You’re In Control — Uncovering the Unspoken Benefit of Meditation
Harnessing the power of your mind through mindfulness.
Meditation has been one of the most game-changing habits I’ve ever acquired. But out of all the known plus sides it has to offer, there is one hidden benefit that can remarkably reshape the way you live your life.
Let’s take a detailed look at what this factor is, which practices of meditation incorporate it and how you can embrace this benefit in all aspects of your living experience.
Mind Over Matter
In the words of Marcus Aurelius:
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
There is one thing as humans we can control throughout our entire existence: our minds. This is relevant no matter what skills and hobbies you possess. Mindset can be your toughest enemy but also the key to mastering a virtuous, happy life.
Perhaps the greatest barrier we all face is learning to manage the hidden voices in our heads that control our beliefs and how we perceive the world.
This is where mindfulness comes in. By committing to meditation practice, you will gain better control of your mind. You will suppress the limitations of your collective thoughts and learn to tweak your mindset in a way that sets you up for a self-navigated life of success.
Becoming in Charge of Your Thoughts
There are many types of meditation that offer the opportunity to gain better control over your mind.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation is widely popular and offers several ways to manage your attention and the way you think. One of the key branches of mindfulness is breath awareness. This practice involves the persistent use of a special kind of attention largely aimed to activate beneficial alpha brain waves.
Despite its name, it is not solely the focus on the breath that offers the benefits of mindfulness. Rather, the handling of invasive thoughts is where much of the magic lies.
A primary technique in mindfulness is detachment from thought. During meditation, this means letting thoughts pass by just as though they were clouds in the sky. There is no need for analysis of occurring thoughts— observation is key. In real-life scenarios, not being swayed by distracting thoughts is very useful for staying focussed on specific tasks — something that is becoming increasingly challenging for today’s society.
In addition to this comes the ability to reduce the impact of something that brain expert Jim Kwik refers to as Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs). These intrusive thoughts crop up spontaneously often without our intent. They embody the unhelpful, constant self-talk we naturally find ourselves with that can block us from progressing forwards, stripping away momentum and a sense of contentedness from our current situations.
Mindfulness provides the space to properly assess what’s going on in our headspace. This awareness allows us to sufficiently process ANTs and other injections of thought (by simply watching them pass by; not dwelling on them) thereby equipping us well for when they crop up in our daily lives — which, is almost always.
You can find plenty of breath awareness videos on YouTube, or use specialised apps such as Headspace or UCLA Mindful.
Affirmation-centred meditation
Affirmation-focussed mediation deals with the implementation of mantras into meditation practice.
Directing your mind towards repeated statements during this practice helps manage the problematic chattering of the mind. Assigning your attention consistently towards such statements draws the mind away from tangents as you refocus your attention on the affirmation intact.
When focussed in on a mantra, all other distractions melt away.
Whilst recalling something mentally, it is impossible to think of anything else as new research demonstrates how our brains can only process one thought at a time. This means every time you repeat your affirmation, you force your mind away from distracting thoughts.
Not allowing to be sidetracked in this way provides a surplus of benefits in real-life contexts. Despite appearing in control, many of us are out of touch with our minds throughout the day as we proceed in standby mode. It’s surprising how unaware we can be of negative thought patterns emerging. This may explain the spontaneity of some mental health episodes, or better, why mindfulness may help prevent depression and other mental illnesses.
Gratitude Practice
Practising gratitude is a great quality to add to your life. But incorporating it into mindfulness practice provides grounds to consistently implement it into a habit.
Why is this powerful?
~ Well, this nicely ties into the theory of building habits, built on by James Clear and many other aspiring minds.
There is one thing fundamental to habit training — repetition.
Repetition or consistency is crucial for the formulation of any habit. It may appear like simple logic, but many people go by an intensity-over-frequency approach to building habits, which seldom gets far.
By consistently reviewing what makes you grateful, you amplify the space in which your mind occupies those things.
Said in other words, by choosing to revisit something frequently, you automatically make it (and its associations) a greater focal point in your daily experiences. It can be understood then, why people who frequently practise mindfulness tend to be more happy than those who don’t.
There is another benefit to practising gratefulness in tandem with meditation. The creative alpha waves initiated by meditation work in parallel with the qualities of gratefulness practice. When operating in alpha mode, our mind expands beyond its usual field. This neatly compliments gratitude practice — it aids it with the creative environment required to figure out what it is that makes you thankful. And importantly:
In the widened creative field embraced by alpha-enhancing meditation, you may realise things that make you grateful which you may not have originally thought of.
Take Control
Within all the branches of meditation covered, there is one thing that remains intact: the ability to gain better control over your mind. Your mind is a companion that will, whether you like it or not, stay with you for the rest of your life, so you may as well take the opportunity to optimise it to its best shape. Learn meditation and watch this hidden benefit blossom in all aspects of your daily life.
