by Emma M. Seppälä, Ph.D.
New research shows meditation boosts your health, happiness, and success!
I started meditating soon after 9/11. I was living in Manhattan, an
already chaotic place, at an extremely chaotic time. I realized I had no
control over my external environment. But the one place I did have a say over was my mind, through meditation.
When I started meditating, I did not realize it would also make me
healthier, happier, and more successful. Having witnessed the benefits, I
devoted my PhD research at Stanford to studying the impact of
meditation. I saw people from diverse backgrounds from college students
to combat veterans benefit. In the last 10 years, hundreds of studies
have been released. Here are 20 scientifically-validated reasons you
might want to get on the bandwagon today:
It Boosts Your HEALTH
2 - Decreases Pain (see here)
It Boosts Your HAPPINESS
5 - Decreases Depression (see here)
It Boosts Your SOCIAL LIFE
Think
meditation is a solitary activity? It may be (unless you meditate in a
group which many do!) but it actually increases your sense of connection
to others:
10 - Makes you feel less lonely (see here)
It Boosts Your Self-Control
11 - Improves your ability to regulate your emotions (see here) (Ever flown off the handle or not been able to quiet your mind? Here's the key)
It Changes Your BRAIN (for the better)
13 - Increases grey matter (see here)
14 - Increases volume in areas related to emotion regulation, positive emotions & self-control (see here and here)
15 - Increases cortical thickness in areas related to paying attention (see here)
It Improves Your Productivity (yup, by doing nothing)
17 - Improves your ability to multitask (see here)
19 - Improves your ability to be creative & think outside the box (see research by J. Schooler)
20. It Makes You WISE(R)
It
gives you perspective: By observing your mind, you realize you don't
have to be slave to it. You realize it throws tantrums, gets grumpy, jealous,
happy and sad but that it doesn't have to run you. Meditation is quite
simply mental hygiene: clear out the junk, tune your talents, and get in
touch with yourself. Think about it, you shower every day and clean
your body, but have you ever showered your mind? As a consequence,
you'll feel more clear and see thing with greater perspective. "The
quality of our life depends on the quality of our mind," writes Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar. We can't control what happens on the outside but we do
have a say over the quality of our mind. No matter what's going on, if
your mind is ok, everything is ok. Right now.
It Keeps You Real
Once
you get to know your mind, you start to own your stuff and become more
authentic, maybe even humble. You realize the stories and soap operas
your mind puts you through and you gain some perspective on them. You
realize most of us are caught up in a mind-drama and become more
compassionate towards others.
And...the more you meditate, the more you seem to benefit, research studies such as this one suggest.
Myths about Meditation
Having an empty mind—nope, in fact, when you start meditating, you'll find its quite the opposite
Sitting in lotus position—nope, you can sit on the couch (just don't lie down, you'll fall asleep)
Chanting in a language I don't understand—nope, not unless that floats your boat
Buddhist, Hindu or religious—nope, not unless you make it so
Weird—what's so weird about sitting and breathing? Besides, US congressmen, NFL football leagues and the US Marine Corps are doing it, how weird can it be?
Wearing robes—what?
"I can't meditate" because
I can't clear my mind—no
worries, while you're sitting there you'll experience the noisy chaos
of a wound up mind that's unwinding: tons of thoughts, feelings and
emotions. Don't worry about how you feel during, notice how you feel
after and throughout the rest of the day
I can't sit still—that's ok, just sit comfortably, fidget if you need to
I get anxious—that's
also normal, all the junk's coming up, learn some breathing practices
to calm yourself down, exercise or do yoga before meditating
I hate sitting still—that's
fine, then go for a walk without your earphones, phone etc; or start
with yoga; or do breathing exercises…give yourself time to just "be"
without constantly "doing" something
I tried and I hated it—there's not just one kind of meditation, there's a whole menu out there, look for the shoe that fits: mindfulness,
Transcendental, compassion, mantra, Vipassana, Art of Living breathing
practices, yoga nidra, yoga, insight, loving-kindness, tai chi etc...
I don't have time - if
you have time to read an article about meditation all the way through,
you have time to meditate. Think of all those minutes you waste every
day on the internet or otherwise, you can definitely fit in 20 minutes
here or there to give your life a boost! Gandhi is quoted as saying "I'm
so busy today, that... I'm going to meditate 2 hours instead of 1."
Interested in a quick summary to post on your wall? Check out my infographic on the Benefits of Meditation.
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To stay updated on the science of happiness, health and social connection, see www.emmaseppala.com. Watch Emma's TEDx talk for a great summary of her work.
© 2013 Emma Seppala, Ph.D.
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