Meditation has been often labeled a New Age practice among churches. Many Christians believe that it is something that would cause their spirit to be at war with their Christianity because it is a common practice among Buddists, Hindu, Judaic, an Islamic religions.
I personally believe that meditation is very important to your spiritual growth and wellbeing. We tend to refute opportunities to gain more personal power and authority spiritually when we limit these practices to just a religion. Meditation is highly encouraged throughout the scriptures as you will see below. It is not so much a time to gain rather it is a time of serenity to loose thoughts, words, that you may have gained that are not in proper alignment with what God says and thinks about you.
- Psalm 1:2But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
- Psalm 19:14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
- Psalm 119:15I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.
- Psalm 104:34May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
- Matthew 6:6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
There are also more than one hundred physiological, psychological, and spiritual benefits that you gain from meditation listed below.
Physiological benefits: 1- It lowers oxygen consumption. 2- It decreases respiratory rate. 3- It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate. 4- Increases exercise tolerance. 5- Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation. 6- Good for people with high blood pressure. 7- Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate. 8- Decreases muscle tension 9- Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc. 10- Reduces Pre-menstrual Syndrome symptoms. 11- Helps in post-operative healing. 12- Enhances the immune system. 13- Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress 14- Enhances energy, strength and vigour. 15- Helps with weight loss 16- Reduction of free radicals, less tissue damage 17- Higher skin resistance 18- Drop in cholesterol levels, lowers risk of cardiovascular disease. 19- Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. 20- Decreases the aging process. 21- Higher levels of DHEAS (Dehydroepiandrosterone) 22- prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases 23- Makes you sweat less 24- Cure headaches & migraines 25- Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning 26- Reduced Need for Medical Care 27- Less energy wasted 28- More inclined to sports, activities 29- Significant relief from asthma 30- improved performance in athletic events 31- Normalizes to your ideal weight 32- harmonizes our endocrine system 33- relaxes our nervous system 34- produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity 35- Cure infertility (the stresses of infertility can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation).
Psychological benefits: 36- Builds self-confidence. 37- Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behaviour. 38- Resolve phobias & fears 39- Helps control own thoughts 40- Helps with focus & concentration 41- Increase creativity 42- Increased brain wave coherence. 43- Improved learning ability and memory. 44- Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation. 45- Increased emotional stability. 46- improved relationships 47- Mind ages at slower rate 48- Easier to remove bad habits 49- Develops intuition 50- Increased Productivity 51- Improved relations at home & at work 52- Able to see the larger picture in a given situation 53- Helps ignore petty issues 54- Increased ability to solve complex problems 55- Purifies your character 56- Develop will power 57- greater communication between the two brain hemispheres 58- react more quickly and more effectively to a stressful event. 59- increases one’s perceptual ability and motor performance 60- higher intelligence growth rate 61- Increased job satisfaction 62- increase in the capacity for intimate contact with loved ones 63- decrease in potential mental illness 64- Better, more sociable behaviour 65- Less aggressiveness 66- Helps in quitting smoking, alcohol addiction 67- Reduces need and dependency on drugs, pills & pharmaceuticals 68- Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation 69- Require less time to fall asleep, helps cure insomnia 70- Increases sense of responsibility 71- Reduces road rage 72- Decrease in restless thinking 73- Decreased tendency to worry 74- Increases listening skills and empathy 75- Helps make more accurate judgements 76- Greater tolerance 77- Gives composure to act in considered & constructive ways 78- Grows a stable, more balanced personality 79- Develops emotional maturity
Spiritual benefits: 80- Helps keep things in perspective 81- Provides peace of mind, happiness 82- Helps you discover your purpose 83- Increased self-actualization. 84- Increased compassion 85- Growing wisdom 86- Deeper understanding of yourself and others 87- Brings body, mind, spirit in harmony 88- Deeper Level of spiritual relaxation 89- Increased acceptance of oneself 90- helps learn forgiveness 91- Changes attitude toward life 92- Creates a deeper relationship with your God 93- Attain enlightenment 94- greater inner-directedness 95- Helps living in the present moment 96- Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love 97- Discovery of the power and consciousness beyond the ego 98- Experience an inner sense of “Assurance or Knowingness” 99- Experience a sense of “Oneness” 100- Increases the synchronicity in your life
I personally encourage adding meditation to your life because of the physical, psychological, mental, and spiritual benefits that you bring to your life.
