A Note On Meditation
Let’s Start From The Beginning
Originally published: May 5, 2020
If I’m being brutally honest, I hated meditating. It wasn’t fun, it was so challenging and to me, it directly translated into there being more time in my mind to continuously think about sh*t. Sounds motivating right? Well here’s the thing, meditation has been one of my saving graces throughout the past year. I first started delving into the world of meditation in the summer of 2018. I was going through a lot of heavy physical and emotional challenges and I knew that if I began to meditate maybe, just maybe it would alleviate some sort of stress. So what did I do? I downloaded the Calm app and began. I paid for the year-long membership so it would force me to stick with it and for parts of the year I did but then I lost interest. It started to feel like a game I’d play with myself; I’d only log in to make sure I could keep up my “daily streak” which completely defeats the purpose of it. The entire time I was using it, I just kept thinking “how much longer do I have” and would keep peeking at the time that was left. After a few months of not doing anything, I knew it was time for me to find a different method.
Shortly after, I reignited my yoga practice (and no this isn’t me about to say “yoga changed my life”), and to be quite frank, yoga was truly never my thing. However, after coming home to Seattle at the end of 2018 to be my mom’s caretaker during/ after her double lung transplant surgery and to deal with my own health issues I decided to join Corepower and that was honestly one of the best things I could’ve done for myself that year. By practicing yoga, I re-learned how to connect to my breath which ultimately helped me carry similar breathing techniques into the real-world.
There’s No Right Way To Meditate
Once I realized that there was no right or wrong way on how to meditate it got much simpler. It’s hard when you think of meditating I’m sure images of people sitting in a serene location with lit candles, etc pop up but it doesn’t need to look like that. You don’t even have to be sitting with your eyes closed if that doesn’t work for you. What I’ve found the most effective is just showing up. When you start to judge yourself less and lean into the unfamiliarity is when you’ll start to see the change. Set an intention to meditate for 1 minute, yes 1 minute, and as long as you showed up and did that, congratulations, you meditated. I have good and bad days when it comes to this. There are plenty of mornings where I fall asleep, where I’m thinking of other things, when I’m wondering when it’ll be over but what I’ve learned is that when I connect to my breath and inhale deeply in through my nose, exhale slowly out through my mouth and repeat (check out the boxed breathing technique below) is when I find the ultimate amount of stillness in my mind. Meditating is something that I never thought would work for me, but it’s the one thing that you can control that will ultimately make a huge difference in your life. You just have to try.
Meditation Resources
This isn’t in any particular order but here are some of my top meditation resources. Also, try bringing a big blanket with you to drape over your shoulders, an essential oil of your choice and a candle if you’re into that sort of thing. Noise cancelling headphones really help too..
This was the first app I used when it came to meditating. They have a ton of guided meditations and sleep stories. See below for tons of free meditations and stories via their youtube channel.
I was never a fan of white noise until my friend Rouge made me try it ;) I was determined I was going to hate it, but that night I slept deeper than I ever have and honestly, it’s been my go-to app for 4+ years. I use the “Oregon Coastal Rainforest” sound and it’s the best. When I don’t feel like listening to a meditation I turn this on and use the box breathing technique.
I’ve used boxed breathing plenty of times to help me immediately calm down and it works wonders.
I couldn’t recommend Melissa more. I use her app and have been working out with her for a little over a year. She also has great meditations that are calming, quick and easy. You can find some of her free meditations via youtube.
14 Minute Beginners Guided Meditation
Miki creates such cool sh*t and also has her own meditations. I’ve included two of my favorites but she has so many more via youtube.
Conclusion
I’m not immune to panic if anything I panic way too frequently about things that are far out of my control but meditating has allowed me to take my power back. It’s not a flawless solution and there are plenty of times I don’t turn to it, but when I do, it’s incredible to witness the shift.