Often we find ourselves stuck in cycles of insufficient sleep and lack of productivity. As much as they are multifactorial, these issues are basically results of congested minds. Meditation is a simple, effective practice that helps ease that traffic. The goal of meditation is to attain a mode of consciousness in which the mind can acknowledge its contents while not allowing itself to be identified by them. It is a means of achieving an absolute sense of well-being. More and more people are turning to meditation to take control of their lives and get the most out of it.
Here are some ways how meditation can improve your sleep quota and boost your productivity, ultimately upgrading the quality of life:
#1. Enhances creativity
In essence, meditation is a process of clearing your mind. A blank mind is more inclined to be receptive to novel ideas and is capable of filtering them so that it does not get congested with multiple ideas. The achieved focused line of thought is a key factor for solving problems and being open to unconventional ideas and engaging ideas from different perspectives.
#2. Reduces stress
In our busy lives, stress is something we continuously experience and tends to make some work unenjoyable and hence render it unproductive. Meditation trains your mind to keep your emotions in check and control your “fight or flight” response, preventing strenuous responses. Being in control of these instincts not only prevents irrational reactions and thought processes but also allows for a clearer, calmer mind that spends less energy to operate. That way, your sleep quota and your capacity to focus are greatly improved.
#3. Reinforces focus and concentration
Despite the popularity of multitasking to cope with bustling city lives, neurological studies have time and time again shown that the human brain is simply not capable of multitasking. Often our efforts to multitask only result in us slowing down paces in each work due to our minds having to constantly switch between multiple tasks, as the saying goes, “multitasking is simply a way of poorly doing more than one thing at once.” Meditation trains your mind to shut out distractions so that you may focus and concentrate on one thing at a time, improving the quality of your work.
#4. Regulates melatonin level
Melatonin is a potent neurochemical that is paramount to the process of falling asleep. The chemical is produced in the brain and at peak rates at sundown to ensure you get your good night’s sleep by, well, sedating us. Studies at Rutgers University discovered that the melatonin levels of those to practice meditation were amplified by averagely about 98%, with some of them achieving up to 300%. Meditation helps regain chemical balance lost by various factors to allow proper, deep, natural sleep so that you may rest enough to wake up the next morning feeling energized. You would be amazed by how productive you can be with a sufficiently rejuvenated mind and body!