Meditation Simplified

Meditation is a hot topic now. Study after study is proving that it’s just plain good for you. It helps our well-being in ways that western medicine has fallen short in the last few decades. It's customizable, portable, and free!

Meditation hasn't always been considered so accessible. It is often viewed in connection with religion. The typical meditation image is the bald monk in robes sitting atop a mountain in a simple space with utter quiet surrounding him, chanting for hours on end. Meditation originally focused on teaching the practitioner to disconnect from earthly distractions, achieve a higher consciousness so they could connect with a divine being. Don’t get me wrong, meditation is still a powerful tool to disconnect and make religious connections with the divine powers of the universe, but that’s not the whole story. We might all more easily disconnect from the world and connect to the divine in that quiet mountaintop space, but it’s not where most of us find ourselves every day. So how can we tap into the power of meditation in our regular, whirlwind, noisy, messy, busy lives? Why should we even bother?

First a quick look at how chronic stress has made its way into everyday life. Our lives are filled with stressors. Some are self-imposed, environmental, work-related, family-related, health-related, etc. Workdays are longer, natural exercise is limited, electronics give us access to entertainment, social media, and news, good and bad 24/7. Our minds are constantly bombarded with stimuli and are in constant motion, triggering our nervous system to be in overdrive. One study published in Nature Communications led by Jordan Poppenk suggests that a person has more than 6000 thoughts per day, yikes! What's interesting about thoughts is that they can trigger physical responses in our bodies. Our bodies are designed to react to the messages it gets from our brain. If our brain is stressed about a fast-approaching deadline we're not ready for and we're afraid of getting fired, our body responds to the mind's stress as if we are in danger. Our bodies, as sophisticated as they are, can't distinguish between a fast-approaching deadline and a fast-approaching bear. The body just gets the message that the mind is freaked out. The body responds to our freaked-out minds, with adrenaline, and other stress-related hormones to prepare for the impending danger. These hormones are vital when there's a real danger, like a fast-approaching bear but not so much for a fast-approaching deadline.

Meditation is a powerful technology that's able to help soothe our nervous system and turn off the chronic stress reactions that our bodies have. We have the power to connect with our mind and body to communicate that we are not in danger, that we are okay. The key is learning how to access this technology. This technology is unlike any other, it's completely free, with you where ever you go, a unique meditation toolbox to get rid of chronic stress and turn off the flood of hormones, no subscription or prescription necessary.

Demystifying and simplifying meditation to make it more accessible is so important. There are many forms of meditation but at the core of most meditation is our breath. We use our breath to connect to ourselves and recognize, at any given moment, what's going on in our minds and bodies without judgment or fixing it. By bringing awareness to the breath and the connection to the mind and body, we can turn off the fight or flight response, slow our heart rate, lower blood pressure, clear our minds of racing thoughts, and take time to just be. A mountain top retreat is always a good option to kick off any meditation practice. If you can do that, go for it! Otherwise, I like to start small. Integrating simple meditation techniques into daily life can lead to developing a more robust, practical, and useful meditation practice.

All you need is one minute. One minute is less time than brushing your teeth or running to the mailbox. One minute is all you need to start a meditation practice that can help combat chronic stress. It's that simple. I like this 5-5-5 meditation method, inspired by Dr. Itai Ivtzan's one-minute meditation. It takes about a minute and you can be anywhere (Parked in the car, on the toilet, standing in check out, waiting to see a doctor, use your imagination!). You can use it to prepare for a meeting, calm down after a fight, invite more patience with your children, avoid road rage, stop the overwhelmed feeling when you look at your to-do list, you get the picture. I invite you to give it a try!

5-5-5 Meditation Method

1. Ground your body - 5 breaths (straighten your spine, align your chin parallel to the ground, drop shoulders away and back from ears opening your heart center, if appropriate close your eyes)

2. Breathe - 5 breaths, slow and deep, bring your awareness to your breath, and follow it as it flows in and out of your body

3. Scan your body - 5 breaths (scan your body starting at your toes, gently bring your awareness to each part of your body until you get to the crown of your head)

4. Open your eyes, notice the energy shift. Thank yourself for taking a minute to care and nurture yourself and continue with your day.