Reasons to start a meditational practice today

There has been increasing interest in the benefits of meditation. In an increasingly stressed busy world, people seek others ways of managing and working with the pressures of their lived experiences.

Indeed there has been a huge increase in the amount of scientific research which has been done on the benefits of meditation and breath work over the last 20 years or so.

Here are some personal thoughts on why you might want to consider developing a meditational practice for yourself.

1. Meditation allows you to develop the practice of cultivating a relationship with the self that is not based on other people, or external inputs. Frequently we develop a sense of self based on who we are in relation to others around us. Meditation is something we practice for ourselves and by ourselves. As such it allows us space to be as we are without the pressure from others to be or do things a certain way.
2. This development of a relationship with the self allows us to become more intuitive and potentially better at emotionally regulating ourselves. To focus on self, and be able and willing to sit with thoughts and feelings alone, even if they may be uncomfortable, is a start in learning to regulate our emotional selves without outside input. By meditating we are building our capabilities and developing our emotional regulation skills. Skills require practice and by regularly developing a practice you are becoming self-reliant and autonomous.
3. Meditational can be beneficial to your mental health. By developing the skill of controlling where your mental focus is, you can train your brain to focus on thoughts and feelings which can improve how you feel and your performance. Meditation can help you increase feelings of peace, focus, and serenity. This can have corresponding beneficial effects on reducing feelings of fatigue, lowering levels of stress, and the corresponding physical conditions that can come with chronic levels of stress..
4. Meditation can help you connect your subconscious mind to your conscious mind. In other words, the silence and space during meditation can allow other thoughts and feelings which might have been buried away to surface and be dealt with. This process can create equanimity by allowing thoughts and feelings to surface, without judgment and be processed and released.  That equanimity can allow you to get above yourself and your problems and see the patterns of your life.
5. Meditation can help you make better decisions in your life. By approaching problems with equanimity and grace and releasing the negative emotional component behind our experiences, meditation can enhance and highlight new solutions to old problems. It allows us to reassess old problems with a new perspective, which isn’t reliant on anyone else doing anything, but rather a reconfiguration of our attitude and approach. This can be summed up as a quote “don’t make permanent decisions on temporary emotions”!
6. Meditation can be the start of developing the natural human capacity of observing, participating, and accepting each of life’s moments from a state of equilibrium or loving-kindness. Frequently we are habituated to always be seeking to “move forward” or mentally planning on “what comes next”. Meditation can give you the practice of being in the present moment and activate the skill of practicing this especially when we least desire to do it. Its effect can be to raise awareness of your state of being in the present, without judgment, rather than projecting forward or looking backward as a means of escaping the present reality.
7. It is another angle into starting to pay attention to what is around you, and how the environment around you impacts your being. Do you feel you are constantly rushing around? Does your mind flit from thought to thought as a habit? Meditation can start to enable a level of self-reflection that opens up new possibilities about your choices, emphasising a way of being that is more present, in the moment, and accepting of things as they are rather than how you’d like them to be.
8. There is a fine, sharp knife edge of being the moment – which is the present. Most of the time, as humans we are either remembering what has happened in the past, and how we felt or feel about it – or we are projecting something into the future, and planning for something which has yet to occur. To be present and sit with the moment as it is can be very challenging. It is a practice that we can become better at through the process of meditation.
9. And one of the most efficient ways of getting into a deeper meditational practice is through the breath. Recently more research has come out about the modern science of the ancient art of breath control. The breath is a halfway house between the conscious and the unconscious mind. We can control our breath with our thoughts as well as leave it to run unconsciously in the background. This reciprocal relationship between mind and body means we can shift our brain state quickly by changing the body state and vice versa. Hence, the breath is so powerful to shift state.
10. An example of the power of breath is the direct connection between the brain and the diaphragm. Unlike other organs, because it is made of strident muscles – the diaphragm can be voluntarily controlled. Which means it can be sped up or slowed down to control your breathing.

Breathing exercises can recruit the neural estate to move between conscious and unconscious dimensions of self. We can control breathing and use it as a boundary to access unconscious stress of the mind in a way that we can’t use to control digestion, for example. So breath-work and diaphragmatic control can be used to create altered states of mind, which are proving very powerful in accessing other dimensions of self. In reality, this has been known about through yogic and Buddhist practices for millennia, however scientific research and a new western interest in this area has led to an increase in awareness and knowledge of these types of practice. See my book review here for an excellent introduction to the topic. 

On a personal note, I have found meditating has significantly reduced my allergic reactions. I have a few allergies – an allergy to animal fur, which causes my eyes to water and redden. Further, it can affect my lungs making me sound asthmatic if I stay too long in the vicinity of pets (particularly cats).

However, I have found that if I meditate, I am able to significantly reduce the symptoms. I don’t know how this works, but i do now that it really helps me to the extent that my bloodshot eyes clear up, and the sensation of itchiness is drastically reduced.

I also suffer from an autoimmune condition which causes me to come up in hives and skin irritation. Again my condition is significantly reduced when I meditate.  I haven’t come across any scientific papers on this but i know it from my own experience.

If you like the idea of meditating , and would like an induction into some different sorts of practice for yourself, please contact me for a consultation.