Five Common Misconceptions About Meditation

With the mindfulness trend having taken off in recent years, prompting many people to look for ways to get in touch with their mind, body and soul, it’s no surprise that meditation is also growing in popularity.

Meditation is an ancient practice, with some of the earliest written records coming from the Hindi traditions of Vedantism.

Naturally, when something begins to gain traction, there is a lot of speculation and often, misconceptions will also develop, with many people being misinformed about the practice.

Read on to find out about some of the common misconceptions about meditation.

It takes a very long time to see any benefits

The goal of meditation is to feel calm and centred and many people think that this takes ages to achieve.

While results vary from person to person, this statement simply isn’t true and many people begin to feel the benefits of meditation after just one week of daily practice.

Common side effects of meditation are sleeping better, feeling more relaxed and worrying less about different things the next day.

It’s really hard to practice

Believe it or not, many of us take part in some form of meditation without even realising it.

If you go to a quiet place to find calm and serenity and centre your thoughts, that’s meditation. It really is just about emptying your mind of all of the thoughts that can weigh you down on a day to day basis.

It’s a religious practice

While it is true that many religions do practice meditation, it doesn’t have to be a religious experience if you don’t want it to be.

There is no doctrine or philosophy attached to mindfulness meditation.

It takes a long time

Most of us are constricted by busy working schedules and struggle to find the time to factor in hours of activities and relaxation for ourselves.

Luckily, this isn’t at all necessary when it comes to meditation.

Even if you are only able to do five or ten minutes a day, you’ll still feel the benefits which will, over time, increase.

It’s about escaping from reality

This a fairly widely-held belief from individuals that feel sceptical about meditation but in fact, the opposite is true.

Meditation is all about connecting with the world around you and finding out more about yourself and the way that you deal with things without everyday distractions.