Most of us know that meditation is a powerful tool that can absolutely and completely transform our lives for the better. Then why aren’t we using it in the specific ways that it is meant to be used? Why are we being so fickle or temperamental with its usage?
Meditation is a powerful tool, but not just that. In my opinion, it is the ultimate tool to get yourself from 0 to 100 reasonably fast. But most of us end up using meditation as a mind-scrubber rather than a transformative tool.
Read on to see how you can use meditation in very specific ways to improve your life.
Meditation Is a Powerful Tool To Relieve Anxiety
Most people start meditating as a way of relieving their stress and anxiety. It is the ultimate tool for that. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I started meditating diligently.
I noticed that I felt a whole lot better about my life and everything that was going wrong in it, after a bout of meditation. A lot of times after a fight with my parents, or a tiff with my partner, I would go to a quiet corner in my room and meditate. I have continued that practice till now.
Mindfulness practice brings you back to the present moment. This is where all of your problems from the past or future melt away. This makes you realize that the only moment that truly matters is now. Your problems in the past or future aren’t real, and neither are your worries about the past or future.
Now, I am not saying that just one or two meditation sessions will be able to remove your anxiety or stress. But I do know that a consistent practice of meditation will absolutely be able to alleviate a lot of your anxiety and worries.
My practice of meditation is quite simple. I get up every morning, and I sit in a simple cross-legged posture and meditate. Quite simple. I don’t make it too fancy, otherwise, the more complicated it is, the more likely I am to skip it.
Meditation is a powerful tool that can change your anxiety levels to almost nil. But again, it has to be a regular mindfulness or meditation practice. You cannot meditate for 3 hours one day and then expect that one session to hold you over for the next 3 months.
A short practice every single day is more effective and powerful than a longer session of meditation done intermittently. Even five minutes of meditation every day is a huge asset in your self-care kit.
Use Meditation To Build a Mind-Body Connection
I have a terrible mind-body connection. Forgetting to eat my meals because I don’t realize that I am hungry when I am engrossed in work. Or forgetting to drink water and realize that I am dying of thirst.
I have also forgotten to go pee for hours on end or to sleep. All because I was distracted by work or something else.
As soon as I started a great body scan meditation practice every single day, I noticed that my mind-body connection went up by several notches. Now I am not perfect yet. I still forget to eat food or drink water, because I am too engrossed in work. But it’s definitely not as bad as it used to be.
I will never skip a meal nowadays, because I am able to hear my body’s messages to me more clearly than I used to be able to. In the past, my body’s messages used to be faint and barely noticeable. Nowadays, they are like trumpets blaring an announcement to me.
Interestingly enough, if I stop doing a body scan meditation, my mind-body connection drops back down to zero quite quickly. That’s why this is a such an important tool in my self-care kit.
Meditation is a powerful tool, and body scan meditation is even more so.
Meditation Is a Powerful Tool To Improve Memory and Concentration
When I was younger, I had a mind like a sieve. Someone would tell me a detail about their life, or their name, and that information would slip through my mind like it were a stone dropping in water. I wouldn’t be able to remember that information a few seconds after it was imparted to me.
But now, after years of meditation, my mind is the strongest asset I have. I remember everything. I’m like an elephant who never forgets.
Meditation is a powerful tool for increasing your brainpower. This is because it boosts your cerebral cortex by increasing the blood flow to the brain. There are a lot of other scientific reasons why meditation is so good for the brain. And I recommend you do your own research on that if you are interested.
I know that I don’t need to do any research on meditation’s effect on my brain, because I experience it on a daily basis. My memory is stronger than ever, even though I’m almost 40.
My concentration power is so strong that I can work for 4 hours straight on a project, without losing steam. I have been so focused on work that people have had to tap on my shoulder or wave their hands in front of my eyes to get my attention.
I see the effects of meditation on my brain every single day. And I know that I will never ever stop meditating for this powerful benefit that it has. I want to have a powerful functioning brain into my 60s, 70s, and 80s. And meditation will be able to help me with that, I’m sure.
Use Meditation To Let Go of the Past and Stay in the Present
I tend to ruminate on the past and focus on all of the mistakes I have made back then. If not the past, then I start planning, fantasizing, and dreaming about what will happen in the future.
Through my daily meditation practice, I have gotten a whole lot better at staying in the present moment. Focusing on your breath is a great way of doing this.
I also have an app on my phone that buzzes every hour, and reminds me to bring myself to the present moment.
The reason why meditation is a powerful tool to bring you back to the present is because it reminds you that the only moment that truly exists is the present moment. Everything else is an illusion. The past is an illusion, the future is a mystery, and the present is a gift, as the quote goes.
We don’t know what will happen in the future. No matter how much we plan, it will never go according to our plans.
We can’t change what happened in the past. No matter how much we ruminate about it, it’s done and over with.
The only moment we truly have is this one. Right now. Now. Now. That’s why we better utilize this present moment to the max, instead of flitting it away by thinking about the past or the future.
Meditation Helps You Sleep Better With Yoga Nidra
Do you suffer from insomnia? Does your mind race so much when you are trying to fall asleep that you can’t fall asleep? Instead, do you lay there, ruminating over useless thoughts, wishing you could fall asleep?
I used to be like that. Thankfully, I discovered an awesome meditation tool called Yoga Nidra. It is absolutely astounding in relaxing the body and mind, so you can fall asleep effortlessly. A lot of times I will begin a Yoga Nidra session and fall asleep in the middle of it, peacefully.
It won’t even feel like a meditation at first, as you lay there, relaxing your body and going deeper into your relaxation mode. Meditation is a powerful tool for helping you fall asleep. And as sleep is the most important thing you can do in a day, I think a meditation practice is quite crucial.
With all of the stress that people experience and all of the sleeplessness that’s permeating society, a Yoga Nidra practice is imperative.
Use Meditation as a Tool To Fix Specific Areas of Your Life
Just like a hammer is used to hammer in a nail, the same way different meditation practices should be used in specific ways to improve your life.
You wouldn’t use a pair of pliers to hammer in a nail. Just like that don’t use meditation in the wrong fashion and expect it to change your life.
Look at the ares of your life that need help, and search for the meditation practice that is suited to that exactly.
I hope you liked this article. Check out the other articles on my website for more meditation goodness.
