Meditation For a Calmer Mind
Many things can come to mind when thinking of meditation. If you’re like most people you probably visualize an aging monk sitting in a compact pose with eyes closed.. maybe even some humming in there? You’re not wrong for thinking that way, in fact that’s what comes to mind for most people when they think of meditation. Regardless of our biases or feelings towards meditation, it can actually be a very useful tool in the fight against your own subconscious.
I could link articles here until the end of recorded history, all with great content that talk about the health benefits of meditation, but instead I’d rather take a more personal approach. I want to share my experience with meditation, with all of you readers here. It’s not well known, but I have struggled with mental illness for the majority of my life and am happily medicated, and my symptoms are being properly managed. My turning point was finally receiving the help I needed but didn’t really know how to ask for, and it changed my life in many positive ways. One of the things I learned during my search for self, was the power of meditation.
Before I got into meditation, I really thought it was just another sales pitch by someone looking to make a quick buck. I think you know what I mean, those quick-fix health programs that claim to cure it all for a small price of $x.xx a month. Once I really gave it a good go, I was happily proven wrong! Now I try to meditate at least once a day, usually before bed or right when I wake up and it’s improved my overall mental health significantly. I give myself permission to simply stop and do nothing but focus on myself for at least 5 minutes. I take some big deep breaths in, close my eyes, and try to keep my focus on myself. I like to let me brain do what it wants for a portion of this time, and I try to note when my brain brings up something negative or “bad.” While in this state of focus, I’m able to really check in with myself, physically and emotionally. I’m able to take a step back and see what my brain does.
With meditation I was able to kind get to know my brain a little bit better. I was fascinated by being simply aware of how my brain wants to operate. With practice I was able to use “noting” to give myself perspective in high-stress situations where my decisions were very impactful, and important. I was able to start simply noting how I was feeling, not trying to get rid of the emotion, but just being aware that I am feeling it was empowering. It felt as though I was in control again, that there was a higher voice in all the chaos and noise that could just call out and say “hey, you’re feeling overwhelmed.” Like a voice of someone who cares about me and my wellbeing, telling me to take a step back and gain some perspective on the situation.
I almost think of it like my “manager” me. He’s the one who calls out to bring me back to reality when anxiety and emotion is running high. I love the technique of noting, it has really changed my life and I have to give credit to the app Headspace for really showing me what you can do with meditation. I highly recommend the app if you don’t have it already, I use it daily! (and no I’m not paid to say that, although I’d like to be @Headspace)
The act of meditation itself can lower blood pressure, anxiety, stress, and a list of other ailments. The best part about it, it’s free and can be done almost anywhere if you’ve got the focus for it. Simply allowing yourself to stop, relax, and take note of how you’re feeling in a given moment is very powerful. Give yourself the permission to simply stop. Stop doing anything, just focus on you and how you’re feeling. It takes practice, but try to tap into your body a little bit, are there any areas that hurt or feel uncomfortable? In doing this you can kind of do a check up on your body, giving yourself the opportunity to really focus on physical sensations and what’s going on inside of the only body you’ll ever have.
We tend to focus outwards, we focus on what the world is doing and forget to check in on ourselves. A really good way to think of this is to treat yourself like you’d treat a loved one. After your son has a challenging day, how would you offer him comfort? By advising him to get stupid drunk and forget all of his problems? I’d hope not, child protective services will repo your child in no time and you’ll probably star in the local nightly news. So treat yourself like you would your son, understand that you’re human, you make mistakes but you learn and grow from them. Meditation allows time to look back at the day and dive into what went wrong, what could’ve went better, BUT try not to focus just on the negative! There’s always something positive somewhere, you just need to find it.
Research even shows that our brains want to focus on the negative, but when we start being appreciative for the good things, we become a little more positive. I think that the field of mental health is really only getting started, there’s so much we still have to learn about the brain and how it operates. In the meantime, tools like meditation can help to alleviate the burdens of life. Give yourself permission to do nothing but focus on you, for however long you can. YOU are your most valuable asset!
What do you think of meditation? Has it helped you in any way? Let us know in the comments below!
