For many people, traveling is an escape. An escape from stress, everyday problems, responsibilities, negativity, anxieties and fears, and everything we can’t control. You leave everything behind and find yourself in another part of the world where there are no everyday problems and you have no reason to be afraid of being yourself.
Travel has the power to take you far away not only physically but also mentally. When you are far from home and your mind is busy capturing all the beauty of the place you are exploring, you isolate yourself from those thoughts that usually worry you.
Unless you have the ability to travel forever, when you view travel as an escape, you are not solving your problems. You’re just putting them aside somewhere, knowing that sooner or later you’ll have to deal with them. This is why many travelers feel very strong anxiety in the last days of an experience away from home: they know that they will soon return to reality, and suddenly everything they have put aside takes on the appearance of a mountain impossible to climb.
What if there was a way to no longer feel this way?
There is an ancient practice that has the power to bring order to your mind and soul and allow you to fully enjoy every moment: meditation. Everyone has heard of it, but few know what it really is. There are many ways to define what meditation is, but my favorite is that meditation has a specific purpose, which many are not aware of: it serves to regain control of one’s life. Our minds can be tamed. We don’t necessarily have to live in the grip of anxieties and worries; we have the ability to control our emotional state.
It can be done with the right tools and the right knowledge. It can be done with meditation, a practice that can really improve your life.
4 Ways on how meditation can change your life
1. Sleep better.
If you have trouble sleeping, meditation could probably help. Because sleeping doesn’t simply mean turning off your brain for seven or eight hours; while you sleep, your mind remains active. And if you go to sleep without having put your head in order, you will have restless sleep.
In most cases, those who cannot sleep well have a disordered mind. He gets into bed with many worries and unanswered questions, but instead of taking even just ten minutes to relax, put his mind in order, and close the issues that generate anxiety, he tries to fall into a state of unconsciousness.
The secret to sleeping well and waking up every morning with a great desire to live is to take some time for yourself before going to sleep. Dedicate a quarter of an hour to meditation every evening. No smartphones, no television, no music, or distractions. Be alone with yourself in a calm state that lets your thoughts flow smoothly. So you calm the mad monkey and go to sleep without unresolved issues that could suddenly wake you up with your heart beating wildly.
You should always fall asleep with maximum awareness. If you know what is happening inside you and around you and have taken note of it, you can have the best sleep of your life. Just what you have when you are traveling, and it seems like there are no problems or worries.
2. You learn to manage stress.
Do you know those moments when you feel like you can’t do it anymore? Those moments when you have so much to take care of that you feel like you’re going to explode? It is a form of stress that becomes unsustainable in the long run. Meditation is a good way to learn to manage it optimally without being overwhelmed by it.
Let’s be clear: meditating does not solve problems. Only you, taking your life into your own hands, can do this. Meditating helps you manage them.
Do you have a superior who you can’t stand and who unfairly takes it out on you? By meditating, you learn to manage your emotions and deal with them in the best way. Are you experiencing a difficult personal moment for any reason (be it money, health, love, work, etc.)? Meditating doesn’t solve the problem, but it helps you face it with a clear mind and great awareness.
And again, are you under stress because you would like to change your life but don’t know how to do it? Meditation will not show you the way, but it will put you in the emotional and psychological condition of seeing things clearly. It’s easier to see the solution when you’ve eliminated the distractions and obstacles that your mind generates if you don’t take care of them.
3. Live more consciously.
In this modern society, so focused on materialism and speed, it is very easy to lead an existence devoid of spirituality. We enter the vortex of routine and consolidated habits, and it seems that the only goal of our lives is to work and earn. For what, then? Money transforms from a means to an objective, and happiness inevitably becomes a utopia.
What many people lack is awareness. From the perspective of meditation, being aware means adopting mindfulness, an approach to life that is based on living the present moment to the full. There is no yesterday; there is no tomorrow; there is only the here and now. When you can tune into the present moment, not only do you free yourself from many worries related to events in the past or future, but you also start to really see what’s around you.
By meditating, you learn to keep your mind focused on the here and now, and this “training” is very useful even in the midst of everyday life. You have your mind under control, so do not allow unnecessary and negative thoughts to distract you. If you reach this level of awareness, you could walk on the usual road to go to work and notice details you had never noticed before: people’s faces, flowers on the ground, and clouds in the sky. You are completely in the present; you don’t think about responsibilities, problems, or what could go wrong. You are an observer of the world, and every little detail suddenly has great importance.
It’s a great feeling. It makes you feel like you’re in the right place at the right time, regardless of where you are and what time your watch says. Because by meditating, you understand that there is no right or wrong time; there is only the here and now.
4. Improve your relationship with others.
We live in an era in which appearances are considered very important and the utmost value is given to everything that is superficial. This is why so many people look for fulfillment on the outside instead of taking care of what’s inside. And that’s why there are so many individuals who feel empty and can’t find meaning in their lives.
The truth is that almost always the mental clogging that generates stress and dissatisfaction comes from external factors: problems at work, problems with your partner, responsibilities towards others, economic worries, addictions of various kinds, etc.
The fact that the problem is external makes us instinctively think that the solution is out there, when in reality the solution is always within us. And this is where meditation comes in. By meditating, you take care of what’s inside you.
Never more than in these times in which everyone aspires to the utopia of social network perfection does an old saying apply: those who feel good about themselves feel good about others.
Conclusion
Carving out some time every day to do what you love and allowing negative thoughts to leave our minds is a therapy for ourselves, which however also has positive effects on those around us. After some time meditating, you will realize that not only the internal balance of your soul will have improved, but also your relationship with others. You will be more aware and, therefore, more attentive to the people in your life. You will learn to listen and not judge, offer genuine advice, and care for others.
Thus, by learning to feel good only with yourself, you will also learn to feel good with others.
