop thinking about things, how life should be, what your goals are or what you’ll have to do to become successful.

The good news is, we all do that. The bad news is,  we all do that.

Would you like to learn how to overcome this and get an almost laser-like focus? It’s just one of the benefits of meditation. There are reasons besides enlightenment why people meditate, very practical reasons:

1. You’ll develop a laser-like focus

During meditation you train focussing on one single task. In most types of meditation this task is counting your breath. For 20 to 25 minutes you sit perfectly still and just count every exhale. Each distraction -that is, each thought that is not concerned with the counting- is ignored once you realise that you got sidetracked. And of course, noticing you got sidetracked is the first step in going back to what you were supposed to be doing.

2. You’ll need less sleep

It’s true! If you meditate every day you’ll start noticing that you sleep better. Not only will you fall asleep easier because you can control that chatter in your mind but your sleep will become better as well because you’ve already started to process everything that happened during the day while you were meditating. If you make meditation a part of your bed time ritual, just imagine how rested you’ll feel even before you actually go to bed. Lights out in ten minutes, or less.

3. You unclutter your mind

How stressed do you get when you’re in the big city, in the subway during rush hour perhaps. All those people talking, all those noises. A constant bombardment you try to drown out with your iPod. That might work great in the world out there, but in your head it’s the same thing. A lot of noise, a lot of talking all-the-time. If that won’t get you worked, up nothing will. With meditation you learn to single out that voice in your head that does matter. The rest will go away with time because you no longer listen to them. Your thoughts will become much clearer.

4. Your pain threshold increases

Meditation is quite uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong there, it’s a ritualized form of self-torture with a happy ending. You’ll be sitting in a position that will cause your legs to start aching after 10 minutes and by the end of the session it just might hurt a bit more. Meditating on a regular basis will train you to ignore this minor discomfort and focus on what you are doing instead. It’s not that uncommon for people to actually shed a few tears the first times. That’s all perfectly alright, you’ll be able to handle it soon enough.

5. Your endorphin levels rise

Managing the pain has a lot to do with endorphins. A hormone that reduces the pain signals from your body to your brain and makes you feel good. It’s the same hormone that gets released when you reveice a long hug from your loved one, eat chocolate or take a long run. (The runner’s high) This hormone stays in your body for a short time and if you meditate daily you’ll always have some of it in your bloodstream so you’ll feel good, all day long!

6. You’ll automate happiness

There’s even more to these endorphins. Given enough time – a few weeks- the thought on meditation alone, seeing your meditation mat or folding your hands in the same way as you would while meditating will cause a Pavlovian reaction. What’s so great about that is that wherever you are and you feel like you need a quick fix of “feelinggood” (right before an exam) you can mimic the meditation posture and your body will react. Say goodbye to performance anxiety.

7. Your overall quality of life will increase

After meditating for a while, not only will your focus become better but your overall quality of life will increase too. You’ll feel better about yourself, better about your surroundings and you will have a clear mind that allows you to focus on your goals. Becoming aware of the present moment will lead you to being able to influence the present. A better life starts now, not tomorrow and meditation forces you to be in the present.

A summation: It will make you feel great!

Meditation is good for you. You could find hundreds of reasons and find that they all interlink somewhere. The biggest benefits are:

• your ability to concentrate will drastically improve
• you’ll find discomfort easier to handle
• it will make you feel great!

And all it takes is 20-25 minutes every day. Time you have to spare because you fill that time with unproductive things right now.

If you want advice on meditation or have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop a line or leave a comment.