This week let’s focus on letting go and letting God. If you are anything like me, you LOVE to control everything and anything-including the things that we have no control over!

So, lets practice on controlling what we can and giving the rest to God. Makes sense, right? Meditation is a great way to let go and gain some peace. Practicing meditation has many benefits.

So, here we go!

Firstly, meditation has had proven results including:

• decrease anxiety and depression
• improve sleep
• help process emotions
• provide clarity and peace of mind
• improve memory
• slow down the aging process
• create a sense of mindfulness (being aware of thoughts and slowing time down)
• decreasing stress and various health ailments

In fact, when comparing MRI scans of those who are on prescription drugs for anxiety and depression with those who meditate without using prescription drugs–meditation has the same positive effect on the brain! As you can see, meditation is a powerful way to improve your lifestyle.

Meditation also helps us rewire the old negative thought patterns in our brain which cause us to be unhappy.  Recent research has suggested that the brain is actually made of plastic, which gives us the power to change our habits and thinking. This is great news! 

The medical term, neuroplasticity, refers to “retraining your brain” and reformatting the neuropathways in order to create new thought patterns which lead to more positive ways of thinking. 

For example, if the majority of your thoughts are negative, guess what!?

Yep, you guessed it! Your brain will become literally become more negative over time.

After thinking the same thought over and over again, your brain’s neuropathways, or as I would like to refer to it, train tracks, get imprinted again and again…and again. Just like if we were to walk on the same grass over and over and over again, the track would eventually get imprinted. This is what happens to our brain when we have the same negative thoughts over and over again.

But– you’re in luck! Meditation helps build new tracks that lead to happier lives. 

BUT…

Often times I hear, I am not good at meditating. If it is challenging for you, that means you are doing it right!

It is similar to any other exercise we participate in like running, hiking, or playing tennis.  It takes a lot of practice! So, hang in there.

Be patient with your self, you are doing something wonderful for yourself and it takes time to practice a new skill. The more you do it, the easier it will get.

If you liked this post, remember to sign up for weekly newsletters about how to let go and let God using meditation. Next week we will focus on HOW to have more positive and healthier thoughts.