Mind Calm by Sandy C. Newbigging Read Free Book Online

causes, then the big benefits of Mind Calm, which I’ll share in the next chapter, will be your reward.

Chapter 2
    THE BIG BENEFITS OF MIND CALM
    Meditation can benefit anyone who makes it a priority and practises regularly. Over the past few years of teaching people from all backgrounds, I haven’t met a single person who hasn’t ended up benefiting from adopting a meditation routine.
    Stepping back from the rigmarole of daily duties, taking a break from overthinking about the rights and wrongs of life, and scheduling in regular time-outs to close your eyes to enjoy stillness is a marvellous gift you can give yourself. Time after time, meditators experience less stress, better health, inner calm, clarity and creativity, more loving relationships and even increased productivity.
A PERPLEXING OBSERVATION
    Despite meditation having such big benefits, it is quite remarkable that so few people actually do it. Having taught meditation around the world I’ve been fascinated to hear the many reasons people come up with as to why they don’t meditate, including:
‘I can’t do it.’
‘It’s difficult.’
‘It’s boring.’
‘I don’t have time.’
‘I always fall asleep.’
‘It’s scary.’
‘It’s religious.’
‘It’s satanic.’ (Yes, I’ve honestly been told this!)
‘It’s only for “tree-hugger” types.’
    The list goes on…
    Can you relate to any of these? As you continue reading, I’m confident that if you have indeed resonated with any of these reasons then you will see that they aren’t true. Furthermore, having touched upon the common reasons for not meditating, the purpose of this chapter is to outline some of the big benefits possible from adopting a regular meditation routine, so that you are more motivated to meditate with the Mind Calm techniques shared later in the book.
10 BIG BENEFITS OF MEDITATION
Benefit 1: From stress to serenity
    Imagine a bathtub with a shower over it. Throughout your day the water is running, filling the bathtub. In this analogy, the bath is your body-mind and the water is stress. As you go about your day without meditation, the running water (stress) fills the bathtub (your body-mind). Forsome, this stress-filled scenario can happen day in day out for decades. Closed-eye meditation is the equivalent of pulling the plug out of the bathtub and draining the water (stress). As you sit and use the Mind Calm techniques that I’ll teach you later in the book, stress is released from your body. This is a completely natural process, just as when the body rests it tends to take the opportunity to let go of stored-up stress.
    When combined with open-eye meditation throughout your day, it is like turning down the water to a reduced rate of flow. Engaging life from a more meditative state of mind, you become Teflon-coated, as less stress sticks to your body-mind. As a result, less stress is accrued. As you can appreciate, used together, closed- and open-eye meditation can play a big role in massively reducing the stress borne by your body, and bring with it an enhanced serenity and wellbeing.
Benefit 2: Sleep without counting sheep
    Using meditation as you fall asleep at night can help you enter sleep at a deeper level and experience a better quality of rest. Personally, I used to need my eight hours of sleep every night or I would end up exhausted. However, these days I meditate throughout the day with my eyes open (see ‘Calm Moments’ in Chapter 7 ), and also meditate as I fall asleep at night. With this powerful combination I find that I don’t need as many hours as I used to in order to feel full of energy the next day. This is a great way to save time and get more done during my day, but as an added benefit my relationship with sleep has improved.
    Before, if I wasn’t tired or couldn’t get to sleep, I would lie awake worrying about how