Why Meditation is Important
Ten reasons to meditate
(from June 2020)
1️⃣ Understand your #mind
It doesn't come with an owner's manual. You’re let loose and expected to figure it out, no help from society.
Can't concentrate? Stop worrying? See the bright side of life? Meditate and you’ll see why.
Fire your therapist. Burn your journal. Quit asking your friends for advice. No need to blame your parents.
Instead, sit and watch.
2️⃣ Psychological flexibility
Life sucks. Oh well. Roll with the punches, #gowiththeflow.
Easier said than done. You can't just STOP reacting.
Instead, stretch your mind like you stretch your body. Find a new normal.
When someone insults you, you won't be offended. When a restaurant takes your favorite dish off the menu, you'll be able to order something else without having to spend the whole afternoon on Yelp tattling on the restaurant.
#mindlikewater
3️⃣ Enjoy life
That which you hate, you can learn to love.
Being offended. Sitting in an uncomfortable chair. Getting sick. Washing dishes.
You’re making it worse. That's because when you hate/love something, you try to get rid of/hold on to ALL of it, including the good/bad parts.
#lifesucks
4️⃣ #selfacceptance
Society taught you to hate yourself, that pride is a sin.
So, you blame yourself for everything that goes wrong in your life.
It sucks, but it’s no one’s “fault.” It just IS.
Let go. You’ll love yourself more, life will be better, and you’ll have no regrets.
5️⃣ Better sense of #humor
(NOW IS NOT THE TIME, MICHAEL!)
You take yourself too seriously.
That's why you get offended when people offend you. Why you're spending your whole life trying to satisfy adults from your childhood and your frenemies from middle school.
Life will be better if you can laugh at yourself.
Once you see why you take everything so seriously, you'll be able to let go. But, until you see it, you can't let go.
Then, you won’t be able to unsee. It’ll be a joke.
6️⃣ Understand other people
Meditation gives you real empathy.
Not fake #empathy, the kind that liberal progressives and psychotherapists have but which is really people-pleasing, groupthink, rescuer complex.
Know yourself and you’ll see we’re all the same.
When an idiot does something idiotic, you’ll see it for what it is because you see how it's the same as what you do.
You see their pain because you’ve felt it yourself.
#wereallthesame #youarenotunique #onesizefitsall #cookiecutterftw
7️⃣ Impulse control
Meditation will help you control your impulses.
Let me take that back.
It will help you accept your impulses.
People who try to quit addictions tie themselves into knots trying to deny their own impulses.
No need. Just accept them. Let them do their thing.
Eventually, you'll learn some cool things about them. This will give you more options. It’ll feel like CONTROL.
Btw, EVERYTHING you do is an impulse. Ignore that fact at your own peril.
8️⃣ Body awareness
Yoga’s a waste of your time. So is #alexandertechnique.
What ISN’T a waste of your time is JUST SITTING, staring at the wall, doing nothing.
You’re so caught up in your head you have no clue what your body feels like.
Stop moving. It’s making it impossible for you to see the truth.
I'm into meditation because I suffered as a classical musician. I couldn't move my body in the precise ways necessary to excel in that field.
The truth has been revealed to me, and it's cool. I hope you get to see it, too.
9️⃣ Awakening
You’re living in a dream. Sleepwalking. (#heywakeup)
Our world is broken. So much fighting. No other animals suffer this way.
But you can’t save yourself. Salvation only comes by the grace of God.
Sound appealing? If so, great. Start by noticing your breath going in and out, over and over.
(Oops, I said ten reasons but there are only nine.)
#whymeditate #mindfulness #psychologicalflexibility #bodyawareness #classicalmusician #randomtalkingvideo