So many benefits from meditation

‘YOU should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour’. an old Zen saying tells us.

Sometimes people say to me that they would love to learn to meditate but want to wait until things calm down for them. But why would you postpone being more productive, aware, efficient, effective, healthier, happier and well until your schedule is lighter.

We live in a world that is designed to distract. There are so many weapons of mass distraction affecting us on a daily basis–social media, technology, advertisements, problems, challenges, pressures to grow, internal pressures. You should do this. You should not do that. The list goes on. Meditation has so many benefits – here are 12. 1. It helps you declutter and clean your mind. We have 50 – 70,000 thoughts a day so there is some cleaning and filing to do which happens naturally as we meditate.

2. It makes you present and aware of the nature of your thoughts and how they are helping and how they are going against you. This ultimately makes you more accountable for your thoughts and prepares you to harmonise feelings, thoughts and actions. Happiness and success come when what we think, feel, say and do are all in alignment.

3. You learn to sit with yourself. When you can sit fully with yourself you can handle life effectively. Your are not easily distracted or deterred.

4. It increases your ability to focus which makes you more effective and efficient.

5. It increases your connection to yourself. It prepares you to be true to yourself so you can say no when you want to say no and yes to life and things that grow you and move you forward.

6. When you are present and connected, this brings courage and resolve do make and sustain changes. Sustained connection with yourself brings confidence and so many other things.

7. When you have a better relationship with yourself, this is a great foundation for a successful relationship with others. This will help you relate better with others.

8. Meditation helps you to build the muscle in your brain that regulates emotion which brings balance to the mind and body. It also improves memory..

9. It strengthens your intuition and inner-knowing of what is right for you and your life It boosts your unique creativity.

10. It energises you and clears blocks in the chakra system, the energy system of your body.

11. It helps you have a great night’s sleep. The list goes on. There are so many benefits as you become more connected to yourself and your own essence. You are more joyful and peaceful with yourself and the world around you. It helps build discipline which can be applied in all areas of life. It is proven to be successful in alleviating depression, anxiety and a range of physical and mental health problems. Meditation helps you sit with yourself and sit with discomfort and gives you the courage to take calculated risk.

Many successful people meditate daily and credit it with their success – athletes, scientists, executives and leaders from all walks of life including Tom Daley–Olympic diver, Katy Perry, Oprah, Clint Eastwood, Tony Robbins, Ellen DeGeneres, Rupert Murdoch and Jeff Weiner – CEO of LinkedIn to name a few. A growing number of companies and organisations are using it to boost leadership, performance and overall wellbeing as well as an effective stress management tool for their staff.

If you haven’t tried it, do it for 20 minutes every morning. You will be amazed by the results.

I get fed up like you do with the changes in the information about what we should and shouldn’t eat. One minute coffee is good for you and the next thing it’s bad. Salt is good, salt is bad, eggs are good, eggs are bad. One minute you should have lots of fruit the next there is too much sugar in the fruit. You know what I mean, you can’t win. All we can do is our best. Everything in moderation, a good variety and balance in the diet is what I aim for.

After all who knows for sure what the perfect healthy diet is? My theory is that the old fashioned way of eating is best. For me, that’s eating home-made food made from only natural healthy fresh ingredients whenever I can. I avoid as much as possible, sugar, processed foods, additives, preservatives, and colourings. I have three main meals every day, I never miss my breakfast. I have healthy home-made snacks as much as possible.

When I overdo it on the treats I do what I call a ‘clean-up job,’ a bit of a detox to cleanse the system, because too much can cause me to feel sluggish. I take Flor Essence 10 day detox to cleanse and rejuvenate when I need to do this. Sometimes I need Cinnachrome, a combination of Chromium and Cinnamon to curb sugar cravings.

If you’re having trouble with moderation and achieving a balanced diet, why not call into your local health store for a chat, they will be happy to give you some tips.