Meditation Benefits

Over my life I have come in and out of practicing stillness, but whenever I return to it, it feels like home.  There are a thousand ways to meditate – traditional mindfulness meditation is the simplest and most accessible, but any form can work – yoga, nature, dance, breathing, and prayer.

The point of mediation, of doing nothing, is not an end in itself but a way to calm the mind, to see the true nature of things, and reduce the impact of suffering while increasing love, kindness, wisdom, fearlessness, and sympathy.

From that stillness life becomes richer, your actions more clear, your words more direct and powerful, and your capacity to be fully engaged in life enhanced.  It is not a retreat from life, but a way to go fully into it and cultivate your own power and happiness.

The benefits of meditation have been well proven by science. Mediation reduces chronic pain, blood pressure, headaches, anxiety and depression.

It helps you lose weight, lowers cholesterol, increases sports performance, boosts immune function, relieves insomnia, increases serotonin, improves creativity, optimizes brain waves, helps in learning, focuses attention, increases productivity, enhances memory, and more.

But none of those reasons are the reasons I meditate or practice yoga (which for me is meditation in motion).  It is to be more awake to life, to myself, to cultivate loving kindness and compassion toward myself, others, and to the sorted human condition we find ourselves in.

Note: Excerpt from Dr. Mark Hyman M.D.

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