What if I told you the key to a happier life, a clearer mind, better focus, and decreased stress could be accomplished by meditating 5 minutes a day?
If you’re already a meditator, you might say, “Tell me something I don’t know.”
If you’re not a meditator, take a moment and ask yourself why.
Do you doubt that 5 minutes a day of meditating will really make that big of a difference?
Are you unsure about where to begin?
Or do you think like I did in 2005, when I started meditating—that meditation sounded like a bunch of hippie hooey and that if I tried it, I’d end up sounding like Frank Costanza on Seinfeld yelling “Serenity Now”?
(If you don't know about the world's funniest approach to meditation, or you just want a laugh, take 47 seconds and check out what happens when Frank’s doctor gives him a meditation tape.)
I wish I could say I wasn’t quite as stressed as Frank was, but the truth is I was probably worse. I had hit my personal bottom back then and was desperate enough to try anything.
Fortunately for me, when I began meditating, I had a guide who shared tips of getting started and what to expect. Her first lesson may be my favorite.
Try meditation for a week, and if you don’t like it, quit.
If you want to become a less reactive, more patient, and yes, even serene person, then meditation really is worth a try.
But if it’s not for you, it’s not for you, and that’s okay. After a week, you’ll know. It only took me a couple of days to notice the difference.
I began to feel calmer and more present to my son. I actually enjoyed playing with him instead of letting my mind wander to all the things I still had to do.
I also began to notice a more optimistic and grateful frame of mind. Little setbacks didn’t send me off the deep end. I was taking things in stride.
Simply put, those 5 little minutes a day made me a better, happier person who was much easier to be around.
If that’s not the effect you get from meditation, then move on. Give something else a try. Simple as that.
Pick a consistent time during the day to meditate—and be real about it.
During my one-week experiment with meditation, I knew that picking a consistent time was going to be tough.
I was working from home and taking care of my toddler, so my days were not predictable.
I was honest enough with myself to know that I would never wake up early to meditate and that if I put it off to the afternoon or evening, I’d probably fall asleep.
One consistent thing my son did do every day was take a morning nap, so I decided to spend the first 5 minutes after he went down meditating.
As my life changed, my meditation time changed. For a long time, I meditated while sitting in my car in the pickup line at my son’s school.
Today, I meditate after I get dressed. Because I still work from home, that might be 9 a.m., or it might be 1 p.m. The consistency for me is the daily event rather than the clock.
Meditation sometimes means you’re going to feel your feelings.
Over the years, I’ve skipped meditating a day or three here and there, and it’s no big deal. Everyone gets busy or goes on vacation or chooses TV or a video game sometimes.
What is a big deal, though, are the times when I consciously choose not to meditate. It usually means one thing—I’m avoiding my feelings.
Yes, you get amazing mental and physical benefits from a daily meditation practice, and people love to talk about those things.
What they don’t love to talk about, though, is what might come up for you as a result of meditation.
A daily meditation practice actually creates space for you to experience your feelings and really notice what is going on in your mind, your body, and your life.
Sometimes, it’s not pleasant, but it is always helpful.
Living a spiritual life is about discovering who you are, what you think, what you believe, and what works for you and what doesn’t. Meditation is that path to that knowledge.
The great news is that it also opens you up to joy, gratitude, deep connection, and hope.
Meditation is actually really simple.
My favorite definition of meditation is one I learned a couple of years after I started practicing:
Meditation is simply setting aside a specific amount of time to focus on one thing.
In the beginning, I decided to focus on my breath, and that is still my favorite way to meditate. I simply get into a physically comfortable position, close my eyes and focus on the sensations of my breath in my body.
I feel the air come in through my nostrils, expand my lungs, and then exit through my exhale.
Then I do it again.
Then I notice that my focus is no longer on my breath, and I refocus on my breath.
And then I do that again.
After my allotted time, I’m done, and I go about my day.
I know that I’ve done my bit and that whether I’ve had to refocus 10 times or 1,000 times during my session, I’ll be seeing the results of my dedicated time.
It might look like when a great idea “comes out of nowhere,” when I notice the shapes of the clouds instead of the length of the red light, or even when I fall asleep quickly because I feel serenity now.
If you’ve decided that yes, you have 5 minutes a day to give meditation a try, awesome! If you need a little inspiration, download my free
booklet.
As always, let me know in the comments what is working for you, what your meditation magic looks like, or how you think Frank Constanza would have managed 2020!
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