Does meditation make you a better person?

Does meditation make you a better person? A kind person posted a newspaper article through my door this week. The headline shouted in the negative: “Study finds meditating will not make you a better person.” I laughed out loud! You mean I’m not a better person from all these years of meditation? Hahaha!

No, I’m still me! I may have made the odd change here and there to my behaviour and beliefs, and I’ve certainly added a lot of knowledge, but I don’t think I ever expected practising the art of meditation would make me a better person.

However, there are several things I have learned during my years of meditating:

  • I know how to relax quickly and easily just by focusing on my breathing;
  • I regularly scan my body and can easily recognise anything new;
  • I know how to observe emotions that arise in me, giving me the choice to play out the drama or just notice, accept and act in a more positive, helpful way;
  • I know how to listen to my inner voice, my intuition, my heart, my soul…whatever you want to call that part that knows what’s for your highest good (and I have had some pretty good experiences from acting on that information); and
  • I know that by meditating in a group every Tuesday, I have met some interesting people, made friends and shared some great energy, which has hopefully gone rippling out into the world.

By the way, the study as reported in a British national paper, only examined other studies and decided there were flaws in some of the methodologies used that found a benefit – it wasn’t new research and I haven’t had chance yet to review their methodology!

Whether meditation makes you a better person or not, there are many people, including me, who have found setting aside a few minutes on a regular basis is a worthwhile way of spending our precious time here on earth.

Find out more about starting to meditate here. Join us at Meditation Room every Tuesday at 7.30pm (UK time) in person, in Hilperton, Wiltshire, or online from anywhere in the world.

 

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