In a society where we are constantly overwhelmed by the physical world, it is easy to lose touch with your inner reality. We are often hyper focused on getting work done and being productive, we never take the time to sort through our thoughts and feelings alone. 

After being introduced to meditation by my psychology teacher, who established the habit of meditating at the beginning of every class, I decided to try it out on my own. For a week, I meditated for 15 minutes every morning. I chose to do music meditations.  

Here are the results: 

Energy Boost:

One of the more immediate results that I experienced was feeling more energized and ready for the day. Meditating in the morning allowed me to sort through my tasks and check in with myself. This made me feel much more productive and mentally awake. 

Stress Reduction:

Similar to the energy boost, meditating has been proven to reduce stress. Although this particular benefit was not as obvious to me, I can see why it could definitely help with managing stress in the long term. Meditating can be a great way to sort through problems that you are experiencing, and put these anxieties in perspective. Oftentimes, by giving yourself a chance to be alone with your thoughts, you will realize that your worries are not as grave as you had imagined. 

Self-awareness:

As the days passed, I realized that meditation allowed me to become more in touch with my own thoughts and emotions. Although I struggled a lot at first in calming my thoughts, it felt like routine to me by the end of the week. Letting your thoughts roam free can also help with gaining a better understanding of yourself. 

Additional advice: 

My advice for anyone who may be interested in starting meditation would be to incorporate it into your daily routine. It is normal to feel anxious or distracted when you first start meditating, but if you persevere through it, the benefits are quite surprising. Also, make sure to keep your phone in another room so you won’t feel the need to check your messages. 

Overall, trying meditation has been a really enlightening experience and I would definitely recommend all students to try it out. Taking just five to ten minutes a day to practice mindfulness can go a long way in nurturing physical and mental health.