The benefits of meditation/yoga can be so subtle and deeply ingrained that it often blurs the line between realistic/tangible and psychological/metaphysical.
In this post, I'll try to address the realm of tangible, clearly noticeable impacts of meditation. The psychological and other subtler aspects are reserved for a later post.
These are my personal experiences as a result of regular yoga, pranayama & meditation. Hence, the list of benefits is not limited to only these.
In this post, I'll try to address the realm of tangible, clearly noticeable impacts of meditation. The psychological and other subtler aspects are reserved for a later post.
These are my personal experiences as a result of regular yoga, pranayama & meditation. Hence, the list of benefits is not limited to only these.
- Quality sleep- I have been a night owl for at least the last 18 years of my life. When I began my professional life 8 years ago, I realised I had ruined my sleep cycles with late night study/chart/calls/timepass. I was forever tired and could see my energy levels going haywire throughout the day. Despite being tired always, I would never fall asleep when I hit the bed at night. As a result, the mind would keep attracting only negative and depressive thoughts when I was trying hard to sleep. Dreams were a frequent thing. Ever since I have been meditating, my sleep has become extremely deep that I sometimes wonder when I realize that I have nearly stopped dreaming. It hardly takes me more than a few minutes to fall asleep compared to my former self who used to toss and turn in the bed for hours waiting to sleep.
- I've stopped overeating: All my old friends and family will agree to at least one thing about me. That I love good food and can stuff my food pipe up to the throat (:P) if I find something worth it. Before I started meditation, overeating was natural. I didn't know when to stop if I saw a box of sweets or was at a party. Now, no matter how good the food, I simply cannot eat beyond a point. My portion size has dramatically reduced and so has my problem with indigestion. I don't remember the last time I had indigestion, hardly 1-2 times in the past 7 1/2 years!
- Morning to evening energy levels: When we wake up in the morning, usually we are fresh until we reach the class/office. Then the lectures/meetings happen and soon after, we feel the need to drown ourselves in endless cups of tea/coffee/nicotine. By the time we reach home, we can hardly think of anything let alone do something productive. Ever since I have been meditating regularly, my energy levels have become so steady that I don't feel the need for any stimulants. And, even after a long day, I often look forward to so many things to do- reading my newspaper, yoga, gym, reading books, cooking, trying to develop new interests. This wasn't possibly at all for my former self. Hence, I don't feel too much need to bitch about life too offload the stress. It is only because of this energy that I have been able to make some more demanding career decisions and/to nurture my interests. Earlier, the energy followed a sinusoidal curve and I had plenty of mood swings. Now it is much more steady and balanced.
- I look younger: I have lost count of people who confuse me for someone at least 7-8 years younger than my age. Meditation releases antioxidants in the system that reversed physical ageing and also keeps the brain young and heart youthful. I have had a school kid asking me which class I study in. I have had aunties thinking I'm too young to get married 😂😁😆 until I told them my actual age. My gym trainer couldn't believe when he saw my age on the form😬.
I'll cover more tangible benefits in the upcoming posts.
