Meditative Effects on Mental Health 0
Category: Mental Health
Date: 11 May 2019
Created By : E_F7
Take a deep breath in, hold it for a moment, and release, letting your body relax along with it. Often during the day, one might find themselves caught up in thought. Perhaps you weren’t truly paying attention to what your friend’s story while they were speaking to you. Maybe you find yourself re-reading passages of a book you weren’t paying attention to. Meditation is a great way to re-focus yourself into your life. Sometimes the mind may feel distant, however, when one begins to practice meditation, they learn to refocus their attention back to what they are doing. But what does this have to do with mental health? In an article written by Headspace- a free meditation app run by a former Buddhist monk- they say the following about meditational effects on one’s life: “By training in mindfulness, we can learn to be less distracted, more present, and more connected with the people and the world around us. So instead of thinking about life, we are actually living and experiencing life to the fullest. “ By living life to the fullest as the article states, you create a better sense of contentment, or happiness, in what you are doing. During meditation, you are frequently taught to create a focus on something. This focus is often chosen to be the breath. However, as you sit there and focus on your breath, you may come to the realization that the mind begins to wander. We start chasing after trains of thought and get swept up in an idea of something else. Instead of reprimanding oneself for not paying attention, meditative practice teaches to gently bring the focus back to the breath, back to the sensation it creates in the body. This practice of altering where the attention lies can be applied to one’s everyday life as well. If you realize you’re distracted when you are having a conversation, you have the practice of bringing your attention back to the main activity, back to what you are doing, and back to the words, your friend is saying. This then allows you to be much more present with your life, and more engaged and content with what you may be doing. Although external circumstances may remain the same (for example: always having to get up early for school, etc.), your perspective towards them may change, due to you having the mind space and skill to do so subsequent to practicing meditation. “The more we meditate, the more we look after the mental health of our minds,” says Headspace. So, I urge you, try meditation, or at least try incorporating some type of mindfulness activity in your everyday life. I cannot express to you how much this has helped me both in my focus, as well as my overall mood. It doesn’t need to be anything drastic; even 5 minutes per day would be a good start. Just give it a whirl. I hope that you to gain a better sense of presence, contentment, and engagement :).
-E_F7
(If you are wondering where to start, check out headspace! They have loads of free activities, and even more in-depth ones if you decide to pay for a subscription. Here’s a link to their website: https://www.headspace.com/ )