If meditation is so hard, frustrating and time consuming, why should we want to do it?  Oh, I'm glad you asked.  Where do you want to start?  No, this is not woo-woo stuff. Although the ancient sages and wisdom seekers and the common man has known these benefits for thousands of years, Western Science (take a bow) is studying meditation and has validated many of the benefits.(1)

Health benefits:  Meditation not only lowers blood pressure but also can amp up your immune system. It reduces anxiety attacks, decreases tension related pain, such as headaches, ulcers, insomnia and muscle and joint pain.  Increasing seratonin production it, improves mood and behavior.  Want more energy--meditate.  

Stress Reduction:  Stress is a contributor to all the major modern killers.  There are very few diseases and syndromes that don't have a stress component.  Studies have shown improvement for fibromyalgia and even psoriasis in patients who meditate. Also, people who meditated regularly for six weeks had less emotional distress when they were put in a stressful situation.

Mental Benefits -  Meditating helps decrease your anxiety while improving your emotional stability.  Creativity increases and so does your happiness.  A University of Wisconsin study saw increased electrical activity in regions of the left frontal lobe, an area that tends to be more active in optimistic people, after eight weeks of training in meditation.  More?  Intuition develops, problems seem smaller, the mind sharpens by gaining focus.   

By taking time to sit and relax without distraction the mind has the increasingly rare opportunity to rest without being pulled from a "like" or tweet or pin.  In that resting state the mind has freedom to be creative, solve problems, gain perspective, and focus on the inner landscape rather than outer. The physical benefits, combined with the emotional stability, can bring a general well-being and overall improved health.  These benefits are not just when you're meditating, but they continue through your day.  There is nothing that comes in a pill or potion, regimen or diet that can boast these benefits.  

Need another reason to meditate?  Want to be more compassionate (who wouldn't?)?  Recent neuroscience research has confirmed that even brief trainings in "meditative techniques" can "alter neural functioning in brain areas associated with empathic understanding of others' distress".(2)  In other words, we can be trained to be more compassionate resulting in greater altruistic behavior.  According to the researchers, this answers "yes" to  the question if compassion be trained and learned in adults.  

There is so much to be said on this topic, I fear of doing it a disservice.  It's easy to make meditation sound trite or too heady.  Meditation can be profoundly simple and generously gratifying  In the coming weeks, I'll cover the some recommended meditation techniques and practices. In the meantime, a Google search for "learning to meditate for beginners" pulls up many great resources, but can be a bit overwhelming.  I like this pdf by well-known meditation instructor, Tara Brach (http://www.tarabrach.com/how-to-meditate.pdf).  See you next week!   

1.  Although I appreciate hard data and double blind studies and research papers and journal publications, many personal experiences are subjective and real and valid.  

2.    http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/compassion-training.html