What are the 10 Hidden Benefits of Meditation?
So many people choose to meditate because of the inner peace and contentment it can induce. There is a variety of other purposes as well. It needs regular practice for maximum benefit. However, if meditation is new for you, here are ten hidden benefits you may have yet to consider.
Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It is a way of entering into the quiet that is already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day – Deepak Chopra
1. You learn to enjoy your own company
You will spend time with yourself while meditating, connecting, and becoming more self-confident. Some people don’t like to be on their own. However, practicing meditation helps solve that issue, and you will learn to know yourself better.
The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself. – Steve Maraboli
2. You become aware of your ‘inner voice.
Meditation brings you in sync with your mind. You learn to become aware of your intuition. Also, you will start to notice your inner voice and learn to trust it. Furthermore, you know to use your thoughts to navigate your life positively.
Practice listening to your intuition, your inner voice; ask questions; be curious; see what you see; hear what you hear; and then act upon what you know to be true. These intuitive powers were given to your soul at birth.― Clarissa Pinkola Estés
3. Helps you to release emotions
Meditating brings clarity and positivity to your life. But sometimes, meditation can become emotional for you. Therefore, many avoided thoughts may come up, and you will be more aware of your inner state of mind. Do not neglect your feelings and acknowledge your problems and fears; it will establish inner peace.
“Feel the feeling but don’t become the emotion. Witness it. Allow it. Release it.” — Crystal Andrus.
4. It reduces your heart rate
Meditating increases the airflow to your lungs and helps to lower your heart rate. Also beneficial for people who struggle with high blood pressure or heart-related health issues.
During meditation, our breathing slows, our blood pressure and heart rate decrease, and stress hormone levels fall.– Deepak Chopra
5. It reduces tension in your muscles
Stress causes tension in your muscles. But regular meditation reduces tension and muscle aches and lowers stress and anxiety.
“Tension is being who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” – Chinese Proverb
6. It is anti-aging
Regular meditation reduces free radicals, particles that destroy cells in the body. Free radicals contribute to the premature aging of the skin. Meditating minimizes the amount of these harmful particles and keeps the skin from aging early.
“The best anti-aging advice I’ve ever received? Drink a lot of water and have a plant-based diet. I also do mindful meditation with my daughter every day. It takes ten minutes. I think reducing stress plays a big part in anti-aging.”— Carolyn Murphy
7. It enhances brain function
Your brain function is improved if you meditate regularly. It reduces the possibility of headaches and migraines. Your focus, concentration, and motivation will increase.
“Peace is not just an absence of conflict, it is a positive phenomenon inside of us. When our mind is quiet, our intellect becomes sharper. Our emotions become positive and lighter. Our behavior becomes much more palatable. These are the effects of finding inner peace.” – Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
8. It alleviates depression
Moreover, Meditation improves your overall mood because the amount of serotonin within the body will increase. The chemical serotonin transmits signals from various parts of the brain, and an imbalance in serotonin levels can result in depression and anxiety. Regular meditation helps with brain functioning and can alleviate a depressed state.
Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, and our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work. – Thich Nhat Hanh
9. It helps with our feelings toward others
Through meditation, we become happier within ourselves, and we tend to have more patience and empathy. Meditation makes us more confident with our emotions, and we have more compassion toward others.
Meditation is a flower and compassion is its fragrance.- Rajneesh
10. It makes more creative
Meditation allows our creativity to shine because we become more in tune with our emotions and confident in our abilities.
Creativity means enjoying any work as meditation, doing any work with deep love. Rajneesh
Creativity is secondary, meditation is basic and fundamental; everything should come out of your meditation. Then it will give you a beatitude, your being a new song, and it will help others to experience something of it. It will depend on their meditativeness. Osho
Why not begin to try and experience meditation with Zen12? All it takes is only 12 minutes of your day to reap the benefit.
Download your FREE Zen12 – try a simple 12-minute program.
See also >How To Start Meditation – A Beginners Guide
10 Positive Facts About Meditation That May Surprise You
What an excellent reminder here. Timely too!
I began meditating again just last night again after a WAY LONG break LOL. My intuition told me to do it. The first 25 minute session felt rocky. The 25 minute session this morning felt easier yet I know how it goes as the monkey mind ebbs and flows for a bit. Over the long term, everything levels out as you practice observing the mind versus getting all caught up in its tendrils. Practice makes better and better until you judge less and less.
As for feelings towards others, we do develop greater patience and empathy towards others because meditating reminds us that we are one, together, not really separated. The angry, or upset, or enraged, or grieving person is just your mind acting out, reflecting back to you because you and the person are one mind. Meditating allows one to realize this in a clear way.
Great post my friend.
Ryan Biddulph recently posted…What Is the Ideal Content Marketing Ratio for Bloggers?
Yes, Ryan, after a break, it may feel “rocky”:) The best would be to make meditation a habit. You are right; after time, one becomes more patient and not easily angry anymore. I can see it when my granddaughter is with me. When we meditate, after a while, she is not getting so upset about annoying things happening at the college or with friends and can let go. Before, she would talk about it again and again and get angry.
I think if more people practiced meditation, we would have a healthier society, both physically and mentally.
Thank you for your insights
Erika