The benefits of being able to meditate are tremendous. Research shows that after a single 20-minute yoga session, our brains’ beta waves decrease, meaning our rate of information processing slows down. A 2008 study by researchers at Harvard Medical School found that meditation substantially changed the gray-matter density in parts of the brain, improving memory, enhancing empathy, and reducing stress. A 2007 study by psychologists and psychiatrists at the University of Wisconsin found that meditators have substantially better attention spans than non-meditators, while a 2009 study by the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention found that meditation can lower stress levels and significantly decrease the risk of heart attack.
While the benefits of meditation might be literally life changing, we know what you’re thinking: You don’t have hours on end every week to dedicate to practicing meditation. But luckily, you don’t have to take a full hour out of your day to reap the benefits of mindfulness. You can channel the vast majority of the benefits of meditation with everyday mindfulness between hectic work meetings and shuttling the kids to soccer practice.
If you need some extra motivation to meditate Promise or Pay is an online social motivation platform that helps you stick to your goals by donating money to charity if you don’t follow through, and encouraging others to donate if you succeed. What makes this awesome is that regardless of the outcome money is donated to charity! Keep your promise to meditate and your Supporters donate. Break your promise and you donate. It’s win-win! Promise or Pay motivates you to achieve your health and wellness goals, while creating a more engaging, personal and empowering way to donate to charities that make a better world. Your one promise can make a huge difference – make your promise today.
Here are some great ways to meditate in your everyday life:-
1. Be aware of your breathing.
If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed, or simply feel your thoughts wandering from the present moment, take a few deep breaths to refocus your attention. It may be simple, but it is one of the most powerful mindfulness techniques out there.
2. Try walking meditation practice.
Whether you are just going from the car to the grocery store or are enjoying a leisurely after-dinner stroll for a bit of exercise, you can integrate meditative practice into your walks, no matter how long or short. The key is to stand straight with your back upright and clasp your hands gently just above your belly button. Ideally, you will want to curl the thumb of your left hand inward and wrap your fingers around it while wrapping your right hand around your left. This will balance you and help to keep swinging arms from becoming a distraction. Drop your gaze slightly, and pay attention to the way your feet touch the ground. If you mind starts to wander, return your attention to the movement of your feet.
3. Devote a few minutes of your day to someone else.
We all tend to feel like we could use an extra few hours in our day and are, therefore, sometimes reluctant to dedicate a bit of our day to someone else. But did you know that even giving just a few minutes of your day to someone else can make you feel like you have more time, not less of it? Fascinating research conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Yale reveals that when participants in a study completed small tasks for other people (such as writing an encouraging note to a sick child or helping a student edit his or her college application essay), their sense of available time was substantially enhanced. The team of researchers concluded that “compared with wasting time, spending time on oneself, and even receiving ‘free’ time, giving time to friends or strangers increases perceptions of having time in both the present and the future by increasing feelings of self-efficacy.” Furthermore, the researchers pointed out that “giving time to others not only increases the giver’s sense of subjective time but can also increase the recipient’s objective amount of time, such that giving time contributes to the well-being of both the self and others.” For a complete overview, you can check out the findings here.
Summary
The bottom line? By integrating mindfulness into your everyday life, you can decrease your anxiety, improve your creativity, enhance your sense of compassion, improve your memory, and mitigate stress.
Author’s Bio
Jay Booklin gets inspired by small actions that have the power to bring about big change and loves engaging with like-minded people who give more to the world than they take. He is the founder at Promise or Pay, a social motivation platform that helps you stick to you goals by donating money to charity if you don’t follow through, and encouraging others to donate if you succeed. Make your promise at www.promiseorpay.com or get social via Facebook,Twitter, Instagram.
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