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A friend posed the question this morning, what does meditation mean to you?
To which I strung together a beautiful answer that I had concocted at that very moment since I had been spending more and more time with meditating this week with the last pumpkin gone from the patch.
Pumpkin is code for my child... just in case you were wondering.
I also added that I needed to go write a blog and was encouraged to do so by my friends. Thanks girls! I needed that today.
So my story with meditation begins like this...
Truth be told, I have ADHD, just like my kids...learning to live with it and teach and train others (my children) to live with it has been something I have been doing since I discovered it was one of the things that we as a family were dealing with.
We are all hard wired to run at a different speed, to buzz through life at a different frequency, which in turn makes it really hard to sit in the box of the average when you can hardly fit yourself in any contained space for long periods of time... so by all appearances, we seem like we arent learning, like we arent paying attention, or like we are distracted by things around us. Which is partially true. Our brains don't turn off, everything that comes at us from all around us feeds and fuels curiosity...then we need to know more. So then we think of one thing and that opens the box for so much more to come flooding in.
Someone explained it to me like this... Think of your brain like a white board with whatever task you are doing in black and white happening, but then all of these bright and colorful ideas are popping up over the thing you are trying to do. A red idea here. A blue thought there. A yellow question over here. Soon, it makes it hard to see that one thing you are supposed to be doing. And if you are lucky, no one else will come in and need something from you making the whole white board completely change and all tasks before are now grey or gone and replaced by all new things....
Can I get an Amen if you can relate?
At some points in life it becomes very important you learn how to tune out all of that extra thinking, pondering, and creative flow that happens in there... you begin to see that it makes doing the normal things harder and that you have to adapt and grow to be successful at things like holding a job, going to college and finishing, creating a business, raising a family, having normal conversation with people, or maybe trying to help others in a way they understand vs how you do.
So, you start to seek out answers. Look for solutions. Try to ask others around you what they do... learn a new method. Create a process that works for you.
My first ah ha moments came from a book, the Miracle Morning (buy it here and I do make a bit of money to support my business) by Hal Elrod. Hal had been in an accident and had a near death experience and got himself in a funk, and wanted a way out. A way to be successful... so he researched and asked the questions and found that most successful people did these 6 things consistently and that is how they got the results they had achieved. He calls them the SAVERS (Silence, Affirmations, Vision, Exercise, Read, Scribe)
So I started this practice and it has been a life changer every time I have used it and applied it to my life. People thought I was crazy, they couldn't imagine getting up early to spend time with themselves... but eventually it caught on and now I know many people do this for themselves to move
out of those stuck spaces.
So, part 1... Silence.
Silence is simply a quiet space for yourself to just be... it is recommended to do this part first, so you can still the mind and body and dig deep into the mental process of changing your ways, changing your thinking, and getting your true version of who you are out of you and spoken or written into existence so you can achieve it. (more to come on these things in another blog)
This is also known as meditation... which for a long time I thought was not acceptable based on my church and my belief system and what others had told me... but over the years have come to understand not only is it ok to meditate but it is a necessity, especially for people like me who have a hard time being still and quieting my mind in the first place.
So, after all of that here is what I think meditation is... and remember, this is a work in progress, as all things are, and may look very different for you, as it should, because we are different people... but hopefully it will encourage you to explore what does work for you and allows you to have fun with it as you are learning and growing.
Meditation can be a time of breathing...deeply, relaxing into yourself, allowing your inner voice to be silent, and for the world around you to melt away. A time of rest. A time of peace. A space where you can just allow inner healing and renewal to happen.
It can also be a time of deep reflection, journaling, and seeking your dreams, an answer to a tough question or a decision that needs to be made. Maybe you need to just think for yourself and really find what aligns with you. Maybe you want to know what your purpose is. Maybe you need to see and create that vision or goal or dream for yourself... or make that hard decision to do something else.
Meditation can be a time of prayer, a time to seek guidance from the voice of God. A time to find grace, ask for forgiveness, ask for help for forgiving others. A time to understand your purpose, or a time to just be loved on by the light, love, grace and hope that only God can bring to your heart and soul.
Meditation can be a nice hot bath, with dim lighting, your soul music playing (I love this bath music), bath salts, oils or bombs <<< (Get yours here) in your water, and
your favorite essential oils spewing out of your diffuser.
A time where you drown out the world for just a little bit,
so you can move on with your day or get a goods night rest.
Meditation can also happen in the shower... think about... I know that is where you have all of your best conversations with yourself and all of the brilliant ideas start flowing...
Someone needs to invent a shower assistant device to take notes. lol.
With all of that in mind... remember... meditation is a journey. Meditation is a practice. It is meant to be practiced and enjoyed. If it isnt fun or bringing you joy, try a different way. Be gentle on you as you go... my first few times sitting on the cold floor at 5 am with a meditation app or video and a couple of oils, was where I started...now look at all the ways I have found that work for me.
There is no right or wrong way, there is just finding what works for you and what helps you the most.
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