Not Just for the ‘Hippy Dippy’: How Meditation Can Improve Anyone’s Life

First off, the title of this post is in no way meant to be disparaging to those in the ”hippy dippy” community. I count myself amongst this group, and do so with great pride. And now onto the post….

Without a doubt, meditating is a powerful way to strengthen your connection with whatever it is you believe lies at the core of our existence, and it is largely thought of as a spiritual practice. This association obviously turns many people off to trying it for a number of reasons, from not having any sort of belief system to which one wants to strengthen his connection, to not wanting to become some ”weirdo.”

But, this simple practice is not just about spiritual pursuits; it offers so many practical benefits, it is kind of ridiculous; especially considering you are really not doing much more than sitting quietly. No matter what religion you are, what you do for a living,  what type of personality you have, meditation can do so much to make your everyday existence better. Because despite all of our differences, we are all struggling with the challenges of being human, challenges that will respond very well to meditation.

It can help you cope with stress, depression and anxiety; many studies have found it beneficial for a slew of health problems, such as chronic pain, high blood pressure and asthma.

If you have even the slightest interest in making your life better, meditation can be just the practical tool you are looking for; and the best part is, it won’t cost you a cent.

Helps You Detach From the Mental Chatter

The thought of anyone being able to access what is going on in our heads all day long would probably strike intense fear in almost anyone. If we are conscious, we are thinking about something; and this raging river of thoughts, when left unchecked, can wreak absolute havoc.

Meditation is the perfect antidote to this problem. Often times, we will not be able to stop all these thoughts, whether during meditation or just in our daily lives. And that is okay–we don’t need to make that the goal.

Ultimately, what we want to do is detach from all this junk; we don’t want to get all caught up in it. Because when we get caught up in it, all sorts of unpleasant things begin to happen. We feel stressed; we start having imaginary arguments in our head; worrying about one thing leads to worrying about something else; we start imagining all the undesirable scenarios and things we don’t want to happen with a particular situation.

What meditation does is kind of quiet all this nonsense and push it more into the background of your mind, rather than the forefront. You will begin observing all the craziness going on inside your head, without getting swept up by it. It is almost like you are a third party, watching something from the outside.  In this position as ”observer,” there is less emotional intensity. And with less emotional intensity, it is easier to squash certain trains of thought completely. You can consciously redirect your mind to something else.

Helps You Respond and Not React

While I don’t always succeed (understatement alert), I have found meditation very helpful in keeping my emotions in check, and not just blindly reacting to situations based on my initial impulses.

We all know the kind of trouble that can get us into. We say things we don’t mean; we make rash decisions that end up causing us even more problems; ”reacting” can bring out the worst in us, and many times, we make complete fools of ourselves.

Because meditation is a great tool for increasing awareness of what is happening internally, it helps us learn to respond to situations rather than automatically react. It allows us to think before we speak or take action, and deal with situations more effectively; it keeps us out of trouble.

Allows You to Tap into the Wisdom of Silence

We are always looking outside ourselves to solve our problems and find the answers we seek. Yes, books, talking with a trusted friend, and the like, can expose you to new ways of thinking and offer practical tools and advice for the issues you are grappling with.

But,  know where you will find the most helpful, profound, clear answers? Within yourself. There is this higher part of us, the perfect part of us untouched by all our struggles and mental ”shortcomings,” that knows exactly what it is we should be doing with our life or  how to solve the problems we may be facing, no matter what they are. But, you can only connect with it in the silence.

I know this may be getting a bit into the ”hippy dippy” territory, but you need to know about this part of you because it is awesome, and can make life so much easier, and wouldn’t you like that?

But, most of us are extremely disconnected from this aspect of our being; we have stuff running through our minds all day long, but are doing very little deliberate thinking. We have our daily routines, and are existing pretty much on auto-pilot. We try to avoid the silence at all costs.

Meditation gives us access to this silence and all the wisdom it contains. It calms the craziness, and takes us off auto-pilot. In this silence, you’ll get insights that make perfect sense, that you just know are the right things to do; sometimes the answers will be so simple, you’ll wonder how you haven’t thought of it before. But, there was too much mental clutter before, and the information couldn’t make it through. You will get a clearer picture of who you are and what you want your life to be like.

You will make the decisions necessary to  solve your problems, improve your life and live it how you want to live, with greater confidence because you are working from a place of deep self-awareness.

There are countless ways to make your life better–meditation is surely not the only one, but I can say with confidence it is one of the best ones. So, get sitting, and see for yourself.