I have heard and read reports during the covid-19 pandemic that many people have taken up meditation for the first time. Many people have also started practising mindfulness, which strikes me as meditation under another name. Whatever you want to call it, it seems to me that meditation has an almost endless list of potential benefits for whoever is willing to delve into it. It all depends on you and me –whoever is doing it.
I recently decided to google “benefits of meditation”. Of course, that brought up an endless list of results, as google searches do. Near the top, I found a list of 10 or 15 benefits offered by the Mayo Clinic (if I recall correctly). These were benefits that were reported by participants, in scientific studies or trials, who meditated for several months (or whatever) and then reported on the benefits they received. The benefits were wide-ranging and extensive, according to participants, including relief from stress and anxiety, a feeling of well-being, a more optimistic attitude, and so on. The reported benefits of these particular studies seemed to focus primarily on improved health and well-being.
It seems to me that meditation can help us in almost any area of our lives, depending on whatever is causing us concern, or what we are wishing to focus on or improve, or shine a light on. All of us face challenges of one kind or another as we go about our lives. Some of us have health problems, whether physical, mental or spiritual. Stress and anxiety seem to be generally increasing for many, if not most of us. And no matter what issues or questions we have in our lives, I would suggest that meditation can help virtually all of us, in one way or another, and to some degree or other. I am not saying meditation will magically cure all that ails us. What I am saying is that it can help virtually all of us, to some degree or another.
On the one hand, meditation can help us deal with a lot of practical matters that require our attention, such as our personal health, where we decide to live, what studies and work we pursue, and relationships of all kinds – including family, work / business and intimate relationships. Meditation can help us gain insight and understanding about what we as individuals want in our lives, and also about what we are best suited for. It can also help us to better understand both our own behaviour and the behaviour of other people in our lives.
On the other hand, if we are so inclined, meditation can also help us delve deeper into much larger philosophical questions, such as why we as individuals are here on Earth living the lives that we are, and what our exact purpose is in being here, in this specific lifetime – for example, what we came here to accomplish and learn in this lifetime.
Meditation can assist us in living our lives in many practical ways, if we are willing to learn to receive the information and guidance that is already available inside us. It can assist us in knowing what our bodies need for food and drink, at a given time. What could be more practical than that?
Meditation can also assist us in getting to the bottom of something that is bothering us, even if we initially do not know exactly what to do to resolve a situation. Sometimes we may not even know exactly why we are feeling upset or bothered about something. We may feel irritated or resentful or upset or angry, without being able to pinpoint exactly why we feel that way about a remark that was made, or a gesture that someone made. Meditation can assist us in understanding whatever emotions we are feeling, and also in seeing whether we need to say or do something about it.
Generally speaking, meditation can assist us in becoming more and more aware of our own feelings, as they arise, and in learning to go to our breath and take a few conscious breaths, as needed, in almost any situation. With time and practise, taking a few conscious breaths can assist us in knowing whatever we need to do or say. Sometimes we may simply need to witness what is taking place. Meditation can assist us in gaining that discernment, as to exactly what is needed, in the moment.
Whatever it is that is working or is not working for us in our lives, meditation can potentially assist us in this journey that we are all on. It may help us in ways we are not currently able to even imagine. All we need is the willingness to sit down regularly and learn to breathe consciously and go to that quiet place inside each of us. We can begin to explore and get acquainted with whatever it is that is inside each of us as individuals. We might be very surprised by what we discover.
Meditation can help us connect with whatever it is that is inside us, if we are willing to take the time to explore it. We can all learn to do this, and get better at it, if we are Willing….
How about you?