If you haven't heard me talk about it yet, you will now: I've been meditating. Not just once every once in a while, but twice a day, 15 minutes each time, for 21 days straight. I took a course called Ziva Online which taught me a type of meditation, and I've made a promise to myself to continue it as a practice. There are a few things that I've learned so far in my 21 straight days of meditation that I wanted to share (PS - that's 630 minutes of meditation or 10.5 hours...a decent amount of time to spend in your own head and learn a thing or two).
1) I have a thing or two to learn about myself - even at the ripe old age of 37.
I thought at this point in my life, I knew myself pretty well. But it's amazing what you learn when you try to spend this much time inside your own head. The first thing I realized is that I don't know everything about myself - for example, those big seemingly out of reach dreams and hopes? What is it that I really WANT in my life? I have a few ideas, but often when I get to the "manifesting" part of my practice, I don't really know what to focus on. And the biggest reason I realize is because I don't REALLY KNOW WHAT I WANT. It's crazy hard to manifest things in your life if you aren't crystal clear on what it is you want. The funny part about this? I don't think I'm alone in not knowing this about myself. I have had a few conversations with peers my age who have told me they don't know exactly what it is that they want. So lesson one - spend some time thinking about those seemingly larger than life goals.
2) Even when there is chaos all around, I can come back to myself and find calm/peace/strength.
This has been one of the most powerful things I am discovering through meditation. There is a certain quiet, a certain steadiness, a certain surety that I can find when I sit down to meditate. It is this solid, surefire place that I am realizing always exists inside. So no matter what kind of chaos might be happening on the outside (my kids yelling and screaming, cars honking, incessant rain pounding, for example), I am finding that I can find peace from it by recalling that steady feeling from within. It's challenging in the moment, but I think the more I practice through my meditation, the easier it will be to access this steady place. I think in the long term, this is what is going to benefit my life the most. It will be when I can draw from this place of peace and calm in any situation, that I will feel like I can handle almost any stressful moment with grace and love.
3) It really is a practice.
Meditation is not something that you just can do once and expect it to change your life. It has to be something that you practice...just like a sport. You practice to get better and to gain skills. You practice to refine those skills and become a better player. The same is true in meditation. It requires practice - refinement, muscles to be built - much in the same way a sport does. I think with practice, and consistency, meditation can make your life better. And each day is different - some days I feel like the practice is great, and sometimes it feels like I'm just not getting there. But as my meditation teacher says - you don't meditate to get better at meditating. You meditate to get better at LIFE.
4) The world would be a better place if we all spent a little more time in our heads.
I do believe that the world would be a better place if we all started to meditate. It is a way of dealing with past stress, and it allows your body to let go of stress that has a negative impact on you over time. If we all could adopt this practice, the world would be happier, less sick, less stressed and overall a better place. We spend so much of our time outwardly focused - comparing ourselves to others or focused on DOING things. I think we need to take a step back and spend a little more time just BEING, which meditation gives us the space to do.
Just a few lessons that I've picked up reflecting back on these past 21 days. I look forward to learning a whole lot more through this practice, and I will continue to share as I do. What about you? Do you meditate? If not, why not? Is it because you don't have time? Or you don't have the interest? If it's a time issue, I want to talk to you about it...send me a note and let's have a chat. If you do meditate, I'd love to hear what you've learned from your practice.
Interested in learning more about the course that I took? Check out Ziva Online here.