Meditation has so many benefits for mind, body and spirit – much more than stress relief. You can do it almost anywhere. It simply involves focusing your awareness on something. A sound, your breath, walking, a candle or even a mantra. Different types resonate with different people.

Even a minute is beneficial. If you can build up to 20 minutes in a row, then more significant shifts come as brain chemistry starts to change.

There are so many famous people that use it – for a host of reasons. It helps them be and do better. Prince Harry has recently come out as a regular meditator. Oprah, Marc Benioff head of Salesforce and Katy Perry are all proud meditators.

It will not make you instantly enlightened, but it will help you feel more connected and grounded and it will help your day go better than without it. It will give you mental clarity and the courage to face your problems as they are, so you get through challenges. It will help you enjoy and savour the good times more as your mind is not so taken over by the many weapons of mass distraction.

There are many different types of people. Some people are like ostriches and bury their heads in the sand and allow problems to escalate. Others get stressed and over-think things. Yet others take on more stress than is optimal for health and performance. Meditation helps bring physical, mental and emotional balance to all of these types of personalities.

Here are seven top benefits:
1. Meditation is the perfect training for building focus. By definition, it involves focusing your awareness on something. When we can focus in our meditation, we are training ourselves to be more focused in daily life. The ability to focus is fundamental to both success and happiness.
2. Meditation brings mental clarity. When we know why we are doing something, this can make us even more motivated to achieve which further strengthens passion and confidence to get where you want to go and results.
3. Meditation brings the mind and body back to balance which is the antidote to stress and good for health. It alleviates anxiety and depression. Brain function is shown to reduce by up to 70 percent when people are stressed.
4. It is a work out for your mind making it strong balanced and flexible. When you can train our mind to focus on solutions and think more positively, you will naturally feel happier, better and more confident as a ‘can-do attitude’ develops through positive thinking. Too many negative thoughts make us feel stressed which is bad for health and often prevents progress and limits outcomes.
5. Meditation boosts creativity and problem-solving abilities which is beneficial for entrepreneurs, business or even busy people wanting to get ahead or anyone wanting to overcome challenges and faced with big or many decisions
6. Meditation helps us understand any underlying sadness or fear you are experiencing. When we know we are unhappy or uneasy about something, then we can deal with it and solve related problems before they escalate.
7. Meditation helps you feel more energised and younger. A recent study in the International Journal of Neuroscience found that 54-year-old meditators had, on average, the biological age of 42-year-olds. Maybe someone should tell Leo Varadkar?

For those in the Wexford area, that are curious to try it, come along next Tuesday, February 26th to Spiritual Earth in Whitemill from 7:30 to 9 pm. Regular weekly classes will continue from Tuesday, March 5th and Wednesday, March 6 that 7:30pm. Contact 053 9140655 or click here to book.