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In mid-2012 I started meditating. It has been the most wonderful, life changing experience in my entire life.
But it wasn’t always easy-going. I tried it before a few times and I quit each time after.
I had bought a book from Yogani called Deep Meditation. Read through it and was very excited to get started.
In the book Yogani recommends using a mental saying if ‘I AM’ when breathing. I did this. But the problem is I would get lost, my mind would start wondering all over the place. I really could only do it for 3-5 minutes before losing attention.
I kept trying though, I did it for about a week straight. Every time I did it I did feel a lot better, even though it was only for 3-5 minutes. But then after about a week I wasn’t doing it everyday, it was like every other day, and then sometimes once every 3 days. I knew there was benefit to doing it. I felt better doing it. But I let other things get in the way of doing it.
So I quit doing it all together. I had more important things to do at the time, I thought and reasoned to myself. And with the in frequencies I was doing it with, I wasn’t feeling it as good as when I was doing it consistently.
It was about 3 months until I tried it again. But the same thing happened. After about 5 or 6 days straight, inconsistency started, and then I quit again.
I was like how do people do this for 10, 20, 30 minutes or more. I can’t even do it for 3 minutes a day!
It was so hard for me to sit in silence, each time thoughts would come up about this thing in the past, or that thing I need to do in the future. I wasn’t IN the meditation or in the moment. I couldn’t clear my mind.
It was about another 4 months before I would get involved in meditation again. I signed up for a mental training program and one of the first things coach introduced us to was mediation.
But this meditation was different. He was speaking to you the entire time. It was a guided visualization meditation. It was about 15 minutes long.
The first time I came out of it— WOW!
I can do this everyday! That was freakin’ awesome!
Having someone tell you exactly what to concentrate on was a whole lot easier than sitting in silence and focusing on ‘I AM’. And the way I felt was truly amazing. Granted unwanted thoughts would pop up periodically throughout the guided visualization but it was a lot easier to focus back to the words being spoken and focus on my breathing.
Eventually I got an app on my Iphone as well, called Relax Melodies Oriental, which has different kinds of ambient sounds and music that I listen to when I meditate.
Now if I miss a day I feel it. My emotions and anxiety are turned up a notch. It has basically become my ‘drug’.
So what was the difference between my failing to practice meditation and then becoming successful at it and longing for it and needing it?
1- I didn’t realize there were other methods of doing it out there. I read the Deep Meditation book and thought that was how you meditate. Not knowing there are literally hundreds of different ways to do so.
2- I didn’t make it a habit. Doing something for 7-10 days is not going to form a habit. It takes a minimum of 21 days. All new things are hard, but with practice it gets easier.
3- I didn’t make it a priority. When I was practicing the ‘I AM’ meditation I basically was just like I’ll do it when and if I have time. Sometimes I would have time, sometimes I wouldn’t. With the guided visualizations, after the first one I started scheduling in my daily to do list everyday since. I made it a priority.
You can literally take this lesson about me and my failing with meditation and transcend it into any area of your life.
For instance Working out and losing body fat.
1- Other methods- There are literally hundreds of ways to workout. Don’t like one, find another.
2- Make it a habit- Start off slow whenever starting a new workout plan, and then build up from there. You need to build up your strength, conditioning before moving up in levels. Doing stuff too fast will result in pain, either joint or muscle, cause you to get discouraged and quit. I see it all the time with trial members who come in to our fitness studio- they do too much their first day, they try to stay up with the veterans and next thing you know, they are never seen from again. Remember working out is something you are going to be doing the rest of your life, take it slowly. Otherwise start>quit>start>quit>start>quit it is always going to suck for you because you are a beginner.
3- Make it a priority- What is the reason you are doing this? It better be for you and nobody else. Schedule it. It happens. It is going to happen. Regardless of what happens at work, home, school, etc… It is going to happen regardless of ___________. You must commit and then take action. Patience and persistence– that’s how you make this work.
ANd that’s how you make everything work. That’s how I made meditation, warrior yoga, box breathing, and all of my daily spiritual routines work.
You can do it! You just need to make the commitment and go after it.
My mindtamer program can help guide you along the way, but you have got to want to stop failing at things and start succeeding.
What is your reason?
What is your purpose?
If you are not meditating now, this is something that we cover in great detail in Mindtamer. And it is something that I believe will change your life. I created a free weight loss meditation that you can download here. Take the journey to the new spiritual you.