I have had a love-hate relationship with meditation most of my life.
As a child I was stuck between two contrasting schools of thought. Firstly, that of my parents who practiced meditaiton regularly and went to weekly group and secondly, that of my the rest of my Catholic family who, upon discovering that one of my many uncles had taken up meditation, managed to convince themselves that what he actually did was levitate.
I kid you not.
So I was never really sure about it all. As a teenager I tried meditation with the folks and it was all very calm and peaceful but my teenage mind kept wandering to more important things like eyeliner and Led Zepplin.
Meditation got put in a box that wasn’t really opened for a long time.
Then Yoga Teacher Training came along and the albatross of meditation reared its ugly head once again. Everything suddenly became more competitive. How many hours and hours of yoga and meditation practice we did each week, how many raw vegetables we’d eaten, how calm we remained. I was working full time in coporate law back then and the chance of me doing more than twenty minutes of yoga practice outside of class was minimal, let alone meditation, and as for raw vegetables…..intravenous coffee more like!
I tried everything. I got up in the morning before work to sit, I tried sitting before bed, I joined meditation groups (and left them within weeks) and nothing worked. The asana practice of yoga was going swimmingly, I soon got to a point where getting on my mat in the morning was as much a part of my routine as cleaning my teeth, but the meditation just wasn’t happening. Whenever I tried to sit I felt like I was being confronted with a battalion of things I just couldn’t or didn’t want to face.
So back it went in its box. Yoga is a moving mediation right? I was working along the right lines.
And I guess I must have been because over recently I have started something that resembles a regular meditation practice.
And it came from nowhere.
Because I realised (as Amy Palko did this week also), that it doesn’t have to be hard.
That meditation isn’t about sitting cross-legged on the floor (yes, shock horror, a yoga teacher who abhors sitting cross-legged), amidst incense smoke, for hour upon hour.
That just 5 minutes a day is a huge achievement.
That the important thing is to be able to sit quietly with yourself each day.
That even if 1000 crazy thoughts come into your head in those five minutes , you’re doing it just right.
And that already, things are changing.
~~~~~
Five Minute at-home Meditation Practice
Want to give it a go at home? Try this.
Take a comfortable seat. If you’re comfortable sitting cross-legged then that’s good, but if not sit in a chair – one where you can ensure you have straight spine – and plant the soles of both feet firmly on the floor.
Place the hands on the thighs in any way that feels comfortable (you can place the hands in Chin Mudra if you like, but it’s really not necessary).
Set a timer for 5 minutes.
Close your eyes and listen to your breath.
Once you have settled into a nice even rhythm of breath, begin to count the breath like this:-
Inhale 30, Exhale 30
Inhale 29, Exhale 29
And so on, all the way down to 1.
Your mind will wander. Observe that, don’t judge and bring it back to the count.
You might lose count. That’s OK, just start again from 30.
When your timer goes off, stop counting, wherever you are and stay seated with the eyes closed for another few breaths.
Slowly open the eyes and continue with your day.
(Note: if you don’t have a timer or don’t want to use one, 30 slow even breaths takes about 5 minutes).
Loved this Rachel, I am slowly but surely transforming myself from stressed out corporate being to free and more relaxed small business owner and meditation, visualisation is helping me enormously. This piece is hugely refreshing and indeed I am a big fan of Amy Palko and not sitting cross-legged.I get cramp after two minutes !!! Thank you xx
Love this! Such a great reminder!
At a workshop with Erich Schiffmann, he talked about meditation being as easy as hitting the snooze button in the morning, sitting up just a bit but staying in that “fuzzy mind” state, and becoming aware of your breathing rather than falling all the way back to sleep. I love this. Totally and easily integrates it into most people’s days. And it is a great way to start the day more mindfully.
Awesome! I’ve been working on meditation for the past three months – and try to remind myself that even 5 minutes of practice that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere is SOMETHING GOOD!
My mum is Catholic and she swears that she heard that those weird types (meditators, yogis etc) levitate too! Is this some kind of conspiracy?
I’ve also recently discovered that even 5 minutes meditation is enough and I’ve done at least 5 minutes everyday for almost 3 months. It’s strange now how it’s just a part of my everyday life now when it was one of those ‘got to do it’ things for so long. Off to my zafu now myself!
Oh *love* this, Rachel – absolutely suits me down to the ground!
I too have really struggled with regular meditation – hugely resistant towards it. And this is one of the main reasons why I do my visualizations – I know it’s not the same as meditation, as such… maybe I have a visualization practice rather than a meditation one!
However, this looks so easy that I just can’t resist giving it a go
Thank you, lovely lady!!
Amy
xx
I do a similar meditation exercise quite often, but with a switch.
Instead of Inhale 30, Exhale 30; Inhale 29, Exhale 29, etc. I begin my counts with the exhale. It makes a huge difference in settling my mind.
I love how so many of us are coming out of the cupboard, it used to worry me that I was ‘failing’ in some way, so I kept my own practice to myself!! And then I started to share it with clients because they were struggling to and I was giving them permission just to do it as they saw fit!
My favourite meditations are out walking, taking a shower, cooking a meal, ironing (rarely!) and sometimes I just sit and gaze out of the window and find half an hour has passed.
At night, in bed as I settle down is when I do a more focussed meditation and I drift off to sleep completely free of thought, it’s glorious
I wish I could be a Mediator…I wish so many things. I am just a frantic mess. And I know that’s the point of it then…but it…well, it makes me angry almost…I know, that makes no sense.
But neither do I. So nice to find your blog again (used to read before). You and your husband (and cats!) are adorable.
I have always used mindfulness to become part of the moment of doing something and fully engaging. For instance, when drinking tea or coffee, fully become aware of all aspects of the preparation, pouring, and drinking without thinking of something else. Just be present, its a great exercise and then return to the breath when needed.
I love this! Thank you for sharing.
I laughed imagining my own family turning the idea of meditation in to levitating. Too funny!