A Few Benefits of Meditation

There are many reasons people meditate.  Meditation can help us relax, reduce mental and emotional stresses, and bring us greater spiritual awareness.  Engaging in meditation can feel really good; to still the body, quiet the mind, notice the emotions and tap into the spirit can be a rewarding experience.  Yet the benefits of a regular meditation practice, like any form of exercise, can have longer lasing effects on our whole being.

These are some of the benefits of a regular meditation practice:

Physical: reduces stress, relaxes your body, helps you become more aware of the condition and needs of your body, and perhaps increase your potential for better health care, allows your body to experience states of bliss  

Mental: increases your ability to concentrate, helps you focus your attention for extended periods of time, relieves mental stress, reduces the pattern of self judgment, allows you to contemplate what is truly important in your life

Emotional: brings greater awareness of your emotions, enhances your ability to be non-reactive to the changes in your emotions, brings feelings of inner peace and contentment

Spiritual: allows you to experience your own spirit, helps you feel closer to God/Spirit/Source, helps awaken your innate intuitive (psychic) abilities, expands your ability to experience Oneness, or the connectedness of everything, assists in your “ascension” or enlightenment

When we reduce the normal distractions of our outer world, we can discover the subtleties of the world within us.  Meditation allows us to experience both our human and spiritual selves directly in a profound and peaceful way.

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The four stages of meditation are discussed in four consecutive articles: 
Stage 1 – Your Approach to Meditation 
Stage 2 – Using a Meditation Technique
Stage 3 – The Experience of Meditative Awareness
Stage 4 – Completing Your Meditation: A Conscious Conclusion