So you are thinking about beginning a meditation practice?
Perhaps you've heard about the benefits to your health and well-being or you're just looking for a way to chill-out. Either way, I'm excited for you, as you begin this life-changing practice.
In order to get you motivated, I've prepared a list of some of the likely side effects that you are likely to experience. Even though more studies need to be done on the health effects of meditation, many modern scientific studies now support what meditators have been saying for years- that meditators are healthier and happier.
So, if you commit to this daily practice, let's time-travel and take a look at the new you in 90 days, with meditation as part of your new wellness routine.
8 AWESOME SIDE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION
Thinking About Starting to Meditate- Expect Some Cool Side Effects!(01 of10)
If you commit to the daily practice of meditation, let's time-travel and take a look at "you" in 90 days, with meditation as part of your new wellness routine...
1) You are Calmer and Less Stressed Out! (02 of10)
Stressful events and circumstances have less and less of an effect on your peace of mind and happiness. You have fewer concerns and fears about your future, and you know they will continue to soften, and eventually disintegrate completely. The knot of anxiety in your stomach (if you had one before) has loosened and is almost or completely gone. Now and then, you feel yourself tighten up inside when something seems amiss or worrisome – but that's the point! You feel yourself tighten up – you notice what’s happening in your body! You experience it as something you can change. In fact, you seem to be able to loosen up almost immediately simply by noticing how you're feeling and deciding to feel differently. A recent study in the American Journal of Psychology confirmed what meditators have known for years… meditation is an awesome way to chill-out and de-stress!
2) Your are Happier and Have a Consistent Sense of Wellbeing(03 of10)
You feel better, eat better, breathe better, move better, and make better choices for your health, in general, throughout your day. You have more energy, yet it's modulated and consistent – unlike the frenetic bursts of energy you may have experienced in the past. Your body is more at peace. You experience "happiness for happiness' sake," joy and contentment that don't depend on outer circumstances but arise from your centre without respect to what's "really" happening.2 recent ground-breaking studies in Australia demonstrate this. In one, researchers Carmody and Baer found that subjects could indeed increase their overall sense of happiness and well-being through daily meditation.
3) You Make Better Decisions Faster, with Confidence.(04 of10)
You are More Efficient and Better at Multi-Tasking. You have new insight into questions or problems that used to confuse or overwhelm you. You hear from your intuition clearly and often throughout your day. You see more options in any given field of choices, even as you are able to identify and select the best option in less time and with less mental effort than you use to require. You have a new serenity about the outcomes of your decisions. David Frew recently wrote in The Academy of Management Journal that meditators showed increased productivity and performance in the work place. They also reported higher job satisfaction and improved interpersonal relationships and were more likely to be working in higher levels of organizations.
4) You are Much More Focused and Less Likely to Get Distracted. (05 of10)
Your ability to concentrate on any given problem and stay with it until you solve has increased exponentially. It continues to become stronger and clearer. You are able to switch almost effortlessly between life roles and tasks, responding appropriately to diverse situations and demands with little or no frustration or transition time. A team at the University of Washington teamed up with a neuroscientist at the University of Arizona to prove this. In a study published in the Proceedings of Graphics Interface in May of 2012, they showed that the mindful-meditation group reported less stress as they performed the multitasking test than the non-meditating group, had increased focus and were more productive with their time.
5) You are More Creative and Your Inner Artist has Emerged. (06 of10)
With consistent meditation, you are accessing your right brain which is more open and less limited in it’s thinking. The right brain tends to think in concepts and possibilities, and is not limited by reason and logic. To the right brain, anything is possible and it loves to “think out of the box.” Additionally, during meditation, you reach the dream-like states of alpha and theta. Albert Einstein mentally performed many of his scientific experiments in his mind’s eye, whilst in these relaxing mental states. Which is probably why he was famous for saying that “imagination is much more important than knowledge.” In the April 2012 edition of Frontiers in Cognition, a study revealed that the participants who practiced open-monitoring meditation increased their creative thinking to come up with new ideas easier.http://www.frontiersin.org/Cognition/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00116/abstract
6) Your Brain is Stronger and Superior(07 of10)
In February of 2012, a fascinating study was published in the Frontiers in Human Neuroscience that showed that people who were long-term meditators actually had physically superior brains. They compared MRI images of the brain of 100 non-meditators and 100 long-term meditators. The meditating group had a higher level of gyrification (which is a folding of the cerebral cortex that may be associated with faster information processing.)Additionally, it was shown that that, the more years a person had been meditating, the more gyrification their MRIs revealed. So, it’s nice to know that you can chill-out and get smarter at the same time!
7) You are More Productive(08 of10)
You get more done in less time, using less energy - and you enjoy the process!You spend an hour doing what would have required at least two or three before you adopted a daily meditation practice. Best of all, during that hour, you find yourself needing to invest only a fraction of the mental and physical energy you would have needed to invest before.This is probably why the corporate headquarters at Facebook have added a meditation room and why Google has sent over 1000 employees to a meditation-training program.
8) You are Healthier(09 of10)
Regular meditators have been touting the mental, physical and spiritual benefits of meditation for ages. Now science is actually testing out and proving their claims. A ground breaking study, published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes tested 201 people with coronary heart disease and found that those who took a meditation class had a 48% reduction in their overall risk of heart attack, stroke and death. It’s may be an initial study, but that’s a pretty impressive figure. Additionally, the side effects of meditation seem more appealing than some of the risky ones that I have read on medication labels.
Sound Appealing ? (10 of10)
As you can see, from this impressive list, meditators have greater focus and mental clarity, better memories, learn rapidly and easily, and demonstrate better analytical skills, foresight and judgment. They are healthier, happy and more productive. On every measure, they’re “brighter,” in the truest sense of the word. In short: their brains just work better.Sound fun and appealing? Check out myfree meditation e-course and try it for yourself!Enjoy,Dr. Michelle Nielsen
I guess that is why you can find many successful leaders and entrepreneurs like Oprah Winfrey and Rupert Murdoch striking the meditation pose!