How in the world was last week already Thanksgiving? This year has zoomed by (but thankfully, not on Zoom every day, lol!) I took some much-needed time with family and friends to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for. I hope you did the same. Gratitude is good for the soul. While […]
Meditation is not about ridding yourself of your thoughts, since that's virtually impossible for anyone to do. Meditation instead, is literally about noticing that your mind has drifted into thoughts and then practicing bringing your mind back to a place of stillness - over and over again. The noticing IS the practice.
Through the practice of meditation, you develop what is known as “witnessing awareness” which allows you to observe your thoughts, feelings and stories with greater objectivity and distance, rather than getting pulled into the drama and emotional reactivity. Over time, you will begin to notice that some space has been created around difficult emotional states. You will start to see that there is more to who you are than your moods or thoughts, and you may also observe that the sensation associated with the negative feelings dissolve altogether. I like to say that you begin to develop a sense of responding as opposed to reacting.
The practice of meditation is about training our minds simply to allow things to be as they are, not organizing the world around us to fit our picture of what it “should” look like. Invite distraction. Invite noise. Invite challenge. This is where the true benefits of your meditation practice will show up. When we let go of our ego and let go of trying to change or manipulate our environment to suit us, that’s where the path exists.
People often feel intimidated by meditation, thinking there is a perfect way to join in this time-tested practice. But that’s simply not true. Each person’s practice is a reflection of their unique personality and mind/body connection. The biggest support for working with our minds in meditation is our body. Generally, I don’t think most of us are sensitive to how much our body can support our mind in meditation.
I’m doing things a little differently this time around. I have recorded a new meditation for you to practice called, “I Am Present Everywhere.” It’s roughly ten minutes long. All you need is a quiet space to settle in and listen.
There are many forms of meditation. The meditation I have been trained in and practice twice a day is a silent, mantra-based sitting meditation.
Sitting meditation gives us an opportunity to settle in to the stillness and return to our ground state of being, that state of stillness and emptiness. It’s an opportunity for us to take time away from the busyness of our daily life and its distractions and give full attention to and care for ourselves.
I wanted to share my personal story with you about how I went from being totally stressed, overwhelmed and stuck to feeling empowered, free and excited about my life. You know the type...hyperventilating through life, running from one thing to the next while the e-mails pile up and more keeps getting added to the proverbial "to do" list.