One Month of Meditation
I’m just a regular guy. I check my phone way too much. I get distracted easily. I worry about the future (a lot). I get stressed (a lot). I also get a little sad every now and then. Recently, I’ve begun seeing more studies online and in the news about the benefits of meditation. Many of those benefits seemed to improve or annihilate the problems I mentioned above. I decided what the hell? I’ll give this meditation stuff a shot.
Spoiler Alert: Meditating is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
When I thought about what it would be like to meditate, and be a practicing meditation thingy person guy, I pictured a person sitting half-naked on a snap-capped mountain, cross-legged, transcending time and space, discovering the meaning to the universe, and possibly talking to beings in another dimension. Unfortunately, NONE of this has happened to me yet (although, I’m still holding out hope). The reality of meditation is actually BETTER than what I ever could have imagined. And I’m only a month into this meditation stuff! Impressive, huh?
Before starting, I did a little research and found Mind Illuminated by John Yates highly recommended.
What was my process? I read the book, and I meditated for 20 minutes every single day. It was tough in the beginning, but eventually meditating got easier, and now I look forward to it when I get out of bed.
Here are some of the expected and not-so-expected results of meditating for a month.
Focus/Concentration
This was one of the benefits I wanted, and I’m definitely noticing an improvement after a month. Could it be a placebo effect? Possibly, but I don’t think so. I’ve taken mumbo jumbo focus enhancers in the past, and, unlike the mumbo jumbos, I noticed a difference. My mind feels like it’s been reset to my pre-smartphone days. I can write for longer periods of time, I pick up on information more easily, and I don’t lose my attention that often when I’m reading (for work AND for pleasure). I’m curious to see how this improves as I spend more time meditating. Will I gain super powers? Only time will tell…
Happiness/Stress
Who doesn’t want to be happier? I sure do. And who hates that horrible knot that yanks at your soul in the pit of your stomach when a deadline is sinking its teeth into your delicious jugular? Me, me, me! I can report to you that I definitely feel happier after meditating for a month. Do I feel like I’m high on laughing gas, incessantly giggling, and walking around with a grin carved into my face? Of course not. I feel content. I find joy in small details. I live in the moment more often, which leads to my next benefit: stress reduction. I have plenty of reasons to rip my hair out from stress, but those feelings have faded the more I’ve meditated. Will I soon be numb to the horrors of the world? Probably not. But I like enjoying what’s in front of me as opposed to thinking about the 100 things I need to do.
Surprise Benefit: I don’t need sleep. Kinda.
I don’t have insomnia, but, like many people, I often don’t get the recommended 7-8 hours of shut-eye. One thing I’ve noticed: I have trouble going to bed—not because I CAN’T sleep, but I don’t feel tired. I still have enough energy to stay up later, read books, and do other stuff that awake people do. Isn’t that weird? I did a little poking around, and apparently meditation’s effect on sleep has actually been documented in scientific studies. I wasn’t looking to waste less time sleeping (because it IS a waste of time), but this is certainly a surprise benefit.
Try Meditation
Give meditation a try—an HONEST try. Try the book I mentioned, or another book, or one of those apps in the apps store, and try meditating for a month. I bet you start seeing the benefits almost immediately. And maybe, someday, you and I will be meditating on a snow-capped mountain together, traversing time and space, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll be talking with interdimensional meditating beings.