What Does Meditation Unlock?

When you think of meditation, the first thing that comes to mind likely doesn’t pertain to supernatural abilities. But there have been cases where meditation has displayed dream-like superpowers, such as resistance to cold. 

Putting ourselves in a cold environment already compromises the comfort zone, but it’s the price paid for getting a step ahead. Some meditation practitioners, such as monks, looking to take their practice to a higher level deliberately choose meditation locations. 

Either because it makes the process easier for them or the opposite, but they’ve learned to fall in love with discomfort, at which point, you could never lose if you find yourself at this stage. There are several aspects meditation may help unlock in us, that we will explore for this occasion. 

These aren’t limited to just improved focus, memory, sleep, or what you usually hear with meditation. Even if those attributes are desirable in almost any individual, it’s possible to attain far greater benefits with meditation and unlock a side of you that you didn’t know was there. 

When you get to experience yourself in your rawest form, you can work on certain attributes that you don’t like, while simultaneously developing traits you would love to have. 

Subconscious Reprogramming

Just to give an example, reprogramming the subconscious mind becomes accessible to you when you meditate. Often, in conjunction with positive affirmations, almost as if what you start affirming becomes your new belief system. 

Your beliefs are critical since it’s what either push you forward or don’t let you move in a certain direction. Almost any decision you take, conscious or unconscious can be traced back to the subconscious. Either it works as an ally or antagonist. 

The subconscious is incredibly sensitive, so be careful with who you let rewire such a deep part of yourself. That’s why meditations down on your own are usually preferred over guided meditations since you know what ingredients your own meditation contains. 

And while unlikely, you never know for sure if a meditator instructor has ulterior motives. 

This isn’t to discredit instructors or guided meditations, it’s what got me started and set me on the right path, and if it works for you, you should continue down that lane. Learning to rewire the subconscious can be a bit of a superpower, because others are doing it for you on a daily basis, without you noticing. 

Be it the media you consume or what you feed your mind on a daily basis. Now, thoughts on a surface level don’t have as much of an impact on you, but once the thoughts start going deeper and transitioning into a subliminal territory, it’s usually where you’ll base your identity from. 

Changing the subconscious isn’t the easiest task just with affirmations, but with meditation, you remove your mind from the equation. 

At the very least, it stops being as intrusive, and thus, the firewall that keeps the subconscious mind from being reprogrammed becomes more vulnerable, almost for you to deliberately choose what you want the subconscious to be filled with. 

Something which happens automatically without deliberately trying to, as a byproduct of accepting certain thoughts and understanding, by looking at the bigger picture that thoughts come and go like waves, and aren’t something to be attached to. 

The same effect is reflected in the subconscious, but the mind loses its grip on thoughts and belief systems that stand in our way, and it’s almost as if the subconscious reprograms itself. But it can also be done by combining affirmations. After all, it’s recommended to meditate with a goal in mind. 

Ice Cold Resistance

Not only does meditation help on a mental and emotional level, but it’s able to make us stronger in certain environments, such as cold ones. 

Of course, in no way am I advocating for people to deliberately seek pain under the premise of getting out of their comfort zone. Most meditations are personalized and serve people in different stages, but some are able to develop ice-cold resistance, and even are able to run large marathons with their bare feet. 

One athlete that’s known as Wim Hof, which advocates for strengthening the mind is one of the key figures in making meditation and yoga work for them in an almost superpower-like manner. He is able to keep his body temperature at a steady level while meditating in ice-cold water. 

He does this by a certain breathing technique and is a prime example of what meditation is capable of unlocking. Results have been somewhat similar with students mimicking his habits. 

And while I’m not saying meditation practitioners should jump in the snow right, left and center, it goes to show that following a meditation practice by someone that is in a place you look up to can be beneficial. The same applies to who you take advice from. 

Of course, you still have to be aware of your limitations. But without getting into the extreme levels of discomfort that are likely to bring excessive growth in ourselves, one thing you can do in conjunction with meditation that’s accessible to you are cold showers. 

Cold shower practitioners report many benefits, such as better circulation, something you also get from meditation, as well as losing some fat along the way, which meditation can indirectly help as well. 

The idea of taking cold showers may not sound appealing but it’s something you can fall in love with, with the help of meditation, if you wish to test your limits within healthy boundaries. 

Even if you were to choose the wrong meditation at the start, one where you don’t think you’re making much progress, you can still take concepts of said meditation and apply it to another meditation, as you may be able to get a basic understanding and start in a winning position. 

By that time, you’ve likely gone through minor transformations that have shifted your mindset, and even if you were to practice meditations that have the intent to expand your range of comfort, you can still get ahead of many that give up. 

This isn’t a competition with anyone other than yourself on the sprint to become your best version. 

Overcoming Your Limits

Perhaps, one of the most overlooked superpowers but that still scientific grounding is the ability to overcome your limits with meditation. 

You only think you are capable of certain things, until you challenge the limits of certain things and push yourself over the edge. Of course, all while being reasonable, since you don’t want to compromise how you feel long term. 

But one of the best rewards you can get from meditation is becoming your best version. Almost as if you become someone new that is at the point where you want to be. Many of the limits we set for ourselves stem from the mind. 

But when the mind is challenged, the source of those limitations is also challenged, and thus, it makes it easier to break free of the restrictions we put on ourselves. 

Often, these restrictions are to protect ourselves from embarrassment or anything pertaining to our comfort. 

It’s nice to stay in a place you’re already acquainted with on a mental level, but to expand this scope and experience the bigger picture, it’s important to go above and beyond what we’ve set as an objective for ourselves. After all, we aren’t overachieving for anyone else but ourselves. 

And one of the best ways to show deliberate love for yourself is to impress yourself by achieving objectives you thought were out of your league. 

What you believe of yourself is true, and overcoming your limits will often be a byproduct of successfully rewiring your subconscious. 

But few things are more rewarding than going from having self-doubt to even proving ourselves wrong since, at times, we ourselves can be our worst enemies. 

Even if one of the core objectives meditation aims to achieve is to become our best versions and befriend ourselves like best friends.