Meditation Isn’t Just for Hippies

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Meditation.

Meditation is another word that strikes fear in my frients (friend clients) when I recommend it (“journaling” is a close second and you can read my thoughts on journaling here). And it usually triggers quite a list of excuses as to why meditation isn’t for them:

  • “I don’t have time.”

  • “I don’t know how.”

  • “I can’t get my brain to shut up.”

  • “I can’t sit still for that long.”

  • “But it’s so BOOORING.”

And the list goes on and on.

Just like journaling, meditation is NOT one size fits all. There are quite a few ways you can meditate, so I encourage you to find what works for you! And if time is an issue, start with 1 minute and go from there. Yes, I said 1 minute. But seriously, even 15 seconds of some deep cleansing breaths is a form of meditation. Try it and you’ll see how much better you feel just from doing that!

Here are some types of meditation you can try:

  • Guided meditation

  • Silent meditation

  • Music meditation

  • Walking meditation

  • Coloring

  • Some other activity that allows your brain to slow down (like cooking, painting, gardening, etc)

Play with the process and have some self-compassion as you discover what works for you. Also understand that no 2 days or meditation sessions will be the same. What worked for you yesterday may not work for you today, and that’s perfectly ok! If you’re looking for a great meditation app, I highly, highly recommend Insight Timer. It’s free and has a huge library of music, guided meditations, and talks (in addition to its timer feature). And it allows you to bookmark things you love so you can easily find them again.

Here is the other thing about meditation that is often misunderstood; the goal of your meditation time shouldn’t be to have zero thoughts. Thoughts will creep in; that’s kinda what thoughts do. The important point in regards to thoughts is that we try to put the mundane, human thoughts to the side until later (the to-do list, the “what am I going to make for dinner” conundrum, the shopping list, etc). Meditation is a time for us to listen to our intuition and receive messages from our guides and the Universe (God/Source/etc). Those messages will often arrive as thoughts, so it’s important to make the space to receive them by putting those other “earthly” thoughts on hold for the time being. I’ve personally received some amazing messages and inspirations during my own meditation sessions.

Have YOU meditated today?

meditation, self-care, wellnessAlicia Mastrangelo