If you are one of those people that believe that meditation is for Buddhist monks and yogis, you need to reevaluate your thinking. Meditation gained popularity among the everyday crowd once they began to learn of its benefits. For us witches, shamans, empaths, energy workers, and other sensitives, a regular meditation practice is highly beneficial and has been used for centuries.
The foremost reason that sensitives should begin a regular mediation practice would be to reduce stress and/ or anxiety. For energy workers, these are often symptoms that we take on from other people or as a result of our hypersensitivity to our environment. By reducing stress and anxiety, one can also lessen the symptoms of other medical conditions associated with them. Studies have shown a reduction in stress-related conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and fibromyalgia among those with a habitual meditation practice. They have also shown reductions in blood pressure, social anxiety, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. When we can reduce our stress and anxiety, we will find that our sleep patterns also benefit from this. Those that practice regular meditation reported falling asleep quicker and staying asleep longer which resulted in a more restful night’s sleep, more energy, and an overall better mood.
Meditation also promotes self-awareness and mental health. Meditation can help you develop a stronger understanding of yourself, helping you grow into your best self. Some meditative practices teach you to recognize thoughts that may be harmful or self-defeating. When you gain awareness of your thought habits, you can then steer them toward more constructive patterns. If you are able to reduce negative or self-defeating thought patterns, depressive episodes may lessen. One study followed 18 volunteers as they practiced meditation for over three years. The study found that the participants had notable long-term decreases in depression. Another study compared the electrical activity within the brain of individuals that practiced meditation and those that did not. Those who meditated showed measurable changes in activity in the areas related to positive thinking and optimism.
It has been shown that meditation can lengthen attention span and may help reduce age-related memory loss. Focused-attention meditation is like weight lifting for your attention span. It helps to increase the strength and endurance of your attention. One study showed that human resource workers that regularly practiced meditation stayed focused on a task longer than those co-workers that did not. It also showed that those that were meditating remembered details of their tasks better than those that were not. Improvements in attention and clarity of thinking may keep your mind young, which in turn can combat age-related memory loss. Kirtan Kriya is a method of meditation that has proven in multiple-age related memory loss studies to improve the participants’ ability to perform memory-related tasks.
On a metaphysical level, going within during meditation can help you to unlock your subconscious. It can show you your fears, help you to open up to your dreams, show you what needs to be healed within you, and better connect you with your own strength and power. It
If you have tried meditation and are one of those that say, "Oh, I can't' meditate. I've tried and I cannot empty my mind," DO NOT GIVE UP. There is a reason why it is called a "practice". You must continue to try and regularly, if I may add, to get into that meditative state. The more you do it, the more proficient you will become. If you have ever daydreamed then you have entered an altered state of awareness. I am pretty sure that I'm not the only one that has daydreamed. The only difference is that meditation is more of a guided experience as opposed to simply drifting. Another important note, not every meditation is filled with messages, images, or magick. Let go of those expectations. Sometimes the messages come later.
Witches, Shamans, healers, and energy workers have used meditation for centuries. Along with all of its health benefits, it connects us to ourselves, the beyond, and to Spirit. Blessed Be...
No comments:
Post a Comment