By John Valentik, MS, CSCS, NASM-PES, FMS

I have been practicing some form of meditation for a number of years now. While I’m not planning on explaining all of the intricacies of meditation nor do I consider myself an expert, I would like to shed some light on why it could be for you and what you are likely to get out of it if you can stay consistent.

Why meditate? Some reasons include…

• Stress Reduction: Meditation can lower your levels of cortisol which helps improve overall well-being. This helps you remain calm in more difficult situations.
• Enhances Emotional Health: Meditation can lead to improved self-image and has also been shown to reduce symptoms of depression.
• Improved Self-Awareness: This is one of my favorite benefits. Meditation helps you become more in tune with yourself and navigating your emotions and stressors in real time.
• Increases Attention Span: Helps you stay focused and can even enhance memory.
• Promotes Better Sleep: Not only does meditation help you relax, but it can help you manage thoughts and feelings that can interfere with your sleep.
• Reduces Pain: Meditation has shown that it can alter the perception of pain in the brain, which can be especially helpful with chronic pain.
• Supports Physical Health: Meditation can help lower blood pressure, improve heart health, and boost the immune system.

As I mentioned above, meditation absolutely helps me be more self-aware throughout my days. Not always, but more often than not, I am able to catch myself in moments of stress or anxiety. This doesn’t resolve the emotions I’m experiencing or fix the situation I’m dealing with, but it does lessen the severity of those stressful emotions. I’m able to identify that while this situation isn’t what I want, it’s far from an emergency.

Meditation has helped me become a more present person. I spoke with my class about this last week when covering our insight of the week: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. So many of us focus on the past and the future. We dwell on things that’ve already happened that we wish had gone differently. Or we stress about things that haven’t taken place yet that we are anticipating, whether it’s tomorrow, or ten years from now. Today is the only certainty we have. Learning from the past and planning for the future are vital to success in so many areas. However, we should only focus on these areas until they are no longer productive. The second you begin stewing on something in the past or future, it’s time to take a break and get some air.

Where to begin if I have your interest peaked? The beauty of meditation is that there is no one size fits all. You can experiment any way you desire. For example, sometimes I listen to music or the Calm App. Some days I count my breaths, and other days I focus on relaxed breaths and whenever I get sidetracked, I return to my ‘homebase’ for that day, which may be the feeling of my feet on the floor or the sound of the fan moving. My best advice to you would be to let go of expectations and do your very best to remain as consistent with the practice as possible. Even if it’s only a minute a day or 30 seconds as you sit down to begin your workday. Don’t expect to feel enlightened after 5 minutes of meditation. But, I promise you if you can stay consistent, you will see and feel the results. Here are a few more techniques if you’re interested.

• Box breathing relaxation technique: how to calm feelings of stress or anxiety
• 4-7-8 Breathing Technique
• Loving Kindness Meditation to Develop Mindfulness and Compassion
• Progressive Muscle Relaxation – A 5 minute Guided Mindfulness Meditation