Meditation and How It Is the Best Thing I’ve Done for Myself

I recently started a meditation practice where I am meditating over an hour a day. I practice three times a day: I wake up early in the morning for my first practice, then I take a break in the middle of the day for the second, and finally, I meditate before going to sleep. I had always wanted to practice more but never found the will or time to do it. Then suddenly, I embarked on a spiritual journey which relied on meditation. A flip switched in my mind, and I just started – I am so grateful I did.

Meditating has become the highlight of my days. I look forward to the time I give myself to be quiet and listen. Then I practice letting go of my thoughts and gain a sense of peace that can only come from that time.

[Photo: Tim Goedhart/Unsplash]

Meditation in Action

Our family had a chaotic holiday vacation, where all our plans went awry. We had to deal with delayed flights due to a snowstorm, then faced closed airports on our way back home due to the same snowstorm. Next, we had to drive for seven hours instead of the normal four to get away from that same snowstorm. To make matters even worse, our plane couldn’t depart because it needed fuel, and then it needed to be deiced, and we eventually learned that our airline crew could no longer fly, so we spent New Year’s in the Denver airport.

Next, my entire family tested positive for Covid, so the hotel we were staying at told us we could not leave our room for five days. That was not going to work with three young daughters, so instead, I rented a house and told the owner of our situation. He was an angel who helped us out, and so we quarantined in a beautiful house. On our way back, we almost got delayed because President Biden was about to fly into Las Vegas for a funeral and they were going to close the whole airport. Luckily, we took off but flew right into a tornado storm in Houston. We spent the night there only to be awoken by tornado warnings.

I was glad when we finally reached home. It was such a relief to find the peace of my home and my office.

Even through all those events, I meditated, and in fact, those challenging external circumstances turned out to be a period of great growth for me. Through the stress, I breathed, in and out. I noticed my feelings and my thoughts, not all of them positive, but I just observed. I always felt better after I meditated, and sometimes I also felt a deep sense of peace that carried me through the next hours.

How Meditation Helps Me in Life

Now that I am back, I have continued my meditation habits, and bringing this practice into my daily routine has literally changed my life. As I have quieted my mind, I notice that the world around me has also become quieter. Some stressors have just fallen away.

Other times, I feel that deep sense of peace. I cannot always access it, but I hope to refine my skills over time, and when I do, nothing can affect me. Life continues as usual, but somehow, I’m better able to deal with the circumstances, my work is smoother, and I don’t have to force myself to make things happen.

For example, I was going through my goals for the year, a process that usually takes me hours and sometimes do not get around to until later. Somehow, I just sat down and did it, almost without noticing. I wrote them and finished in no time and way ahead of schedule. I am more focused and able to complete what I am working on with less distractions.

[Photo: Dmitry Osipenko/Unsplash]

If you have never tried meditating, I recommend starting for as little as five minutes a day. Some apps, like Headspace or Mindfulness, can help you. But to meditate, you do not need to do anything fancy. All you need is to relax your body (scanning it with your mind helps) and then breathing deeply a few times. Then, just keep watching your breathing and observing your thoughts and let them go. That’s it. Do that for as long as you can.

The benefits of meditating are many, but experience it for yourself: you will not regret spending that time on yourself.

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