Stress Buster #2: 🧘 Meditation🧘‍♀️

I was a terrible meditator. Yes,  that’s what I convinced myself.  Think about that statement for a moment. How could you ever be a terrible meditator? All you do is sit, breathe and close your eyes.

Simple, right? Yeah, if you’re a type-A person as most of us claim to be, that’s like the hardest thing to do. I can remember the questions that would pop up in my mind as I considered adding meditation to my life.

• Am I doing it right?
• How long am I supposed to do this?
• Why am I uncomfortable?
• How dan I shut off all these thoughts?
• Why am I falling asleep?

Let’s tackle each question one at a time.

Am I Doing This Right?

It seems like meditation is simple, but starting to meditate can take a little bit of preparation. 

Can you do it sitting at your desk?. Absolutely. You can sit with your back up against the back of your chair, feet firmly placed on the floor, spine in a nice beautiful elongated place. All you have to do is drop your chin slightly forward and down and close your eyes. 

It’s that simple. You may have seen the Buddha or other yoga people seated in a cross-legged position. Well, that’s not required; you can also meditate sitting on the floor.

I recommend grabbing a folded blanket or a bolster or a few pillows, And using these as props so that you’re comfortable in the seated meditation. Comfort is essential, so you’re not in meditation thinking in your mind, “my knee is aching, or my back is feeling strained.”  Using props is not cheating. It actually will help you to feel more comfortable so that you can focus on your breath.

As you align the spine, try to get the sitz bones--those bony prominences on your backside that you’re sitting on, to draw down toward the floor or the blanket. You may want to place a pillow under each knee for comfort.  And then roll the shoulders up by the ears backing down to loosen up because we sit at the desk all day we tend to hunch forward, which is not optimal for breathing. Rolling the shoulders back will encourage an openness to the heart.

You probably think, what do I do with my arms and my hands? You can bring the palms faceup tilted towards the sky lightly placed on the thighs for a genuinely open position or if you’re feeling like your mind is racing, spin the palms down toward the thighs. That will help you to ground.

How Long Should I Meditate?

Meditation length and time is one of the questions I asked my meditation teacher. She very carefully answered, saying, “whatever suits you best, Lynda.”

I remember thinking all that wasn’t helpful. I’m an accountant, and I need data. Is it better to do it for five minutes? Is it better to do it for 15 or 30? And then, she gently answered a regular practice is better than irregular practice or no practice. So if you do it for one minute or 30 minutes, it doesn’t matter. The fact that you do it every day is where the power lies.

And that’s exactly where my journey began. I thought to myself, “ well, I can do anything for one minute.” And I sat for one minute, eyes closed and in a seated position. And then I tried the next week again, and I added a minute. Now in my practice, I have two settings on my insight meditation timer. I have a 7 minute one and a 15 minute one. It depends on the day which one I choose. Many times I’ll do 7 minutes, but I’ll sit there and crave more. But that comes with regular practice. There are also days where I sit there, and I feel like seven minutes is an eternity. But I do it anyway because the health benefits are there.

My mom has Alzheimer’s and is in a memory care center. Did you know that there’s statistical data that indicates a regular meditation practice will help stave off Alzheimer’s? Sign me up! I provide a link below regarding this data.

Why Am I Uncomfortable?

We tackled some of the tips for a seated practice above.  But with this question, I’m talking about uncomfortable in my head. Sometimes when I close my eyes, thoughts come racing into the forefront of my brain. 

Sometimes I think about my schedule. Did you know that regular meditation practice will help me to remember things? It’s so powerful when you’re busy and overwhelmed.  

Once you start a regular practice, it’s nice to make a space in your home dedicated just for that. You can even create what I would call an altar or just a space for important things to you. An altar or dedicated space is a place you want to return to over and over again. It will make you want to crave to be there. 

I have a meditation cushion in my home, and I have a crystal that I hold in my hand. I also put my journal there. When I complete my meditation, I go on to do my journaling.  I like to write every day just for 10 minutes. 

How Can I Shut off All of These Thoughts?

Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do a meditation? That’s what I thought. It’s not true. Some days I come to sit on that meditation seat, and my mind can have a gazillion thoughts. But I develop techniques to calm that monkey mind down. Here are a few of my favorite things to do when I have days like that:

• Simple breath counting. I like to count for on the inhale and six or eight counts on the exhale.
• Using a Guided Meditation. I have a great one that is 15 minutes long, and the teacher talks you through relaxing the entire body. You do this meditation from a lying-down position. It’s a great one for after a difficult day.
• Repeating a mantra.  A mantra is a repetitive phrase.  Keep it simple like I am that or even repeat a word like love, peace, joy.

Why Am I Falling Asleep?

Needing sleep is going to lead you right into the following article. Why you are falling asleep is due to being exhausted. Like I tell my yoga students when they fall asleep in savasana, it was meant to be if you fell asleep after a yoga practice or after or during meditation. Don’t feel bad that you didn’t stay awake. It’s your body telling you what you need.

The benefits of meditation are boundless. Below are a couple of articles that will give you some statistics on why you should incorporate this in your life to help you destress your day.

In the journals:

Mindfulness meditation practice changes the brain

Make Mindfulness a Habit 

I hope you enjoy these tips to incorporate into your life to live in a less stressed environment.