Meditation is the mental practice of focusing our attention on an object, often our own breath. The earliest traces of this ancient practice come from India, and it is probably most commonly known as one of the practices of the Buddhist religion. Since then, meditation has evolved beyond religious practice to become a tool of mental hygiene and health practised worldwide.

While this list is by no means exhaustive, we'd like to outline the benefits of meditation practice for you.

• Improving concentration
  One of the techniques of meditation is connecting with the breath. We are invited to observe our breathing and turn our attention to the air coming in on the inhale and the air going out on the exhale, and feel it on a sensory level. This simple exercise trains the brain to maintain attention on the action of breathing.
  

• Connecting to your body and breath
  As explained above, meditation invites us to connect with our breath. Breathing is an automatic mechanism to which we no longer pay much attention, but through this practice we are led to reconnect with our breath, which is nothing less than the manifestation of life within us. Another meditation method is the body scan, in which the mind turns its attention to parts of the body one after the other, to feel and become aware of them. It's also an excellent concentration exercise.

• Cultivating clarity and presence of mind
  When we practice connecting with our breath, we anchor ourselves to the pure present moment. Through our sensations, this presence, when cultivated through repeated practice, simply begins to take the place of internal dialogues often involving ruminations, projections or analysis.  If we're busy connecting to our breath and feeling it, we're not busy thinking about anything else that doesn't anchor us in this present moment. So we free up space to better welcome what comes to us and approach it with greater clarity and perspective.

• Get to know and understand yourself better
  Meditation is also an invitation to explore your inner self. For example, if you feel a strong negative emotion and decide to meditate on it, without judgment, simply sitting down and retracing the path of the emotion's manifestation, you'll understand a lot about yourself and what triggers these emotions. Of course, this exercise requires a great deal of honesty and self-compassion. But from now on, you'll know what it is that makes you react to that emotion, and you'll be able to make the necessary adjustments so that you're no longer reacting, but observing.

• Managing your emotions better

So through this attentive listening to ourselves, we develop the ability to better manage our emotions, because we no longer position ourselves as victims, we understand the role our own thought patterns play in triggering our emotions and how these influence our behavior.

Discover our other blog post “Why using cushions in meditation is necessary”.