For years, I had wanted to create a consistent meditation practice. One day, I decided to challenge myself to meditate every morning for the month of August for at least five minutes and post it on Instagram. And I did it!
Then I thought, well, why can’t I keep doing this? So I did. As of today, it’s been 100 days!
I want to share what worked for me, what didn’t work so well, and the benefits of this practice. This is my experience, so it might not work the same for you!
What worked
Meditation is a way to bring awareness to our thoughts. I felt that it was easier for me to do this if I grounded myself in my body. How did I do this? Before I meditated, I tried to do either of the following:
Exercise
Sun salutations
While I meditated I tried to do the following:
Neck rolls and stretches
Body scan (guided or unguided) - I usually went from head to toe, becoming aware of each part of my body.
When I was grounded in my body, my shoulders felt more relaxed, my breathing felt more at ease, and my thoughts didn’t race in a million places (not that there’s anything wrong with that 😉).
Instead of feeding into the anxiety of my thoughts, I was able to better observe them as if they were an external entity.
It also helped me to concentrate on my third eye and repeat phrases over and over.
For me, concentrating on my third eye is a way to concentrate. When I close my eyes, I visualize a tunnel that keeps twirling and going and going. I found it as a way to manifest and observe myself in the present. We all just continue to move forward in life with no idea about what might happen, just like following that tunnel. I found that this was a good way for me to stay present and allow myself to trust the process.
Some phrases I repeated were “be like water.”
be like water be like water be like water…
This also helped me stay present. It allowed me to have humility and understand that life is bigger than me, just like the ocean. I can only do what I can do, so I’ll keep doing that :)
Lately, I’ve been repeating “manifest.” I have so many things I want to accomplish. By repeating this phrase, I’m able to have less anxiety about what I want to do and, rather, instill a quiet confidence that I can manifest what I want. I have no idea if what I’m seeking to do will or will not happen, but it also doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have the worth and confidence to try. Mistakes and obstacles will always be waiting for us, the least we can do is have faith in our own abilities.
What didn’t work as well
I’m not going to say the following never worked, but I will say that it didn’t work as well for me on a consistent basis.
Focusing on my breath
Forcing myself to meditate longer
It felt labor-intensive for me to only focus on my breath for at least 5 minutes. At times, I did have to take some deep inhales and audible breaths which helped reduce my pent up energy, but I only had to do this briefly. If I concentrated on my breath the whole time, I didn’t find as much of a benefit.
I was trying to build up my meditation, but I realized that 5-7 minutes each morning fits in my schedule and allows me to take the right amount of time for myself. I didn’t want to feel forced to meditate if it wasn’t feeling authentic. So I stopped feeling like I had to :)
How meditation has helped me
Meditation has helped me in so many ways. I’m sure there are ways I don’t even realize it has helped me. I’ve had a lot of changes in the past couple of months: I bought a place, I started a new role at work, and I started making new plans for my creative journey (more to come on that later 😉).
Here are the ways meditation has helped me:
I show up for myself every morning.
I am more aware of my thoughts.
I judge my thoughts less (I still judge them, but not as much).
I am more mindful of my body throughout the day. When I get anxious, I take a deep breath, stretch my neck, or even say out loud “I am anxious” - this does wonders!
I make healthier decisions based on my mental state.
I allow myself to feel my feelings instead of trying to convince myself that “I’m fine.”
Do you meditate? How has it helped you? Or what other techniques do you use?
Thanks for reading!
With love,
Nisha