“When asked the question “how has meditation improved your life”, I thought I would have been able to give a straight answer. The reality turned out to be much more complex, as meditation has not simply ‘improved’ my life: it has radically changed it. While there are some undeniable benefits that remain true and stable – and I refer to as the day to day “mood and emotions stabilisers” – the most profound benefits of meditation are subtler, ongoing. These are truly life changing.
My personal experience recounts the changes that I have been undergoing in the past 20 months of daily practice. I am more patient, confident, loving, understanding, compassionate. On the surface they might all sound like nice words. In practice they change the way I’ve got to know myself, how I relate to other people, to nature, how I live life, how I think, speak and act.
I am more patient, as I give more value to the present moment, rather than rushing and wasting it towards a future moment or situation that has not come yet. I am more confident, as the overthinking and self-questioning around “how am I supposed to be, act, think” (based on what others think you should be, act, think) becomes quieter. I am more loving, as I rediscover the beauty in so much we take for granted. I am more understanding, as I take more time to properly listen and to let go of any presumed superiority or inferiority. I am more compassionate towards myself and others, as I can see that we all try to do the best that we can in whatever context, capacity and personal history we carry with us.
Overall I feel more connected, I feel lighter, I feel more authentic. Meditation makes us Better Humans.”