Struggling with Meditation
I used to really struggle to meditate. When I was in my 20s, I went every week to a meditation group with my sister in Jimboomba. Each Wednesday night I went and sat on a cold slate floor and sat in silence and darkness for 2 hours. At the end of each session, they would ask you to share. I would listen to ladies talk about great journeys. Being in a flying pirate ship floating up to different realms and meeting the most amazing people.
I would look at these people and think, when did I miss the good drugs on the way in? Their journeys always sounded so amazing. When all I did was wriggle, think about work tomorrow or the latest boy I was dating. Not very spiritual at all. It took me a long time to realise that I went into these evenings with the wrong intention.
We live in a busy world. We live in a stressful world. It is very different to our grandparents and great-grandparents. Yes, each generation has good and bad, and right now I feel we have better, but we have stopped knowing how to be still. We have stopped setting intentions and just relaxing. We have learnt to overthink. We have learnt to be busy. We are no longer taught to simply sit and take it all in. My great-grandmother loved to sit in the sun and shell peas. She loved to be in the garden and watch the birds and bees as she did her weeding.
My Great Gran was one to just have a knowing when something was wrong with her family members living overseas. My Great Gran and my Nanna were very attuned and spiritual. I believe that this is because they learnt how to take in life at their own speed, and connect with God, the Universe or what I call source energy to seek the answers to their questions or be advised when they needed guidance for their own highest good.
So when you hear people say they don’t know how to meditate. They are too busy to meditate, or they just can’t stop their brain from overthinking. To all of these people, I would simply advise them to find a place where they can sit or lie down and feel safe. Where they can listen to music or sit in silence and just relax. To take some deep breaths and feel their body relaxing and feeling heavier each time they exhale.
Congrats, you are meditating. You are relaxing. When you relax the physical body, you are allowing your energy to slow down and your mind to open. When you do this regularly enough, you will find that you go deeper, more relaxed each time. You might even start to like it. It was after I explained to my Great Gran that I felt stupid in my meditation circle as I didn’t go anywhere that she passed on this brilliant advice. Simply relax. Be somewhere safe and just relax by breathing. You can do box breathing or deep belly breathing; it is your time, your meditation do what you need to relax! You can start by concentrating on your breath, and after a time it will just naturally occur, and you will find yourself so relaxed you will wonder why you didn’t do this sooner.
I have a free meditation on my web page that might help you. Some people love guided meditation where you are told words to enhance your senses, such as a cool breeze on your cheeks, or walking on a golden path to a beautiful green tree. Giving your relaxed mind a place to see within your inner vision, your third eye.
The hardest part is to learn to slow down. To relax. Practice makes perfect, and you will even see your own physical body react well to regular meditation; stress and anxiety will lessen. You will feel safer, more in control. It is never too late to learn a new skill. Relaxation and meditation are a wonderful new skill to practise and enjoy. It will become second nature!
The other big mistake is thinking you must meditate for a time. 60 minutes, 30 minutes? I am here to say NO. You meditate the time frame you need. 5 minutes or 20 minutes. You chose. It is your life. If you like doing mantras, great! If you don’t, don’t worry. Go to a place where you feel safe and simply breathe in and breathe out. Don’t forget to hold your breath in your belly to stimulate your Vagus nerve to connect with your intuition!