I realized that I was not alone, and that others felt the same way that I did, and some even felt worse. I was feeling very relaxed and was also very focused on what the teacher was saying because it all seemed to make a lot of sense.
From that moment, I knew I was onto something. I was awake and alert but my whole body felt like it was no longer there. In fact, I felt like my whole body disappeared for a short time during the guided meditation. Or maybe I was just so focused on what the teacher was saying that I didn't notice my stomach knots of my aching legs. The knots in my stomach began to disappear and the aching in my legs also began to disappear. To my pleasant surprise, the room was filled with around 150 other young New York City professionals just like me, living a high stress life in the city that never sleeps.ĭuring that first meditation class, I felt my whole body melt into the chair. I was definitely apprehensive and wondered if I would be the only person there that wasn't a Buddhist monk and an advanced meditator. My very first meditation class was in New York City at a Buddhist Meditation Center. I was introduced to meditation at a time in my life when I was experiencing a lot of anxiety. So if the purpose is not to relax, what is the purpose of meditation?
That said, the relaxation that we often feel when we meditate is merely a byproduct, and is not the actual purpose of meditation. Well, I was on the right track to some extent because meditating does relax us and can ease anxiety.
I used to think that the purpose of meditation is to relax, reduce anxiety and calm our minds. Just 20-30 minutes of meditation per day could achieve this rebuilding of the brain. That's not eight weeks of sitting alone in a dark cave or on a rock in the middle of the ocean, meditating for hours every day. Did you know that meditation can literally change the grey matter in your brain, and enhance cognitive and psychological behaviors? According to a recent study conducted by Harvard researchers, "meditation rebuilds the brain's grey matter in just eight weeks".