I’ll never be able to describe completely how meditation has changed my life, but I’ll try anyway.  Most people have probably heard this word, and maybe it doesn’t mean much to them. I used to picture a monk, in a far away temple on a mountain whenever I heard the word meditation.  At first I read books, and years after reading about it I finally tried it.  This was at least 15 years ago and it’s been a part of my life ever since. 

So why do it?  I don’t believe you can ever truly convince someone that something has value.  You can give them information and it may or may not resonate with them.  Meditation resonates with me.  It appeals to me on the deepest levels and maybe it will appeal to you in this way as well. These are the benefits I have experienced directly because of meditation.  

1.  Awareness –   This is the biggest benefit. And most of the other benefits stem from this one. Though at first it can seem like a curse because you may become aware of things that are uncomfortable, difficult and disturbing.  The reason for this is that you start to see through the layers of conditioning that created your identity.  You start to see the inauthenticity in your life, the bull shit, what you really want vs what you’ve been pretending to want.  This is not for everyone.  You have to be honest with yourself about whether you want truth or illusion.

2.  You also start to see your thoughts and how your mind works.  This also stems from awareness.  Many people have no idea about why they really do things beyond the surface level, or the unconscious behaviors that drive them.  This often causes problems in life.  I know it has in mine.  Any issue I’ve had, came from me being unaware or not thinking things through or not knowing truly what I want.

3.  Change.  Once aware, it becomes impossible to not change the thing that’s bothering you about your life.  This can apply to work, your attitude, relationships, purpose, where you live, etc.  One of the things that stops people from changing is the unwillingness to recognize they are unsatisfied, I speak from experience.  Because once you recognize it, you know you have to do the work to change and it’s easier to do nothing.

4.  Inner calm –  An inner calm starts to develop over time.  You find you don’t get dragged into drama, arguments and other unproductive things as much, if at all.  It’s this inner state that no one else can touch or control and you take it with you where ever you go.  This inner calm really changes your life because you don’t engage with toxic people, you start to see the things that aren’t worth your time and that your life is made up of what you give your time to.  You realize you don’t owe anyone anything and it’s YOUR choice what you allow into your life, no matter what society or other people say.  You set boundaries and stick to them. 

5. More presence – Everyone thinks they are present.  But when I started meditating, I began to notice just how not present I was all the time!  I was mostly in my mind, thinking and interpreting things.  That’s what most people are doing.  Except the thoughts in your mind are not reality.  They are a biased interpretation based on your perspective and world view.  This was and still is fascinating to me, I have started to see how my biases affect by thoughts and behavior.  Being present seems so simple, yet is very difficult in practice.  

6. Passion – I think meditation naturally leads to discovering your passion in life.  It creates the space and the awareness will lead you there.  I discovered I’m musical, artistic, I love to write and dance was a passion of mine.  I found the flow state.  Growing up, I never knew what I wanted.  That’s because my mind was busy, filled with all the garbage forced on me by other people, society telling me what I should want.  My voice was drowned out, but I got it back.

7. Joy –  As a result of all the above, you feel joy.  Not all the time, but more and more as you keep at it.  I see the ups and downs, in life, in my emotions and it’s not a big deal anymore.  I can always be present, in the moment and that joy always comes back around.

Meditation is just being present.  Taking the time to pause and be in the moment.  Starting with a few minutes a day can give you a taste of the magic.  The life we are living is pure magic and we forget about that.  There’s so much mystery and it can be lost in the day to day habits that we perform so robotically, so unconsciously.  Meditation gives you the space needed to return to who you actually are, in the moment.