For many of us,
Meditating,
Even the notion of meditating and what it even means,
Can feel really overwhelming and confusing.
How do we know if we're doing it right?
Is there a wrong way to meditate?
Is there a right way to meditate?
Should I be sat cross-legged,
Chanting with joss sticks and candles burning?
The answer is no.
There is no right way to meditate.
We can only meditate in a way that feels right for us at that moment in time.
So I suggest if you are new to meditating to let go of any thoughts you might have around meditating that are heavy or scary or confusing and just simply think of meditation as a way of quietening your mind for a period of time.
I like to think of them as a bit of a mental reset.
So perhaps you are about to start your day and you're beginning to feel yourself feeling overwhelmed,
I use meditation as a way to kind of take a step back from that feeling of stress or overwhelm and start tuning into my breathing and noticing how I'm feeling and trying to get a hold of that kind of feeling of things starting to spiral into anxiety or stress before it gets too far.
It's like if you try and stop a car and you're going fast,
It's going to take a while for the car to stop,
But if you're going slow,
It's going to be easier to brake and stop.
And it's the same with our thoughts and anxiety and our stress levels.
If we can kind of nip them in the bud sooner rather than later,
We stand a better chance of feeling calmer in our day to day.
With this in mind,
I invite you to take a moment to yourself to recollaborate,
To have a mental reset,
To press pause,
However you want to describe it.
Just simply a way of finding a little bit of peace at this moment in your day.
So take a seat,
Ideally somewhere where you won't be disturbed.
You can lie down,
You can sit on a chair,
You can sit on the ground,
Perhaps you're outside even better,
Feel connected to the ground,
The earth beneath you.
However you choose to sit and relax is up to you.
Like I say,
There is no wrong or right way to meditate.
Whatever works for you is going to work for you.
So whilst you are getting comfortable,
I invite you to leave behind anything that you've been doing so far in your day.
Let go of that mental list of things that you need to do.
I know that's easier said than done,
But this is such a brief amount of time.
You can certainly afford a few minutes just to sit and be quiet and be still.
So let's start by taking a breath in,
So an inhale and sigh that breath out.
And again,
An inhale and sigh the breath out.
This time as you inhale,
See if you can breathe a little deeply in.
And as you exhale,
I want you to feel like you're really emptying the air all the way through to the pit of your belly.
And again,
Inhaling deeper than before and exhaling.
A couple more in your own time,
Seeing if you can lengthen that exhalation.
This is the part of the breathing where we just let things go.
So we inhale,
We're breathing in new air,
Oxygen,
Prana,
Life force as we call it in yoga and meditation.
And we're exhaling anything in the tank that's not doing us any favours right now.
Let it all go.
Notice if you are holding any tension in your body.
Are your shoulders up by your ears?
Often when we're stressed,
Our shoulders start rising up before we know it.
They're in our ears.
Can you let your shoulders relax?
Where else are you gripping?
Where do you feel you are gripping into your body?
Can you direct your breath to that area of your body?
Which is not as confusing as it sounds.
Just think about sending that breath to that area of your body and inviting it to let go.
Stop clinging on so tight.
I bet you can relax even further.
I bet there's still something that you're gripping onto that you can just let go.
There usually is.
There usually is for me anyway.
I always feel that when I do focus on that area for a little bit longer than I might expect to,
It can relax that little bit more.
Continuing with your inhalation and your long exhalation out.
Noticing any external sounds around you,
Whether that's air conditioning,
Traffic,
The sound of people in the distance.
We're not trying to shut the world out.
We're just trying to tune in a little more.
And by that,
I just mean tuning inwards to ourselves.
When we spend some time tuning in to ourselves,
Noticing how we feel,
We become more aware of how we're physically feeling.
Perhaps you might notice some aches or pains in the body.
We might notice if there is a lot of internal chatter going on in our brains.
It's really common to have this internal dialogue throughout our days.
It's part of modern living.
But by just taking a few moments out of your day,
You can start to quieten that chatter and actually notice how you're really feeling as opposed to how you might think you're feeling because we often find ourselves being distracted by the world around us,
By our roles as parents,
As human beings on this planet,
As working people,
As whatever we are,
Whatever our label is,
We can often forget who we really are inside.
Now I don't want to go too deep there,
But I just want us to acknowledge that by taking some time to meditate,
We can actually get to know ourselves a little better and perhaps we can even scrap the word meditate and just use time out or reset or refresh,
However you want to label your practice because this is what it is.
It's a practice.
This stuff takes practice.
It's like learning anything new.
It takes time.
So be kind to yourself and understand that some days you will find sitting quietly,
Really hard work.
Some days it just will feel like hard work.
Other days you'll be able to sit peacefully,
Blissfully,
Enjoying the moment.
But I invite you to continue with this practice and know that those days that feel trickier will feel easier on others.
So some days we just have to ride it out,
Dedicate that five minutes,
That 10 minutes to yourself with no real worry about what the outcome of it is.
Just know that it's a practice.
I hope you've enjoyed your time with me today.
I really am an advocate for the benefits of meditation as someone that has struggled with my own,
With my own mental health,
My own internal chatter.
I am just a regular person who has a full-time job,
Who has children,
Who has a dog,
Who has all the stuff that many of us experience.
But I know that I'm a calmer,
Happier person when I take five,
10 minutes out of my day just to sit and be.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today and enjoy the rest of your day.
