How meditating only for a few minutes can be life changing

An ancient practice that is being taken up by more and more people in the modern world where life moves at a relentless pace, is that of meditation.

Between the constant stress and hustle, meditation has come up as a safe haven for so many individuals who found themselves lost in the rush.

Meditation is not merely a relaxation technique where you close your eyes and breathe for a few minutes, but rather a way that allows you to be more in sync with yourself.

It encourages you to reflect, observe and feel without overwhelming you with sounds or lights.

​People turn to meditation for many reasons, primarily, the fact that between everything turning materialistic and happening way too fast, meditation is giving them the opportunity and feeling of being available for themselves. Taking out some time for yourself as you meditate and focus on the things you overlook during the busy schedules and hours helps you grow and develop internally. This simple practice helps people release stress, pent up emotions, the anxieties of the day and just be at peace with themselves. Meditating helps people form an emotional balance. After the hours of work stress, family tensions and job anxiety, meditation gives them a much needed relief.

Well, in the race of development, meditation too hasn’t lost. While in essence meditation is looking at your inner self, focusing on your breath and being more aware, there are diverse things you would wish to meditate for. For example, some people meditate to focus on being more present. They observe their thoughts, are open to feelings of both happiness and gloom and they face their fears. Then, there are some others who meditate in order to be more kind and loving. They meditate to make sure that during ‘professional hours’ their anger does not take the best of them and they remain kind to all. And then there are some others who meditate just because they want to. They don’t have a plan or a topic in mind, they just want to experience calm and peace. They wake up in the morning hours and focus on their breath and being, while remembering a deity they like or manifesting something.

So, what you do or think when you meditate is up to you, at the end, it will all help you be more in tune with yourself.

Regular meditation, be it in the early morning or during the quiet hours of the night has proven to reduce stress by lowering cortisol levels and promoting relaxation responses in the body. Meditating helps you improve your emotional resilience which with time allows you to be more in control of your emotions, be it anger, anxiety or sadness. As you continue to meditate, you will see that your emotional outbursts lessen over time, the constant leg shaking because of anxiety will go away and your panic responses to situations will be replaced with calm, serene thinking.

The quality of a human being has crossed a certain boundary of awareness. It has to seek something more, otherwise it will never be satisfied. It has to become unlimited – meditation is a way of moving into the unlimited dimension of who you are.

Meditation thus, helps you to be a step further. It allows you and gives you the power to improve yourself as you embrace changes and progress.

Apart from the treasure trove that meditation is for your mind, it is also linked to several physical benefits. Thus, a holistic mind and body approach is fulfilled. Meditation is now being linked to many physical health benefits. Studies show that it can lower blood pressure, improve immune function and help you have better sleep overall.

As reported in Harvard Health, “A number of well-designed studies show that meditation can modestly lower blood pressure, according to an American Heart Association scientific statement.”

Now, the question arises, where do you start? Do you just sit on the mat on fine morning and being breathing with focus or do you take classes from a Guru? Well, meditation can be both guided and done by self. Several videos on the internet can help guide you as a beginner about the correct way of meditation. You can open your laptop, search for one and follow what the teacher says. Or, if you want to do it yourself we recommend you to stay at ease first. Wake up at 6 AM and just sit down for a few minutes. Sit and think about what happened the previous day and what made you happy. Once you reflect on the positives, close your eyes and just focus on your breathing and the thoughts that come to you. If you get confused, try chanting ‘OM’ in your mind and you’ll see how eventually things will start to look better.