What benefits have you realized from meditation?

I move quickly and try to make the most of every moment, but for the first time, I stopped, and it was bizarre.

I handed my boss the memo routing package and expected to come back in a few minutes to answer questions, but he asked me to wait. So I sat and waited, and waited some more. The package took him 15 minutes to read before he had his first question.

I didn't read the pictures on the wall, the papers on his desk, think of my incomplete to-do list, or get impatient. I realized waiting was the most important thing for me to do and would serve him best.

I had recently begun mindfulness meditation, and this was the first real-world application I found myself doing without deliberate effort. Historically, I would resemble a caged animal trying to escape. I was shocked at my patient response during my walk to my desk to incorporate comments into the letter package.

What are your results?

Meditating in prayer and reading the holy scriptures have provided peace, encouragement, resolve, and a stronger faith. I have periodically turned this time into a legalistic religious practice over the years, and the results were stale. Approaching my time with a heart of gratitude and openness results in a radically better perspective.

Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, neuroscientist, Dr. Sara Lazar has done multiple studies analyzing the effects of meditation on the brain. Studies revealed increased gray matter in four areas and reduction of the "fight or flight" amygdala. I figure any help I can get to enhance gray matter performance ain't much of an option; it's critical!

Going Further: What are your stories of change and success as you have pursued meditation of various types?