Tyler's 10 Big Whys to Meditation
Most people don’t think they have time to meditate… Too bad they don’t know that you can get an INSTANT ROI on meditation. In The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington, she said, “A 2009 Stanford study found that a six-week mindfulness meditation course helped people who have trouble sleeping fall asleep twice as quickly, in fifteen minutes instead of thirty-three minutes.”
Just by learning to meditate, you’re instantly getting that time back at night by falling asleep quicker. Then, you’re sleeping better and deeper, recovering more fully because of the meditation, as well.
Don’t have trouble falling asleep? Well…
10 Other Reasons to Meditate
It helps you focus.
In India, elephants used to walk through the markets. When the elephant’s trunk was holding onto nothing, the elephant would grab bananas and coconuts and oranges, eating everything it could grasp. Ultimately, the elephant would be incredibly distracted.
The wise elephant’s master knows to give the elephant a piece of bamboo to hold onto as they approach the market. Upon entering, the elephant would be calm, cool, and collected walking through. (1)
Meditation helps train the mind in the same way. By having a singular focus that we continually come back to, this trains our mind to stay on task. Maybe you’re focusing on your breath or maybe you’re focusing on a mantra (i.e. “I am a beast”). Whatever your thought it, by focusing and refocusing, we’re training our brain to be able to intently focus on the task at hand while we’re performing.
Controlling and changing your impulses and reactions
How many times have you seen a baseball player throw their helmet or yell at an ump? What about a basketball player complaining the the ref? My favorite is when a little kid whines when their parent tells them “No” (partially because this little kid is what the baseball and basketball players previously mentioned look like).
Our brains are constantly changing. Research shows that we are creating new neural pathways up until the time of death. We can cultivate the ability to respond to situations in a rational way and control what we can control.
This isn’t going to happen over night though, just like a basketball players shot doesn’t magically get better overnight or a baseball player’s swing. By practicing meditation, you are physically changing your brain in a way that your desired behavior becomes your actual behavior.
Want to move on from uncontrollable events faster so that you can get back to performing with a calm and focused mind? Meditate.
Want to perform at your best when it means the most, regardless of what just happened? Meditate.
Save yourself time
“Your goal is not to waste time giving free reign to your thoughts, but to use your meditation time to gain freedom from suffering.” - MATTHIEU RICARD in Why Meditate
The hype lately has been quality reps > quantity. 10 focused swings are better than 100 unfocused swings.
Joe Kinsella (Head Coach of Lake Forest Softball) has won 3 out of the last 4 conference championships and 2 out of the last four conference tournaments. He has his team meditate during warm-ups EVERY DAY for 5 minutes. This way, they’re getting THE MOST out of every rep that day at practice. With such a time constraint on practices, this could be the missing link.
Decrease anxiety and stress
The brain wave we’re looking for is less than 21 cycles per second. It is called low beta-state and venturing into alpha-state (where our intuition lives). If we’re above 21 CPS, we’ll be more stressed and anxious, likely leading to our thoughts running rampant over our performance. If you’ve been told, “You’re thinking too much”, then meditation can help.
Oxygen is energy
“Oxygen is energy—it’s juice. Oxygen helps relax muscles and clear the mind. When you hold your breath, you are creating pressure and a nervous feeling. Athletes who choke start to become nervous about being nervous. Anxious about being anxious. One psychologist says anxiety is excitement ‘without the breath.’” - Gary Mack in Mind Gym
Breathe in, and breathe out. It sounds simple, but if it were easy, then obviously no one would choke.
Want to drastically diminish your chances of choking? Meditate.
Increase pain tolerance
Workout harder, run farther, push yourself beyond your limits. #nufsaid
Boost the immune system
When we’re operating at a higher level, we can do more. When we can do more, we can get better faster. Getting better faster means we’ll be able to succeed at a higher rate. Seek excellence and success will follow.
Recover your mind throughout the day for improved concentration
Stephen Kaplan at University of Michigan came up with this amazing practice called ‘Attention Restoration Theory.’ This is the ultimate rest for your brain and it’s done through meditation (5). Throughout our day we are constantly trying to block out distractions and focus in on the task at hand. This is slowly fatiguing our brain. Stephen says in order to restore that ability throughout the day, we should give ourselves time to absorb anything our brain wants to absorb. You sit there and let your brain do it’s thing, bouncing from one thought to the next and listening, feeling, smelling, tasting, or seeing whatever it is that our brain wants to focus on in that moment.
We like to think video games, tv shows, or instagram pictures/videos are helping us relax, but really, they’re just fatiguing us further.
There are fun ways to do it - Alternate nasal breathing
This might be one of my favorite techniques. University of California at San Diego (6) found that by doing this ancient yogic breathing technique, we can increase the power of our brains. Here’s how you do it…
Cover your left nostril and forcibly breathe in through your right nostril for 4 seconds.
Uncover your left nostril and cover your right, then breathe out your left for 4 seconds.
This is the funnest and funniest way I’ve ever meditated because I feel ridiculous doing it. Needless to say, I love doing it for that exact reason. Also because after merely one breath, I feel more energized.
Helps you live in the “DO ZONE”
Coined by Greg Warburton in Warburton’s Winning Method, the DO ZONE is where you think and perform your best. To this in the DO ZONE though, we have to be aware of our thoughts.
If you DO want to get a hit, then you must be in the DO ZONE.
If you DO want to crush your presentation, then you have to be in the DO ZONE.
If you DO want to dominate your upcoming performance, then you need to be in the DO ZONE.
One way to understand your thoughts and get consistently into the DO ZONE… you guessed it. Meditation.
If you’re looking for specific ways to learn HOW to meditate. Check out this 35 Day Mindfulness Series or download the apps Calm or Headspace. All three do the trick. Remember though, it’s all about CONSISTENCY.
Books used for this post…
(1) The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope
(2) Why Meditate by Matthieu Ricard
(3) The Silva Mind Control Method of Mental Dynamics by Jose Silva and Burt Goldman
(4) Mind Gym by Gary Mack
(5) Focus by Daniel Goldman
(6) Breathe In, Breathe Out by James Loehr and Jeffrey Migdow
(7) Warburton’s Winning System by Greg Warburton
