Meditation has grown in popularity over the past ten years or so, as more and more people have learned how good it is for them. Meditation is a practice that helps you train your mind to change the way it thinks and pay more attention. But can meditating make you happier?
Meditation’s benefits, like less stress and better sleep, can make people happier. Read on to learn more about how meditation can make you happier in your everyday life.
Stress and Worry Are Lessened
One of the most common reasons why people meditate is to help them deal with stress and anxiety. Most of the time, stress hormones make your heart beat faster and make you feel anxious. During these times, meditation can help bring a sense of calm. When you stop and think about yourself, you train your mind to be calm.
Selom Agbitor, a co-founder of Mad Rabbit Tattoo, says, “When I had those bouts of stress and anxiety, nothing could get me out of it.” At that time, it was a big problem. I had to figure out how to deal with it, and meditating helped. It’s definitely a practice because I’ve had to work to get to where I am now, which is being able to find calm in times of high anxiety.
For some people, like Rachel Roff, Founder and CEO of Urban Skin Rx, taking medicine to treat anxiety and stress isn’t the best way to do it. Instead, they turn to meditation. “Stress wasn’t a problem for me all the time, so I wasn’t interested in taking medicine to deal with it.
When work or life got too much, I would feel stressed. I had heard that meditation could be helpful, so I tried it. It worked, and now I know how to calm my mind, get over my stress, and find happiness in my day whenever I start to feel too stressed.”
Improves Mental Clarity
With the rise of social media, people are paying less and less attention to one thing at a time. Constant scrolling and taking in information can affect how clear your mind is. Meditation helps rewire our brains so that we can focus better, which helps us pay more attention throughout the day.
Erin Banta, Co-Founder and CEO of Pepper Home, says, “In my line of work, I need to keep my mind sharp.” This is why he turned to meditation to help his memory. “Meditating has helped me focus a lot, and the clarity I now have is amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to focus so well.”
Even without technology, the mind tends to get less clear as we get older. But meditation is a good way to clear your mind and improve your memory.
“I always thought that getting older made you forgetful. Marcus Hutsen, Business Development Manager at Patriot Coolers, says, “I put it down to that when I forgot about a meeting or where I left my cup of coffee. “
Then a friend told me that I could try meditation. I wasn’t sure, but I tried it anyway. At first, I just liked how peaceful it was, but as I kept doing it, I suddenly noticed that I was forgetting less and less. I’m glad I found a way to stop that annoying habit of forgetting things.”
Brings Out Creativity
Our brains are hardwired to think creatively, but when we have a lot on our minds, we can’t think of different things. Mindful meditation helps us wake up parts of our brain that help us think of new ideas. Marilyn Zubak, Marketing Lead at Snif, says, “I rely on new ideas in my work.” “Meditation helps me keep my mind open to creative ideas, which is important to me. When I clear my mind and let go of any worries or fears, creativity comes in.
It goes against common sense to try to force creative thought. Most of the time, for something to have a real effect, it needs to grow on its own. But it’s hard to keep going when you can’t think of anything new. Manager at Pure Relief, Shawn Munoz, uses meditation as a hack to help his team come up with new ideas.
“When my team and I are working on a project and we hit a creative block, we do a meditation practice together. Sometimes we think about ideas for so long that they start to blur in our minds. Thoughts that are new and different aren’t getting through, and meditation helps us get clear.
That has worked better than other kinds of breaks, like getting a snack or walking around. Our minds were what we really needed to work on. After meditating, we’ve come up with many new ideas, and we’re much happier doing it.”
Helps You Get a Better Night’s Sleep
Many adults have trouble sleeping, usually because they don’t get enough hours of sleep. Some people have trouble falling asleep, while others have trouble staying asleep. Even people who do fall asleep and stay asleep don’t wake up feeling rested. But getting enough sleep is very important for your health.
Meditation can help, though. Anamika Goyal, who is in charge of architecture and design at Cottage, thought it worked. “When I was trying to fall asleep, my mind used to race. All I could think about was work, family, and life in general. I couldn’t turn it off, and it felt like I was tossing and turning for hours.
In the morning, I could tell I hadn’t gotten enough sleep. I tried to calm my mind down by meditating, and it worked. I got calmer by taking deep breaths and refocusing my thoughts, and I now fall asleep quickly. When I wake up, I’m happy and feel good. It’s a feeling that stays with you all day long.”
Even if you don’t have trouble sleeping, meditation can help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Guna Kakulapati, CEO of CureSkin, says, “My day begins and ends with meditation.” “Before I get into bed, I meditate. I do it at the end of each day. No matter how busy my day was, I can calm my body and mind to feel happier. I sleep well and I wake up feeling rested. I start my day by meditating right away, focusing on what makes me happy. Then I’m ready for anything.”
Encourages Being Kind
Many types of meditation focus on finding a positive attitude so that you can feel and act in a positive way towards others. Being nice to other people gives you a kind of dopamine hit, which makes you feel happy. It feels good to make someone’s day, like when you pay for someone’s coffee in line at Starbucks. When you reach a level of meditation that makes you want to be kind, it makes you happier.
Phillip Akhzar, CEO of Arka, didn’t realise how his attitude affected the people in his life, so he turned to meditation to help him be nicer. “I must admit that I wasn’t very nice. I knew I was feeling stressed, but I didn’t know how that was affecting the people around me until someone brought it up to me in a nice way.
I didn’t want to make other people feel bad, so I tried to change my attitude by meditating. I’m much nicer to other people, which makes me feel great. By being friendly. How easy! It’s also made me feel better.”
Meditation does more than just make you nicer to other people. It can help you treat yourself with more kindness. After all, meditation helps you look inside yourself and see what’s really going on. You face your thoughts and feelings head-on and learn how to recognise and deal with them.
CEO of Seabreeze Management Isaiah Henry says, “Meditation has taught me to be nicer to myself.” “I’ve always thought I was kind to other people, but I didn’t realise I wasn’t being kind to myself.
I’ve learned to care more about how I feel, whether it’s good or bad. I understand how hard things are for me. I talk about how I feel and agree with them. I didn’t think that meditation would help me be nicer to myself, but it has, and I’m so thankful for it. Because of it, I’m a happier person.”
Conclusion
Meditation is great for the mind in a lot of ways, and a lot of those ways lead right back to feeling a lot of happiness. Remember that meditation is something you do. It’s not something you can learn quickly. You have to put in some effort to find the right kind of practice for your life.
Finding your groove with meditation will take some time. Once you get there, you have to keep going. This is how you will keep getting the benefits. Try to make meditation a regular part of your life so you can enjoy all the amazing benefits of a calmer mind, such as less stress, more creativity, more kindness, and much more.
