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Mindfulness meditation can mean many things. It can simply mean, thinking in a reasonable or logical manner. It can also be discussions based on a particular subject. The type of meditation that this article will focus on is mindfulness meditation.
There are an innumerable number of techniques to practice mindfulness meditation. In essence, the idea of all the techniques of mindfulness meditation seek to achieve being aware of what’s happening in the present moment within one’s consciousness.
Meditation is a habit that would benefit every single person in this world. It is important because it is a tool that can allow a person to become aware of the present moment which allows them to experience life and begin to evolve into the person they always wanted to be.
Mindfulness Allows Us to Experience Life
One of the first benefits of mindfulness meditation is that it allows us to switch out of the autopilot mode that we are constantly living in.
We will go about a task and by the end of it be unable to remember how we got to the end state. For example, think about driving. If there is a route that you constantly take, perhaps a road to and from work that you have become familiar with, whenever you would have reached the end of the drive, you wouldn’t even be sure how you got there. Your just knew how to get there. That’s autopilot mode.
In a way it’s beneficial because your mind has come up with a way to conserve energy and utilize the resources of the brain efficiently, but the benefits of being mindful outweigh that of being on autopilot mode.
When one is in autopilot, there is a lot happening within the mind. Your mind is ruminating on endless amounts of thought. Thoughts about what you have to do in your day, how nice or not nice you look, whether or not you turned off your gas before leaving your house, what your boss will say to you about not finishing your task at work, that exam you’ve been putting off studying for, and so on.
The problem is that you aren’t aware this is even happening, because it takes conscious introspection to be able to observe this. A term for this is the monkey mind, a mind which is incessantly thinking. If one is able to acknowledge this and instead use their time that they are spending being on autopilot to turn the switch to be mindful, then it will give them an opportunity to have insight about the true state of their mind.
It will also let a person simply experience everything life has to offer. The smell of the morning coffee, the way the wind moves through your hair, the sensations of your behind when you’re are sitting down, the vibrancy of the colors of the trees and leaves, along with the barrage of thoughts in their mind.
An initial observation of coming out of this default mode of the mind is that it helps one realize that they have been missing out on truly experiencing and living life. Nobody in this world purposefully wants to waste away their life, because time is invaluable, it’s one of the few resources that is finite and once lost, we can never gain back. Mindfulness allows us to capture that time and experience it.
Mindfulness Gives Insight About Ourselves and the World
The second benefit that comes from present awareness is understanding. Once we begin to get in the groove of mindfulness, we will gain understanding. This is quite vague, the reason for that is we will gain understandings in many different aspects about life and the nature of the mind.
One thing that we will begin to understand is the transient nature of the thoughts or objects within the mind. These objects are like frames within a never-ending film and we are just sitting there in a seat watching it, acknowledging it, maybe diving into it if needed, then letting the next frame come. That is essentially mindfulness meditation.
You will begin to ask questions about the “me.” Questions such as “Who is the I that I constantly refer to? Where is this I located?” or you will gain an understanding about what the ego truly is. For example, if I were to expand on the question of “Who is the I?”, you will gain a better understanding of this because you will slowly begin to realize that this “I” is actually just an observer. This means you are nothing but an observer. An understanding will be built that identifying yourself with your thoughts, feelings, sensations doesn’t make much sense and that these things do not make up your identity, and that this “I” that you have constructed, is actually just a watcher of all of those things happening.
These kinds of concepts will allow one to let go of their ego. An ego which inhibits one from doings something they love, being obsessed with one’s looks, causes hate to partake in vice behavior, and such.
For example, if you become mindful of the objects that come within the mind when thinking about starting your dream business. Maybe these feelings involve fear, aversion, or discomfort and these things keep you from starting your business. You will realize or come to an understanding that these feelings actually feel amazing once focused on, that they are ephemeral, and you will be able to see this fear in an objective manner that it isn’t negative or positive, it just is and that is beautiful.
Also, since you no longer identify with these objects in your consciousness such as sensations, moods, etc. then the ego can’t construct itself. From these understandings, your ego shatters or ceases to exist because it can no longer identify or keep this you connected to this fear or self-doubt and you will begin to start your business in a healthy state of mind.
Mindfulness Increases Concentration
The third benefit of mindfulness meditation is the focus that comes with persistent practice. In the normal default mode that humans live with, it involves a constant shift of focus. Things such as looking somewhere, having a thought about something, being distracted by the notification from our phones, and so on.
Once you make a conscious effort to be aware of what’s happening in the present moment, then you will begin to train the part of your brain to stay concentrated on something. Since you are concentrated on something and aware of this concentration, then your focus strengthens because you’re mindful of this concentration and if your attention diverges then you will instantly become aware of this phenomenon.
Furthermore, the more your practice concentrating on something, the more you will strengthen the part of your brain that deals with focus due to repetition. A continued benefit of this focus will be the ability to pay attention to one task for a longer period of time which will allow better understanding of whatever one’s attention is on and over time this will level of attention will compound to make things such as learning much less challenging and depending on what it is, enjoyable.
One study found that meditating for four consecutive days heightened one’s ability to maintain attention for longer periods of time (Zeidal et al., 2010). This was only four days of meditation, one can only imagine the effects of a sustained period of meditation or living mindfully for weeks, months, or years.
Conclusion
In conclusion, mindfulness meditation, whether it is a seated practice or living life with awareness, is something that is universally beneficial for everyone. Mindfulness allows one to let go of the past and future, and focus solely on the present moment. The first benefit of this is that it can allow a person to experience living life instead of being lost in our default or “autopilot” mode. Secondly, mindfulness will allow us to gain wisdom, insight, and understanding in many different areas about life and ourselves. These nuggets of wisdom allow us to grow and become the person we wish to be. Finally, by practicing mindfulness, it will increase our ability to focus or stay concentrated on an activity. These are only a small number of benefits chosen out of a countless amount. Keep in mind the benefits of mindfulness meditation to use as a motivator to sustain your practice. Happy meditating.
Additionally, here is an article that shows how to practice mindful meditation so you can enlighten yourself and experience these benefits first hand.
References
- Razzetti, G. (2018, November 1). How To Stop Living Life On Autopilot. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-adaptive-mind/201811/how-stop-living-life-autopilot
- Zeidan, F., & Johnson, S. K., & Diamond B. J., & David, Z., & Goolkasian, P. (2010). Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training. Consciousness and Cognition, 19(2), 597-605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.03.014