People Building

Making time to meditate is not essential. You will not starve without it, you will not suffocate without it and you will not dehydrate without it. It is not essential in your survival as a human being.

However if you want to function better, feel better and achieve more then it might be something worth factoring into your routine.

For some people meditation is about a deep relaxing trance. For others it’s just a time away from the hustle and bustle. Meditation isn’t for everyone. That’s why this article is called “Making Time to Meditate (or whatever else floats your boat.) What’s important is that you are taking quality time out from the craziness of life. For some people that can be done by meditating but for others it might be via hypnosis, or having a massage, or going to see a comedian or having sex or baking a chocolate cake.

A bit like brushing your teeth, if you forget to do it one morning, you won’t lose all your teeth, but if you consistently fail to do it, then a part of you starts to wear away. Meditation (whatever that means for you) has a similar positive impact on your mind. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t matter. But over time the effects of not caring for your mind and taking time out will begin to take their toll. And just like brushing your teeth regularly will give you a shiny white smile, meditating and taking time out from your busy schedule will give you an added sparkle.

When you meditate, the problems in life won’t go away but by resting your mind you will be in a better state to deal with them later. You will make better decisions and have more thoughtful reactions to the problems that exist.

When you meditate you will heal yourself which will make you feel better. Some people negatively meditate and keep thinking of the negative words a medical professional has said keep repeating them in their minds throughout the day and the night and to anyone who will listen to them. This not only makes them feel bad, it limits their beliefs about their abilities. Those who positively meditate with thoughts of healing can actually increase blood flow to the part of their body that needs to be healed.

When you meditate you can spend time focusing on your dreams and goals. You can see the big vision instead of getting caught up in the details and the “How to do its” which can so often preoccupy us and at times confuse us. When you know and remember the end result you are aiming to achieve you can work backwards to see the steps you will need to take to get yourself there.

When you meditate, it will help you access a wider variety of emotions instead of just high adrenaline ones. This means you give yourself the opportunity to respond and react differently in high stressed scenarios.

When you meditate, you may become more creative. Meditating can release blockages caused by stress and anxiety. When you are relaxed you will more easily access your creative flow.

By Gemma Bailey
www.NLP4Kids.org