How I Started My Meditation Practice, and Why I Will Continue

Every year I make a birthday resolution - just like a New Year's resolution, except at the start of my personal new year. This year I was so excited about my resolution to meditate everyday. Yep. EVERYDAY.  Every night before bed I lay on my floor, turn on my LED candles and let my mind be blank. It is wonderful.

Okay, "letting my mind be blank" makes it sound like it’s super easy. It’s not. It takes practice, but it gets easier quickly, and you can start off just doing five minutes a day and slowly build up to longer time. And fortunately you will notice benefits quickly. Having experience in the past with meditation, I started with just 10 minutes nightly, and started noticing benefits that first week.

Here is what I did. I set my timer on my phone and changed my alarm to soft chimes that would ring, nothing too abrupt — you don't want anything startling to bring you out of your meditation, especially if you are going to be going to bed shortly after. I also was very mindful in creating a peaceful atmosphere. I turned off the overhead lights and lit several candles. Well, I use the LED candles that have a remote because I find that is easier, but do what works for you. I then started by siting in the typical meditation pose: straight spine, legs crossed, hands rested on knees facing up. I soon found that this wasn't very comfortable for me and started just laying down to meditate. When I lay down to mediate I always lay on the floor. I want to make a sharp difference between meditation time and sleep time. My dogs had a little bit of a learning curve, as they thought me being on the floor meant playtime. The first week I would feel an occasional wet nose on my arm trying to get a game going, but they learned quickly.

My first week of meditating went really well. I was able to clear my mind, and I would only have a few thoughts try to sneak in. I was really off to a good start. Then week two happened. The second week I had a lot on my mind. I had made big goals for me personally and professionally, and was sidetracked with various new stressors, although they were mostly positive. In the evenings when I would lay down to meditate, and my mind became bombarded with thoughts, I felt like a failure because I wasn't able to turn my brain off. So, after struggling for the first two days I looked up some tips. The first tip was to focus on the breath. This was good. I took deep breaths and forced myself to be acutely aware of my chest raising and falling, how the air felt going in my nose out my mouth. I even imagined the air traveling through my body — through my chest, to my arms, to my legs. Focusing on my breath helped me from being distracted from my busy mind. Most days that was all I needed, but there were other days when my thoughts were extra persistent. On those days I would then imagine my thoughts being a tangible thing and capturing them with a bubble. Once the bubble had captured them, I would visualize them floating out of my mind. It was really lovely, that I could in fact capture them and remove them. It gave me power over my thoughts. Doing these tricks helped a lot, and so did being patient with myself when my thoughts would wander. It is natural for thoughts to pop up, be patient with yourself. Being aware of where your thoughts want to go is a great way to take inventory on your stressors. For example noticed that my mind thought about small tasks I was worried I would forget to do, like pick up dry cleaning. It made me realize that I needed to implement a better system to help me remember these things. I started writing a to-do list everynight for the following day. By simply putting that on paper it served as a reminder and took that worry away. Another thing I found that helped a was guided meditation. I stumbled upon UCLA's guided meditation page. There are 8 meditations that range in time. My favorite is the Loving Kindness Meditation. When I am done with it I feel airy, happy, and at peace. It is especially great for reframing your mind after a stressful day.

So, feeling happy and loving everyone and everything is just one of the side effects I have noticed, albeit a very good one. I have also noticed that I am able to fall asleep faster and sleep better, which in turn has left me with better days. I am also feeling less stressed.  I have noticed that my creativity has improved, and I think my jokes are even getting better, seriously - ask my husband. Now, I know I am not crazy in feeling the good effects of meditation. There have been several studies that have shown just how beneficial the practice can be. Take note of the word "practice." In order to reap the benefits, you do need to do it consistently, or at least semi-consistently. Scientists have been able to actually see, using MRIs, that the brain physically changes through meditation, from the Amygdala to the Hippocampus. Meditation creates more grey matter that changes how your brain works, and some of the benefits include: improved creativity and cognitive ability, increased energy, lowered stress levels, reduced blood pressure, and an improved immune system.

Pretty great, right? Meditation requires nothing but a few minutes of your day. So, if you are wanting a calmer, happier life, give meditation a try.

Best,

Rachel