3 Reasons You Should Stop Avoiding Meditation

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I am so tired of hearing people who are obviously interested in meditation make excuses why they can’t do it. I’d love to meditate, but I just don’t have time. I really want to try it, but I don’t know how. I know it would help me, but my mind just won’t shut up long enough to meditate! Yeah yeah yeah…I just want to look at them and say, “If you are truly interested in meditation stop making excuses and just try it already, OR stop telling me how much you wish you could because I’m tired of hearing about it!” It’s silly to avoid something you know is good for you just because it’s new and different and it might seem hard at first. If you are on the fence about meditation or have been meaning to do it but just haven’t started, let me see if I can nudge you in the right direction.

3 Reasons You Should Stop Avoiding Meditation

1. Meditation is FREE Can Help You Make More Money

Sure you can buy DVDs, CDs, or pay someone to teach you meditation and that’s all fine and good, but meditation doesn’t have to cost anything. In fact, meditating can actually attract more wealth into your life and teach you how to appreciate the abundance you already have. Research has conclusively shown that meditation improves concentration and memory, skills we all know can help us perform better at school or our jobs. Meditators are also better at handling stressful situations thus making them more efficient and less prone to anxiety when dealing with difficult relationships at work, stress-inducing deadlines or any other mentally and emotionally challenging situations at work. Some major businesses have already caught on to the fact that meditation equals happier, more productive employees. This article cites several examples of companies that provide mindfulness meditation or yoga practices for their employees.

Meditating can also help you attract new wealth into your life. The Law of Attraction states that like attracts like. So one of the things you can do while you are meditating is to focus on what you want, rather than what you don’t have. We are constantly bombarded with advertising reminding us of what we don’t have, what we don’t look like, what we supposedly “need” in order to be happy. These messages create stress and anxiety around money, and also lower our self-esteem and self-worth. When we focus on lack rather than abundance we effectively block the flow of abundance into our lives. When you mediate you can reduce the effects of these damaging messages by shifting to an attitude of abundance. I practice by making gratitude lists for the abundance already in my life to build my confidence around money and wealth. I also practice self-affirmations to attract positive energy into my relationship with money. I find that by mentally rehearsing the abundance I desire I am more apt to welcome and recognize the experiences in real life when they present themselves. The mind-body circuit created through meditating on abundance (if done properly) can act kind of like a money magnet!

2. Meditation Counts as Preventative Health Care

You wouldn’t drive a car for years and never change the oil, would you? Then, why are so many people willing to take that kind of risk with their own mental health? Changing the oil in your engine is as vital to keeping your car running smoothly as meditation is to keeping your mind running smoothly. Meditation improves the functioning of the immune system, improves mood, increases energy, reduces anxiety, lowers blood pressure and reduces your risk of heart disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, meditation can also help you manage the pain and reduce the symptoms of Asthma, sleep problems, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, depression, even cancer. These medical conditions thrive on stress and scientific research supports the fact that meditation reduces stress and helps the body manage pain and heal itself more efficiently. Meditation can’t replace medical care, but it can improve your overall health and well-being so that doctors visits and prescription medications don’t cost you an arm and a leg (yet another way meditation attracts more money into your life!).

3. If You Meditate You Will Enjoy a Longer Life

Meditation not only increases your life span, but it makes the time you spend on this Earth more enjoyable. If you are depressed, the thought of living a longer life may actually depress you more, but if you feel energetic, fulfilled, peaceful and happy you want to try to stick around as long as you can! Meditation allows you to rewire your brain in ways that bring clarity, peace of mind and confidence into your life. According to this article from Psychology Today, before meditation there is a strong connection between the medial prefrontal cortex (the brain’s “me center”) and the amygdala (the brain’s center “fear center”). After regular meditation the link between those two centers breaks down,  “As this connection withers, you will no longer assume that a bodily sensation or momentary feeling of fear means something is wrong with you or that you are the problem!” (- This is Your Brain on Meditation).  Meditation also helps strengthen the part of your brain that allows you to deal with painful or fear-inducing situations calmly and rationally, while also increasing your capacity to feel empathy and relate to others. In short, meditation helps you cultivate a healthy relationship with pain, stress, other people and yourself. 

Sure, meditation can improve the quality of life, but what about the quantity? Several lines of research indicate that meditation decreases the physical wear and tear that plagues most human beings due to chronic stress, oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Meditation literally slows down the aging process and helps the body avoid unnecessary diseases. Don’t let stress and your unhealthy reactions to it determine the quality or quantity of your life! Stop avoiding meditation and begin improving your life today!

The author is a holistic healer, yoga teacher and meditation coach.

For more information visit www.thejoyfullotus.com.

 

Kay Metzelaars
Kay is certified Yoga instructor, Reiki master, Intuitive Tarot Reader, and public speaker. She is a former Teach For America teacher and studied philosophy and psychology at the University of Portland. She is passionate about empowering individuals to take their health and wellness into their own hands through spiritual practices such as Yoga and Reiki, as well as proper eating and exercise. She teaches that compassion, understanding, empathy and forgiveness are essential to being a happy human. She offers classes, workshops and retreats and runs a small private practice in southern, IL.