Mindfulness: Meditation - Week #29 of The Awakening Journey
Although meditation has become more mainstream, it still feels ethereal and woo-woo to some. Like you have to be a monk sitting in a cave in solitude or a yoga person on top of a cliff. While both are valid scenarios in reality your personal meditation could be many things like walking in nature, painting, or even cleaning.
I have a friend whose meditation is working in her garden. She is not just pulling weeds, she does this with intention to create clarity. She actually makes it a point to use gardening as a meditation.
Sometimes I go to my gym to just work out. Other times, I say to myself “I am going to feel peace when I leave this gym”. I’m claiming the gym time as my meditation time.
How do I master meditation?
The answer is you don’t. The first time you went to the gym, you didn’t expect to deadlift 500 pounds, did you? Or on your first day on the job, you didn’t take over and do everything?
No, of course not. You knew there was a process, a learning curve.
Meditation is a process of gradually bringing all the parts of yourself back into alignment: mind, body, spirit, and heart.
And it really is very simple: Meditation equals butt in chair. Just like with a workout, don’t expect incredible results immediately. It isn’t a one-time thing, but an ongoing practice.
5 Tips on how to get started with meditation
Start small with a few minutes at a time.
Make an agreement to stay in place for the time you agreed with yourself.
Instead of judging your thoughts, welcome & thank them and let them go like bubbles floating across your field of awareness.
Notice how you feel at the end of the meditation as opposed to before
After a week or two, reflect & track how you handled situations & your overall mental health.
I cannot meditate, I can’t stop my mind from going
Welcome to being human. Our minds go on and on. It’s just part of our nature as humans and how we are conditioned. That doesn’t mean we are enslaved to our minds and there isn’t anything we can do about it.
I don’t have time for meditation
That is the time you need to meditate. When you say “I don’t have time to meditate”, that is your flag that something is going on in your life and you need it most.
Do it and you will see why. You will see your relationship with time shift.
What are the results of meditation?
In a time when mental health is at the top of many conversations, meditation is an incredible tool for our mental homeostasis.
Meditation has been shown to reduce stress, heal dis-ease, and create more joy and peace in our lives.
In a study featured by the Harvard Gazette, they found meditation is perfect for brain health:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain/
In another, ease anxiety, depression, and pain:
Your Meditation Practice
Start a 5-minute meditation practice this week 2x a day.
If you have a practice already, then try a new meditation, a guided one, a mantra, or add another meditation session.
Next, we will talk about Monkey Mind, in the meanwhile remember the present moment is where your best life happens.
With love, presence and gratitude,
Darla