Meditation. Why the Hype?

When “organic” and “gluten-free” became buzz words, corporations jumped in and started churning out these products, albeit with lesser quality and questionable standards. I see a similar trend starting with meditation programs. It’s great that meditation is becoming widely accepted as a healthy lifestyle habit, when only about 10 year ago, it was considered weird and only cool for hippies. Just be mindful—if you’re considering purchasing a meditation program, be sure that the source is sincere and authentic.

So what’s all the fuss about meditation?

Well, it works and really does change lives… when it’s practiced regularly and with sincerity. When I started a regular meditation practice, my life started to change. Drastically.

What is Meditation?

According to Google Dictionary – “to meditate is to think deeply or focus one’s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation. Think deeply or carefully about (something): ‘he went off to meditate on the new idea.’ Plan mentally; consider: ‘they had suffered severely, and they began to meditate retreat.’ Synonyms: contemplate, think about, consider, ponder, cogitate, muse.”

I’m going to say that the above is a great definition for “contemplate”—which is beneficial, but not life-altering.

Meditation, as we know it today, is simply being with oneself in silence, focusing inward and observing thoughts. That’s it! This can look like many things for many people, such as sitting in silence, repeating phrases/mantras, or following guided meditations.

How to Meditate—6 Simple Steps

If you have a meditation practice that works for you, great! Stick to it! I’m including some basic tips that helped me, and they could be a good starting place for you, if you’re looking for a place to start. In the end, do what feels right for you.

1. Be still

We were raised in a doing society, where success is based on bigger, better, faster, stronger, smarter, and to get there, we need to DO—push harder, accumulate more things and achieve more. If we’re not doing something, we risk being frowned upon or being labelled as lazy or not trying hard enough.

Phooey.

It is only when we can rest in the stillness of our raw selves and be comfortable and loving in that space, that true, lasting success and peace is found.

For starters, just sit down and be still. And you can scrap the cross-legged-sitting-on-a-cushion classic meditation pose. Not needed. If you love Lotus-ish poses—go for it! Just do what feels good in your body. Ideally, your spine is erect and your body is relaxed and comfortable. For me, this means sitting on the edge of my couch, with my knees bent and feet flat on the floor. I also wrap a blanket around me.

Some people walk and meditate. That’s cool. Hot yoga is really my greatest meditation, which kinda goes against the whole “be still” idea—but it really drives home the other aspects of meditation, touched on below.

Oh, and close your eyes. This will help to keep your focus inward. If you must keep your eyes open for some reason, then focus on an object low and in front of you, so your eyes and lids can be relaxed. Some people gaze at a flame or mandala.

Just sit. Be soft. Be still.

2. Be Quiet

While being still, stop talking—externally and internally. Now this can be the tough part for some. The goal of meditation is not to stop our thoughts! It’s perfectly OK, normal and expected for thoughts to arise during meditation. A freight train can’t be stopped in an instant; and so it is with our thoughts. We think roughly 80,000 thoughts a day! They will not stop when you sit down to meditate. Expect them to continue.

But here’s the thing—don’t get sucked into the thoughts. YOU are not your thoughts. You have the ability to see a thought—meaning, you can discern that you are thinking a thought. Just observe and notice the thought. So, when a thought comes up like, I think I’ll make salad for dinner, your job is to notice the thought: oh look, there’s a thought about dinner, and then let the thought pass by without you. The alternative is you continue with (get sucked into) the thought, like, I need to go to the store and get spinach and peppers. I should probably get gas on the way. Darnit, where is that gas coupon? And when (not if, but when) that happens, simply bring your attention back to your body.

It can help to place your attention on your breath—how it feels in the body coming in and going out. And when your attention goes to a thought, gently bring your attention off the thought and back to the breath.

That’s it. While being quiet, just observe your thoughts without getting sucked into them.

3. Be Receptive

Approach meditation with exploration and curiosity. Begin each session with innocence—as if each time is your first time. This helps you open to receiving and experiencing meaningful and helpful insights or messages during your practice.

Be still and know I AM God. Most are familiar with this phrase. God, the Universe, our higher Self, etc. constantly communicates with us. And when we are still and quiet, we’re more apt to actually sense and receive these Divine messages. Eventually, when we master the art of mindful living, receiving these higher communications become a regular part of our active lives, not just when we’re sitting in silence.

Be open to receiving.

4. Breathe

This is a big one. If you could do just one thing, this would be it. Breathe. Deep into the belly. Slowly.

My yoga instructors say that if I could just breathe with awareness during my yoga class, then I will have achieved the goal of the class.

Breath is the link uniting our mind and body with our true essence. As crazy as this might sound, I’d go so far as to say that we are breath. Regardless, breath is the most important thing to our human existence—and on that, I’m sure everyone agrees. Our breathing is regulated by our autonomic nervous system; oddly enough, we can consciously alter and use our breath to regulate our autonomic nervous system. When we breathe deep into our belly, it signals our body to relax and enter a restful state. It also slows our brain waves, which allows us to get past our thoughts and into our subconscious mind—where the beliefs reside that have been running our lives, most-likely against our conscious desires.

Just Breathe. Deeply.

5. Love

You probably haven’t heard this one too often. It’s like the nitro-boost to my meditation practice. I generate the feeling of love in my body. If you’re reading my post, chances are you’ve experienced love at some point in your life, and you know what the physical sensation of love feels like.

What you may not be aware of though, is that you can consciously create the feeling of love in your body at will—and it is SO healthy and beneficial to do this. Often.

When in a relaxed state, generate the feeling of love. How you do this is up to you—envision a loved one or recall a loving moment. Whatever works! If you’re having trouble with that one, try feeling deep gratitude; this will work equally as well.

Whether love or gratitude, allow the feeling to consume you. Get lost in it. Become it.

Be Love. Be Gratitude.

6. Repeat

There is some benefit in meditating occasionally. There is great benefit in meditating regularly. If you’re just starting out, start with 5 minutes. Just keep it at it. Every day.

Ideally, you work your way to 20-30 minutes—you’ll find that around 20 minutes, the thoughts start to slow down (yes, eventually they do slow down… just don’t strive for that to be your goal).

And trust me. Please. If you “don’t have time to meditate,” carving out time will actually create more time in your day! Sounds slightly crazy, but it’s true. I live it.

What does Meditation Do?

The simple, short answer is, you’ll:

• Experience less stress
• Make better choices
• Improve your health
• Have more energy
• Feel happier
• Be more patient and tolerant
• Care less about the little things that typically annoy you
• Care more about others
• The list goes on…

The longer, complicated answer is, the more often you can experience yourself as the feeling of love, the more your energetic blueprint takes on the vibration of love. Your energy will align to the energy of your higher Self, the Universe, God, etc. And when this happens, things really get interesting and awesome; especially when you follow the interesting messages/hunches/intuition you’ll get more and more of as a result of your regular meditation practice. Your life will reflect the people, things and circumstances that are of the same, higher vibrational frequency—and these are generally desirable and feel good!

Your life will begin to rock!

On Affirmations…

Affirmations are most effective when you integrate other practices in your life along with them, such as those outlined above.

Quick tip: do your visualizing and affirming with passion and emotion and toward the end of your meditation. The affirmations and visualization will more readily enter your subconscious when you’re in a relaxed state, and this means your body will perceive those things as already true and begin creating the new reality you are envisioning.

If meditation is so easy, why don’t more people do it?

Be still. Be quiet. Breathe deeply. Feel love. Simple, easy and free tools that are accessible to anyone anywhere! Sounds easy, right?

So why the heck did it take me 15 years before I started to meditate?! Jeepers, I’d be an ascended saint by now, had I started meditating back then!

My mind told me I couldn’t do it. My mind told me I didn’t need to do it. My mind told me I knew how to meditate because I read about it for 15 years. My mind told me that I didn’t have enough time. And then, when I did finally sit down, my mind told me that it just wasn’t working and that it was useless. My mind told me that I had “monkey mind” and that I could never meditate and quiet my thoughts. And so I stopped trying.

Meditation is simple, but not necessarily easy. It takes willpower, determination and commitment to persist and just do it, despite the mind/ego resistance.

My recommendation: simply know that all the resistance is normal and expected. Assure your mind that it’s normal to resist and doubt, and that you’re just going to do it anyway and see what happens. No expectations.

I get that your life is great without meditation! You eat healthy, exercise, and have loving relationships. Add regular meditation to your regimen; it will take your life to the next level!

I’d love to hear your meditation experiences, tips, questions and/or woes 😊 Comment below or email me!