With a rise in awareness for mental health lately, people in the western world are looking for all sorts of solutions. This search has led many people to come to “rediscover” the benefits of meditation on your mental health.

Meditation is a practice that has been around for centuries and has been utilized by many cultures around the world for very good reasons. Dating back as far as 1500 BC in India, the practice of meditation has helped many people gain clarity throughout the world.

Unsurprisingly, people are seeing that getting back to the basics works more than trying to reinvent the wheel.

But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t help to have a little data and science to assure people that this “new” thing people are doing really works.

So now instead of taking someone’s word for it, studies are proving to show the many ways that meditation benefits a person’s life. Let’s run through a few ways meditation can benefit your mental health.

Reduce stress and anxiety

Did you know that for over 7 million Americans anxiety is a daily struggle?

Even worse, majority of those people see anxiety as a life sentence. They feel that it can never get better or that they will be stuck taking prescription drugs forever to help mitigate the problem.

I used to be one of those people that began to feel that way until I went down the rabbit hole and seen the benefits of meditation on mental health.

After that journey I realized the good news that anxiety no longer needs to be a struggle.

You can bring down your stress and anxiety levels by doing 5-15 minutes of meditation a day.

All you need is a nice quiet place to sit still and a good breathing technique that works for you.

Bring yourself into the present and listen to what your mind and body are telling you. By the end of your session, you will find a little more clarity and a little less stress and anxiety in your day.

Improves discipline

With technology being an integral part of our lives, a side effect has been that our attention spans have decreased quite a bit. I mean think about it, how many people do you see on a daily basis glued to their phones?  It has almost become a coping mechanism at this point.

By introducing a meditation routine, you can help unplug from the electronics and begin to refocus on the now.

Make a habit of getting away from the phone or any other device for 10-15 minutes and see how much better you feel.

Not only will it bring you back to the present, but it will create a healthy discipline within yourself once again.  Before you know it you will have the focus and discipline to handle any situation that life throws at you.

Helps sleep

For many people like me that struggled heavily with anxiety going to sleep was the best time of the day. It was the only way I could stop worrying and get rid of the anxious feeling that plagued me at every waking moment.

But unfortunately for others, bedtime is the worst hour for their anxiety.

Whether worrying about their health, bills, family, or some other factors, their anxiety goes into overdrive and impacts their sleep significantly.

Instead of looking for pills, tablets, or some other concoction that isn’t necessarily natural to your body, try sitting back and meditating to get rid of those anxious thoughts.

Anxiety is nothing more than your subconscious telling you it wants to deal with something and unfortunately, we have become used to burying our emotions and feelings.

Take a little time, meditate before going to sleep, and explore what your subconscious is telling you. You may find your mind getting a little quieter and your sleep getting a little better.

Increases empathy

Having compassion for others is a very important part of living in a healthy functioning society.

Without proper compassion, there would be no genuine intrigue to help others who are in a lesser state than ourselves.

Unfortunately, we are seeing and feeling the effects of less compassion these days and that is part reason why everyone seems to run around feeling like no one cares about anything other than themselves.

If you begin to feel this way about others or the world at large you can actually meditate to bring yourself into a more empathic state.

No this won’t turn you into a patron saint, but it will increase your ability to feel for others. This should also help increase your ability to pick up on the certain body and facial cues that we once relied on so heavily to decipher what was going on with others around us.

Don’t knock it until you try it, meditate for a bit and see if you can increase your empathic ability in times of stress and disarray.

Increase sociability

Ever been in a conversation and noticed that halfway through it you were miles away and had no clue what the conversation was about?

Well, then you definitely aren’t alone as many of us find ourselves drifting off into wonderland from time to time.

Assuming that you aren’t in one of those tedious conversations with the people who love to hear themselves talk more than they love breathing it could simply be a lack of being aware in the present moment.

If you meditate even before you have a pre-planned conversation it increases your presence in the now and allows you to be more in tune with the conversation and therefore be more sociable (and likable).

If improving your social skills is one thing you would like to improve then try a quick meditation every now and then before an interaction and see how much more present in the situation you become.

Wrap-up

These were a few reasons out of the exhaustive list of benefits that meditation has on your mental health.

When we take time to relax our minds, listen to our subconscious and move according to our inner voice, we can see a change in our lives. Sometimes almost immediately.

Mental health is an essential part of being healthy and when you take time to prioritize that you will notice many of the other issues may also fall into place. Never forget it’s all about alignment and when your mind is in alignment the rest will follow.