Meditation: The Benefits of Meditating

Most people who shy away from meditation tend to so because they don't know how to do it, it may seem a little abstract, or appear to be useless to their physical, mental or spiritual health.

The opposite is true.

It has been found to be a very grounding exercise and highly valuable.

Let's look at some of the its benefits:

• it helps with stress relief
• it gets you more in touch with your intuition
• it helps you to gain clarity (particularly if you're needing guidance on a certain issue)
• it helps you stay in control of yourself and your emotions
• it improves the body's immune system

The hardest thing for many people (including us!) when first beginning to practice sitting in silence, is to learn how to keep still. People are generally always on the move, packing their schedules with events, errands, meetings, to-do lists and more.

It's very easy to get caught up in the momentum of day-to-day life. When people step back to silence their minds, they usually resist (often because they're pressed for time and can't justify sitting quietly being "unproductive") and if they do sit silently, their mind races and sometimes creates more to-do lists.

Quieting your mind is deceivingly productive, often much more productive than trying to figure things out in the busy-ness of the day.

One of the benefits listed above states that it helps with gaining clarity and it certainly does. If you find it difficult to sit in complete silence, listen to some soothing sounds since they're highly effective in getting people relaxed.

If there's ever a problem that needs resolving, the simple act of sitting still and quieting your mind helps open up new possibilites and solutions that may not have entered your otherwise busy and preoccupied mind.

We've introduced this to some of our classes and they've resisted, saying that it was "weird", but soon they were taking it upon themselves to practice at home and we saw improvements in their overall attitude and behavior. If high-risk, inner-city students are willing to try it, we hope you are too.

According to the Spiritual Dictionary, meditation is defined as, "A discipline in which the mind is focused on a single point of reference."

Our aim here is to provide you with enough suggestions for you to ease into this insightful practice, as well as to add some elements to your already existing practice.

There aren't strict rules on how to practice, and there are alternatives. For instance, some people prefer to engage in activities, such as yoga to help you focus.

Practicing yoga often helps people achieve the benefits of meditation while being more physically active. There are many yoga poses to choose from that quiet your mind and force deep breathing, all helpful actions.

Another complimentary physical exercise is tai chi, a martial art technique in which slow movements are done in unison with other participants. Tai chi helps overall health, including decreasing stress.

Review our ten tips to help get you started with your meditation.

Stress relief can also be achieved with other techniques, so check out our tips on how to eliminate stress.

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