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5 Practical Things Meditation Can Teach You | A Life of Productivity
Meditation makes you kinder
... because it helps you be effective with your time and attention, so you have more room to be there for others.
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Key Ideas
Reducing Stress
Many styles of meditation can help reduce stress.
- In an eight-week study, a meditation style called "mindfulness meditation" reduced the inflammation response caused by stress.
- Researchers have found that meditation may also improve symptoms of stress-related conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder and fibromyalgia.
Controlling Anxiety
Less stress leads to less anxiety.
Regular meditation helps reduce anxiety and anxiety-related mental health issues like social anxiety, phobias and obsessive-compulsive behaviors.
Promoting Emotional Health
Some types of meditation can improve depression and help you maintain these benefits.
- Two studies of mindfulness meditation found decreased depression in over 4,600 adults.
- One study found that participants experienced a long-term decrease in depression.
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Key Ideas
Meditation for People Who Don't
One of the good things about social distancing and lockdown is that everyone is trying to come out of this healthier, more grounded, saner, more connected and more empathetic.
One of the key ways to do that is to meditate, and it is something most of us know the benefits, but it is practiced by few and mastered by only a handful.
The Most Difficult, Easy Thing
Meditation requires no equipment, can be done indoors, and is extremely beneficial to cultivate calm, balance, focus, and emotional resilience in these times of uncertainty.
It helps us live, work and sleep better. It is an immediate remedy to lessen your anxiety and provide clarity of mind.
Meditation Is an Internal Skill
The main stumbling block for most people is the mastery of the skill of meditation. Meditation cannot be compared to any form of exercise or hobby as it is an internal skill.
Most people get some benefits out of meditation, but it is not transformative. We have to learn it by ourselves, without having images or ideas in our minds, of what it is, how it is done by others and how it would feel.
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Key Ideas
Sit for just two minutes
Start with just two minutes a day for a week. If that goes well, increase by another two minutes and do that for a week. If all goes well, by increasing just a little at a time, you’ll be meditating for 10 minutes a day in the 2nd month.
Don’t get caught up in the how
Start just by sitting on a chair, or on your couch. Or on your bed. If you’re comfortable on the ground, sit cross-legged. It’s just for two minutes at first anyway, so just sit. Later you can worry about optimizing it.
Count your breaths
Place the attention on your breath as it comes in, and follow it through your nose all the way down to your lungs. Try counting “one” as you take in the first breath, then “two” as you breathe out. Repeat this to the count of 10, then start again at one.