Meditation has been a strange journey for me. I always had a sense it was good for me, but also resisted doing it for so long.
That doesn’t really seem to make sense. Perhaps, for me the resistance was fear based. I worried too much if I was doing it right. Whenever I gave it a small try, I always felt I was doing it wrong.
Slowly, over time I allowed myself to let go. I allowed myself to try meditation with less judgement. I won’t pretend that it was easy. Meditation is a practice. Like with anything, the more you practice the more little successes you will have.
I continue my meditation practice. Some days are easy, some days are more challenging. Yet, I keep showing up. One reason that I continue is I have found a meditation practice to benefit my life. Below are some benefits I have experienced.
-Learning to experience and enjoy the moment (and isn’t that what life is? just a whole bunch of moments)
-Increased self-awareness
-Increased confidence
-More focus and discipline
-Greater feelings of calm
-Accessing imagination and creativity
-Being able to look at challenging situations with patience and compassion
-Deeper breathing into the body
-Better sleep
I often encourage people new to meditation start with just 1 minute. That is how I started. I would also encourage you to try to set aside a block of time, perhaps 2 weeks or 1 month. In this time, play with this a practice, see where it might take you, and what benefits you might enjoy.
I find meditation very helpful. I think Thich Nhat Hahn also suggested that you start with just a few minutes a day and see what happens. Thanks for sharing!
I have really adored the writings of Thich Nhat Hahn
Oh yeah, people tend to aim for 20 minutes for their first time then wonder why they can’t stick to it. For some people, even sitting cross-legged is a challenge on its own. Anyway, great post and recommendation on the 1-minute start. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome post! Great job 🙂