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Does Meditation Help You Have a Better Life?

Does Meditation Help You Have a Better Life?

Last updated on: December 1, 2023 at 9:44 am by John Buchanan

Does Meditation Help You Have a Better Life? 2023-12-01T09:44:28-08:00 John Buchanan

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Have you ever wondered if starting a meditation practice is worth the effort?

Here is the answer:

A gigantic trumpeting YES.

Photo by Andrea Latella-DuBoyce

A meditation practice profoundly impacts daily life in numerous ways.

The benefits span a spectrum for me- from overcoming stage fright to making clearer decisions, finding inner peace, enhancing musical skills, becoming a better listener, seeing beauty in everyday sights, and detaching from results. It’s not an exaggeration—the list is genuinely endless.

Meditation helps you see Beauty

Photo by Andrea Latella-DuBoyce

This is one of my favourite results. A peaceful mind reflects a world of abundant beauty when your vision is not veiled by tumultuous, distracting thoughts all day. This is wonderful, but the deepest benefit is how you feel, in a general way, each and every day. At a certain point, your baseline is a calm trickle of joy that simply runs all day and night.

Here is a link to a short dedication meditation from my Chitta Chat podcast

A real-life example of how a still mind instills joy into daily life

Recently, I had a professional photo shoot, an event that would have previously triggered a storm of self-doubt, nervousness, and control issues. Posing for pictures always made me uneasy, and I feared my anxiety would reflect in the photos. However, with a cultivated meditation practice behind me this time, I could have a different kind of day.

Photo by Andrea Latella-DuBoyce

I was fortunate to work with talented photographer Andrea Latella-DuBoyce. (*All photos in this post were taken by her)*Before meditation, meeting a stranger and exposing myself to vulnerability in a photo shoot would have been daunting. But I instantly connected with Andrea.

I felt her genuine smile and relaxed demeanour and appreciated her enthusiasm, unclouded by “How does this new person see me.” It was amazing! Our session was filled with laughter and just the right amount of seriousness to get the job done.

Andrea’s chosen location, Spirit Park, was perfect—It hugs an outer corner of the city, and the park is a paradise of old-growth trees, well-trampled curving and rolling pathways, wooden benches, inviting open areas with green moss under canopies of skylight and evergreen.

Photo by Andrea Latella-DuBoyce

The constant flow of people on the trail added to the experience: solitary joggers, chatty groups of walkers, and even someone walking a cat.

Previously, I may have sought seclusion, but not this time. I welcomed every passerby, feeling a connection with each bright face that ignited my own cheerfulness.

And dogs! Ah, such beautiful chaos. There were poodles leaping on logs, talkative huskies, regal labradors, and swift terriers, among others. Their joyful antics brought a sparkle to my eyes. Some of them approached us, attempting to get into Andrea’s backpack or my bag. Most just gave us a curious look or a quick sniff before continuing down the trail.

Photo by Andrea Latella-DuBoyce

The Kindness of a Stranger Leaves an Indelible Mark

There was one fellow in particular who did something I will never forget.

I was seated on a wooden bench in a small clearing off to the side of the forest paths, following Andrea’s prompts for various poses while she held her pro photographer’s power stance. Seriously, she is a human tripod.

A young man in a baseball hat briskly walked the path behind Andrea. He caught my eye and flashed me a quick and purposeful thumbs-up. His smile, eyes, and thumb were all perfectly synchronized. It felt like a lightning bolt of encouragement, resonating deeply within me.

photo by Andrea Latella-DuBoyce

Before meditation, I might have missed this gesture, too wrapped up in self-concern. What a waste of a beautiful moment that would have been. But his simple act felt like a divine affirmation—a resounding ‘YES!’ to what I was doing at that moment.

His gesture returned to me many times afterward, and I pondered the power of small gestures of support to uplift someone- especially one from a stranger.

Why wait a moment longer? Start now!

If you’ve experienced something similar, isn’t it surprising and wonderful?

And if you have uplifted a stranger, know that your kindness was received and cherished! You may have changed someone’s life.

And if you don’t want to miss these small, great moments that could happen at any moment, start meditating!

Here is a link to my previous post on who can benefit from meditating

Photo by Andrea Latella-DuBoyce

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