In today’s world it seems that “being busy” is glorified. It’s almost like we’re in competition with each other to see who’s the busiest. Doesn’t seem like such a horrible thing, but think about this. Do you ever find yourself with an abnormally long amount of free time and think “I can’t just sit here. I need to be productive. I need to do something.” It’s like we feel guilty for having free time. Guilty for taking a moment to “do nothing” and just enjoy time with ourselves. Guilty for practicing self care. I think that for many of us, the lack of self care stems from this “busy is better mindset.” Let’s face it though, that mindset will only lead you to burn out in the end. So how can we combat this need to be busy, and add some self care into our schedules? In my opinion, meditation is the perfect tool to add to your self care kit, especially when we’re talking about learning to slow down and take some time for yourself. Here are 5 reasons why meditation is good for self care!
Why Meditation is Good for Self Care
1. Meditation provides you with quality “me time”
Being super busy involves being around other people a lot of the time, whether it’s at work, school, home, social events, etc. Now, spending time with others is important but when is the last time you took 10 minutes to yourself? Meditation provides you with that quality “me time” that’s so key to refiling your cup at the end of the day. It’s not only me time in terms of being alone and being away from others, but being away from your day to day thoughts. Quality time with your inner self, to connect, reset, and reflect. Providing yourself with “me time” helps us unwind, allows for self-discovery, and ultimately improves our happiness and satisfaction with life because we become more in-tune with ourselves and what we desire. I know that it can sound intimidating to think that meditation is just sitting there alone with your thoughts in silence. Some people do meditate in silence, but if that’s not your thing, there are plenty of guided meditations, and meditation music tracks that you can play during your “me time” meditation session.
Related: Empowering Meditation for Confidence and Success
2. Anyone can start a meditation practice
Since self care has become an “industry” recently, and the term is used to market tons of wellness products, and expensive facial treatments, it’s always good to remind ourselves that self care does not have to cost money. In reality, you can cultivate a quality, consistent self care practice without spending a dime on extra “self care specific” items. Meditation is a perfect example of totally free self care. Anyone can do it, and everyone should give it a try! All you need is your brain, and I know you’ve got that because you’re reading this You can even download the totally free meditation app, Insight Timer, and you’ll really have no excuses not to add meditation to your self care tool kit. Meditation is a unique self care tool in that everyone has access to it, you don’t need much background knowledge about it to try it out, and it’s totally customizable. As you grow, you learn what works, and what doesn’t and it’s always fun to try different methods of meditation and incorporate new tools into your practice.
3. Meditation nourishes almost all of the self care domains
Meditation functions as a form of physical self care, emotional self care, psychological self care, personal self care, AND spiritual self care. So we’re only missing professional self care, and honestly, I can find a way to relate it to that too. With that said, meditation nourishes your mind, body, and soul all at once. Sounds amazing right? Think about it. Meditation has SO many benefits both physically and emotionally. It reduces stress, manages anxiety, reduces feelings of depression, connects you to your inner self, promotes self discovery, increases emotional intelligence, increases self-awareness, increases gratitude, and improves sleep. All of these benefits fall into one or more of the self care domains, making meditation a super self care tool. Plus, depending on how you customize your meditation practice, you can choose to focus on a particular domain or aspect of your life. For example, you can meditate to increase self love, confidence, creativity, inspiration, focus, motivation, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
Related: The 6 Self Care Domains & Why You Need Them in Your Life
4. Meditation provides mental clarity
When you’re constantly busy, your mind is running non-stop and easily becomes clouded. Thoughts are always buzzing through your mind about things you need to do, people you need to see, places you need to go, etc. etc. etc. Meditation provides the opportunity to clear your mind of all the chaos and refocus on what’s really important. When you’re moving so fast all the time, it’s easy to lose track of what your actual goals and priorities are (even though you probably don’t realize it in the moment). So it’s important to take a moment to slow down, and refocus. Clear your mind of all of the worries about things you can’t control, and focus on things you can actually do something about. Things that are actually priorities and deserve to take up valuable space in your busy mind. No matter how busy you are, you have at least 5 minutes a day to clear your mind, relax, and reset to be more prepared for the day ahead of you.
5. Meditation increases mindfulness
Along the same lines as mental clarity, comes the importance of mindfulness. Mindfulness is defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.” That’s basically the mental state you achieve during meditation. So through practicing meditation, you can learn to be mindful in your day to day life, meaning you’ll learn to slow down and savor the present moment. That’s really the goal here. To understand that you don’t have to be constantly busy, and that it’s okay to take things slowly and enjoy your life to the fullest. Take the time to see the positives in every day, and escape the cycle of rushing through each week and living for the weekend. There’s so much more to be grateful for in the world and it’s important to be intentional about what we choose to do, and enjoy the things we put our energy into.
So are you convinced yet to add meditation to your self care tool box? I understand that meditation might not be everyone’s favorite tool, but I’m a huge advocate for giving it a try, and I believe that everyone can benefit from it. There’s really nothing to lose.
Have you tried meditation yet? What positive changes has it made in your life? If not, what’s stopping you?