by Carla Howard

There’s a part of me that can’t believe I’m writing this blog.

A year ago, I thought meditation was interesting. For other people.

That was before I joined a candlelight yoga class on Thursday evenings (what’s more amazing than that?!?!), and learned that meditation is restorative, relaxing, and freaking fantastic for ME!

If you’re sitting on the “that’s interesting” side of the fence when it comes to meditation, read on…

Incorporating a regular meditation practice will improve your life in these specific ways:

• Increased Focus
• Reduced Stress
• Greater Creativity
• Being more Present
• Improved Conflict Management Skills
• Higher Levels of Happiness
• Increased Confidence
• Better Health

And all of these benefits can be yours for an investment of 10 – 15 minutes a day!! That’s an ROI that’s hard to ignore.

Sound a little bit too “woo woo”? here’s why doctors and scientist believe meditation provides these benefits:

• Brain scans show that mindfulness and meditation helps to trigger the relaxation response (this is the opposite of the “Fight or Flight” response)
• People who meditate exhibit higher Emotional Intelligence and listening improves due to their increased ability to be present (less MSU – Making Stuff Up)
• Stress is a major cause of illness. Reducing your stress lowers your risk for heart disease, stroke, clinical depression, and the list goes on…

A few of the most interesting benefits from incorporating meditation into your day are increased confidence and creativity.  When your mind is quiet, you are able to connect with your thoughts and dreams in a very personal way. The feeling of possibility comes with being calm and connected, and this often sparks creative thoughts immediately following meditation.

Meditation also helps to quiet our inner critic. That pesky internal voice that attacks us when we are most vulnerable and damages our self-confidence. (For tips on how to quiet your inner critic, check out my previous blog post: Is Your Inner Critic Designing Your Future?

How often do you sit quietly and drown out all of life’s daily demands, negative comments, and self-criticism? 

My guess, is not often enough!

If you’ve been thinking about starting a meditation practice, now is a great time to act! Set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier for the next month and give it a whirl.

I’d love to hear about your experiences! leave a comment… and let’s start a conversation.

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Carla Howard is a professional speaker and mentor. Her passion is helping professional women become more influential and promotable so they can rise with confidence and grace. You can learn more about her and the services she offers by visiting her website at TheProfessionalWomansMentor.com. Carla would love to answer your questions in future articles, so please email them to Carla@TheProfessionalWomansMentor.com.