meditation in its purest form is not done to have anyย psychological benefits. in real meditation practice there should not be any goal, purpose or desire which needs to be achieved. but people who practice meditation often gets many benefits like bliss, peace of mind, increased in intelligence, more consciousness, more clarity and glow in their face.
there are many psychological benefits of meditation also. this is because most of your psychological troubles are because of the mind. all the psychological troubles like tensions, anxiety, stress, jealousy, greed, lust, anger are because of the desiring mind. more the mind is exercising its control in your life, more you will be having these psychological problems.
when youย meditate deeply, then the control of mind on you start becoming weaker and you experience psychological, emotional as well as physical wellness. psychological well being is a by product of meditation.
few psychological benefits of meditation are:
- increased emotional stability – mind is always fluctuating and your moods keep on changing many times in a day. after every few minutes your thoughts and feelings keep on changing. most people have no control over their thoughts and feelings. if you know how to dis-identify with these changing moods then only you can be emotionally stable. as your meditation deepens, your emotional stability also increases.
- increase in creativity:ย non-meditators are not able to rest to their mind. only time the mind of non-meditators get rest is in the deep sleep when there are no dreams (dreamless sleep). only dreamless sleeping recharges the mind. otherwise, all the time mind is thinking, worrying or day dreaming. there is no break for the mind. it is always working. if you can give rest to your mind then it becomes charged and that leads to more creativity. as a thumb rule, mind can never be creative. for real creativity you have to access the dimension of no-mind (where there is no thought). all creative ideas comes to you when you are not thinking.
- increase in intuition and relaxation – most of the big scientific discoveries are based upon intuitive insights. intuition comes to you when you are totally relaxed. meditation makes the hold of mind on you weaker. as long as you are controlled by mind, you can not relax deeply. reason being, mind is always seeking and desiring. mind always says “i will achieve this thing and then I will relax and these desires are endless”. so mind never rest. its always working. but a meditative person just witness these desires and relax in the present moment. only advanced meditators can put their mind to rest. but as you start meditation, you will have glimpses of no-mind when the mind has rested for moments. in those moments you will realize the true calmness or bliss. these are going to be the mostย cherished moments of your life.
- freedom from phobias & fears – actually most of your phobias and fears are related with the mind. some fears are actually good and they are needed for protection of life. e.g. if you are not afraid of fire then you might burn your hands. but unnecessary fears and phobias can be easily resolved if you meditate on them. meditation is a great tool to come out from these imaginary fears. so, you can say that there are two types of fears. one which is actual and other which is imaginary. if you don’t know, how to swim, then fear of deep water is real and it is more real if you are standing on the edge of a river. but unreal or imaginary fears are unnecessary and can be resolved through meditation and should be resolved.
- more clarity and bigger vision – a meditative person vision is not clouded by the mind. mind is always confused and can never come to an conclusion on any issue. it is always indecisive. that’s why when you are contemplating on any issue then even after hours of contemplation, you don’t come to any conclusion. but when the time comes to make a quick decision in an emergency situation, then you know what you have to do. it is because in the moment of real crisis mind step aside and you make decision from your inner being or soul or from no-mind. so the more meditative you are, better will be your vision and clarity about things and situation.
- increase in joy and well being – meditative person is less dependent on relationships and material things for happiness. a real meditator has found an inner source of well being and can be in touch with this inner well-being at any time. he is naturally more joyful than an ordinary person.
there are many more psychological benefits of meditation. but all these are just preliminary as compared to the bliss which deep meditation brings. bliss is beyond happiness and sadness. happiness and sadness are two side of same coin. if you choose one, then other will also follow. but bliss is some thing which is beyond these two. theย greatest gift of meditation is bliss. i wish that every soul achieves that inner state of bliss and well being.