Whenever someone asks me, “What are the main reasons to meditate?” or “Why should I bother with meditation?” I love to surprise them with the simple reply, “Because it makes you feel fantastic!”

Meditation has a reputation for being a bit mysterious, a bit difficult, and perhaps even a bit boring. Most people never stop to consider that it might actually be enjoyable…even pleasurable! In fact, I can think of few other activities that are as rewarding, as healthy and as life-enhancing all at once. People who meditate know exactly what I’m talking about. Once you start meditating, it’s hard to imagine ever living without it. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to no longer have “serenity on tap”.

If you do not currently meditate, then you probably don’t even know what you’re missing out on. Well here are just a few of the benefits that you’ll begin to enjoy just as soon as you start…

Goodbye Stress
Meditation reduces stress better than anything else I know of. Not only does it give you much needed “down time” to rest physically and mentally, it also has a very direct effect on your entire nervous system by reducing your body’s production of stress related chemicals like cortisol. On the flipside, it increases your production of natural mood enhancing chemicals like serotonin. That’s why some people refer to meditation as a “natural high”.

Improved Health
Meditation will improve your health by strengthening your immune system, reducing your blood pressure and lowering cholesterol levels. People with debilitating or life threatening medical conditions like cancer will sometimes turn to meditation as a means to enhance the process of healing and recovery. While meditation should never be used as a substitute for proper medical care, in some cases it can lead to healing breakthroughs, even when traditional medical treatments have been unsuccessful.

Of course, you do not have to be terminally ill to benefit from the healing effects of meditation! Even if you have just come down with a case of the flu, meditation will enhance the function of your immune system and help to you to rest more deeply, leading to a speedier recovery. Meditation also happens to be a wonderful way to alleviate headaches and to prevent them from recurring.

Improved Sleep
Sleep is a totally natural human function, and it’s something we need every day. But if you have a busy mind or if you are stressed then you may find that your sleep is not as restorative as it should be. Meditation dramatically improves the quality of your sleep, and it is one of the most powerful natural treatments for insomnia. A great reason to meditate.

Slowed Aging
Studies into the effects of meditation have shown that the regular practice of meditation can slow the aging process. In fact, the biological age of long term meditators is generally less than those of people who have never meditated. It is believed that the physiological cause of this is due to the fact that meditation helps to reduce the body’s production of free radicals – organic molecules that are responsible for aging, tissue damage, and possibly some diseases.

Emotional Stability and Positive Thinking
Meditation is a very powerful natural prescription for people who suffer from anxiety and/or depression, and it is also taught to people who have difficulty controlling their anger. However, you do not need to have a serious psychological condition for meditation to be of benefit to you! Every-day people who meditate generally enjoy a lot more…

Happiness!
People who meditate are less stressed, healthier, they sleep better, and they have a more positive outlook on life. Simply put, meditation makes you a happier person!

Success and Quality of Life
Think about this for just a moment…

• Everything you achieve in life is the result of your actions.
• The actions you choose to take are the result of your decisions.
• The decisions you make are the result of your thinking processes.
• Your thinking processes are completely dependent on the quality of your mind.

If you really dwell on this you will begin to see how the entire course of your life is affected by the quality of the thoughts that circulate in your mind. Sometimes the difference between a great success and a monumental disaster in life is a seemingly insignificant little moment in which you give birth to a thought, and make a decision. It happens in that moment when you decide to turn left instead of right…in that moment where you choose between a peaceful response to a situation, or an angry one…in that moment when you notice the attractive smile of the person across the room, or the moment when you miss that smile, that chance meeting, that new love. All of life if filled with these “opportunities to choose”. Some are more significant than others, but all of them add up to the path that you will one day call “my life story”.

Meditation will help you to make wiser, more peaceful choices on a consistent basis. This inevitably leads to a life that contains more positive opportunities and fewer problems. Of all the reasons to meditate, this one is perhaps the least obvious, but it is also one of the most significant.

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!
Unfortunately, even though meditation has so many wonderful benefits to offer, many people still view it as a mundane task, or as “something I should do, but don’t have the patience, time or energy to get around to.” To many people, it’s kind of like dieting. Heck, we could probably all benefit from eating a little better and from doing a little more exercise, but who has the time these days? Who wants to put in all that effort? Besides, I LOVE chocolate cake WAY too much!

But the fact is, meditation requires almost no effort, it doesn’t take a lot of time, it doesn’t involve restriction or self-denial, and it certainly doesn’t involve sweat! Meditation is relaxing, effortless, pleasurable, healthy, life-enhancing, and it makes you feel great!

So what’s your excuse?
Give meditation a try and soon enough you’ll be wondering, “How on Earth did I ever live without this?”

Meditation really is one of the most powerful ways to experience inner peace and to improve your quality of life. For more information about meditation and to learn how to meditate for free, please visit The Guided Meditation Site.