Meditation for me has always come in the form of writing. When I resurface after entrenching myself in another world for awhile, I feel refreshed.
That and I’ve never been good at sitting quietly for long while trying to think of breathing and such.
But I had an interesting insight two nights ago. I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. Instead of trying to get my mind to wander, which usually leads to falling back to sleep, I concentrated on my breath and the pressure of my shoulder against the mattress and the light pressure of blankets over me. I fell asleep quickly.
And last night I had an even better insight. When growing up, people made fun of “hippy” ideas like meditation. Though the mental health practice is now widely accepted, I realized I was hanging onto the mentality of “it’s for sissies,” meaning if I give meditation a serious try, I must be weak, which is not very self-compassionate!
So I’ve given myself permission to get rid of that negative thought from my youth and I feel strangely, enormously better.
Do you meditate?
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has a great list of studies related to the following:
Meditation helps reduce blood pressure and symptoms and flare-ups related to irritable bowel syndrome and colitis.
Studies indicated meditation helps reduce anxiety, depression and insomnia and can aid in stopping smoking.
And check out how much more mindful people tend to get as they age:
There are literally thousands of resources regarding meditation. The Ultimate List of Free Meditation Resources via Muse can help get you started.
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