5 Reasons To Meditate Daily And 5 Wonderful Benefits I Already See

Meditation today is what Yoga was 15 years ago. Everyone is curious about it. You keep hearing that it’s supposed to be good for you. Your friends and family are probably into it. 

I got into meditation seriously a year ago. Pandemic and work for home made it easier to turn it into a daily habit. 

Before I get into the reasons and benefits I would like to give you some background on my path to meditation. It isn’t something that came naturally. I didn’t grow up around folks who meditated even though I grew up in India.

Meditation In The Beginning

I have tried meditation on and off over the years as an adult. I used to show up every now and then to a practice session near home whenever I was stressed with work or life in general. I did it for a few sessions then forgot all about it when life got easier. 

It wasn’t properly explained to me and I felt disappointed with myself at the end of each session. As a result I didn’t stick with it long enough to see the effects. 

The thing about meditation is that it’s harder to learn it for the first time when you are going through a tough time. The expectations on the outcome are much higher. 

A friend of mine introduced me to the Headspace app last year. I was taken by its founder, Andy Puddicombe and his style of teaching meditation. The short guided meditation sessions made it easier to follow. Being able to track your meditation streak in the app made it fun. 

Somewhere along the journey I wanted to deepen my practice. I discovered the teachings of Tibetan meditation master, Mingyur Rinpoche (Tergar.org). I stumbled up on one of his talks at Google and found him funny and relatable. He seemed to have the same issues as me around anxiety. 

In his video teachings Rinpoche spoke of how he experienced panic attacks as a child. How years of regular practice helped him deal with his anxiety. I thought if he can learn to get past that and joke about it then it must work. 

The flexibility offered around this meditation helped me stick with it. I love that I could use breath or sound or body scan as a support to practice meditation. I could meditate for how ever long I wanted and not feel like I didn’t do a good job.

I won’t be getting into how to meditate in this post. There are a lot more experienced teachers who do a great job introducing meditation. Check out a short video on intro to meditation which I found very helpful in those beginning days. 

In this post, I will be discussing my reasons to meditate and the benefits I have seen thus far. Meditating everyday has helped me a great deal. It has brought me closer on my journey towards self awareness. 

5 Reasons To Meditate

1. Stay In The Present: We are constantly moving from one state of mind to another. Going from work mode to parent mode to spouse mode. I meditate so I can stay in the present. So I can be fully present while at work or when I am with my child without thinking of the other. 

2. Be A Better Version Of Myself: The way we behave when we are agitated isn’t the same as when we are happy. I have had many situations in my life where I wish I hadn’t said something or behaved a certain way. I started meditating so I can be a better version of myself around friends and family. I haven’t mastered this but I’ve come a long way. 

3. Learn How To Process Life: I am not one of those people who brushes off a conflict or a difficult conversation and easily moves on. I tend to over analyze and internally process the situation until I can fully make peace with it. I got into meditation so I can learn how to process my emotions. So I can learn how to navigate life with all its curve balls it throws at us. 

4. Happiness: A new job, a pay raise or a vacation all seem to give you temporary happiness. One key reason I got into meditation and began my spiritual journey is so I can learn the art of happiness. Being content and happy is an acquired skill.
5. Understand The Mind: This isn’t a must for everyone. I enjoy learning about the inner workings of the mind both spiritually and scientifically. I meditate so I can learn more about it as I exercise my mind with each meditation practice and understand people better.

The Benefits Of Meditation After A Year Of Practice

1. A Great Start Of The Day: The first thing I do after waking up is meditate for 10 minutes, it’s part of my daily morning routine. This gives me a great start of the day. If I wake up with a bad dream or worrisome thoughts, meditation helps me center myself and get a great start of the day. 

2. Acceptance Of Life: Meditation has helped me accept life instead of fight it. Especially when going through difficult emotions. When you are angry or sad and you are bothered by feeling those emotions, it generally adds to an already aggravated situation. You can’t be mad at yourself for being mad at something. Meditation has helped me accept that this is the current state of mind now but it will pass.  

3. Ability To Re-tune: With regular practice I am able to step out of a conflict situation and think from the other person’s perspective. I am able to re-tune myself, step back and let go. 

4. Compassion: The current meditation style that I practice has dedication at the end. It goes like this:

By the power of this compassionate practice, may suffering be transformed into peace. 

May the hearts of all beings be open and their wisdom radiate from within

Each practice session has helped me build my compassion muscle. I tell myself that everyone in the world wishes for the same thing. To be truly happy. This changes how I look at the world. 

5. Self-Awareness: This by far has been the biggest benefit of meditation for me. To get to know myself better through meditation. Self-awareness is key to making better choices in life and meditation has played a key role. You learn to reflect on any situation, your behavior and constantly learn and grow from your experiences. 

Meditation is an integral part of taking care of your mind just as exercise is to your body. It’s part of my system for staying balanced. 

It doesn’t have to be difficult. It can be done in short durations, as short as 5 minutes a day. 

I hope you get a chance to try meditation if you aren’t already practicing. 

What are some of the benefits you are seeing or hope to see from meditating regularly? Would love to hear your journey.