Meditation?? Nah, not got the time for all that!!
By Eileen Strong
Facts of life: we’re all busy!
So you’ve heard all about the potential physical and mental health benefits of Meditation. It is, after all, always being featured in the latest Health & Wellness magazines, E-zines, Blogs, Pods, Celebrity “secrets of my success” interviews, etc etc etc.
BUT .. you’re busy! Life is hectic! It’s full of demands on your time that you simply cannot escape from and you’re pretty full on already without trying to cram something else in. Sound like you? We’re all the same in that respect. Life can be pretty full on and we all have stuff to do, and roles to fulfil: carer, worker, brother, sister, mother, father, lover, worker, student, house-keeper, shopper, run-a-round, rescuer … I bet you could probably add a few more roles to that list of your own.
And if you know you’re a bit of a stress-head, or you suffer with anxiety, overwhelm, overthink, or stress-related symptoms of illness, you will most probably already SUSPECT that Meditation would probably be a good thing for you to get into … BUT .. you’re busy!!! You’re just never going to fit it into your already busy, hectic day!
Well, let’s see if we can help you find a way, because as the famous quote by Henry Ford/Buddha/Yoda/OtherGuru goes ….
“If you want to get something different from what you’ve always got,
you’ve got to do something different from what you’ve always done”
So, back to last month’s Meditation Questions on what the whole idea of Meditation is for you, how long do you think you need in order to Meditate? 1 or 2 hours of sitting cross-legged on a cushion on the floor with an empty mind, humming “Ommmmmm” to yourself?
Well, that is an option for you. And that IS a practice for many thousands of people who regularly meditate. If you read our Acorn newsletter last month, you’ll recall the 3 simple factors I highlighted about Meditation that everyone should know and none of them are difficult. And there are also many many MANY different ways to DO Meditation. We mentioned a few of those last month too. (Here’s the link for last month’s blog on Meditation if you want to check back for a 3 minute read: Meditation: What’s it mean to you?)
What’s all this mean for me?
What all this means is that simply by INTENDING to do it, we can shift ourselves PDQ from our busy, stressy, doing, fretting, over-thinking, over-worrying state, and within a minute or so, drop into what I call a more “meditative state of being”. i.e. being calm, focused, yet relaxed. Yep .. in just a minute or so.
How cool is that? And -more importantly – how many minutes are there in a whole day?
Well, 24 hours in a day. Let’s delete 8 hours of those for a good night’s sleep (Meditation can help you with that too, by the way, if you need it!) which still leaves 16 hours with 60 minutes in every hour. Let’s do the math. 16 hours x 60 mins = a whopping 960 minutes. Could you promise yourself just 1, 2, or 3 mins of that, every day, to introduce some regular Meditation into your life. Just 1, 2 or 3 mins for YOU? Investing in YOUR physical and mental health? You – you beautiful soul – deserve that at the very least, and I know you can do that, with just a bit of determination. So why not give it a go?
HOW, exactly, can you fit it into a busy day?
Well, take a look at your day. It might seem absolutely rammed full of all that “stuff” you have to do. Think about all the routines, or little habits, that you already have in place in your day.
Morning face-wash, morning cuppa, breakfast, morning dog-walk/school run, mid morning coffee break, lunch break. How about the afternoon, tea-time, time to exercise, evening family time, pre-bed relax time, bed-time. Look at all those habits and routines you already have in place .. and ask yourself, where can I add (or include) 1, 2 or 3 mins to just stop and BREATHE? And if you’ve got more time, like a whopping whole 5 or 10 mins YOU time, try it then too?
So what do I do then, if its all so easy?
Of course, there’s a bit more to meditation to simply stopping, and breathing. Or .. is there? Well, it’s a great place to start. You might be quite surprised what a difference just that teensy little 1, 2 or 3 minutes can make.
Literally, just STOP, and BREATHE. This is a very mindful practice. It’s a great place to start, really it is! Could you do it for the next 7 days?
Why not give it a whirl. Let us know how you get on with this! We’d love to know!
Want to learn more?
I’m delighted to be hosting a monthly meditation class here at Acorn in the studio. If you’re fairly local to Heanor, why not come along and join us.
It’s very friendly, informal and welcoming .. and you’ll learn loads about Meditation, how to do it, get to practice it, and meet some other folks too who are finding out more about it just like you, and beginning to reap the rewards of it in their lives.
This isn’t a same-old same-old class either; we don’t do anything by halves here at Acorn Natural Health Centre!!
Regular members of the class can expect to:
- Get well practised in the basics of a solid Meditation practice for use at home and other times in your day!
- Practise different Meditation techniques (there are hundreds; that should keep us going for a while!!) A great opportunity to just have a go! Have fun with it too, why not?
- Enjoy a beautiful, relaxing Guided Meditation every month (a different theme each month, usually aligned with the seasons, for some variety!)
- Meet guest Meditation Teachers from time to time whom I invite along to join us so you get a fresh perspective and new experience .. all good!
- And other exclusive bonuses just for class regulars.
To pre-book your place on Eileen’s upcoming monthly Meditation classes, visit EileenStrongCoaching-Events and buy a ticket, or for any extra help with anything discussed in this Blog, contact her direct at eileen@eileenstrongcoaching.com
