Why should I meditate? What benefits will I get?

It is not difficult seeking numerous quotations while you search for something that is necessary and productive. Why must one meditate? I found very mind-boggling quote, “You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day unless you are too busy; then you should sit for an hour.”. Why would one write such thing? There are numerous queries that must be baffling your mind, and it is quite obvious. But one must be aware of whatever he/she does. If I say, stop everything now and meditate right away, you must not follow it blindly without a slight knowing. The moment you realize that it is important through Web searches, you next reaction would be “Oh my dear God! This is quite interesting but how will I manage to keep this in my daily schedule?”. You will be giving numerous excuses to why you aren’t getting time despite of your own willingness to do it; right after this very subject first crossed unto your mind. But I will give you a hundred other reasons to why you must make it a routine just like you eat and sleep. Why not have a brief insight to every point?

1. Memory and concentration – Many people misinterpret this term. Meditation is more of a spiritual term rather than being framed as something that is going to deliver you outstanding memory and concentration. The point is – forget materialism for a while, surrender and proceed – the best you could do while meditating and the results would be beyond expectation. If you keep the greed, it would not deliver you the level of outcomes you expected.
2. Mind control – It is very common getting stuck with loads of thoughts. Do you know the estimated count of thoughts that we create in a single day? 60,000 it is! We unnecessarily get bothered by our past, failures, future worries, etc. This is the present moment and we need to enable our mind focus on what comes in our way. Worrying about what comes next spoils the present.
For example, you are worried of your entrance examination that will be coming the next year. You know without studying that isn’t possible. But you still have this year with you in which you could solve all your basics so that you don’t face difficulties the following year. You might not pass the test at this moment but you better involve in correcting your mistakes rather than behaving like a crying baby; so that you never repeat that again. It sounds simple but complex when it comes to implement it practically. Meditation helps us ignore all the negative thoughts. It does support us when we are surrounded by unfriendly people who never miss a chance criticizing us.

3. Good health – Our physical health is linked with our mentality and mindset. Since meditation is the key to bringing peace and positivity within, our physical health gradually improvise with time. If you are dealing with depression, stress and anxiety, meditation is your answer. You can also notice significant changes in your headaches, migraine, hypertension, asthma, heart issues, etc. after a few months. Ever heard of people battling cancer and successfully getting rid of it not just once, but thrice or five times? Getting idea of what a positive mentality could do wonders to the extent beyond one’s imagination. I do not say that each one of them were practicing meditation but they were extremely courageous to surrender. They probably didn’t need this practice because they already had what everyone has to project him/herself into retrieving such blessings. If you think you don’t get distracted by people’s perspectives, criticisms and your own life’s situations, it is not necessary for you to meditate; but you may do simply to maintain that level of peace.
4. Deep knowledge – Once a person practices meditation, he gets to know about many things. He becomes aware and finds out that the thoughts he is having in his mind aren’t his but the surroundings and community that were projecting into him to develop that kind of thinking; that apparently seems his own. Every living person on this planet develops some kind of mindset based on their life’s journey and the religion and society have a huge impact upon him, in addition. When it comes to understanding others’ perspectives and viewpoints, one shows reluctance towards it because most of us are ruled by gigantic ego. This is not developed overnight but years of brainwashing and our society’s tendency to make us believe in following the mainstream.
5. Awareness – You might have noticed that there are many people who will always act fake, hypocritical and change their opinions as per the present situation, double standards to be specific. This is because they are too obsessed of showing their false self just to make sure that their already built self esteem and magnified image doesn’t shatter. Being pretentious all the times is a routine for nearly everyone and no one minds because they don’t have to worry about getting judged. Being opinionated over topics that need strong points isn’t a cup of tea for these people.

Practicing meditation lets us know our deeds more precisely. Those moments when we say hard core lies, backstab behind someone’s back, or criticize we actually feel guilty and it is a real feeling. No matter how much you were trained faking your personality for so many years, you will eventually give up. There comes a point when we stop caring about people’s judgments, their opinions or reviews and get more into developing our real self. Those who meditate also need some amount of breaks in between when they get socialize. This is because they feel deprived of positivity within because they are surrounded by a bunch of negative folks. They are more aware of negative energy in the environment and usually prefer alone time when not around others.
Well the above points are few, yet powerful enough to convince someone into practicing meditation. You may go through numerous video tutorials to start it now. Everyone is different and thus their requirements are different as well.

For beginners it would be best if they stare it on a single point on a wall, any object or a flame, whichever works best. Aum (ॐ) or Om chanting is usually followed because every object residing in this universe has a specific vibration and Om unites them all because it is the only one that resembles every vibration that is emitted. Sometimes the surroundings are too laud that a person doesn’t feel like meditating because of the absence of peaceful environment. In that case, I would recommend listening to Om chanting or something similar through YouTube or any other means. You might like using your headset.
Simply start right away, either in the morning between 3 am to 7 am or evening at about 5 pm to 7 pm. Some people are so into it that they do it twice in a day. It is usually recommended that you prefer morning hours. Start with 5 minutes and then increase it every month. Too hectic schedule could limit oneself and so if a person simply spares 15 minutes of his daily time, he is giving quite enough. You may later find out that you have actually started enjoying sitting alone and meditating. Surprising, isn’t it?