So I'm sure you've been told by at least one person that meditation is super helpful.  Well I"m here to confirm that and say YES!

Meditation is a powerful practice that connects you to YOU! 

The benefits of meditation are HUGE especially in this culture where we are bombarded with stimulus, self doubt and a bunch of "shoulds". 

With meditation you connect to your inner voice which is your guiding intuition.

You become intimate with this voice by sitting with it.

Meditation also lowers stress, lowers anxiety, creates more self-awareness and positive emotions. 

I’m a big believer in creating your meditation practice as a way to connect with your intuition and intimate space. 

But 10 years ago, I had no idea how to meditate even with the knowledge it was good for me.  I was intimidated by the entire idea. 

Thoughts swirled around my mind...How can I sit and quiet my mind?  Where do I meditate?  I don’t think I can handle being with myself without doing something.  

Like many people, I was not familiar with meditation. It was a hard to imagine it as a daily routine. 

When I started massage school, I was a fish out of water. I was suddenly in group of people who all knew way more about the meditation than I did.

One of the first things we did was start the class with a meditation.  At first I had no idea what to do. I was so uncomfortable.  We were all sitting in a circle as the teacher led us through a guided meditation. I think I kept my eyes open 95% of the time. My mind was going crazy with tons of thoughts…was I doing it right? Will I keep my eyes closed longer than everyone else? What if I fall asleep? 

My mind would not shut off which made me even more nervous because that’s what meditation was supposed to be doing right?
The quieting of the mind??  So I felt I was doing it wrong and I felt like everyone else was doing it right. 

One day, my teacher said

"Mediation is not about quieting the mind but observing it instead." 

This changed my entire experience with a practice that felt far from what I could do.  

So this week I'm encouraging you to sit.  To begin a practice of observing.  If your first thought was NO WAY I CAN"T DO THAT I have included 3 myths of meditation that keep you from getting to know you.

3 MEDITATION MYTHS

You have to find a quiet place to do it in

Of course this helps but it is not necessary.  Part of the practice of meditation is to center yourself among the chaos of the world.  There is no such thing as the perfect meditative environment because the most important environment is the one inside yourself.

All your thoughts go away

The mind has one big job and that is to create thoughts!  The mind will always want to do its job, therefore, it will always want to make thoughts.  The thoughts are not supposed to go away in mediation.  The practice of meditation is to change your relationship with your thoughts, meaning, you begin to observe them rather than attach to them.  Thoughts will be present as you meditate especially in the beginning.  The practice is how you relate to the thoughts.

You don’t have time to meditate

Meditation is a practice that takes us out of the normal constructs of time.  It does not have to take hours out of your day. A simple meditation practice that is only 5-10 minutes is powerful and can begin shifting your relationship with yourself and your awareness. 

Today is the day to start SITTING with YOURSELF.

 Remember You are always WORTH your time and attention!  

Have fun exploring,
xo
Monique