99 Reasons to Start Meditating

There’s big buzz around meditation, and for good reason. Research points to this once fringe practice as a highly effective technique for improving your life overall. With benefits ranging from physiological to psychological to spiritual, and scientific research to back its validity, there’s really no reason anyone shouldn’t be meditating at this point. Corporations, professional sports teams, school systems, and celebrities all recognize the value of adopting mindfulness-based lifestyle practices as part of their daily routine.

If you’re still not convinced, here are 99 reasons to start meditating, from the light-hearted to the scientific, and everything in between.

1. Helps you better manage stress
2. Boosts your social life
3. Helps you accomplish more by doing less
4. Cultivates compassion
5. Enables you to become present in the moment
6. Leads you to, and connects you with, your purpose
7. Lowers your blood pressure
8. Gives you laser focus
9. Heightens your intuition
10. Improves your memory
11. Makes you a nicer person
12. Broadens your perspective
13. Gives you Jedi-like skills
14. Reduces irrational reactivity
15. Increases your immunity
16. Cultivates more loving relationships
17. Helps you let go of defensiveness
18. Lowers your heart rate
19. Enhances sensory perception
20. Helps you achieve better grades and/or higher test scores
21. Decreases inflammation
22. Taps your creativity
23. Improves problem-solving abilities
24. Lands you cooler friends
25. Makes you more giving
26. Boosts your happiness
27. Deepens your connection to the Self and others
28. Increases your emotional intelligence
29. Accesses higher states of consciousness
30. Improves your sex life (yes!)
31. Leads to self-discovery
32. Decreases anxiety and depression
33. Makes you resilient in tough times
34. Expands your awareness
35. Opens you to greater possibilities
36. Helps you let go of baggage
37. Gives you a richer life experience
38. Hones mental strength
39. Helps you discover who you really are
40. Encourages peace of mind
41. Reduces impulsive behavior
42. Teaches you about forgiveness
43. Promotes more restful sleep
44. Evokes feelings of lightness
45. Discourages the victim mentality
46. Allows you to step into your power
47. Guides you to make more conscious choices
48. Helps you to get out of your mind and into your heart
49. Leads to cultivation of a spiritual practice
50. It’s easier than you think
51. Helps you get to know your thoughts (so you can change them)
52. Improves metabolism
53. Improves exercise
54. Makes you less judgmental
55. Alters the genetic expression of your DNA
56. Increases your energy
57. Enhances your connection with nature
58. Makes you more fun to be around
59. Helps you connect more deeply with your children
60. Improves your ability to communicate effectively
61. Reduces signs of aging
62. Improves your listening skills
63. Generates helpfulness
64. Helps you fight diseases
65. Improves heart rate and respiration
66. Promotes cellular regeneration
67. Enhances gratitude
68. Makes you more successful
69. Helps you become more proactive
70. You can do it anywhere—no studios, gyms, or props needed
71. Improves functioning of your brain
72. Improves conflict resolution
73. Strengthens bonds with your pets
74. Makes you fall in love with Apple products
75. Lessens your desire to control other people
76. Reduces negative emotions
77. Improves overall athletic performance
78. Helps you roll with the punches
79. Improves digestion
80. Makes you want to do nice things for the planet
81. Enhances collaboration
82. Enables you to find the silver lining in challenging scenarios
83. Builds self-confidence
84. Increases job satisfaction
85. Provides greater levels of tolerance
86. Reduces road rage
87. Balances mind, body, and spirit
88. Activates the parasympathetic nervous system
89. Deepens your capacity for love
90. Develops greater will power
91. Makes you more outgoing and fun
92. Enhances dream recollection
93. Helps you develop patience
94. Helps with headaches and migraines
95. Decreases muscle tension
96. Slows aging of the mind
97. Enhances your memory
98. Everyone else is doing it
99. It’s free!

Just as the phrase implies, “the answers are within.” A daily meditation practice will teach you about yourself, others, and the world you live in. You will tap into your own truth without the influence of society or the validation of others. And, the level of insight and clarity you glean from within is the catalyst for unparalleled personal development and self-evolution. This is how you become the best version of yourself. This is how you create personal transformation, and it’s how you effect global change.