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MeditationLifeSkills.com

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    • What Is Meditation And Its Benefits – Lesson 2
    • Why Meditate? Why Examine Our Mind? – Lesson 3
    • Meditation Benefits For Health, Brain, and Body – Lesson 4
    • Is Meditation Good For You? 12 Myths and Misconceptions – Lesson 5
    • Emptiness In Buddhism: A Confusing Concept Indeed – Lesson 6
    • Scientific Benefits Of Meditation For Better Health – Lesson 7
    • Different Types Of Meditation: Which One Works For You? – Lesson 8
    • How To Do Meditation At Home: A Definitive Guide – Lesson 9
    • 6 Meditation For Beginners Videos – Lesson 10
    • Frequently Asked Questions about Meditation – Lesson 11
    • Meditation Steps For Beginners Conclusion – Lesson 12
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Mindfulness Meditation Benefits

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

Why Meditation Is Important And Essential: You Can Make Time

Why Meditation Is Important

Whenever I talk to people about why meditation is important and the benefits of meditation or any sort of mindfulness practice, I get predictable answers. I really do. First, I get people who confuse meditation with some sort of religious practice. As you probably already know, we live in a secular world especially in Western Europe and North America. People simply do not want to hear anything about God, the deity, or anything supernatural.

Regardless of whether you agree with that or not, this is the reality. The moment you engage in any kind of talk as to why meditation is important, or anything that comes suspiciously close to something supernatural or the divine, people shut off their minds. And that is on a good day.

On a bad day, you get somebody who would verbally actually attack you. They would think that you’re stupid. They would think that your IQ is very low. They might even accuse you of having extra chromosomes. It can get quite nasty. That’s just the world we live in. It’s very secular.

The other predictable objection I get about why meditation is important is that they simply do not have the time. It is obvious that for too many people, time is a luxury. There are only so many hours in a day and they have basically overbooked their day. This is a fact. If they could, they would split themselves up and be found in different places at the same time. That’s how busy they are.

Meditation Podcast: Top Reasons to Meditate For A Healthy Lifestyle

Given this context, do people have the time or the energy to meditate? Well, if you can overcome your initial suspicion that meditation is somehow some way linked to religion and give it a shot, then the next problem is simple time management.

Why Meditation Is Important: Believe it or not, you have the time for meditation…

First of all, you only need fifteen minutes or less. In fact, if you can invest five minutes or more in meditation, you’re in a good place. You don’t have to spend half a day. You don’t even have to spend a full hour. Fifteen minutes is plenty.

Meditation For Beginners: 20 Practical Tips To Quiet the Mind HERE…

You may be thinking, “Well, I don’t have fifteen minutes.” Think again. Do me a big favor. List down all the things that you actually do at work. You’d be surprised as to how unproductive you really are. Sure, you’re putting in eight hours a day, day after day, week after week, month after month.

That much is obvious. You’re overstressed. You’re overworked. You feel tired. However, look at the nitty-gritty of the stuff that you’re actually doing. I can bet you that you’re not actually doing eight full hours of work. I’m talking about productive work here. I’m not talking about you checking out your social media updates. I’m not talking about you looking at your mobile phone to see what’s on Instagram or checking your e-mail.

I’m talking about actual work here. I’m talking about work that puts food on the table or at least the kind of work that your boss is paying you to do. I know it’s uncomfortable to hear this because it is a moment of truth. If you were to compress those eight hours or filter it in terms of productivity, you probably would be lucky if you have two hours of actual work.

So please, don’t tell me that you don’t have time for meditation and mindfulness. You have the time. You just have to free up some of your unproductive activities.

Focus on the fact that meditation and mindfulness deliver a lot more benefits than whatever cost they bring to the table. Sure, you’re out of fifteen minutes every day but can you really put a price tag on the sense of calm, inner peace, and harmony that you get? Can you really put a price tag on why meditation is important and the sense of calm, inner peace and harmony that you get? Can you really put a price tag on the amazing feeling of liberation that you often get after meditation?

You have to understand that you’re carrying a lot in your mind. You’re worried about a lot of stuff in the future. You may even be carrying emotional baggage from the past. Those are precisely the kinds of things mindfulness will liberate you from and on a very real level of why meditation is important. So, stop looking at the price you have to pay and focus instead on the amazing mental and emotional riches that you stand to gain.

Mindful Meditation Is The Best Time Management Tool

Why Mindful Meditation Is The Best Time Management Tool

Regardless of what you do with it, there are only twenty-four hours in a day. No matter how hard you try, you can’t make more time. You can, however, find more time using a mindful method.

With mindfulness, you can take control of the time that you do have and by managing your time, you’ll feel as if you do have more than twenty-four hours in a day. Mindfulness is the key to time management that not only lets you get more done with the time you have, but you’ll also be less stressed.

To start, if you’ve learned about a complicated time management system that never seemed to work for you in the past, you need to stop striving. Using elaborate time management methods aren’t what you need, especially if they only add more of a burden.

You need something simple, which is why people find that mindfulness works for them. With mindfulness, there are several tips you can follow to manage the time that you do have. First, stop. Stop trying to run full speed ahead every single day followed by falling into bed exhausted only to have the whole thing start again the next day. You need to focus on what it is that you have to do.

Learn About Mindfulness Activities For Better Productivity HERE…

Take a few minutes to think about the tasks without stress and without feeling pressured to get them done. By using mindfulness, you create a calm oasis in the middle of the busyness that can give you clarity when it comes to making decisions or choosing what has to be done.

Not everything that ends up on the to-do list is a top priority

You can gain this brief respite with mindfulness by practicing some deep breathing exercises. This will help to focus your mind and relax any anxiety you might have over needing to get stuff done.

Once you focus, make sure that you’re being compassionate with yourself. Don’t allow those negative thoughts that tell you that you should have started earlier, should have worked harder, etc. Become self-aware of what you are doing and practice treating yourself kindly. Once you’re focused and aren’t judging yourself for what you need to do or for any past time management problems you may have had, you need to look over what you have to do.

Self-Love Meditation: How To Truly Love Yourself HERE…

It can help to write a list. Look at whatever is on your list that’s causing you to feel pressured or anxious. If those are things that you can’t let slide, then do those things first to get them out of the way – things that weigh on you can cause mental weariness. Then, decide what will happen if you don’t do everything on your list. The purpose of this exercise is that far too many people have a list of “must-do” when those things aren’t necessary at that exact moment.

You can only do what you can do. By practicing mindfulness and really understanding why meditation is important, you can focus and gain clarity about what you must do with the time that you have. It will help you to see what you can put off, what you can do less often, and any areas where it might be more beneficial to hire someone to complete the task. Mindfulness and understanding why meditation is important gives you the perspective to know what must be done

Meditation Podcast: 5 Minute Guided Meditation For Stress and Anxiety

It can also help you to see the things that will only drain your time but offer no real benefit to your life. These are things like surfing the Internet mindlessly, which can often lead to an abundance of thoughts racing through your mind and most of those being negative.

Take time between a fully loaded day to focus on your surroundings. These mental breaks are mindful awareness exercises that help you relax. Some people find the use of mindfulness bells helpful. These are bells that will ring to help you to take a moment and focus on the present and what you’re doing at that moment. It helps you to practice mindful awareness.

Why You Should Replace Multitasking with Mindfulness

Multitasking means that a person is doing more than one task at a time. Because so many people are incredibly busy, multitasking has become a way of life. On any given day at the same time, you’ll see people who are simultaneously walking, updating their Facebook, texting, and talking to people.

Because all of these tasks are going on at the same time, the brain is forced to react quickly, moving back and forth, constantly changing focus. Studies have shown that not only do those who multitask not get more accomplished, but they’re more apt to face burnout, higher levels of stress, and a poorer quality of life.

Your brain was not meant to deal with an overload of material in so little time. When you multitask, just like you’re splitting your attention between things on your to-do list, you’re also splitting yourself figuratively. You might be checking things off that list but no one thing has your full focus and neither do those you love. When you’re in a relationship and your partner is speaking and you’re on your cell phone sending a text message, you’re not really listening to them.

There’s A Downside To Multitasking

Multitasking has helped to cause people to feel less empathetic toward others because people don’t really hear and aren’t really aware of the full scope of the situations they’re seeing or hearing about.

When you’re not fully present with what you’re doing or who you’re spending time with, you miss things. You’ll discover that you have a tendency to spend a lot of time and energy on things that don’t really matter.

Multitasking keeps you perpetually distracted. The cure for multitasking and really learning why meditation is important is the meditation method of mindfulness. This means that you’re focused on the present. You’re giving whatever task you’re doing 100% of yourself. It means that whoever you’re interacting with is not having to compete for your attention because you’re 100% present with them. Being fully present can help to deepen relationships with those you love.

It can also make you better at your job, more understanding of your coworkers, and happier in all aspects of your life. When you’re being mindful, you’re focused. You’ve got your mind and your emotions fully engaged.

By being focused, you’re aware of the task. Getting it done will be easier and you won’t be nearly as stressed. When you focus on a person, you’ll be able to have a deeper connection to why meditation is important without multitasking. You’ll be fully engaged in your own life and in the lives of the people you interact with.

Mindfulness can teach you how to keep your focus on the moment. It can show you how to enjoy the day to day tasks and situations even if they’re mundane.

Plus when you practice being mindful, it’ll help you to recognize why meditation should be apart of your life. You’ll gain the intuition to know when something doesn’t really have your full attention.

These life-enhancing meditation practices have been around for thousands of years, and virtually every spiritual path and religion uses some form of meditation. That alone should give you a clear perspective on why meditation is important.

Filed Under: Science-Backed Benefits Of Meditation, Effective Techniques For Meditation, Meditation For Beginners Guides Tagged With: Mindfulness Meditation Benefits, Why Meditation Is Important

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

How To Meditate For Beginners – 4 Important Techniques

How To Meditate For BeginnersHow To Meditate For Beginners is the practice that serves to educate the mind to become more conscious in your daily life, your career, and to enjoy the full spiritual benefits of meditation.

Meditation restores the connection with your inner true self, which in turn provides clarity and peace of mind.

It helps you to understand our own life in a better way and also provides you with a harmonious way of life with your surroundings.

Getting started in learning how to meditate for beginners is a decision that will bring you many benefits in all the areas of life. With the current turmoil in society that is always going faster and faster, many times we get mentally and physically fatigued and become unbalanced. Meditation will help us maintain our balance and perform better in the tasks of everyday life.

Like everything in life, in the beginning, it will require a little more effort to keep focused attention to achieve a daily meditation practice. But the important thing is to always keep exploring meditation methods to fully understand the spiritual benefits of meditation, and keep practicing every day, for at least 10 minutes. Over time it will become increasingly simple and you will feel what this practice of meditation can bring to your life.

There are different techniques and exercises to meditate, you just have to find the one that best suits your lifestyle, the place you choose and the time you will spend meditating. Every day you spend a few minutes meditating, you can get the great spiritual benefits of meditation that meditation offers everyone. So in the following article, I will explain how to meditate for beginners and the four important techniques to use in your daily meditation practice.

How To Meditate For Beginners: What are the benefits?

Meditation Techniques For Beginners

Meditation brings many benefits to the practitioner. Every time we meditate we improve our mental, emotional and physical health.

Meditation serves to optimize memory, relieve stress, depression, anxiety and also helps lower blood pressure. Develop empathy towards people and increase emotional intelligence, gratitude, and happiness.

When you learn how to meditate and make it a habit, the ability to concentrate increases, thus preventing our mind from wandering and getting distracted easily.

It is also used as a tool to treat addictions as in the case of Mindfulness meditation techniques. When we meditate we can also boost our immune system, which makes us less vulnerable to getting sick.

So, how to meditate for beginners in a way that can help us to deal with both our physical and our mental health?

Meditation Can Help With A Greater Tolerance To Pain

These are some of the great benefits of the practice any beginner can enjoy:

Meditation can make us more tolerant of pain. Just ten minutes of mindfulness meditation could be used as an alternative to painkillers, according to pain meditation techniques research by Leeds Beckett University. 

Leeds Beckett University. “Meditation could be a cheaper alternative to traditional pain medication, study suggests.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 June 2017.

Results of the study suggest that a single ten-minute mindfulness meditation session administered by a novice therapist can improve pain tolerance, pain threshold and decrease anxiety towards pain.

“The mindfulness mediation was led by a researcher who was a novice, so in theory, clinicians could administer this with little training needed. It’s based on traditional Buddhist teachings that focus attention and awareness on your breathing.”

Reduce Negative Thoughts and Feelings

Reduce and finally eliminate the negative thoughts and feelings that often overwhelm us, such as hate, resentment, greed, among others. It will help us to feel comfortable with ourselves, therefore relationships with others will improve considerably.

You can clarify our ideas for smarter decisions

By giving us mental clarity, meditation helps us make smarter decisions. It will help us to better fall asleep when we start in meditation and have a more relaxed and deep rest. Meditation mainly serves to improve our quality of life and performance in the activities of our daily routines and increased creativity at work.

Basic Meditation for Beginners: how does it work?

Your Meditation JourneyA basic beginner meditation will begin with attention to breathing. Start by choosing a quiet place where you can meditate without interruption. It can be in your room, or in a garden, where you feel most comfortable.

The important thing is that it is harmonious and that you can go there every day to meditate away from those who don’t meditate.

The best thing is that you choose a time of day in which you can spend for practice every day. It is recommended that it be in the morning when you wake up before you start your daily activities, and/or at night before going to bed.

Avoid any distractions, turn off all electronics, ask your family and friends not to interrupt you during your meditation time. Put on comfortable clothes, preferably baggy. Use a blanket if needed, it’s very important to be warm and comfortable when meditating.

Use an appropriate body position, it is recommended that you learn how to meditate for beginners in a sitting position if possible. You can lay down if you have health problems or you have been meditating for some time. You can use a meditation cushion for your comfort as well.

Start by closing your eyes and focusing your attention on your breath, inhale and exhale slowly feeling the air move gently in and out through your nose. Try one minute with a timer, then the next day try five minutes increasing each day up to twenty minutes in the morning and evening.

The Power Of Your Breath

Mental chatter and distractions will surely arise, let the thoughts manifest but don’t give your attention to them. Let them come into your mind and leave your mind by focusing only on your breathing.

When you get distracted remember to put your attention back on your breath. In this way, your help self to always be attentive in the present moment.

After you learn to stay focused and alert to the present, without paying attention to your breath then you will be prepared to continue with more advanced meditation techniques. The important thing in achieving results is to be consistent and spend at least a few minutes every day to practice this meditation method.

How To Meditate For Beginners? Let’s Get Started…

My recommendation is that you do not rush your meditation journey, but meditate with constancy.

To start meditating, you have to have a daily time, even just five minutes to dedicate it to your daily meditation.

It will be your personal time, try to always meditate at the same time, that will help you integrate it into your lifestyle. 5 minutes to start with is more than enough.

You wouldn’t deny yourself at least 5 minutes of your day to change your life, right?

The important thing in meditation is constancy, you have to develop this important habit on a daily basis. This is the only way you will achieve constant and permanent results to begin to perceive greater mental clarity, better energy levels and enjoy all the benefits of inner peace and happiness.

Once the mind is calm you can stop focusing your mind on the breath and you can start a visualization to live the life of your dreams. Through this visualization you can create the reality you desire and want, intentionally programming your future with calm and precision, generating the many rich details of your desires.

This meditation strategy improves attention and makes it easier to have a clearer and quieter mind, which will be reflected in your life.

How to meditate correctly? The four essential techniques to meditate effectively

To meditate correctly and enjoy all the spiritual benefits of meditation, we have to keep in mind the following techniques so that your meditation is successful and you can enjoy the benefits for your mind and body.

1. Body Technique

In learning techniques for learning how to meditate for beginners, your body position must combine two aspects: stability and staying awake, so doing it lying down is not recommended unless for health concerns, unless you already have some experience in meditating.

The posture should allow you to remain still and at the same time attentive for as long as possible. It is essential for proper meditation.

2. Emotional Technique

We must allow everything that appears in your consciousness to flow freely. Accept every feeling, emotion or thought as it is, without choosing or rejecting. Just simply return your focus gently on your breathing.

3. Mental Technique

Do not take sides with or against anything in your mind, no matter what it is. Do not judge your own feelings, sensations or thoughts. Don’t say, “This is good, this is wrong.” If judgments and assessments appear in your mind, be aware of the judgments and assessments that have emerged and let them be without giving them importance.

It is important to know that in how to meditate for beginners, controlling your mind is essential to obtain all the spiritual benefits of meditation. It will get easier with practice, just keep at it and don’t give up on yourself. Believe and feel the knowingness deep inside along with the spiritual benefits of meditation and that you truly deserve this experience in your life!

4. Spiritual Techniques and The Spiritual Benefits Of Meditation

In this section, I would like to cover the spiritual benefits of meditation. It’s a true fact that only the true seekers of Spirituality become the masters of their destiny. Knowingly or unknowingly many individuals who have a materialistic goal in life travel the path of Spirituality and become successful in life.

It isn’t a happening by chance… all was the result of a law. These highly acclaimed people unknowingly tread the path of pure Spirituality and accomplish their goals in their life.

Without Spirituality, the life of an individual is like a rudderless boat going round and round in the unfathomable sea of life. It’s Spirituality, which teaches every individual the real value of life. Being spiritual isn’t being religious alone. The spiritual benefits of meditation teach us the core values of life. It teaches the real essence of us!

Spirituality has no relationship whatsoever with religion. Following a religion means following the dictates of a successful spiritual master. One who has already covered the journey and has become capable of mankind to its logical end.

At its core, spiritual meditation is the mindful practice of connection to something that is greater, vaster, and deeper than the individual self. It may seem paradoxical, but the path to that connection passes through honest self-reflection.

One of the best ways I know to initiate this process of awakening with the spiritual benefits of meditation to the truth of who we are is to let go into the stillness of deep spiritual meditation.

These are the first steps to learn how to meditate for beginners. Remember to always live your meditation practice as a journey with commitment, patience, and kindness towards yourself. Your future meditation session goal should be a pure moment of bliss, a moment where you can be yourself with no masks, no stress and where you can learn to be the best version of yourself and carry that into your personal life and career.

Filed Under: Effective Techniques For Meditation, Learn How To Meditate Properly, Meditation For Beginners Guides Tagged With: Benefits Of Meditation, How To Meditate For Beginners, Meditation techniques for beginners, Mindfulness Meditation Benefits, Spiritual Benefits Of Meditation

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

4 Proven Mindfulness Meditation Techniques: Empower Your Life

Mindfulness Meditation Techniques

Mindfulness meditation techniques can help you grow in your personal and professional life because it all begins with how you use your mind effectively. You can teach your mind to accept yourself and gain empowerment – or you can stay stuck in self-defeating behaviors.

You are what you think. When you want to introduce change into your life, you need to first accept and empower yourself before you begin altering anything. Your mind is the greatest tool that you have for living the best possible life that you can live in.

28 Mindfulness Techniques And Ideas To Enhance Your Life

Countless studies have shown that the brain is constantly working. Your brain can be wired to think or cause you to act in a certain way based on how you handle your mind’s ability to tap into your subconscious mind.

What Has Mindfulness Studies and Brain Research Shown Us? Learn More HERE…

You will find a “Short Guided Meditation Script” to release the need for control at the bottom of this article. This Mindfulness Meditation will teach you to live in the moment without expectations or judgments.

When you practice mindfulness meditation techniques, you can empower yourself and fine-tune the subconscious abilities that you have. Using mindfulness meditation techniques and strategies, you’ll be able to focus better, lower your stress and boost your confidence and self-esteem.

Once you learn to accept yourself, you’ll be able to have compassion for yourself, too. This will defeat any negative internal talk that you may have been practicing. Meditation is a strategy that you can use to achieve mindfulness in order to accept and empower yourself.

Discover How Can These Mindfulness Strategies Create A Better Life? HERE…

It helps users quiet the mind so that they can be fully in the present and accepting of the emotions and thoughts that they have. Choose a place where you’ll be comfortable so that you’ll be able to feel relaxed.

Some people choose to sit while meditating and others prefer to lie down. You can also practice mindfulness meditation techniques while you’re walking outside or in your home. Relax and focus on what’s around you and how you’re inhaling and exhaling.


Guided Breathing Meditation for Anxiety, Worry, Stress


Be aware of the sensations you feel and the emotions that you’re experiencing. Another strategy that’s often used is deep breathing. You can start this the same way that you would with meditation where you find a comfortable place and begin.

But you can also practice deep breathing while you’re active at home or at work. You focus on drawing in deep breaths and slowly releasing them. You can also use mindful replacement techniques.

These are mindfulness meditation techniques that call for you to be aware of the thoughts that you think about yourself rather than simply letting them pass through your mind. Whenever any negative self-talk pops into your mind, you make a conscious choice to stop and correct the thought.

You correct it by replacing it with affirming words that help you accept yourself as you are. This helps you reprogram your thoughts to enable you to feel empowered rather than listening to words that hinder you and create self-doubt.

Mindfulness Meditation Techniques In The Workplace – Increase Productivity Through Mindfulness

Mindfulness In The Workplace - Increase Productivity Through MindfulnessIf you want to increase your productivity, you can do that through mindfulness. Studies have shown that people who practice mindfulness have a greater output than those who don’t.

Plus, using mindfulness meditation techniques can help you maintain a clear focus and lead to the ability to make better choices for productivity.

When you practice mindfulness, it helps to unleash the intuition that can influence your choices for the better.

That means that you’ll focus on thoughts, ideas and take action that allows you to accomplish the goals that you set for yourself. Mindfulness prevents you from having to overthink situations.

This frees you up from the chains of inactivity. You’ll be able to bring your thoughts back to the task at hand. When you’re working on something and it causes you to feel frustrated and to think negatively about the task, mindfulness meditation techniques can center your thoughts and give you calmness.

This then helps you to be able to give whatever you’re doing your full concentration. You’ll also be able to see what needs to be done more clearly. When you practice mindfulness, it keeps you from spacing out and losing focus on what it is you’d like to accomplish.

Plus, this focus lessens anxiety which can derail productivity. It allows you to keep moving forward. Mindfulness enables you to find inner satisfaction with whatever it is that you’re doing which lets you be fully engaged in the task.

Can Mindfulness At Work Improve Your Career and Your life?

This will make a difference not only in what you get done but in how you get it done because your interactions with others and with yourself will change for the better.

You’ll gain a greater sense of commitment for the follow-through. Mindfulness is a technique that can be used to improve your cognitive skills. This unleashes your thought processes to free your creativity.

This enables you to see other ways that you can get something done other than the way that you’ve always done it. Sometimes when you’re working on something at home or at the office and you need to be productive, you can feel pressured to perform and to get it done.

Mindfulness can eliminate the pressure and give you the freedom to calmly think through the steps that you need to take. The reason that this works is that mindfulness meditation techniques allow you to recognize the emotions that you feel, but to focus on what needs to be done in a non-judgmental way.

Mindfulness and Meditation: Discover Your Best Personal Power

So you learn to act rather than to react. With mindfulness comes a greater sense of confidence in your abilities and in your skills. Rather than think negatively and have a can’t-do attitude, you’ll learn to foster a can-do attitude toward whatever you’re doing.

Overcoming Low Self-esteem – Mindfulness Meditation Techniques to Boost Confidence

How to practice mindfulness in daily lifeHaving confidence means that you view yourself favorably. You know that you can do what you need to do, that you have the skills and talents to be able to handle yourself.

You trust that your instincts, thinking, and abilities are sufficient. When you don’t have confidence it means that you struggle to accept who you are. You’ll lack the confidence to do things because you simply don’t trust that you can.

You go through life feeling as if you’re not educated enough, skilled enough, smart enough, talented enough, pretty enough, or handsome enough. You judge yourself, often thinking of what you could have, should have said, or done, and you always fall short.

What mindfulness does to help you change this and build your confidence is to replace the feelings that you’re not enough with the trust that you are. Using mindfulness meditation techniques calls for you to not dwell on your past or on any negative experiences where you feel that you failed or fell short.

It helps you to not focus on the future or on what you hope to be and it helps train you to focus on who you are right now and see that who you are is good enough. You learn to accept yourself – and with that, strong confidence in yourself is built.

Discover 6 Incredible Health Benefits Of Mindfulness HERE…

Practicing mindfulness meditation techniques can also boost your self-esteem. Mindfulness can lead you to a life settled in the present. With living in the present comes a non-judgmental acceptance of who you are.

So many people have an internal voice that’s extremely ugly. This internal voice has been conditioned to speak this way by us. The disturbing results are that when we allow this internal voice to have a negative way, we can trigger stress, anxiety, and even depression.

This self-talk has a direct impact on how you feel about yourself. Learn to be aware of this negative self-talk. If you call yourself names, that’s a sign that you’ve been engaging in the negative self-talk that can lower your self-esteem.


5 Minute Self-Love Meditation: The Ultimate Self-Esteem Boost


Some people call themselves stupid or an idiot. When they consider doing something, this internal self-talk always tells them why they can’t. You’ll tell yourself things like “I’m not smart enough” or “I’m too dumb to do it.”

When you allow these thoughts to run rampant, you can get into the mindset that you can’t do something – that you’re unworthy – and then your feelings follow that internal self-talk until it becomes a belief.

This habit can be so ingrained within you that the negative self-talk plays constantly in your mind, so much so that it becomes like white noise. What mindfulness does is bring your attention to the inner dialogue that’s eroding your self-esteem.

You learn what this internal conversation is doing to you and how it’s impacting your emotions. Mindfulness meditation techniques help you learn to accept who you are without expectations or blaming. You’ll gain skills that you can use to learn how to raise your confidence and acceptance of yourself.

4 Mindfulness Meditation Techniques To Improve Your Life

Mindfulness PracticeRecent studies have revealed that mindfulness is a useful anti-depressant medication, relieving mounds of anxiety, stress, and depression.

In one study, Lancet researchers sampled a group of 424 UK adults who were at high risk of experiencing further depression for study.

Half of the adults were put in a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy where they were guided through meditation and mindfulness meditation techniques while the other half was placed on medication for two years. Later, the researchers compared the progress of the two groups.

Then, the progress of each cluster was assessed. The study found that a similar number of individuals from both groups had relapsed. Experts explained that mindfulness meditation techniques provide long-term useful skills hence putting you in control of your life unlike relying on anti-depressants.

Mindfulness is the cognitive ability to pay close attention to your feelings at the moment without judgment, fostering emotional resilience. It also helps you to develop positivity in life by helping concentration in class, work, and even at home.

With the benefits of mindfulness now known in medical settings, perhaps you might want to learn how to practice this technique to relieve anxiety and stress. The mindfulness meditation techniques are easy to follow, and you do not need any special equipment; you just need a few minutes.

The following are four ways to practice mindfulness to reduce stress and improve concentration.

1. Mindful Yoga

Spend at least fifteen minutes of your time in a quiet and open environment for meditation and yoga. Meditation helps you to bring your full awareness to both your emotional and physical sensations as you try various poses. These feelings will bring about relieving tension and even reduced pain in your body, helping you to relax.

2. Body Scan Meditation

Like yoga, this technique involves spending your time in a secluded place, sitting in a comfortable position without feeling disturbed. During the exercise, you close your eyes and focus your concentration on your toes. Try to bring close attention to every part of your body starting from your toes, feet, ankles, calves, knees, hands, and even up to your head.


5-Minute Mindfulness Body Relaxation Scan Meditation


3. Mindful Eating

During your mealtime, find a serene place where you will not be distracted. As you take your meals, try to eat slowly while you also engage your senses of taste, smell, sight, touch, and sound. Try to finish all your meal by chewing and swallowing slowly.

4. Mindful Breathing

Mindful or conscious breathing is another great way to eliminate stress and tension. Take at least five minutes in a convenient location, like the shower or subway, and shift your concentration to breathing in and out. To concentrate during the exercise, you can pick one aspect to focus on.


5 Minute Guided Breath Meditation For Beginners


Nothing else has the potential to boost your relaxation the way mindfulness can. Give it a try; you might be astonished at what it can do for you.

Mindful Meditation

Short Guided Mindfulness Meditation Techniques Script To Release the Need for Control

These mindfulness meditation techniques will teach you to live in the moment without expectations or judgments.

(Beginning Of Script)

This guided meditation on the breath will help you to simply be…

I invite you to join me to enter a state of simply being…

release the desire or need to control or do and simply be…

Allow your body to become still and relax and bring your attention to your breath…

Become aware of the movement of your breath as it enters through your nose and leaves through your nose or mouth…

Simply allow and observe your breath…

Do not try to manipulate or change your breath in any way simply to be aware of it…

And be aware of the feelings that connect with your breathing…

And now observe the depth of your breath…

Notice how your chest or stomach expands on the in-breath…

And notice the fall of the stomach or chest on the out-breath…

Staying in the moment with each breath…

Simply being with your breath

Not trying to do anything or go anywhere

Give all attention to each breath… as they follow one after another…

Simply observe and allow

You may notice that your mind may wander to thoughts… simply allow them to pass and return your focus to your breath…

Anytime you notice your mind wander simply bring your focus back to your breath at the tip of your nose and observe your breathing…

Every time you find your mind wandering off the breath gently bring it back to the present moment and continue to observe the flow of your breathing…

It is perfectly natural to have thoughts and even self-talk passing through your mind… do not allow yourself to interact or become distracted

Simply observe these thoughts…allow them to pass and gently bring your awareness back to your breath…

Notice the rise and fall of your chest as the air goes in and releases out…

Simply stay with the breath

You may find yourself becoming aware of sensations in your body…

As you stay with the present moment you may want to observe some of these sensations…

You are free to experience and notice these…expand the field of your awareness to include the sense of your body as you stay with your breath…

Feeling your body from head to toe and becoming aware of all the sensations of your body…

Now you are observing the sense of your body as a whole along with your breathing

And again whenever you notice your mind is wandering off bring your awareness back to your body and your breath as you sit here just simply being…

Not going anywhere or doing anything just being…

Allowing your awareness to return to your breath… allowing your awareness to stay with the breath… the fullness of the in-breath and the out-breath…

Just being with your breath and sitting still and remaining present just as it is simply allowing and being right here in the moment.

(End Of Script)

The effects of mindfulness meditation over time tend to build up as time passes — the more you do, the more effective it will directly have on your life. You may find that it takes at least 20 minutes for your mind to begin to settle, so this is a reasonable way to start.

If you’re ready for a more serious mindful meditation commitment, Jon Kabat-Zinn recommends 45 minutes of meditation at least six days a week. But you can get started by practicing any or all of these mindfulness meditation techniques described here for shorter periods to discover what works best for you personally.

Filed Under: Effective Techniques For Meditation, Learn How To Meditate Properly, Mindfulness Meditation Guides Tagged With: How to practice mindfulness in daily life, Mindfulness Meditation Benefits, Mindfulness Meditation Techniques, Mindfulness Practice

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

What is Mindfulness? The Magical Present Moment Advantage

Mindfulness

Mindfulness meditation is a method for sitting in silence and paying attention to thoughts, sounds, the sensations of breathing, or parts of the body, bringing your attention back to your meditation object whenever your mind starts to wander or becomes distracted.

In our every day lives, we are all guilty of neglecting our minds, allowing our brains to be lulled into a lazy, neglected, and unaware state. It is as if we are allowing ourselves to be sculpted by bland and repetitive consumerism, our individuality being chiseled away by tedium we cannot even be bothered to challenge with any will.

Life need not be like that. We are each blessed with a powerful mind; but normally people have forgotten or, most likely, never even knew how to use it. It is such a waste of our own greatest resource.

One way to start to extricate ourselves from the mindless quicksand is to gently exercise our minds, using mindfulness and meditation as a way of bringing ourselves more emphatically into the real world, and start the process of exercising control over our minds and our lives.

Mindfulness and Meditation: Discover Your Best Personal Power

Mindfulness practices can help us to increase our ability to regulate emotions, decrease stress, anxiety, and depression. It can also help us to focus our attention, as well as to observe our thoughts and feelings without judgment.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, the leading mindfulness researcher in the field of psychology, and developer of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, further clarifies that engaging in mindfulness is a secular practice and not a form of religion.

It’s true that mindfulness is often used to complement religious practices by quieting one’s mind before prayer or meditation. But while meditation can be a method of practicing mindfulness, mindfulness can also be practiced in non-religious ways.

What Exactly Is Mindfulness? Exploring Mindfulness And Meditation By Embracing The Present Moment.

What Exactly Is MindfulnessEssentially, mindfulness is a form of meditation that has been adopted by CBT. CBT, in turn, is ‘cognitive behavioral therapy’; a psychotherapeutic approach that can be used to treat all manner of psychological conditions like anxiety, phobias, addiction, etc.

Mindfulness essentially gives us a tool that we can use to not only calm our thoughts and escape the stressors of the day but also reflect on the contents of our mind in the interests of self-improvement.

Meditation generally has something of a ‘bad’ reputation. That is to say that a lot of people associate it with religion or esoteric ideas and they think that they can’t meditate unless they’re spiritual’. This can be off-putting for someone who doesn’t hold any religious beliefs or who don’t like esoteric ideas in general.

But in fact, you can practice meditation whether you are religious or an atheist. All meditation really is, is a directed attempt to control your thoughts and the content of your mind and thereby to gain some peace and quiet or at least to be able to better understand the contents of your own brain.

Often this means completely silencing all thoughts. Many types of meditation, such as transcendental meditation, instruct you to think of ‘absolutely nothing’ and often this is achieved by focussing on your breathing, a mantra, or a physical object like a candle flame. This can be difficult for beginners though, as they constantly find their minds wandering.

5 Ways Mindfulness Practice Can Make You Productive

The idea behind mindfulness meditation then is not to try and empty your thoughts but instead to simply step back from them and ‘observe’ them like a detached third party. This way, you aren’t letting your thoughts affect you and make you stressed but you also aren’t going to struggle with not being ‘allowed’ to think anything.


5 Minute Meditation – Setting Intentions For Your Highest Good


Meanwhile, using this technique will also allow you to become more aware of your own thoughts and thereby able to edit any thoughts that are leading you into trouble. For instance, if you constantly find yourself thinking about the ways that you could hurt yourself, you might notice that this is a bad habit and then attempt to fix that.

This may be the long term aim of mindfulness when used in CBT. In the short term though, we are simply to use it in order to remove ourselves from our thoughts and emotions so that we can get some calm and thereby recover ready to tackle the day ahead.

Mindfulness in Daily Life – Awareness 101

This is what mindfulness refers to in most cases but it has also been appropriated to mean a lot more. If mindfulness means being more aware of your thoughts, then it can also be applied outside of meditation and to the way you go about your day. In this case, mindfulness simply means being mindful of what you’re focussing on and what you’re thinking at any given point. This is useful because very often you’ll find that your mind isn’t perhaps where it should be.

2 Easy Ways To Practice Mindfulness For Beginners

For example, if you are walking through a beautiful scenic woodland but you are thinking about work, then as far as your body is concerned you may as well be at work. In this case, mindfulness can be used simply to make yourself more aware of where you are and to actually focus on what’s around you. That means feeling the breeze on your skin, looking at the beautiful flowers, and smelling the fresh air. When you do all that, you will benefit much more from the experience.


Brainwave Entrainment: Achieve Deep Relaxation and Emotional Balance


Likewise, you can use mindfulness to direct your attention to all manner of other things. For example your physical sensations. Often we aren’t aware of just how we’re sitting, how we’re standing, or how we’re feeling.

Take a moment right now to reflect on this. How comfortable are you at the moment? Does any part of your body hurt? If you’re sitting down, then where is most pressure on you? Can you feel your clothes against your body? A watch maybe? How warm are you? Are you leaning more to one side?

This kind of mindfulness can be useful if you want to try and fix your posture but also if you want to improve your abilities in sports or just move more efficiently.

Being more mindful of the way you speak can meanwhile help you to speak more eloquently, to stop using derogatory words, to stop swearing, or to change the whole way that people perceive you. For example, if you want to sound more intelligent, then you can simply try using bigger words or speaking a little more slowly.

You can also use mindfulness to be happier in everyday life. Simply try to stop letting negative emotions affect you by identifying them as temporary and destructive. You can simply ‘notice’ that you’re getting angry and acknowledge that your thoughts will be tainted by that. With practice, this can make you a much calmer and much happier person. But what do you find when you try and do this?

28 Mindfulness Techniques And Ideas To Enhance Your Life

In all likelihood, you’ll find that you forget. This is just the same way that you forget to pick up bread when your other half asks you to. And it’s just the same way you forget to pick up your keys on the way out of the house. The point is most of the time we have no control over what we’re focused on or what we’re paying attention to. And as such, we find ourselves forgetting things, getting into bad habits, or stressing when we should be enjoying ourselves.

Practicing mindfulness both as a form of meditation and during the day can, therefore, help you to improve your ability to control your thoughts and thereby to decide how you want to improve yourself and what you want to focus on.

Creating a mindfulness meditation is a gentle but powerful exercise. But how do you go about it?

A Simple Mindfulness Meditation Exercise


5 Minute Meditation – Daily Morning Reawakening Session


As with any meditation session, you need to get into a relaxed and comfortable position, eyes closed, and then commence with deep nasal breathing, focusing your thoughts on the breathing to ease yourself into a meditative state.

Once you feel that you are calmed by your breathing and that your breath is under your rhythmic control, then you can move on to focusing on your own body, one body part at a time. I was first taught this at yoga class, where we were taught to concentrate first of all on the left foot, focusing on it from a position above ourselves.

Then move up the body slowly, left ankle, knee, thigh, and so on. When reaching your head, you then do the same in reverse on the other side of the body: right shoulder, right elbow, right hand, and so on.

Once you have completed the tour of your own body, as if you were someone else examining it, then it is time to open your eyes and increase the mindfulness of your surroundings.

To do this, focus on any object in the room; it does not have to be anything special: a cup on the coffee table, a vase, a plastic flower, anything. Try to maintain that focus for half a minute, and then move on to any other object. You can repeat this several times, always maintaining a focus on your own body and your own breathing, creating a triple harmony with each object on which you focus.

By using this simple mindfulness meditation you are increasing awareness both of yourself and your surroundings, in a very gentle and easy way. It can serve as a prelude to some mental task, as well as being part of an ongoing mindfulness campaign to strengthen and expand the use of your own mind.

Filed Under: Effective Techniques For Meditation, Meditation For Beginners Guides, Mindfulness Meditation Guides Tagged With: How to practice mindfulness in daily life, Mindfulness, Mindfulness Meditation Benefits, Mindfulness Practice

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

Powerful 5-Minute Mindful Body Scan Meditation

Mindful Body ScanI have found in meditation teachings that the mindful body scan meditation is often overlooked or ignored as a method of deep relaxation. So, here’s some information on how this process can assist you in your practice.

What is a body scan meditation? A mindful body scan meditation is one type of mindfulness meditation that promotes greater awareness of the physical body. It uses the physical sensations of the body and visualization as an anchor to fix the mind in the physical body and more importantly, in the present moment.


5-Minute Mindful Body Scan Relaxation  Meditation


Some teachers have described the mindfulness body scan as a powerful and simple way to connect with the physical body as a quick relaxation technique. This has the immediate effect of helping to draw attention to and then release any areas of tension or resistance within the body before your meditation session.

Try This Guided Meditation For Reducing Anxiety and Stress In 12 Minutes HERE…

There are some concerns as well… You should not be overly concerned with these aspects of a body scan. However, the mindful body scan meditation is primarily a relaxing practice, although other more uncomfortable sensations, such as tingling, burning, or numbness may also arise.

Mindful body scan meditation has been researched very well and found to be effective for improving well-being, decreasing physical discomfort and pain, and reducing stress levels. Anything in life that you put your focus on will be amplified to some degree, so just be aware that any discomfort, in the beginning, will ultimately benefit your meditation practice.

Body scan meditation benefits for stress and anxiety
Dude, you’re too stressed! Relax…

What are some of the mindful body scan meditation benefits for stress and anxiety?

Bringing mindfulness to the body before you meditate, can help you learn and understand what your body may and may not need in order to perform at peak performance.  As odd as it may sound, body scanning can also reveal a great deal about your outer world and your inner life.

As you learn and begin to experience the effects of practicing the body scan, you can start to understand how stress and anxiety affect you at a deeper level. You will discover more and more how you can live a better life even with everyday physical pain and illness.

Learn About Meditation For Stress Management: A Step-By-Step Beginners Guide HERE…

Mindful body scan meditation benefits include:

Exploring how to work with physical pain

Finding links between emotions and physical sensations

Showing how you can use physical sensations as a key to your emotional state

Helping you open the door to greater mindfulness of the body using a time-honored practice: the body scan

The mindful body scan is a deep immersion into the moment-to-moment experiences of the body and mind

By bringing awareness and acknowledgment to whatever you feel or sense in the body, the mindful body scan meditation can be very helpful in working with stress, anxiety, and physical pain.

While you may have heard about meditations that create out-of-body experiences, the object of the body scan is to have an “in-the-body” experience.

In the body scan, you methodically bring attention to the body, beginning with the left foot and ending at the top of the head.

You may notice a wide range of distinct physical feelings:

  • pain
  • aches
  • itches
  • tingles
  • firmness
  • lightness
  • heaviness
  • warmth & cold
  • as well as neutrality

Some of these sensations may be accompanied by thoughts or emotions. As you practice the body scan, this multitude of sensations and internal experiences can be boiled down to three basic feelings:

  • Neutral
  • Pleasant
  • Unpleasant

Since the body is a dynamic organism that’s always changing, no two mindful body scan meditations will ever be completely alike in their physical and mental dimensions as each session is unique to itself.

Here’s a completely free online meditation course I put together that hopefully will be part of the meditation journey you will be on for the rest of your life… enjoy!

As you continue to practice, you’ll discover what Martha Graham sagely noted: “The body says what words cannot” .

The body has its own wisdom, and if you listen, it can communicate where physical tension, thoughts, and emotions lie within your body. This investigation into physical sensations, thoughts, and emotions is sometimes called the triangle of awareness since it’s a journey into the totality of our human experience. Sorry, I went off on the deep end for a moment, but, you get my point. 😉

When you practice the mindful body scan meditation, first simply become aware of physical sensations by exploring their felt sense. This is distinct from thinking about your body. There’s no need to analyze or manipulate your body in any way; just feel and acknowledge whatever sensations are present.

Throughout this deep investigation, your body may begin to reveal a whole range of feelings. In this way, the body scan can bring you in touch with many aspects of your life, both physical and mental.

You can ask yourself, “Body, what is it that needs attention in my life right now”

body scan mindfulness scriptA 5-Minute Mindful Body Scan Meditation Script

Here’s a very good mindful body scan meditation script in addition to the mp3 file above that you could record in your own voice and create a very effective meditation session for yourself.

Yes, the awareness of your own voice however good or bad is a revealing mindfulness exercise in itself.

Begin by making yourself comfortable. Sit in a chair and allow your back to be straight, but not stiff, with your feet on the ground. You could also do this practice standing or if you prefer, you can lie down and have your head supported. Your hands could be resting gently in your lap or at your side. Allow your eyes to close, or to remain open with a soft gaze.

Take several long, slow, deep breaths. Breathing in fully and exhaling slowly. Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose or mouth. Feel your stomach expand on an inhale and relax and let go as you exhale.

Begin to let go of noises around you. Begin to shift your attention from outside to inside yourself. If you are distracted by sounds in the room, simply notice this and bring your focus back to your breathing.

Now slowly bring your attention down to your feet. Begin observing sensations in your feet. You might want to wiggle your toes a little, feeling your toes against your socks or shoes.

Just notice, without judgment. You might imagine sending your breath during this mindful body scan meditation down to your feet as if the breath is traveling through the nose to the lungs and through the abdomen all the way down to your feet.

And then back up again out through your nose and lungs. Perhaps you don’t feel anything at all. That is fine, too. Just allow yourself to feel the sensation of not feeling anything.

When you are ready, allow your feet to dissolve in your mind’s eye and move your attention up to your ankles, calves, knees, and thighs. Observe the sensations you are experiencing throughout your legs. Breathe into and breathe out of the legs. If your mind begins to wander during this exercise, gently notice this without judgment and bring your mind back to noticing the sensations in your legs.

If you notice any discomfort, pain, or stiffness, don’t judge this. Just simply notice it. Observe how all sensations rise and fall, shift and change moment to moment. Notice how no sensation is permanent. Just observe and allow the sensations to be in the moment, just as they are. Breathe into and out from the legs.

Then on the next out-breath, allow the legs to dissolve in your mind. And move to the sensations in your lower back and pelvis. Softening and releasing as you breathe in and out. Slowly move your attention up to your mid-back and upper back. Become curious about the sensations here. You may become aware of sensations in the muscle, temperature, or points of contact with furniture or the bed.

With each out-breath, you may let go of the tension you are carrying. And then very gently shift your focus to your stomach and all the internal organs here. Perhaps you notice the feeling of clothing, the process of digestion, or the belly rising or falling with each breath. If you notice opinions arising about these areas, gently let these go and return to noticing sensations.

As you continue to breathe, bring your awareness to the chest and heart region and just notice your heartbeat. Observe how the chest rises during the inhale and how the chest falls during the exhale. Let go of any judgments that may arise. On the next out-breath, shift the focus to your hands and fingertips. See if you can channel your breathing during this into and out of this area as if you are breathing into and out from your hands. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the sensations in your hands.

And then, on the next out-breath, shift the focus and bring your awareness up into your arms. Observe the sensations or lack of sensations that may be occurring there. You might notice some difference between the left arm and the right arm – no need to judge this. As you exhale, you may experience the arm soften and release tensions.

Continue to breathe and shift focus to the neck, shoulder, and throat region. This is an area where we often have tension. Be with the sensations here. It could be tightness, rigidity, or holding. You may notice the shoulders moving along with the breath. Let go of any thoughts or stories you are telling about this area. As you breathe, you may feel the tension rolling off your shoulders.

On the next out-breath, shift your focus and direct your attention to the scalp, head, and face. Observe all of the sensations occurring there. Notice the movement of the air as you breathe into or out of the nostrils or mouth. As you exhale, you might notice the softening of any tension you may be holding.

And now, let your attention expand out to include the entire body as a whole. Bring into your awareness the top of your head down to the bottom of your toes. Feel the gentle rhythm of the breath as it moves through the body.

As you come to the end of this practice, take a full, deep breath, taking in all the energy of this practice. Exhale fully. And when you are ready, open your eyes and return your attention to the present moment. As you become fully alert and awake, consider setting the intention that this practice of building awareness will benefit everyone you come in contact with today.

The script was written by Shilagh Mirgain, Ph.D., for UW Cultivating Well-Being: A Neuroscientific Approach

Although, it would be misleading to say that the mindful body scan practice is simply about relaxation and sleep. Rather, the goal is to be aware of the different regions of your body, and allow yourself to experience how each part feels, without trying to change anything. Just being with what is there.

“We’re constantly moving and doing, and we forget to listen to our bodies,” says Julie Haber, senior spiritual wellness provider at Canyon Ranch in Tucson. “Paying attention to our physical selves is a spiritual practice that allows us to care and attend to ourselves at the most basic of levels.”

Related Questions For A Mindful Body Scan Meditation

What is the purpose of a mindful body scan meditation? The body scan meditation can promote body awareness, stress awareness, and relaxation. Practice it often. You can also try progressive muscle relaxation, breathing exercises, or visualization exercises for releasing stress and tension in your body.

What is a body scan in mindfulness? The purpose of a body scan mindfulness exercise is simply to notice your body. It is not necessarily about relaxing your body, however, this may occur as a nice side effect. It is simply about being focused and aware of your body, in this present moment.

What is the purpose of mindful body scan meditation? Mindfulness as a practice is described as paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. Another way to look at this is by bringing your complete attention to the present experience of your body and/or mind on a moment-to-moment basis.

Filed Under: Free Guided Meditations Mp3s, Meditation For Beginners Guides, Mindfulness Meditation Guides Tagged With: Body scan mindfulness script, How to practice mindfulness in daily life, mindful body scan, Mindfulness Meditation Benefits, Mindfulness Practice

by Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

6 Incredible Health Benefits Of Mindfulness

Health Benefits Of MindfulnessThe health benefits of mindfulness is a bit of a buzz word right now, but that doesn’t mean that you should discredit it. Being mindful is one of the best things you can do for your body and mind!

But you might not be sure what it is. Is mindfulness just being more aware? Or does it mean clearing your mind?

Being mindful, in one sense, is like simplifying things. Normally we try to multitask all day, worrying about 20 things while doing 10. That doesn’t work too well.

Being mindful means focusing on the present moment. Being fully here. It allows you to attend to what’s going on right around you and inside you. So it simplifies things because you can just enjoy the present moment.

28 Mindfulness Techniques And Ideas To Enhance Your Life

You can meditate to be more mindful, and you can practice it throughout your day. Whatever you’re doing, give it all of your attention. Be proactive about putting down your other worries and being present in what you’re doing and who you’re with.


5 Minute Guided Meditation For Stress and Anxiety


You’ll gain inner peace, happiness and feel ‘uncluttered’ in your life.

The health benefits of mindfulness a gift that we don’t give to ourselves much. In fact, our society teaches that we should be getting as much done as possible all the time, which leads to burnout, stress, health problems, and lower productivity.

Mindfulness, on the other hand, offers the opposite, so let’s take a look at all the benefits of mindfulness.

1. Mindfulness reduces stress

Let’s start with the biggie. In today’s world, we really battle stress from all sides.

If we carry around all the things we have to worry about, our mind never gets a break. That’s why so many people are completely burned out, feeling down, and stressed to the point of panic attacks or needing medication.

Mindfulness and Meditation: Discover Your Best Personal Power

This kind of worrying steals away any chance of joy or relaxation in our day. You probably know how it goes: you’re sitting at your desk at work, stressed about a deadline, and also about a disagreement with your partner, and some tension you’re feeling with a coworker, and the company party you’re supposed to attend tonight…

Constantly carrying all of these things and feeling continued stress leads to:

Restless sleep
A racing mind
Low energy
Feeling irritable
Feeling defensive
Getting angry easier
Panic attacks
Constant panic
Headaches, body aches, migraines
Jaw pain from clenching teeth
Tight shoulders and back pain
Depression

As you can see, trying to keep everything on your mind leads to all kinds of problems, resulting in lower productivity and even worse things.

We might even feel guilty if we forget to worry about something. Do you ever do that? You’ll finally get absorbed in something and it feels really nice, but then you remember all the things that aren’t resolved, and you feel guilty for letting yourself have a few minutes.

But you need those minutes!

Being mindful and present will allow you to get absorbed in what you’re doing, give it your full attention so you can do better, and you’ll feel more clear and mentally energized.

Your body and brain weren’t made to handle constant stress. It’s so much healthier to be present and put aside the other pressing thoughts.

Challenge yourself to enjoy the health benefits of mindfulness in one activity a day: a walk, meditation, making a craft, writing, drawing, singing, or something else you enjoy.

See how it feels to let yourself be fully present with that one thing and not having thoughts about anything else. And then see how you feel the rest of the day.

2. Mindfulness creates better health

Being mindful and present lowers our stress levels and also centers us, bringing many of the health benefits of mindfulness.

You might notice that you’re calmer after practicing mindfulness, your head feels more clear and focused, you’re more productive, and more alert.

Mindfulness Activities For Better Productivity

Being mindful greatly benefits your mind, and that in turn benefits your body and overall health.

People who practice being mindful have higher brain function, an increased immune function, lower blood pressure, lower anxiety levels, and are calmer.

We’ve heard this for years, but experts were talking about meditation and yoga. Both of those are ways to be mindful!

3. Mindfulness decreases depression symptoms

When you decrease stress and learn the health benefits of mindfulness, that can help with depression.

Mindfulness does that and more. It’s been considered an effective part of overall depression treatment for a long time.

Being mindful often helps people see and acknowledge their feelings, and that leads to better coping. Being mindful and let you say, “I see that I’m feeling that way, and that’s okay.”

Being mindful engages the observant self, so you can notice how you’re feeling, and what you’re thinking, but not get completely sucked into those feelings. You can step back and analyze the situation better.

4. Mindfulness increases Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is one of those fun words (in my opinion) that show you what they mean. Neuro, or brain, plus plasticity, or being flexible.

Think about how plastic can be soft and pliable.

Being mindful helps your brain increase its ability to change and adapt, which is pretty important to our survival even though we’re not back in the caveman era.

In a simple sense, neuroplasticity refers to how our brain grows, learns, and changes. When we change our minds or learn new things, we actually make new pathways.

But this has bigger health benefits of mindfulness and scientific implications. When someone has a stroke and has to relearn how to walk, they’re actually learning how to re-circuit their brain around the damaged area.

5 Ways Mindfulness Practice Can Make You Productive

Imagine how much stronger your brain will be if you practice mindfulness and therefore improve neuroplasticity. That’s a huge advantage for dealing with all of life’s curves and for any brain damage you might suffer.

5. Mindfulness helps you deal with illness

Studies have found that mindfulness helps people with cancer and people with a chronic illness-even terminal illness.

I can see why being in the moment more would help someone enjoy life day by day. Research has found that mindfulness helps cancer patients reduce stress while relieving fatigue.

For many of the health benefits of mindfulness, increases our spirituality and sense of purpose, and it helps people handle their emotions regarding their illness.

Mindfulness can greatly improve life for people with chronic pain, such as low back pain. It helps patients focus on something other than the pain.

6. Mindfulness helps recovery

We’ve seen all the ways the health benefits of mindfulness for our mental and emotional health. It also helps us physically when we need to recover from illness.

This is probably due to all the other benefits of being mindful.

We have better focus, we’re less stressed, we feel more at peace, and so we’re happier.

We’ve talked about some big areas of the health benefits of mindfulness. To zoom in a bit, here’s a list of more specific ways that being mindful improves our lives:

Better mental health
Less stress at work
Better emotional regulation
Fewer problems with alcohol and drugs
Less depression and anxiety
Better performance at school and work
Better relationships
Better self-awareness
Less burnout
Better able to cope with ups and downs
More resilience

We’re just healthier when we’re more mindful because people aren’t really made to multitask 5 things all day long and always worry.

We can benefit from slowing down and enjoying the present moment. Why let other things detract from what you’re doing? You can give those other things your attention in due time.


Beautiful Guided Meditation For Relaxation and Healing Your Mind and Body


This method will make your mind as calm as water…

I’m talking about a method that will allow you to sink into relaxation, and feel abundantly positive and happy within minutes…

2 Easy Ways To Practice Mindfulness For Beginners

The health benefits of mindfulness will fill your life with joy and satisfaction…

And teach you how to easily defeat any life problems that you may be facing.

By Greg Thurston

Creator of Seven Minute Mindfulness

Filed Under: Mindfulness Meditation Guides Tagged With: Health Benefits Of Mindfulness, Mindfulness Meditation Benefits, Mindfulness Practice

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Meditation Life Skills - Meditation Podcast

Welcome To Meditation Life Skills! I’m Glad You’re Here!

Don Weyant - Meditation Life Skills Years ago I discovered that meditation was the key to my “real” personal development work for true self-improvement from the inside out.

I want to share all the information I can through this website so that you can incorporate meditation techniques that work for you into your life for the rest of your life.

That is my gift and service to you, I hope you take advantage of the information starting today. Fair enough? Great!

Meditation Life Skills exists to support your personal meditation journey, in every way possible! You are the only reason I have this website. Let's get started...

Meditation Life Skills – Top 40 Meditation Blogs Winner

Meditation Life Skills - Top 40 Meditation Blogs Winner

Powerful Meditation Tools To Help Train Your Mind!

Daily Meditation Practice

Developing Your Daily Meditation Practice For Success

By Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

By Chris Le Roy A Daily meditation practice without a clear plan or purpose is like going on a safari trip without a map. You will get lost very quickly and you will not achieve what you set out to achieve. A daily Meditation practice should simply set out how you want to plan your meditation … [Learn How You Can Meditate More Effectively Here...] about Developing Your Daily Meditation Practice For Success

Frequently Asked Meditation Questions

29 Frequently Asked Meditation Questions You Must Know…

By Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

LESSON 11 OF 12: Frequently Asked Meditation Questions You Must Know! HERE YOU WILL FIND ANSWERS TO SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED  MEDITATION QUESTIONS AND SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU MAY ENCOUNTER. – WHAT IF YOU FALL ASLEEP? – CAN ANYTHING BAD HAPPEN? – CAN IT DEVELOP MY PSYCHIC ABILITIES? - SHOULD I … [Learn How You Can Meditate More Effectively Here...] about 29 Frequently Asked Meditation Questions You Must Know…

Stress Management Skills

Stress Management Skills: 5 Simple Ways To Reduce Stress

By Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

Learning stress management skills is one of the most important skills you can learn in these modern times. Dealing with stress is tricky, but you can learn to manage stress and lead a happier life. Stress is a normal part of our everyday lives, yet it is something that requires our attention, or … [Learn How You Can Meditate More Effectively Here...] about Stress Management Skills: 5 Simple Ways To Reduce Stress

Om Chanting Meditation Music

Proven Om Chanting Meditation To Remove Negative Energy

By Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

Om Chanting Meditation Music, Ocean Landscape, and Solfeggio Frequency of 417 Hz. It can Remove All Negative Energy - One Hour Free Music Mp3 Download The Solfeggio Frequency at 417 Hz is one of the most healing and beautiful frequencies that can remove all negativity from within ourselves, our … [Learn How You Can Meditate More Effectively Here...] about Proven Om Chanting Meditation To Remove Negative Energy

Best Meditation Podcast or App

What Is The Top Mindful Meditation App For Android and iOS?

By Don Weyant/Meditation Life Skills

I have done some mindful meditation app heavy lifting and research for you to find the best mindfulness meditation apps. These are just a few but they are very good. Of course, there are other meditation methods within these apps, but all of them excel at teaching and learning … [Learn How You Can Meditate More Effectively Here...] about What Is The Top Mindful Meditation App For Android and iOS?

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Sleep Salon - Enjoy the best night's sleep ever, with the Sleep Salon! This powerful brainwave entrainment audio program uses special sounds to lull you into a deep sleep.

Meditation FAQ’s You Must Understand For Success!

Frequently Asked Meditation Questions

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