

Why You Should Meditate
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Meditation is a powerful practice that often gets overlooked. Most people who haven’t tried it are skeptical of the benefits gained from it. It seems too easy and too simple to achieve the kind of results that are talked about. Due to this perception of inflated claims, many people have not bothered to give meditation a chance. I am here to compel you to give it a try and see the results for yourself.
What are the benefits of meditation? People use mediation for different reasons. One common use is to clear your mind of lingering thoughts. Normally throughout the day you would have unaddressed thoughts bouncing around in your head. When you are not focused on a task, they come up to the surface and pull your attention away from other things. Taking the time to meditate allows you to address those lingering thoughts so that they no longer bother you throughout the day. It’s like clearing the cache of your mental browser. It frees up space for you to be able to better focus on other things.
A common reason why people employ meditation in their daily life is to reduce stress and anxiety. If you are about to go into a high pressure situation, you might be feeling nervous at first. Meditation helps regulate the body's stress response. It is a great tool for calming down your central nervous system, slowing down your heart rate and reducing cortisol. When I have a high stress event coming up such as a job interview or going up at a comedy open mic, I sit in the car for 5 minutes and meditate before going in. Doing this makes all the difference. I feel calm collected and confident. Normally without mediation I find myself stumbling over words on stage but after I meditate my set always comes out smooth.
Another reason why people enjoy meditation is because of the downloads you get while in a meditative state. A “download” is a term describing the concept of have an unprompted idea pop into your head out of nowhere. This can be perceived as if you were receiving a download from the universe. It can feel surreal because these downloads don’t feel like something you thought of but rather a thought you observed. Often time these thoughts can be very beneficial or creative. You might suddenly think of a solution to a problem that you’ve been dealing with, but weren’t thinking about at that time. You might also get ideas and inspiration in the creative realm. The thing in common with all of these is that you weren’t actively thinking through a problem, but the solution or idea has popped into your mind seemingly out of nowhere. Being in a meditative state is highly conducive for receiving these kinds of downloads.
Beyond the well-known benefits, there's another hidden gem in the realm of meditation worth exploring, experiencing "thoughtlessness" or "mind emptiness". To do this you must engage in meditation with the aim of achieving a state devoid of thoughts. Here, thoughts may arise, but you acknowledge them only to let them gracefully drift away. You do not latch onto them and explore them further. Direct your focus inward, embracing the sensation of pure existence within your body, untethered from the entanglements of wandering thoughts. Your goal is simply to exist, to just be. This is what is often referred to as true meditation.
In conclusion, the practice of meditation offers a multitude of benefits that extend far beyond its surface appeal. From clearing the mind of lingering thoughts to reducing stress and anxiety, and even delving into thoughtlessness, meditation holds transformative potential for those who embrace it. By taking the time to explore the depths of meditation, we open ourselves to a world of inner peace, clarity, and self-discovery. So, I urge you to set aside any skepticism, give meditation a chance, and embark on a journey towards greater well-being and understanding.
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