This is why you should start meditating today

Meditation helps create space between you and your thoughts and feelings, allowing you to see your life and world more clearly without a fog of negativity to cloud the view.

A relaxed body and mind also mean more than just a less-stressful life during the day. It means a more restful night, too.

Meditation helps you create the mental space to observe your emotions, instead of being dragged along for a ride by out-of-control feelings.

Meditation helps you become less judgmental and more open-hearted. If you’re naturally compassionate to yourself then you are more likely to be compassionate to everybody else.

The clarity and discipline that comes from meditation helps to declutter your mind.

Think of it as a nice, hot shower for your brain–washing away the detritus and allowing you to focus on the task at hand.

Cortisol, a hormone released by your body to help deal with stress, has been linked to weight problems, depression and other physical and emotional issues. Meditation, which increases mindfulness, according to this study in Health Psychology, may have an effect on cortisol levels.

High levels of stress are also linked to a depressed immune system–making you more susceptible for colds and other contagious illnesses. Meditation once a day might help keep the doctor away!

A regular meditation calms your min, and allows you to put distractions out of your mind, concentrating your energy on the task at hand.

Meditation helps you to get to know and accept yourself, as well as become more compassionate towards yourself.

This, in turn, allows you to feel more at ease with yourself and your abilities—and that’s where true self-confidence comes from.

According to researchers, mindfulness meditation can help lessen the intensity and general unpleasantness of pain when compared to simple rest alone.

Some research has shown that meditation can help some people suffering from PTSD and other psychological and emotional injuries.

When you practice kindness and compassion towards yourself and others, forgiveness toward yourself and others comes naturally.

The first step toward a healthy body is often a healthy mind. Being less distracted will make you more aware of eating and exercise habits, both good and bad.

Regular meditation can help make you more able to cope with unexpected or stressful situations as they occur in your life. It’s like a cardio workout for your brain!

When you have a healthy body, a kind, self-confident mind, and enjoy being in the moment, then other people tend to notice—and sometimes things can happen.

Meditation helps calm your mind and bring you into the moment, allowing you to more clearly see and understand habits (both good and bad) and their root cause. In fact, many psychologists have used it successfully to help treat addictions.