Lessons from Somewhere: March 2013

Meditation is a practice I’ve wanted to do, but I’ve always found it so darn difficult and have never been able to stick with it for more than a few days at a time. Interestingly, I’ve been thinking about it over the past couple of months. It’s been one of those “I should really look into this,” sort of things that I didn’t pay much attention to.

In early March, I received an email from Oprah (yes, I receive daily emails from her… whatever). She wrote about a 21 day meditation challenge that she and a guy named Deepak Chopra were co-leading. Since I didn’t give anything up for Lent, and since meditating was something I’d been thinking about, I decided that this was my chance to commit to learning more (plus I think Oprah can do no wrong… but I digress).

Deepak & Oprah

The first few days were hard. Lying there, passive for 15-16 minutes everyday was a struggle. In those moments, I just kept trying. Like Brene Brown says, with practice comes ease, so I stuck with it and continued meditating. I also decided to stop getting frustrated. Instead, when I found myself distracted or when I began focusing on other things that I could be doing instead of trying to be still, I recognized that these thoughts were exactly why I needed to meditate, so that I could slow my thinking and actually truly relax.

This challenge taught me that I’m rarely completely silent. Passivity is necessary. It’s in these moments that we’re able to completely commune with whatever spiritual power we may believe in. I began understanding what was holding me back or preventing me from attaining that true sense of freedom that we all so often desire. Confidence, mindfulness, not worrying, breath; each needed to have a higher priority in my life. I also “heard” (I say “heard” because I know it wasn’t me), “it’s not a habit, it’s a choice.” This simple little phrase has helped me to evaluate certain behaviors I partake in, habits that may not be the best choices for my health. Am I doing this because I want to or because it’s a routine?

After 18 days of meditating, I had a stressful work situation to deal with. As I stood in the lobby trying to trouble shoot, that normal sense of anxiety I typically feel when under pressure set in—basically I was entering catastrophe mode. As I began running the 3 1/2 blocks I needed to take to the post office in order to have a document postmarked by 5:00p, I intentionally took a second to stop. I slowed down a bit, took a deep breath and asked for divine intervention.

When the issue was resolved (everything turned out just fine by the way), I realized that these 21 days — though sometimes brutal — were changing my life. For the first time, I was able to look stress in the face and really choose if I was going to let it take control of me or handle it in a wiser way.

Turns out, those 16 minutes of silence, weren’t a waste of time after all. In fact, they’re making me into a better version of me.

 

 

 

 

 

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