Meditation: the practice that will change your life.

As I sit in silence preparing to meditate, I feel the all too familiar feeling of distraction. The buzzing of energy fighting my decision to sit down and be still in the middle of the day. This used to be a feeling I would dread; my over active mind and anxious thoughts moving at the speed of light trying to prove to me that I had too many other things to accomplish. Telling me that sitting still was a waste of time. Now, as I sit down and shut out the external world, I welcome the feeling. I notice my mind retaliating for a moment as my ego rears it’s grumpy little head. My ego tells me that I haven’t accomplished enough today. I haven’t “earned” my meditation time. That I need to be constantly busy to feel productive. Worthy. 

Have you felt this before? 

The most common answers I get when I ask someone if they meditate are:

“I can’t. My mind is too active.” 

“I can’t sit still that long.” 

“Meditation doesn’t work for me.”

“I don’t know how.”

And to all of those responses, my answer is this: 

No one can meditate before they practice. I don’t know of anyone that was born a meditation expert. I’m not saying they don’t exist, but I haven’t met them if they do. 

The truth is, meditation is learned through diligent practice. How many things did you practice as a child before you learned? An instrument? A sport? How about now as an adult, when you started your job did you get trained to learn your position? If you’ve never worked out, would you expect to walk in and squat 300lb on your first try? No. You see where I’m going with this…

So let’s break down some meditation myths: 

Meditation is hard. 

Meditation is only for certain types of people. 

Meditation has to be practiced for __ amount of time. 

Meditation has to be done with eyes closed. (Surprise! Not true)

Meditation is only a “spiritual practice” or for “spiritual people.”

Now, let me share some true facts: 

Meditation can be done anywhere, anytime by anyone at any age. 

If you are human, you can meditate. 

Meditation is the practice of being present. 

That might sound simple but stop for a moment and think about how often you feel truly present. No phone, no TV, no reading, no daydreaming, no thinking of the past, future or anything else outside of right where you are, right now. Meditation is the art of living in the NOW, which is the only time that actually exists. You can think about, worry about, get excited and daydream about the future all you want, but it hasn’t happened; and it may or may not happen. The past has already happened. So when our attention gets pulled in either direction, we quite literally check out of our life AS it happens. We miss the little moments that bring the most joy. We miss connection with the people around us. We lose our ability to tap into our intuition and to read the energy of our surroundings. But the saddest part of checking out is that we disconnect with ourselves. Often turning to substances, extreme lifestyles or becoming workaholics as a distraction to avoid getting to know ourselves; our deepest desires, dreams, fears, blocks and pain. 

While meditation can bring on some pretty cool, trippy experiences (10 out of 10 if you ask me :p), it’s important to know WHY you’re doing it. It isn’t always about the experience. It’s about rewiring your brain. Think of it like going to the gym and creating muscle memory; the more you practice, the easier it gets. When we practice sitting still and being present by bringing awareness to our body, our breath and our surroundings, we are rewiring our brain to be present. We create new neural pathways. In other words, when we face daily challenges that bring on stress and anxiety, that brain muscle memory kicks in allowing us to handle it in a different way. Allowing us to consciously respond rather than react. Why? Because all that meditation and breathing practice calms the nervous system and adrenal glands. It helps us observe the experience rather than be lost in it; respond vs. react. And when that happens, my friend, you will know it and feel the difference. You will feel the change in your quality of life. You will feel elevated to a higher level of consciousness; feeling calmer, more relaxed, present and full of love. This is a feeling I want every single person to experience. 

Stay tuned for more blog posts to learn about different types of meditation and where to start. Spoiler: it can even involve music and dancing! 

XO