The Benefits Of Mindfulness Meditation

“The practice of meditation can facilitate exploration of emotional states that support the process of self-actualization and improve overall college student well-being” (Crowley & Munk, 2017, p.91). In this quote, authors Claire Crowley and Dana Munk clearly state the major benefits of practicing mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation can be defined as a practice which helps a person self-regulate their mind and emotions, thus affecting mental states by engaging a specific skill set for attention to tasks (Sjöstedt, 2012). Generally speaking, the desire to try meditation comes from two types of people: first, one who is interested and perceives some type of benefit; and secondly, one who has experienced a significant amount of stress and anxiety and is seeking some kind of relief from these

Meditation takes patience, openness, willingness, perseverance, and self-determination. A measure of self-autonomy is also necessary because an individual will need to be able to commit to action by means of self-direction. Assuming responsibility for one’s own meditation practice guarantees that the individual will actively seek out the benefits through the process of displaying self-determination and perseverance. Thus, compounding some of the principles that are needed such as interest, willingness, and a desire for some type of reward for the individual’s efforts. “One's behavior emanates from one's self; it is self-determined. One does the behavior wholly volitionally because of its utility or importance for one's personal goals” (Deci & Aghrari & Patrick & Leone, 1994, p.121). The self-determination to achieve the desired results of meditation is a fundamental aspect of one’s personality. Lastly, if a person is not interested in and intrinsically motivated to practice meditation they are better off engaging in an activity that better suits their interests and