Have you ever tried meditating? Do you have a regular meditation routine? Put simply, meditation is the practice of focused concentration, bringing yourself back to the moment over and over again. Thousands of research studies have demonstrated a wide variety of benefits to meditation, including improved health, sleep, memory, focus and mental health benefits related to reduced anxiety and depression. Like any new habit, consistency is helpful. If you’ve told yourself you don’t have time to meditate daily, consider starting small – even just 3 minutes has benefits. If you’ve told yourself that you can’t meditate because your mind wanders too much, that’s ok too – actually the practice of refocusing is where many of the benefits of meditation come from. So the more refocusing practice you get, the better your brain learns. Also consider whether you’re better at focusing on internal sensations or something external to you – and then stretch yourself by trying to meditate the opposite way – we benefit more if we don’t take the easy path. All of this effort helps the brain to become more flexible and agile, a skill that is helpful to all of us! Work to create a daily meditative practice, however small, and your brain and body will thank you for it!
