Meditation In A Busy World: Finding Your Centre Amid The Chaos
Meditation has been around for centuries, but lately it has been experiencing a revival as more and more people are seeing how relevant this ancient Buddhist practice is with today’s modern lifestyles. Studies have proven the many benefits of meditation: It gives you clarity, it relieves stress and anxiety, it feeds your creativity, it drives you toward your goals, it has the capacity to heal your pain – physical, emotional, real or imagined. Some people use it to seek solutions for their specific problems while others need it to make life easier and lighter in general.
I find that meditation is perfectly aligned with our life principles on making more responsible, sustainable decisions. Yes, I see the direct connection between food and meditation! Our decision to go vegan is rooted in our commitment to our health and to caring for the planet – the very same way that meditation helps you find wellness and well-being, not just for yourself but also for the people and environment around you.
Of course, in this hectic, interconnected world, it is a huge challenge to break free from all the things trying to get your attention and just simply be still, even for just one minute. It’s especially true for us women. Don’t we all typically wake up with a long list of to-dos already running in our heads? We have the house to manage, children and partners and other people to take care of, businesses and careers to run, passions to follow, loads of chores to do, and everything else in between. How do we fit meditation amid all these? It’s so easy to put it off.
Here are a few tips:
- Find time and stick to it. Some women wake up earlier than usual. Some do it before bedtime. Others find pockets of time throughout the day. Sometimes you need to sacrifice one activity (a TV show, your obsessive need to check emails) to get the break you need. Twenty minutes – that’s all you need.
- Find your place. You don’t have to go up the mountains or enter a temple to meditate. A corner in your bedroom, a spot in your rooftop or your cozy reading nook will do if you make it work. Some people even make room in their walk-in closet.
- Little moments matter. You can practice focus and mindfulness in small doses throughout the day. The most mundane moments can be special, such as when you’re waiting for the coffee to brew, or while you walk to your car while admiring the sunset at the end of a workday, or that sweet moment at home when everybody is finally asleep. I try to slow down and just listen to my breath – breathing in and breathing out – just be still and notice it.
- Make use of tech. Download meditation guides or soothing music on your phone and listen to it when you find free time during the day. I love guided mediations! I find they help me immensely as my mind is totally into wandering and a guided mediation keeps me more in line.
We’re only human and like other things on your to-do list, you can weave meditation into your life no matter how busy you are by making it a regular habit. I bet we can all relate to a line from renowned meditation master, Jack Kornfield, from his book, “After the Ecstasy, the Laundry.”
“Amen to that – how liberating to be assured that peace, wholeness and inner happiness can co-exist with something as earthy and dirty as last week’s bed sheets” – Jack Kornfield.
(After achieving such realization – after the ecstasy – we are faced with the day-to-day task of translating that spiritual and emotional freedom into our imperfect lives. We are faced with the laundry. We are only human).
Let’s not take ourselves so serious and really get to know our inner minds once again. We are meant to have fun with it!
Love and Peace,
Great topic! Meditation gives you a balance indeed. It creates the space between things, subtle little reflections of the moment; it’s the joy. Its also a very useful tool to search for answers to just about any problems you may have. Sit with your problem for a moment, them meditate and the answer will come. OM.