Friday, January 18, 2013

WHERE IS THE OFF SWITCH TO MY MIND?!?!?!?! PLEASE AND THANKS :)

Have you every just spent 10 minutes of your day with your mind completely shut off? And I don't mean disconnecting from the world by engrossing yourself in TV, music, a good read or a substance of your choice, I mean really just sitting there and staring blankly into space, with out a thought in your mind? I know the idea seems absolutely crazy and probably completely unattainable, but really have you ever tried? Do you think it's even possible?

Believe you me I know how crazy this seems. I remember being in my first, second, third and even my fiftieth yoga class, laying in Shavasana thinking to myself "Huh, Hi God, I think I am supposed to shut my mind off during meditation as I lay here, but there is one problem….I have no idea where that switch is!!! Sooooo instead, let’s have a conversation about anything and everything until someone in this class has enough balls to get up so I can follow suit :)". Now, with all the yoga I have done over the years, you would think I would have gotten the hang of meditation by now, but the truth is whenever I think I have gotten it, I catch myself almost about to snore and realize that the line between sleeping and shutting my mind off is very blurry.

Therefore, with realizing that my attempts at learning to meditate had failed and understanding that this is something I have really wanted to learn and try, I finally stopped talking about wanting to do it and actually promised myself a couple months ago that I would make a solid effort and learn. And with that I opened up google and entered in "How to meditate" and began this process. Now, really the Internet is a database full of weirdness which is what I got back as I attempted to scroll through all the things Google had found for me. I was overwhelmed, frustrated and confused with which path or link to follow and wondered if i would ever stop reading about meditating and actually be able to do it!!!!! And than i JUST DECIDED - THAT'S IT!! I am going to give myself 10 minutes a day to actually attempt to meditate. That means, timer on, mind off, outside world goodbye! And with that i BEGAN :)

Now there are way too many techniques that i tried in my attempt to find one that worked for me, but i will tell you that 60 days in, I am up to 20 minutes of meditation every morning and it has made a world of difference. Usually, my alarm goes off every morning and immediately i hate the world. I have grown to love sleep so much, that it’s almost like the sound of depression ringing through my veins when my alarm sounds in the AM. And that feeling is still there, but I no longer snooze, instead I wake up, assume my meditation position and begin my 20 minutes. And at the end of it, it is amazing at the state my mind is in and the way my days have carried out since i started. A person, like me who gets anxiety pains from pretty much anything - i.e. a random phone call, someone asking how I am, receiving an email from someone that could have bad news - has learned to just let go. Physically and mentally as much I want to i can't worry about the things i have no control over anymore and at the same time, having that 20 minutes to just clear my mind of everything, has really just put everything in my life and world into perspective in a crazy but amazing way. It’s strange i tell you and at times when I laugh or smile at things that used to drive me absolutely bonkers, I catch myself immediately running to a washroom so I can look myself in the mirror, give my cheek a slap and wait to see if I am really actually alive or if I have become this odd smiley robot person, lol. Its been an oddly refreshing experience I tell you and one thatI THINK ALL OF US NEED TO TRY.

And you don't just have to take my word and advise for it!! Just try a google search " The benefits of meditation" or dedicate 10 minutes of your time to watching this TED talk that I came across last week that talks about the importance of dedicating just 10 minutes of your day to doing absolutely nothing - http://www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minutes.html

The beauty of this - is that there is no right or wrong way. You can follow any method that works for you, but the point is that YOU NEED TO TRY IT!! Remember how I talked about us running shoe folks being in a constant state of running, well i have come to learn that this is the first step in slowing down a bit and really gaining the perspectives you need to at least RUN IN ALL THE RIGHT DIRECTIONS.

And so now - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!!!!! Just try it, if not for the benefits you could gain at least try it for the comedic relief of what your first few attempts will be like, LOL.

Happy meditating and Weekend Y'all :)

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