What do you think of when you hear the word meditation?
A Buddhist Monk in a sprawling temple?
A yoga instructor on a California beach?
I’m sure these visions have passed through your head at one time or another.
One vision I’m sure hasn’t passed through your mind is that of a thirty-something-year-old, bald, bearded man, sitting upright on a large couch. But that image is me, every single morning, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year.
Birds chirping outside. An occasional garbage truck rumbling by. Train horns blaring from the nearby tracks. None of it bothers me – I let it become part of my experience.
That exact moment, for twenty minutes (or sometimes more), I sit in silence.
When I’m finished I feel calmer. I feel more focused; relaxed. I’m at peace with myself.
My thoughts aren’t as intense. They don’t have quite the grip on my mood as they did twenty minutes earlier.
It’s a peaceful ending to a typically anxious start to the morning.
Yet meditation isn’t a destination, it’s a journey.
HOW I STARTED MY DAILY MEDITATION PRACTICE
My meditation journey started when I was thinking of new ways to calm down my often angst-ridden mind.
My mind was constantly spinning with negative and fear-based thoughts, sometimes lasting most of the day. It was getting old and tiresome, and I wanted to find a new way to start my day.
That’s when, if by some stroke of fate, my good friend gave me a book written by Hip-Hop mogul Russell Simmons called Success Through Stillness. Simmons speaks in-depth about his meditation practice, one in which he does twice a day for twenty minutes. He explains that he’s meditated for years and that he craves it. He was not exactly the person I thought would be writing books about his love for meditation. But after reading it, I thought, “What do I have to lose?”
That book motivated me to try meditation myself.
So in October of 2016, I began my twenty minutes of daily meditation.
I decided to start with just one twenty-minute session a day, rather than two. Two seemed overwhelming to me. One I could handle.
There was only one problem – I had no semblance of a clue on how to meditate.
I just set my phone alarm for twenty minutes and went to town.
And there I was, me, myself, and my never-ending negative thoughts sitting silently with each other.
And let me tell you.
IT. WAS.TORTURE.
I would rather have listened to the sound of knives screeching across a plate or watched reruns of my beloved Cleveland Indians losing game seven of the World Series than meditate that first month.
Meditation was hard, I thought.
In the first few weeks, I could barely make it for the twenty minutes. Heck, I could barely make it five minutes without wanting to jump up and scream: “I CAN’T DO THIS!”
But…I never gave up.
I was determined to see the process through and learn how to sit with myself in silence.
So I made a promise not to stop. I would keep going until I had it down.
PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF
Day after day, week after week, month after month, I improved my technique.
I became more focused, more relaxed.
And now, years later, I crave my morning meditation.
It’s become a part of who I am.
Whenever that alarm clock goes off, I automatically smile inside, knowing the first twenty minutes of my day will be peaceful, quiet, and therapeutic.
I’m now learning how to breathe during my meditation to enhance the experience. With each passing breath, I begin to travel further and further into my unconscious. Thoughts will creep back in, quite naturally, and that’s okay. I let them float around. Then I go right back to my breathing. Eventually, things begin to slow down and my thoughts fade into a euphoric sense of peace.
It’s a transcendent process of illuminating the stillness of your subconscious mind.
I’ve noticed some changes in myself since I started meditating.
- I’m more self-aware
- I feel more compassionate and understanding towards myself and others
- My road rage has mellowed out
- I’m more mindful and aware of my thoughts and emotions
- My blood levels improved
- I’ve become a better listener
- I feel a slight calmness that I didn’t feel before
IN REVIEW
I ask all of you reading this who are interested in meditation to do your research on the subject. Ask questions, and if you feel it’s right for you, give it a try. I can assure you the dividends over the long haul will be well worth any frustration you feel early on.
And for those saying, “I can’t do it, my mind races too much.”
That was me! I was that person.
I had tried meditation a few other times in the past and hated it. But I quit before ever giving myself a chance to learn it.
If you start, do yourself a favor and give it time.
If you have to start by meditating for just a few minutes, that’s fine. Do what you are comfortable with – but try not to quit.
Meditation helped me in the launching of Upplifter by giving me a silent tool to lean on when I doubted myself.
I laugh when reflecting on that first time I sat down to meditate and how I struggled to keep my eyes shut for more than a minute.
Now I can’t imagine my life without this beautiful daily experience.
If you have any questions or would like a free mindset coaching consultation – contact me at brad@upplifter.com!
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