15 Real Life Benefits of a Meditator
“The important thing is this: to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are, for what we could become. ”
Having started my personal meditation journey 17 years ago, I have experienced a lot of eye-closed time. It was as an early teen that I first started trialling different types of meditation. Since then I have listened to guided meditations, had weekly visits to the local Buddhist centre, sat with my breath, meditated on nature, stared at candle flames, downloaded apps, went to retreats, learnt mindfulness. I then began to teach mindfulness at the clinic and ran meditation groups in the mental health clinics and inpatient units I worked for. I attended many, many yoga and meditation classes. I was so very, very drawn to meditation though I didn’t necessarily know why. I knew I felt better after doing it, though the bigger reason was simply that I was certain there was something deeper to be experienced. I was looking for something and I wasn’t sure what but I knew it existed out there (or in there).
It wasn’t until I came across Vedic Meditation that I found what it was that I had been looking for. I found that deeper experience, where I started to experience what I had always imagined meditation should feel like - that delicious transcendent feeling of coming home. Not only did I experience this regularly but I started to experience really noticeable shifts and changes within my life, outside of meditation.
Each time I host a course or an intro talk, someone always asks me about the shifts and changes I have noticed in my own life since beginning Vedic Meditation. Even now to answer this question can be a difficult one because so many of the shifts and changes I have experienced have now become such a normal part of my life experience that I barely notice them anymore. With some reflection, let me share with you a few of the most significant things that occurred.
1.
My relationship with my body changed. I started to recognise the beauty and capacity of my body rather than zoning in on all the ways my body was imperfect or what I wished was different. I can now look beyond the old ideas and beliefs I once held, the ones that told me “You are not beautiful/slim / big breasted/small/tanned…. enough.” I started to ‘see’ my own radiance, the radiance that both included and went beyond just my appearance. I started to spontaneously feel gratitude for my health and for all of the things it allowed me to do and experience.
2.
I am more tuned in to what my body and my mind need. Do I really need another coffee today? I can sense when I am starting to feel fatigued or run down and make course corrections before I get bogged down and burnt out. I can sense whether my body wants to go for a run at the beach, or dance, have a chill night at home or a gentle yoga class. I can trust that when my body craves to eat something (hello, my monthly craving for raspberry and dark chocolate cake with double cream, or the red meat craving that hits every time my period is due) that it’s coming from a place of wisdom and joy rather than from a place of stress, deprivation or boredom. I can feel what my body needs to feel nourished and vital and I also trust myself to give myself those things. This is true balance ~ knowing what is needed and then doing that do that thing.
3.
I can take full responsibility for my emotional state. The way I feel is no longer tied to a storyline about a partner, a life circumstance, a boss, or by feeling like a victim to life.
4.
I am less dependent on the outside world to make me happy. Happiness truly is an inside job. No one and nothing outside of yourself can bring you a true and lasting experience of happiness or fulfilment. Only you can. This has and continues to be a relationship game-changer. Meditation is the thing that gives you a direct experience of this inner fulfilment.
5.
I am FAR more compassionate with myself. I don’t berate myself for every mistake I make, I forgive myself sooner. I am kinder and gentler, and in return, I find I am kinder, more compassionate with others. I can hold the imperfections or mis-takes of another with more ease, softness and grace because I can do the same with my own.
6.
I can see in others, the experiences I used to have – the experience of being caught up in the anxieties and fear of the mind. Through this awareness, despite perhaps feeling frustrated or irritated, I have greater understanding, knowing their true nature actually is divine…
7.
I don’t hold grudges anymore. Grudges change nothing and serve no one.
8.
I take things far less personally.
9.
I know that everything is actually all good, even when it seems not to be.
10.
When shit seems to hit the metaphorical fan or life doesn’t go as you planned – I have a natural attitude of ‘wow this really is interesting, I wonder what’s happening here?’ rather than ‘I can’t believe this happened, my life is over.”
11.
I no longer hold on to things. I can let them go with ease.
12.
I can still get stressed. But it’s far less often, and if I do, I recover quickly. I call it ‘bounce-back’. I don’t stay stressed, my body and mind are more flexible, adaptable and dynamic.
13.
I am more comfortable taking ‘risks.’ Actually, the idea of ‘risk’ has been totally re-defined as taking ‘an evolutionary leap’.
In my experience, evolutionary leaps have only ever delivered wisdom, opportunity or an experience of greater freedom and alignment. Meditation made me trust myself more, it created an internal stability that frees me to land wherever and know that I will be totally fine, more than fine. And with this, I learnt that Nature truly LOVES to support those who take evolutionary leaps!
14.
I’m more present. To everything.
15.
Sex got way better. Seriously. I developed a stronger desire for the experience of true union in every part of my life, including the bedroom. I started to desire sex that felt deeper, more connected, more soul-filled and then I started to choose it and experience it. Maybe I can say I was more tuned in and more turned on!
greater confidence + more presence + more love + less in the head + more in the body + more in the heart = bedroom joy
These are just a few of the major changes that have occurred over the years. And yes these continue to be and always will be in a constant state of refinement. None of these have been ‘perfected’; and I can assure you that meditation hasn’t made me immune to being very, very human. But this really is the whole point; meditation gives us access to infinite states of growth, expansion, evolution and joy. Just like our lives, our practice too is a process. We are not simply a series of outcomes to be achieved. So what it is that we must do is remain present to our lives, relax, meditate and enjoy the adventure!