How Are You Supposed To Feel After Meditation?

The Art and Aftermath of Meditation: A Deep Dive

Meditation, a practice as old as the hills yet as fresh as a daisy, has wormed its way back into the modern-day wellness zeitgeist. It’s touted for its myriad benefits, from reducing stress and anxiety to enhancing focus and creativity. But hold your horses! If you’re new to the meditation game or have been at it for a while but still feeling perplexed, you might wonder, “How exactly am I supposed to feel after meditating?”

Unpacking the Post-Meditation Experience

First off, let’s get one thing out of the way: There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to meditation. The experience is as individual as a fingerprint, and the post-meditation feels are no exception. That being said, there are a few common threads that weave through the tapestry of meditation aftermath.

1. A Sense of Peace and Oneness After a solid meditation session, many report feeling a profound sense of peace and calmness, like the world is moving in slow motion and they’re right in sync with it. This isn’t just fluffy talk; there’s science to back it up. Meditation has been shown to decrease activity in the default mode network (DMN), the brain area implicated in mind-wandering and self-referential thoughts a.k.a. the “me center.” So, when the DMN takes a backseat, you’re more likely to feel less caught up in your thoughts and more connected to the world around you.

2. Enhanced Self-Awareness and Clarity Then there’s the clarity factor. Ever feel like your mind’s a browser with a billion tabs open? Meditation can help close those tabs, one by one, leading to clearer thinking and enhanced self-awareness. You’re likely to emerge from your meditative state not with a mind empty of thoughts, but one more attuned and less cluttered by them.

3. But, Feeling Frustrated Is Okay Too Here’s where it gets a bit paradoxical. While meditating can lead to tranquility and insight, it can also stir up frustration, especially for beginners. Sitting still, trying to focus your mind, can lead to impatience and self-criticism. This, however, is par for the course. It’s all part of the process of getting to know your mind and learning not to get too attached to whatever pops up during meditation.

Embracing the Journey, Bumps and All

If there’s a nugget of wisdom to take away, it’s that meditation is less about achieving a specific post-session feeling and more about the journey itself. Yes, meditating can lead to feelings of peace, oneness, and clarity, but it’s also okay to feel frustrated or even no different than before you started.

The key is consistency and patience. The more you meditate, the more familiar you’ll become with your mind’s patterns and quirks, and the better you’ll get at navigating them without judgment.

So, next time you wrap up a meditation session and wonder if you’re doing it right because you’re not floating on cloud nine, remember: There’s no “right” way to feel. Each meditation journey is as unique as the individual embarking on it, brimming with its own set of challenges and triumphs.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s the commitment to showing up for yourself, sitting down, and simply breathing that counts. Whether you’re basking in a post-meditation glow or feeling a tad underwhelmed, trust the process. You’re exactly where you need to be.