“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet.
It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day.”
― Deepak Chopra
I was just like you once.
I would hear people talk about meditation and how it was this wonderfully soothing and life-changing experience for them and not believe a word they said.
How can sitting alone in silence and total stillness with your thoughts be relaxing? If anything, I wanted to get as far away as I could from my thoughts. Why would I want to sit alone with them?
About 8 months later, I am writing this post hoping to inspire one of you to begin to meditate. Keep on reading for how meditation has helped me, the guided meditation developed by a director at Stanford University that will help you feel more love in just a week (yes, I have linked the facts for you all), and a few tips that will help you get started on your own journey.
What You’ll Need:
- a quiet space (if it helps, let people in your household know that you are going to be unavailable for 10-15 minutes)
- yoga mat or meditation pillow (I use my yoga mat, especially if I am meditation outside on the patio)
- comfy clothing (I will wake up and throw on some yoga pants if I feel I need to stretch my body beforehand)
- headphones
- incense, your favorite candle, or an open window to let some fresh air in (I use these incense sticks by GONESH)
- a journal or note pad (you never know what revelations you may have during a session)
- 1-2 things that inspire you or hold value (I use a little heart-shaped piece of rose quartz that my little sister gifted me, a smooth rock with the words BLISS I bought in Leavenworth, and a bracelet I was given my a dear friend; yours can be a love note, photo of your family, etc)
- AN OPEN MIND (like anything else, mediation is a practice and one must go into it with compassion & patience for yourself)
- Before beginning, inhale for 5 seconds and exhale for 5 seconds while you are assessing how you feel mentally, emotionally, physically. If you find yourself losing focus by trailing the worries of life and routine as they cross your mind, don’t get frustrated — just come back to your breath. If I can’t focus during the beginning of a session, placing a hand over your heart and the other on your belly helps.
Why I Started
Depression. Anxiety. Stress. Fear. Insomnia.
Binging on anything and everything to feel complete, or just to feel anything.
Toxic relationships. Failed friendships. Heartbreak.
Career Change. Family Stress. Lack of confidence.
But even more…intense, and probably the #1 reason I began to take this precious time for myself, was the desire to cultivate a better relationship with myself.
The Love & Kindness Meditation
I will let you delve as deep as you would like into the research behind this particular guided meditation developed by Emma Seppala by leaving her website here.
I first came across it during the Tone It Up Bikini Series during one of Karena Dawn’s meditation videos. Click it below and please let me know how you felt and what you are hoping to gain for your own well-being and overall QUALITY OF LIFE in this life.
Do you meditate? What has been your experience? Also, do you have a meditation altar? Because I am thinking of creating my own. What incense do you use? Let me know in the comments!
n a m a s t e
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