Real World Benefits of Meditation
Many people regard meditation as some sort of mystical, pseudo-spiritual activity with as much appeal as stripping naked, painting oneself green and dancing round the bonfire.
In fact, whilst the most definitely is a spiritual side to meditation, this is not something that one needs to concern oneself with too much as modern day research has allowed people to benefit from meditation alone, without the need to follow any particular spiritual path.
In other words, meditation can be practised as a stand-alone exercise to achieve certain practical aims in one's life.
Many of the benefits of meditation relate to health.
For example, as a general rule of thumb there have been various studies over the years, including one that reported its results in the "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology" in 1989, that studied a number of elderly residents in rest homes with an average age of 81.
It was found that those who were taught and practised meditation not only lived longer than those who did not, but that their overall mental health was significantly better than the others.
Perhaps more than ever these days we live in a culture of blame.
It seems nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions, but rather try and blame somebody else, often for their own carelessness.
Would the world be a better place if we could all put ourselves in the place of others and see more than one side to any particular story? Well, many people who meditate feel that meditation changes them, making them less self-centred and perhaps more aware of other people's feelings.
In fact a number of studies have been done using various techniques to measure levels of empathy, where it has been found that those people who have been trained and practised meditation become more empathetic than those who have not.
Indeed meditation in recent years has been at the top of the list for councillors and the like, who perhaps need more instinctive empathy than the rest of us! Many of us love eating chocolate, but two of the biggest drawbacks to chocolate are weight gain and tooth damage.
Chocolate has also been seen for hundreds of years as something that actually has a positive effect on our spirits, it makes us feel good.
In fact it has been proven to contain a substance similar to an essential amino acid that releases "feel good" hormones (endorphins), which is also used as an antidepressant.
Studies have proved that this substance increases in the body as a side-effect of meditation.
Therefore it is perfectly possible for people who wish to give up chocolate to substitute their craving with meditation, and still experience the same feelings of mellowness.
In fact, whilst the most definitely is a spiritual side to meditation, this is not something that one needs to concern oneself with too much as modern day research has allowed people to benefit from meditation alone, without the need to follow any particular spiritual path.
In other words, meditation can be practised as a stand-alone exercise to achieve certain practical aims in one's life.
Many of the benefits of meditation relate to health.
For example, as a general rule of thumb there have been various studies over the years, including one that reported its results in the "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology" in 1989, that studied a number of elderly residents in rest homes with an average age of 81.
It was found that those who were taught and practised meditation not only lived longer than those who did not, but that their overall mental health was significantly better than the others.
Perhaps more than ever these days we live in a culture of blame.
It seems nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions, but rather try and blame somebody else, often for their own carelessness.
Would the world be a better place if we could all put ourselves in the place of others and see more than one side to any particular story? Well, many people who meditate feel that meditation changes them, making them less self-centred and perhaps more aware of other people's feelings.
In fact a number of studies have been done using various techniques to measure levels of empathy, where it has been found that those people who have been trained and practised meditation become more empathetic than those who have not.
Indeed meditation in recent years has been at the top of the list for councillors and the like, who perhaps need more instinctive empathy than the rest of us! Many of us love eating chocolate, but two of the biggest drawbacks to chocolate are weight gain and tooth damage.
Chocolate has also been seen for hundreds of years as something that actually has a positive effect on our spirits, it makes us feel good.
In fact it has been proven to contain a substance similar to an essential amino acid that releases "feel good" hormones (endorphins), which is also used as an antidepressant.
Studies have proved that this substance increases in the body as a side-effect of meditation.
Therefore it is perfectly possible for people who wish to give up chocolate to substitute their craving with meditation, and still experience the same feelings of mellowness.
Source...