Apr 22, 2020
Short answer: Yes.
Why? Because it means being in the state of calmness and tranquility.
And what better state to be in these days, don't you think?
When I asked myself what might be needed this week, this is what came to me because it's what I've been needing.
Even though we're all less frazzled not running around "out there", we still may be lacking the sense of calm and peace we'd like to feel inside our homes and inside our heads, given the anxiety that might be coming from all of this crazy pandemic business.
And let's not kid ourselves. No matter how well we're adjusting to our new normal, we're stressed. We don't have a choice in the matter (if we want to keep ourselves and others healthy). We don't know what the future holds. And we want our old routines back. We need our old routines back.
Of course there are many positive outcomes materializing from this situation (when is the last time we saw gas prices this low?). But there are also tremendous stressors that are keeping us feeling anxious and annoyed.
There a few tools that can help curtail these feelings, one of which is meditation. The most common complaint I hear about this is "I have too much in my head to clear it." You'll be happy to know, this is not the purpose of meditation.
The purpose of meditation is to practice seeing your thoughts as something you observe, instead of being in them all day, not able to focus on more important things. The more you practice this (and it's definitely more impactful as a daily practice), the more centered you feel. The more you practice it, the easier it is to put stressful thoughts out of your head and the less annoyed and anxious you feel.
For those of you who want the facts, there is so much neuroscience about the positive effects of meditation on your brain, so I will just give you one fact to start.
You can read the full explanation in Psychology Today, but anxiety decreases the more you meditate because the neural paths that link upsetting sensations are decreasing. You can't dispute the studies. It works people!
Go see for yourself - everyone will benefit, especially you! And when all of this is over, you will have a new tool to help you STAY calm and peaceful, and maybe one day you can thank the COVID19 for coming around so that you could finally learn how to meditate!