Do you feel unmotivated and find it pointless when you were told to practice mindfulness and/or meditation?
Do you think that it is a waste of time? Especially when you have such a busy schedule and so much to do, how can you still sit still and do nothing?
Do you sometimes feel like “I have to do something”, not “do nothing” to become better?
Over the years I have often received questions like this when I suggested mindfulness meditation practice. And people from all backgrounds, walks of and experience in life often respond in those ways mentioned.
So, what are the benefits of practicing mindfulness meditation?
- Learning to become less reactive in your life and in your mind. You see that you do not need to keep thinking about those things that pop into your mind
- Worrying less!
- Usually sleeping better at night after starting to practice regularly
- Feeling calmer in the day too if you are able to generalise it beyond the practice itself, i.e. becoming more mindful in life.
- Calming and feeling peaceful after doing it. (but it’s not the purpose usually, the process is more important)
- Helps lowering stress level
- Feeling less anxious when you practice it more
- Improving attention span, whether it’s for your learning or work! You don’t get distracted so easily as you used to be.
- Helps memory and learning
- Reducing chronic pain
- Better sense of coping in general
- Developing a more open and non-judgemental attitudes towards most things in life (which might cause irritation and stress previously)
- Developing a problem-solving attitude instead of a “worrier” habit
- Helps regulating emotions (emotion doesn’t go out of control so easily)
- Quite often helps feeling more connected too!
- Increasing clarity in thinking and perception
- If you have other illness(es), it aids recovery and enhances your coping abilities
- The “I have to keep doing” could be the cause of your problems. Sometimes, “not doing” could be the answer!
Don’t you think that for these many benefits, or even if it’s just for half of those benefits, it’s worth to spend 10 minutes or so each day or every other day to just practice mindfulness meditation? Isn’t it much better than many other things that you are trying to do?
It might feel “boring” and “really uninteresting” and “not my kind of thing”. Believe me… I had been there too, being an active person and labelling this sort of things as the “elderly stuff”, just like many others. But no, just stay open and curious, notice those thoughts and judgments, notice those sensations and feelings, notice any changes and stillness…
Now I’m going to practice it myself after writing this!