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Yet for many, meditation and mindfulness still seem obscure and hard to connect to. You might have heard of some of the countless benefits of meditation, but just likeexercise, meditation is a practice that needs follow through in order to see results.

At the moment there are 2/3 more women interested or practicing meditation then men. So what are the benefits of meditation specific to men and how do you start?

The first thing to do is set your intention to meditate. Start slow and build from there.It’s always important as with any new endeavor to set realistic intentions that you can follow through. For example, are you looking to stress less, sleep better, be more focused, control anxiety, eat more mindfully, be a better listener…? Once you identify your intention or intentions, find a realistic schedule that works for you and commit. Whether it’s twice a week for 10min or 4 times a week or longer, start small and build your practice from there. Try and commit to specific days and times as much as possible. Do not cancel or push your meditation appointment with yourself.

The Benefits for Men

Emotions are complex and as men, many of us tend to avoid them or try to find away to bury the root cause of some of our deep seated emotions. With regular meditation practice, you can create awareness and insight into a better understanding of yourself.  Many of our anger triggers come from a place of feeling “stuck” or unresolved. This can go as far back as childhood history. Through meditation practice you can start uncovering and dive deeper into some of those stuck emotions.

Once we confront them, we create awareness and mindfulness, giving space between the emotion itself  and how it tends to control us. Over time we start noticing the emotions as they come up, but we won’t react to them in the same manner we would normally. We then can free ourselves from habitual patterns that don’t serve us or on the contrary prevent us from further inner growth. 

Mindfulness is key to creating that conscious awareness of what’s going on for ourselves.

2. Reduces Stress and Anxiety Around Work

Daily life has become a source of stress for many of us and job related stress is the number  one cause of stress in the US. For many men the notion of carrying the responsibility of job, and income security and either supporting or co-supporting a family is quite big and stress related issues manifest into all kinds of secondary issues. This can be lack of sleep, fatigue, short temper, worry, and even our home life can suffer. Maybe it’s fear of not earning enough, or getting promoted, having difficulty with co-workers or a boss, or even being generally unhappy with our current job state.

A regular meditation practice can help ease the underlying stress and anxiety and help empower us to recognize where some of these issues are coming from and how to move forward from a thoughtful mindset, not an emotionally reactive one.

3. Eases The Transition from Work to Home Life

It’s not always easy to switch gears from work life to home life. If you’ve got a partner and little kids at home, sometimes walking into the house can feel overwhelming after a long stressful day.  When all you want to do is unwind a 10 minute meditation in the car can help anchor and ground you before stepping into your home. You can set an intention to be present with yourself and to the rhythm of family life.

4. Reduces the Pressure of Social Comparison

Men that identify as providers can feel intense pressure to succeed at work and succeed financially. Often times, it’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to how your friends  and colleagues are doing. Extra pressure sometimes comes from social media viewing as well.

We tend to compare our lives to everyone’s else’s pictures of vacations, travels, kids concerts, etc… If they’re much more successful or perceived happiness than you, you may feel pangs of jealousy or insufficiency. If they’re not, you might be inclined to judge them.  Meditation can help you stay in the present moment and focus on what values matter to you, without putting a false sense of pressure on yourself to do or be more.

https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/benefits-meditation-mindfulness-men-tdmd/

Mark Meyuhas is a successful entrepreneur, the CEO and Founder of Evenflow, a next generation meditation and mindfulness app, combining meditation with insights that help you find balance and self awareness, with over 15 expert teachers covering a wide array of topics to help you find inner balance and calm.