I have to be honest, I had never placed too much value in meditation and mindfulness practice. When I was younger, to qualify for my black belt in Taekwondo I was required to meditate for hours. I treated meditation then as a chore. While I was able to calm my mind and achieve better focus with meditation, I didn’t think twice about it once I earned my belt.
Recently my wife has been doing meditation prior to falling asleep. She listens to a variety of types of meditations and affirmations, which I’ve looked at as a bit too weird. I listened to a few of her meditations, all of which seemed to focus on the “universe” and “gaining abundance”. However, I couldn’t take these seriously as they always put my wife to sleep within minutes, leaving me listening to the end.
The Beginning of a Calmer, Clearer Mind
Being a practical person, the benefits of meditation started to catch my attention. I was usually stressed out from work, and more often than not, had difficulty sleeping. Also, my mornings were a jumbled haze of foggy-brain boosted by extra large coffees. I began to learn more about how meditation can relax your brain, improve your focus and balance your emotional state. Why not try it out, I thought. And so I did.
Chances are you may also be feeling overwhelmed by stress or distracted by endless tasks? Many of us have these feelings weighing on us daily. I can speak from experience as a former sceptic, you can also tap into meditation as a solution. Regular practice of meditation not only brings your mind peace, but also greatly improves your mental clarity. If you’re looking for a way to improve your productivity and reduce anxiety, taking a look at techniques such as meditation for calm and focus, can make a huge difference in your life, as it has in mine.
How Meditating Enhances Your Focus
Like any other muscle in your body, your brain can strengthen its focus, building neural pathways and improving concentration. A study by Chinese researchers on 11 and 12 year old students had them practice meditating on an object on the wall while being asked to perform different movements. The effect was profound as 54% of participants reported improvement in concentration over a 12 week period, even when distracted by noise [1].
Every time you meditate, you put your brain through the exercise of focusing on a task – often it is breathing but can be something else. The chore is to continually bring your mind back to the focus point as it is bombarded by random thoughts. As you practice this focused meditation your brain becomes much better at keeping distraction away. Through regular practice you increase gray matter in the brain which supports stronger memory and faster decision making. Just 10 to 15 minutes of meditation a day can change your life.
Meditation for Emotional Balance
A calm mind is a barrier to the chaos in life. Mediation can reset your emotions and decrease stress and anxiety. Through focused meditation your body can decrease the amount of stress hormones running through it. As the stress hormones decrease, your mood improves. This results in your ability over time to better control your emotional state, opting for a more positive attitude towards life. With a better emotional state you are more capable of handling life’s ups and downs with greater confidence.
Quick and Easy Meditation Steps for Better Focus
Here is a simple meditation that you can use to get started in improving your focus.
- Find your spot: Choose a place that is quiet where you aren’t likely to be distracted.
- Get comfortable: Sit straight but start to relax your body.
- Breathe Slowly from your belly: Take slow breaths, gently inhaling and exhaling through your nose with each exhalation being a bit longer than the inhalation..
- Notice your breathing: Feel the air as it enters your nose and notice how your belly moves outward with each inhalation and inward with each exhalation.
- Refocus gently: As your mind wanders to other thoughts, bring your focus back to your breathing. At first you will find it difficult to stay focused on your breathing but with more and more practice it becomes easier.
Try doing this simple meditation exercise for 5 to 10 minutes first thing in the morning to improve your focus throughout the rest of the day. I wouldn’t suggest doing this before bed as it may impact your sleep. The most important thing, in order to see improvements, is to practice daily.
How Meditating Improves Sleep Quality
Getting the proper amount and quality of sleep has such a huge impact on our health that each of us, particularly as we get older, should do whatever we can to improve it. Meditation can help – it can shift your body from a stressed, over thinking state to a relaxed one. Practicing mindfulness meditation before bedtime helps by slowing your breathing and racing thoughts. It allows your body and mind to prepare for a deep restful sleep. Done consistently it can improve sleep quality, improving energy levels while awake and supporting your overall health.
Quick and Easy Meditation Steps for Deep Relaxation
I use this mindfulness meditation first thing in the morning, especially if I’ve had a poor night’s sleep. I also use it just before bedtime. It is a Yoga Nidra meditation, named by Andrew Huberman to make it more relatable (accessible), called Non-Sleep-Deep-Rest (NSDR). If you want better sleep and a calmer mind try this technique for deep relaxation.
Try this meditation before going to bed this evening:
- Find Your Position: Sit comfortably in a chair or lie on your back. Adjust your position for comfort and relaxation.
- Close Your Eyes: As you close your eyes begin to feel relaxation overcome you..
- Slow, Gentle Breaths: Breathe slowly and gently in and out through your nose, feeling your belly rise and fall with each breath.
- Body Scan: Starting at your toes, begin noticing how they feel as they relax. As you move up your body, notice each part of your body and simultaneously relax each until you’ve reached your head. Continue breathing gently and slowly as each part of your body relaxes.
- Release Tension: With each exaltation imagine your body becoming even more relaxed, falling deeper and deeper into the surface that supports it. Slowly tension will leave your body and mind.
- Fall into Relaxation: Keeping your breath slow and effortless, allow yourself to fall deeper into a peaceful state of rest.
If you do NSDR meditation regularly it will help you fall asleep faster and remain in deep sleep longer while making you feel more refreshed. when you wake. It may even help minimize the impact of getting a poor night’s rest.
Additional Ways Meditating Supports Your Health
Beyond the more popular benefits, meditation has a number of additional benefits that support your overall health and wellbeing. Here are a few:
- Reduces the risk of heart issues by lowering blood pressure:
Meditation not only slows down your breathing but also relaxes your body, which lowers your blood pressure. Practicing meditation regularly can reduce strain on your heart, decreasing the risk of heart attack or stroke. - Improve your immune system, keeping you healthy:
When we are anxious or stressed our immune system is weakened, making us susceptible to illness and infection. Meditation boosts your immune system by helping your body relax, reducing stress to better fight infections. - Improved digestion by decreasing stress-related stomach issues:
Stress also contributes to digestive issues like indigestion, and bloat. Because meditation reduces stress, for those who practice it regularly, it minimizes stomach issues related to it. In addition, breathing exercises, used while meditating, uses deep belly or diaphragmatic breathing, which assists digestion by helping to move things along. - Reduce chronic pain and inflammation:
Meditation can help someone to manage pain by changing your brain’s response to it. Regular meditation can lower inflammation, reducing conditions such as arthritis and joint pain by reducing stress and promoting relaxation [2]. - Support healthy aging of your brain:
Regular meditation can lead to increases in the brain’s gray matter in areas of the brain associated with memory and learning [3]. This keeps your mind healthier and sharper as you get older.
These and other benefits further provide evidence that meditation not only brings mental clarity and focus but also provides valuable health benefits that help you live a longer, more productive life..
Conclusion
There are so many benefits to meditation, including meditation for calm and better focus, as well as reduced anxiety, and more emotional resilience, why wouldn’t you look into it. If you could power up your mental batteries or clear your mind from intrusive thoughts with just a few minutes of daily practice, you may look at it as a superpower you can switch on at will. If you start today, meditation can truly change your life and lead you into the future with the confidence you need to regain your edge.
Check out Embracing Mindfulness – How to Discover Life’s Small Joys.
