I’ve loved seeing meditation become more than just a thing to do. For many, it’s become a way of life. According to a National Health Institute survey, the percentage of adults who practice meditation has more than doubled from 2002 to 2022, moving from 7.5% to 17.3% in 20 years. Why the increase?

Many are finally feeling the benefits. In studies conducted and mentioned, a surprising majority practice mindfulness to help their general wellness as well as to relax or reduce stress. This makes sense because recent studies have shown that meditation helps to manage anxiety, stress, pain, and depression when done regularly. For me, and I can only imagine it’s the same for many, meditation is so much more than this. It serves as a gateway to a greater sense of awareness; a tool to shift my perspectives and allow insight into myself and others. I imagine such benefits contribute to the growing popularity of the practice.

According to a National Health Institute survey, the percentage of adults who practice meditation has more than doubled from 2002 to 2022, moving from 7.5% to 17.3% in 20 years. Why the increase?

While filming an episode of my podcast yesterday, I spoke with my guest about the feeling of enlightenment that one can achieve. She shared an experience during an OBE that allowed her to feel much more than her physical body, in which she knew everything and everyone and was at complete peace. She knew on a deep level that everything would be okay. I knew what she was talking about. On several occasions while in higher focus levels during Starlines, I achieved a deep, expanded state where I found comfort in a knowingness that was lost to me when I came back to waking consciousness. It was as though the secrets of the universe were unlocked, but when I returned, I could only grasp little bits of the feeling, no longer retaining what I had experienced in those higher states. The same thing happened to me in a dream in which I crossed over into something amazing and woke up knowing all was one … only to have it trickle away as I returned to waking consciousness. I held tiny crumbs of what remained—just enough for me to retain the memory that I experienced something wonderfully enlightening.

In my opinion, it's these moments that people hit, randomly and scarcely, that also contribute to the increase in meditation. When we move through different states of consciousness and tune our frequencies to different focus levels, we learn to shift our perspectives while grasping a greater awareness. We learn how to be connected to all that is, and we feel that deep sense of connection regularly when we meditate. We learn how to focus our attention throughout the day in tremendously beneficial ways, tuning out distractions and shifting focus to all the good things we are working towards. And with that comes a great shift in perspective.

What do I mean by a shift in perspective? We tend to get caught up in small daily matters that cause our ability to see the bigger picture to wane. When we are able to shift to higher focus levels or move our attention to the bigger picture, we soon realize how small our problems are in the grand scheme of things, and this can help ground us.

We learn how to focus our attention throughout the day in tremendously beneficial ways, tuning out distractions and shifting focus to all the good things we are working towards. And with that comes a great shift in perspective.

The best example I can offer is from meditating in Starlines. We shifted our perspective out into the solar system to see how small our world was. Then, we shifted it out further to see how small the solar system was in our galaxy. Then, we saw how small our galaxy was in our supercluster of galaxies, and so on. Realizing that there is so much more around us and that we are one small piece of a much larger puzzle really helps to put things into perspective. We can think outside of our tiny boxes and perceive something far greater. When I do this, I feel assured that my problems are actually quite small, however big they may seem in the moment. And this shift in perspective applies to my daily life, as I can use it to problem-solve and to better understand those around me.

So, while meditation’s wonderfully effective health benefits surely contribute to its increase in popularity, it’s well worth highlighting these other benefits also. A shift in perspective can boost our overall wellbeing by allowing us a greater sense of awareness. I find this to be crucial to my daily life and believe it’s another reason why meditation’s popularity is soaring. 

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