Why Meditate?

Why Meditate? This short talk walks us through some of the many benefits of meditation. Through stillness we become a spacious lake, more composed, less reactive, more in tune with our intuition, more compassionate with ourselves and others.

Transcript

Why should we meditate?

Besides the huge amount of physical benefits from meditation,

Including lowering our stress levels,

Preventing anxiety-related diseases,

And really setting ourselves up for a healthy and stress-free future,

There are so many reasons to meditate.

One of the biggest reasons that I meditate in it has helped me to become more aware and less reactive.

In times in my life when I would have gotten really angry at someone or resentful,

I've been able to move through difficult emotions with so much ease and grace and be able to forgive and move on with my life and really focus on myself.

And since I've been able to do that,

I've really just constantly been given beautiful opportunities in my life.

I feel like I've been able to attract so much more happiness and joy because I've been willing to let go and move through those difficult emotions.

I want you to imagine just this beautiful still lake and then also imagine just a cup of water.

So if we took a spoonful of salt and put it in a cup of water,

The water would become very affected.

It would become very salty.

And I want you to imagine that salt represents all the difficult stuff in life.

Maybe it's difficult people,

Conflict,

The things that arise as human beings.

And if we don't meditate,

We tend to get very affected.

We'll become like that little glass of water that's just become so salty and maybe full of anger or resentment or holding on to grudges.

And it really can upset us and affect all parts of our lives.

We take it on emotionally,

Spiritually,

Mentally,

Physically.

However,

If you meditate,

And what I really see as the point of meditation is to become a beautiful,

Spacious,

Still lake.

And if you take a spoonful of salt and you place it into a big,

Spacious lake,

The water is not very affected.

You can't even really tell that there's salt in the lake because it's so big and spacious and the salt doesn't really make an effect.

So you can imagine that as you are taking the time to meditate,

Your mind is becoming this beautiful,

Spacious lake that difficult situations are able to just move through.

You're able to be with emotions and then let them go rather than getting stuck and having it take such a negative effect on your life.

When we are stuck in the negativity and it comes into our thoughts,

Then we begin to attract even more difficult situations in our life,

More negativity.

And it can become this really terrible cycle of just stress and anxiety.

So taking this time to consciously meditate and to renew and to expand your consciousness and your awareness is a practice that will affect so many parts of your life.

Some other reasons why I meditate is to heighten my intuition.

When I'm closing my eyes,

I'm not taking in any new information.

That's when I have guidance come.

That's when I have new ideas come.

And I can really listen to them and feel like I'm being guided from a more divine place.

It helps me remember what's important in life,

Especially if I'm reading a vision at the end of my meditation.

It really helps me remember what I'm working towards,

What I'm trying to cultivate,

What is my ultimate goal in my life,

What I'm working towards,

What I'm putting my energy to.

It helps me come back to gratitude,

To remember that I have so much,

That I don't need to worry,

I don't need to put so much pressure on myself,

That actually what I have is a beautiful gift and I can be grateful for that.

And when I do that,

That's when I begin to attract more of those experiences that will help me feel grateful.

It helps me connect to a deep level of acceptance and being okay with all aspects of life.

And again,

That's just so useful when difficulty arises,

To be able to breathe,

Be calm,

To move forward,

To act,

Take action from a very clear and grounded place.

Helps me accept my body to be more present for myself,

To take better care of myself,

Because I'm really tuning in and listening.

How much food does my body really need to eat?

Or what kind of food does my body really need to eat?

It also helps me be more self-reliant.

I don't have to look outside of myself to really understand what I need to do next.

I can really rely on myself and my own judgment.

I can be in touch with what yes feels like for me,

What steps I need to take.

It helps me also be okay with my aloneness.

In our society,

I think we are always seeking something outside of ourselves.

We're really afraid to be alone.

We always want to be distracted by something.

And meditation really helps me connect back to myself and to know that I have this unshakable trust,

This unshakable connection with something deep inside myself,

That I don't need to be surrounded by people all the time or to distract myself with technology or phone calls or text messages.

I can really just be grounded in who I am.

I love the quote about loneliness versus aloneness.

Loneliness is the absence of the other.

The emphasis is on what is missing.

Aloneness is the presence of oneself.

This is really relishing and enjoying that energy of being who you are and being in joy with that,

Being in love with that.

So the next time you find yourself alone,

Rather than going into a mind state of,

Oh,

I'm so lonely,

How can it be just so nourishing and beautiful to be with your own aloneness?

Meditation helps us to be with our thoughts.

It's easier to just be in our own minds day to day because we have this awareness of what we're thinking and we can actually then begin to shift our thoughts and shift our beliefs.

I really notice now when I have a negative thought come up,

I consciously think,

Oh,

Okay,

This is not something I really want to spend too much time in.

So I can have a few words or a different memory to come to shift myself into thinking more positively or to notice when I have self-doubt or limiting belief come up and to say,

You know,

That's not really real.

And actually,

I'm going to say an affirmation right now to shift that.

Meditation has helped me move through so many fears in my life,

Just being with the sensations of that fear,

Knowing that I can rely on a higher power that I will be guided when I need to.

And lastly,

It connects me to that inner guidance.

It connects me to my highest self,

My inner mentor,

Someone that I can turn to in times of need,

Rather than always needing something outside of myself.

I can really tune in and make decisions from a very pure,

Grounded place.

Reviews

A beautifully explained summary of the life-transforming scope (of benefits) of meditation! Thank you🙏

Good explanation, enjoyed it.

Great summary of the inner tranquility I’m striving to achieve. Namaste 🙏🌹😌

Brilliant!! Thank you!!

Perfectly stated

Nailed it! Thank you 🙏

So helpful and supportive. Thank you! I will surely listen and re-listen to these wise words again. Many thanks for sharing 🌼🌼🌼

It is so lovely to read all of your thoughtful reviews! Thank you, I enjoyed putting this short talk on meditation together and I look forward to sharing many more to come!

Loved it! ... I find it so natural to think the way I do about the day to day things in a grounded stress-free way, which I've grown through yoga, reading and meditation, that I find it really difficult to pinpoint exactky how it is that meditation helps me be.

Wow, I loved every word you spoke. I am grateful I chose this meditation or speech to listen to today its exactly what I needed. THANK YOU 🌼🌸🌼

Very nice!! Thank you 😊

Excellent summary of why to meditate and perfect timing, since I'm preparing exactly this topic in a 10 presentation at work tomorrow. I will be sure to cite this talk. Thank you so much for sharing. 😇🙏👍

Her description of the benefits was perfect and on point. I personally feel that I'm benefiting from all the things she mentions. So grateful 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Just the shot of motivation I needed.

Excellent reminders, thank you.

All that I experience is affirmed here. Thank you! 🙏🏻

Wonderful - wise words and much needed - thank you

Absolutely excellent! A mystery to me how nobody has not given it a 5star rating before. Conor Graaf Pietermaritzburg South Africa