Beginning Meditation For Busy Minds

Meditation didn't quiet my busy mind. It changed my relationship to it.
In this short video, I share how I started meditating — just a few minutes while my coffee percolated — and what decades of practice have actually taught me. Not how to clear the mind, but how to watch it. And in that watching, find the pause between thought and reaction.
That pause changes everything.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Jackie Stilling,

Therapist,

Meditation teacher,

Retreat leader,

And busy mind practitioner.

Mindfulness meditation didn't exactly save my life,

But it changed it dramatically.

And what I mean by this is that my mind was so busy that I thought I could never meditate.

I thought meditation meant clearing your mind.

And a friend of mine suggested that in the mornings for a few minutes while the coffee's brewing,

I just sit and don't do anything else but watch what happens inside me while I'm sitting.

Excruciating because all kinds of things were happening.

My mind was telling me to get up and do this and get up and do that and taking me into the past and wishing that was different or pulling me into the future that caused fear and anxiety.

But little by little through this practice of sitting while the coffee was brewing,

I noticed that sometimes I would just smile eventually,

Like,

Ah,

Look at the mind taking me into the past.

Ah,

Look at the mind pulling me into the future.

And I didn't react to it.

And so what these practices taught me was that I actually did have a pause button.

And when the stimulus came in,

I could pause before responding to it.

And not only did that work on the cushion or the sofa or the chair,

But it started happening in my daily life.

These practices might be exactly what you're looking for.

Please don't tell yourself that you have to clear your mind or you have to be some sort of way in order to start a practice.

Start today while your coffee's brewing.

It worked for me.

Be well.

Peace.