Don't Hate, Meditate
Mediation is the whole reason why I decided to dive straight into a year long yoga course that changed my life.
Meditation has always fascinated me.
I was doing research on successful people who also held onto morals and values and one thing they all had in common - you guessed it, MEDITATION
My journey started with the headspace app and I tried their free 10 day challenge. I loved it but I didn’t feel as much of the benefits as I do now.
At the beginning I didn’t really fully understand what it is or how to do it but I did get what I needed from it. Mental clarity.
When I say mental clarity what I mean is more patience and understanding, less negative reactions and more positive awareness. I felt more peace and I also noticed that my thoughts didn’t wander as much.
You may say you don’t have a racing mind or you may say you don’t have time for meditation but that in itself is exactly why you should be meditating.
EVERYONE NEEDS MEDITATION.
Especially now in the world that we live in. It is fast paced and full of distractions. We need to carve out time for ourselves so that we can move inward and shut out all the outer disturbances.
After using headspace I decided I wanted to know more so that’s when I decided to take on a yoga course.
We went into great detail about meditation, different ways to meditate, breathing exercises and breath awareness that helped you go deeper.
During the course I was able to sit in a 30 minute meditation with minimal distraction. Notice I didn’t say no distraction.
SIDE NOTE - I don’t do that now. I usually do 10 minutes daily, not recently but more on that later.
I have still to sit in a meditation without my mind wandering elsewhere at least once.
Meditation isn’t easy, it is also not something that comes quickly.
It is a long self discovery journey.
I have learned a lot about myself by sitting in meditation and just being aware of what comes up.
For me its patience.
One of things that comes up for me when sitting still, is time.
Not always but most of the time I think about when the end will come or when my timer will go off. When these thoughts come up, I watch them. I don’t attach to them. I think of them like clouds, coming and going.
I try to be an outsider looking in and when the thoughts arise I ask myself ‘Why am I thinking this? Where are these thoughts coming from? Do I have somewhere else to be?'
But most importantly I remain still, my eyes remain closed and I come back to my breath again and again.
This may happen once, it may happen 5 times it may happen 20 times. It doesn’t matter. Meditation isn’t about thinking nothing, its about being aware of your thought pattern and breaking through all limitations your setting for yourself by not attaching to the thoughts that come in, good or bad, you just see them and then come back to the breath. See them again and come back to your breath.
Just keep coming back.
Start small.
5 minutes a day, build to 10 then add more time as you choose.
You can use a guided meditation or you can learn basic techniques and sit with yourself.
Most importantly be patient with yourself, give it time.
If you get frustrated or distracted or anything uncomfortable comes up which includes physical discomfort then let it be. Ask yourself the questions in order to understand why your thinking the way you are, try not to attach to your thoughts - in other words don’t overthink it, come back to your breath.
Even now my journey is like a rollercoaster.
Before covid I meditated daily and throughout covid that changed.
My good habits were slowly slipping away and I could feel it.
My emotions were alll over the place, I had limited patience, I wasn’t as focused.
Luckily in times like these I know when its time to do something about it.
So I started from the beginning.
I started with 5 minutes and built up. Now it feels good again and less of a chore.
My advice would be just keep going.
When you really don’t feel like it, just tell yourself 2 minutes that’s it and I almost guarantee you will sit longer.
Meditation will 100% change your life if you let it.
The world would be a more peaceful place if more people learned to sit in peace with themselves.
Peace and Love
Jen
Xxx