Don't Knock it 'til You've Tried It

We’re all busy and juggle work with our personal lives. Some manage this better than others and float through the every day. Other people don’t have it all figured out 24/7.

Everyone has bad days.

When our lives get busy, we need a reboot.

“Well, I don’t have time for a reboot,” you say.

I say “Everyone needs to take a time out for their own mental health." One of the ways is to incorporate meditation into your day / week.

Hear me out.

I tried to avoid meditation, until it proved me wrong...

Meditation is something I’ve tried to avoid for years. I simply didn’t believe in sitting with my legs crossed and chanting words I couldn’t pronounce. I thought it was a waste of time, and that I could devote my precious minutes doing something far more productive.

My therapist has mentioned meditation as a way of relaxing for years. I kept saying that I’ll do it - but I know that I won’t.

Then something happened.

I had another “run in” with a colleague who got jealous of the way I helped a child at my school. She insulted me. It’s not the first time this colleague has given me her opinions, and if I’m honest, I’m getting tired of being spoken to like I’m a nobody.

I got angry and took myself away to have a cry in the restroom rather than say something to the colleague that I’ll regret later.

My friend found me crying and we talked about how I can rise above it. She gave me a challenge to help me through my anger with the colleague who upset me.

My friend asked me to try a meditation challenge to help calm my brain and focus on what makes me happy.

My friend was right. Meditation does help to calm the mind and focus on what truly matters. YOU. YOU MATTER.

I’ve now tried meditation, and it can be whatever you want it to be.

You can meditate with a YouTube video talking you through relaxation techniques.

You can meditate with a Podcast in your earbuds on your commute to work.

Meditation doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be tailored to your needs, where you are.

Meditation simply means that you reflect and contemplate your reality.

You don’t have to sit with your legs crossed and hum in a foreign language if you don’t want to. (You might want to try it) You can sit however you want to sit, as long as you’re comfortable.

When you focus on your breathing, and clear your mind of anything else, you focus inwards.

Meditation often comes with a deep breathing exercise. This is what I struggled with because I didn’t know the power of “the breath” in the body.

Taking a time out to do some deep breathing is beneficial if you are stressed. You cannot help but calm down when you become aware of your breath going in and out of your body, and feel your heart beating.

Deep breathing simply means that you become aware of your inner body. This awareness then focuses your mind on your thoughts.

When you meditate you might focus your thoughts on a problem, or your own needs. It’s your chance to think about what truly matters to you in your life. To think deeply about something.

Here are some questions that you could think about when you meditate:

Who are you in this moment?

How do you feel?

What do you want from your life?

Imagine that you have everything you want. What does it look / feel like?

The Benefits of Meditation

1. It’s a simple but fast way to reduce stress in your body and instill calm. It has been proven that it reduces the stress hormone, cortisol in your body, and decreases your Amygdala’s activity in your brain. (The Amygdala’s main function is to process emotions and link emotional responses to memory).

2. It increases your self-awareness and your emotional regulation. You focus your thoughts and understand them better. This then gives you a better mental clarity before you react to a problem or situation.

3. Improves focus and memory. Thinking deeply about something, leads to clarity and attention to what you feel.

4. Helps managing depression. By being more in tune with your body and your emotions.

5. Increases your empathy and relationships. Through deep thinking about situations, you become more empathetic with others. You will also feel a stronger connection with others.

6. Overall mental health. You will feel more at peace within yourself and your surroundings.

7. Promotes sleep. If you are able to relax your body, you will fall asleep more easier.

8. It can help manage long term conditions, like PTSD and IBS. For more information there is an article from the University of California:

https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/10-health-benefits-of-meditation-and-how-to-focus-on-mindfulness-and-compassion/2022/12

I gave meditation a shot and I’m reaping the rewards after doing it every day. Sure, I’m still busy with juggling my family / work and my last two months of my MFA degree. I still manage to carve out a few minutes each day to focus on me.

After meditating, I’m calmer and I feel happier in myself. I feel more assertive of what I want for me, and I don’t let other people’s issues get me down. I let any insults wash over me like a pebble in a waterfall because I matter, and my life matters.

My name is Lizzy. I’m a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher, and an author.

If you like reading my posts, then please follow me.

For more about me: www.elizabethwoodsauthor.com

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Here are a few links to my top articles:

Looking for a Change?

https://medium.com/activated-thinker/looking-for-a-change-f391e85abbd7

A Search for Identity

https://medium.com/beyond-lines/a-search-for-identity-893df7c970c2

Are You Searching for Peace?

https://medium.com/illumination/are-you-searching-for-peace-cd54d76231c8

Are You Dealing With Burnout?

https://medium.com/illumination/are-you-dealing-with-burnout-374f774141b4

The Knock on the Door that Changed My World

https://medium.com/illumination/the-knock-on-the-door-that-changed-my-world-ff126c8c07cf