Lessons I have learned from Meditation

Photo by Chris Ensey on Unsplash

Meditation has become quite popular in the last decade or so. Even the doctors and therapists prescribe it to patients with anxiety problems.

I have been doing meditation since last fifteen years or so, on and off. Well honestly more off than on. But since Covid hit I have made it more regular in my daily routine, to calm myself and deal with my anger issues.

Here are a few things that Meditation helps me feel/remember every time I do it. We all know the below things are true, we have all read it. But to keep in touch with them in our daily life is a bit hard, and Mediation helps you do that.

1. Be in the present — It’s no secret that meditation teaches us to focus on the present-the in and out of our breath. But have you ever stopped and asked why? Why do we need to focus to be in the present and how does it help us? In Meditation they call human mind ‘monkey mind’. It’s like a monkey which never keeps still, swinging from one branch to another. In our case from one thought to another. Because of this tendency of us to always think about something , either about the past or the future, we tend to lose touch with the present — the things which are happening right now in this moment. Mindfulness of how we are feeling right now, the awareness of the current, brings calm to the otherwise chaotic mind.
2. Accept the present as it is — Most of our life is spent in chasing dreams, planning our days, doing chores. There is not a single moment when we are not thinking about what we need to do next. We worry about the smallest things, we fret about the inconsequential details. Meditation teaches us to accept the present as is. There is no need to change anything — the noise around us, the temperature of the room, the mess around us. It teaches us that life is not perfect, there will always be something imperfect. Always. The important thing is just to take a pause and accept. Accept what is going on in your life, don’t worry about it. Don’t try to change anything just for a few minutes. See life, appreciate life as it is now in front of you.
3. Recognize things to be grateful about — In the race of chasing one thing after another, we forget to take a pause and notice things which are already going right in our life. Meditation teaches you to recognize and appreciate the moments/things in your life which are just perfect the way they are(are you see big the connection here?). Moments where you don’t want anything else. It all comes from awareness of what is in front of you.
4. Realize that Happiness is inside us — Our whole life happiness is something which manages to evade us continuously. It’s because we tie it to getting somewhere, achieving something. It doesn’t matter how far we have already come. We as humans are wired to always want more. We are never satisfied with what we have, and hence the constant running and chasing. Meditation makes you stop and think. It makes you appreciate and be okay with what you have — which is the key to happiness. Happiness is the calm in us, the beauty around us, and meditation makes you feel all that!

I would recommend mediation to anyone who feels overwhelmed with their daily routine. It helps you catch a break, see the truth of what matters the most and appreciate it.