Meditation : An alternative to ghost gym memberships.

With Christmas behind us there is probably a sigh of relief having dealt with the tension of hanging out with relatives and meeting a wide variety expectations. Now is the time to take stock of the past year and set intentions and enter the new year in the best possible way.

The digital tills will be ringing with the purchase of gym memberships and snazzy kit but research shows a fraction of these get used. Many people fall into the trap of believing once the purchase is made the desired result is just going to magically happen with no further effort. This delusional behaviour cost Britons £558 million last year with gym members typically paying on average £564 each year. In a recent poll of 1000 gym members 11% had never visited the gym, and 21% said they had visited only three times.

The reasons for taking out membership are well known and the most commonly cited reason for not meeting those good intentions is lack of time. 

If you are one of those people looking to make a positive change to your health you might find it surprising that meditation can help.

I’m not for a moment suggesting that a twenty minute meditation is going to give you the same benefits as a course of weight lifting or cardio training, but there are many other benefits which will improve your physical and mental health. The most important benefit is the reduction of stress and anxiety, which so often keeps people awake at night with a ‘tumble-dryer’ of churning thoughts. Sleep has been a major area of study for me in the past year and new research is revealing just what goes on when we have our eyes closed and why it is so important. Numerous health issues, including weight gain, can be alleviated by a night of proper nourishing sleep. Meditation gives us the chance to process stress and anxiety in a  well defined twenty minute moment so that when we head for bed we are feeling calm and less stressed and so more likely to stay asleep uninterrupted.

Another primary benefit of meditation is that we become more efficient in thought and action so that we can process more in our day, deciding on what is important or urgent, and becoming clear headed and able to hold multiple thoughts at one time.

After meditating for a while you might have saved enough time in your day to get to the gym after all.

Want to find out more? Our relaxed, informative and free Introductory Talks last for around 60 minutes and are the perfect place to ask questions about Vedic Meditation and our courses.

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