Why is meditation beneficial? The biological benefits which have been studied suggest meditation:
-lowers blood pressure
-improves the immune system
-slows down aging
-allows you to think more clearly
-improves concentration and the list goes on.
From a spiritual perspective, the practice of meditation is beneficial because it allows us to connect with our higher self, and live in the moment. Think of an individual who has an overactive mind. Let’s say his mind is preoccupied with everything but the present moment. Let’s say he’s listening to everyone but himself. How can he be attentive if his mind is preoccupied with everything but the present moment? How can he get to the core issues of what’s troubling him if his mind is preoccupied with everyone but himself?
When you focus only on the external world, you get so immersed in this reality, that you forget what matters above all else, which is your spiritual evolution. The eternal, infinite universal spirit that transcends the universe, is the reason you’re here, and it’s who you are, and if you forget this, then you have forgotten the essence of who you are.
When you shut your eyes in meditation, you’re looking inward rather than outward. You quiet your mind, and you stop focusing merely on physicality and things, and you begin to focus on the evolution of your soul. You can not grow spiritually if you’re concerned only with matters of a physical nature. The only way to grow spiritually is to go inward and what better way then to quiet your mind and focus on your evolution and God.
If you’re focused too much on the external world, reasoning and analyzing, then how do you explain what has no scientific explanation? Do you have a scientific explanation as to why you have a soul?
How do you follow your intuition if you don’t quiet your mind and cut out distractions? Have you ever heard of someone who’s always busy and always needs to be around others, and the minute he’s alone with himself he feels uneasy? Is that because he thinks too much when he is alone? Maybe, or is it his way of avoiding the thoughts that have been troubling him all these years? Never acknowledging one’s spiritual evolution may be the reason we break down after a while, and then we don’t realize what happened.
Would we breakdown if we learned to quiet our mind, and face what we have been trying to avoid all these years? Maybe we would, but meditation and reflection allows us to quiet our mind enough to think clearly, and to access our intuition, and receive the answers we seek. When we’re in this space we know how to handle the breakdown.
Why is anyone stressed? Because we have too much on our mind, and we don’t know how to deal with a situation. What better way to clear the mind then to meditate and reflect? When we’re in this relaxed space, it’s much easier to find a solution, isn’t it? Maybe meditation won’t solve all of our problems, but it will release the resistance that’s been accumulating all these years.
So next time you feel uneasy or you’re searching for meaning, or maybe you’re just looking for an escape from physicality, why not try to meditate?