There are many benefits to meditation. Here are a few of our favorites!
Meditation teaches us to calm the mind, develop concentration, and increase awareness. With greater awareness of our thought patterns and emotional habits, we learn how to relate to ourselves and our circumstances in a more objective, compassionate, and skillful way. This helps us engage in life more completely. It teaches us to understand and work with our emotions and break our habit of reactivity.
Another common outcome is a sharper mind. Meditation can help increase our ability to focus and concentrate. It can help us recondition our minds to break bad habits, sidestep our impulses, and avoid distractions. Research shows that meditation can significantly increase your ability to sustain focused attention on a single task for an extended period of time.
In terms of physical benefits, with regular practice, we often see a decrease in grey matter in the amygdala, which plays a big role in anxiety, stress, and compulsivity. And as the amygdala shrinks, we see an increase in gray matter in the pre-frontal cortex – associated awareness, concentration, and rational decision-making. When you meditate regularly, you start to respond to difficult situations with a more level headed approach.
Meditation also can help people cope with ADD/ADHD, PTSD, chronic pain, sleep difficulties, and more.
For more on this topic, check out more benefits of meditations in these articles on our Calm Blog: 7 Benefits of Mindfulness and 6 Health Benefits of Meditation. Our blog is a great place to find support as you evolve your meditation practice.