Meditation is a wonderful tool for self-care. Years ago, before I learned about this powerful healing practice, I thought meditation was something that wouldn’t work for me. I didn’t know how to meditate. I couldn’t sit still for more than five minutes without my mind wandering, and I certainly did not receive any fantastic revelations or journeying to other dimensions that I had heard about from professional practitioners. I was reluctant to try it. But when I did finally sit down and do a guided meditation, it felt wonderful. I was relaxed, peaceful, rested. I didn’t need to have any exciting experiences. I just needed to switch off from the stress of daily life for twenty minutes and allow my mind to rest. Over the years I have adapted my meditation practice so that I can do quick exercises for deep breathing when I need to calm down, or so that I can keep myself in check when the children are running riot. I don’t need to sit for forty-five minutes every day to meditate, because now is not my time for that. Perhaps when I am older and have less demands for care and attention from my family, I might be able to, but now I do meditation my way, and it works for me.
Do you practice meditation? How did you learn to meditate? It is something that I assumed would be easy to do, but it takes a lot of practice and dedication. It also takes perseverance. I asked my husband to meditate with me once, a long time ago, but because he couldn’t settle into the process, he decided that it wasn’t for him and he hasn’t tried it since. And that is absolutely fine. Our bodies will tell us when we need to slow down, when we need to listen, when we need to try something new. Even if we just play some relaxing music and simply sit still, we are meditating. We can allow all of those thoughts and emotions and feelings to run wild, we can allow them to pass through our minds, and we can let go of being busy, just for a short time. It will help. It is a work in progress.
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