Partly because you often need to sit or stand still whilst you're meditating, you'll find yourself becoming more relaxed as a by-product of your meditation. Some meditation techniques are actually quite physical, so you may not experience a feeling of relaxation in every different method you sample.

4. Pain reduction

A number of guided meditations focus on pain reduction. Because pain is subjective (we all experience it differently), it's difficult to find any scientific proof for this. But you can test the idea quickly and cheaply yourself - a guided meditation aimed at reducing pain will cost you around the same as a cheap restaurant meal, so you have little to lose and much to gain.

5. Increased awareness

Because meditation encourages you to focus more, chances are that you'll find yourself becoming more aware of both yourself and the things around you. You'll start to notice things health benefits of meditation that you'd have ignored before. So maybe you'll "catch yourself" before you decide to puff on a cigarette or take an extra bite of that cake. Or maybe you'll just be a little bit more in tune with the world around you. Whatever is the case with you, I'm sure you'll begin to notice things changing for the better over the days and weeks that you practice your meditating.