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Why is meditation so important for our mind and body?
Many of us today live a fast paced life, we get busy with work, school, family that we don’t really take the time to relax and meditate. It’s important to do this because it is something that we all need to help let go of all the stress that we experience everyday.
There are many benefits that come with meditation. One benefit of meditation for the mind is that it increases your focus. “When you are able to relax you are able to be more creative and focus better, “when you are stressed out you can’t think, nothing makes sense and nothing works out” Yvonne from Decide Balance shares. It helps you feel better, a feeling of joy and happiness because you feel good and you feel happy. Another benefit of meditation is that it decreases negativity around you and your thoughts, as well as what you say and what you do and your negative emotions. “It definitely helps improve your self esteem, you feel better about yourself and people notice. It definitely helps to let go of those things that are not necessary.” said Yvonne. For the body it helps you feel more relaxed and helps you sleep so much better, especially those who are under a lot of stress. Meditation also has physical benefits such as it can help decrease blood pressure, cholesterol and boost your immune system. Stress brings on many illnesses, “People are not resting they are not taking a pause and that’s why there is a higher increase of people getting sick, there’s more doctor visits because people are stressed out.” Yvonne said. Additionally, meditation helps reduce anxiety and depression because one becomes more at ease. When you have meditation in your life you are relaxed and your creativity opens up and you are able to think more. “For me it has helped me see my purpose, I realized that I’m here to help and bring more peace to the world.” Yvonne mentioned.
There are many ways to mediate, here are some suggestions on how to get started.
- Control Your Breathing – When you can control your breathing, breathing deep into the diaphragm fills up your body and bringing more oxygen into the body. A way to breathe is to imagine you are smelling a flower or smelling something really good. When exhaling or blowing out, imagine you are blowing out your birthday candle.
- Mediate Once a Day – It is recommended to meditate once a day everyday to get started and it does not feel overwhelming starting with one minute and then doing five minutes. You can do it first thing in the morning or half an hour before bed.
- Be mindful – Be mindful of what you are doing. When you are cooking, be mindful of what you are chopping, look at the color, the texture, smell it, taste it. When you are walking, unplug your earphones and notice nature by looking at the trees, leaves, the color. Even your pet, take a look at the color, the sound and smell.
Yvonne has practiced meditation for more than five years and she started by watching YouTube videos to help her go to sleep. She started to meditate because she wanted a better rest and also noticed the changes in her body. In addition, she also learned how some products we put in our bodies are a form of toxicity and it can absorb into our body and puts additional stress on our body. Lastly, she mentioned that we should take time for ourselves and it’s something that not many do because it’s very common in the latino community to put others first but it’s okay to take time for yourself.
About the writer Aseneth Rosado
Aseneth Rosado is an intern at Latina Podcasters this fall 2020 semester. She is a senior at Texas A&M University San Antonio majoring in communications. She loves to run, play with her two dogs and spend time with her family and friends.
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