Picture this, it’s snowing outside and you’ve got a 20 minute walk to work. Do you take the time to put on a snuggly jacket, hat and gloves? Or do you take the quicker and easier option of just heading out in a t-shirt? You rug-up right? Rather than shivering and complaining all day, you’re snuggled up inside your goosedown, all warm and cosy. You’ll probably learn better, be more tolerant and communicate better. You’ll likely be more patient, loving, courageous and honest…because you’ve got more reserves. Rather than a short fuse, you have one of those 10m long extension-cord fuses.
This is how I take my morning meds (even the name ‘meditation’ is loaded with mixed feelings and old ideas. Let’s reinvent something fun that works for us.) It takes no discipline at all (because it feels so awesome) and sets an epic tone for the day. I start off all loved-up and excited, which colours how I experience my entire day.
It’s not ‘traditional’ mediation where you sit for an hour thinking of nothing. In fact for some of it I’m quite active in my mind (and heart). Aside from rose-tinting my day in general, other changes I’ve noticed are:
My meditation practice lasts anywhere from 25-45 mins. While it’s still a little cold in the mornings, I meditate in bed, but so as not to be too sleepy I usually get up and have a drink, sometimes pausing on the way back to bed to stretch my back out a little on my yoga mat for a couple of minutes. Then it’s back into bed with some big pillows behind my back and my new rock-star headphones on.
I’ve found some great tracks to listen to that stir emotions in me. They’re not traditional mediation music at all. My practice is pretty active, so music that moves me is important and mine is mostly electronica with some binaural beats and ambient stuff.
The content of my practice mostly fits the same framework, which is a mash-up of various techniques but most notably from Barbara Y Martin, Abraham Hicks, Joe Dispenza and Vishen Lakhiani and it little goes something like this:
How to meditate and why it takes as much motivation as morning sex
Throughout the day I often have little daydreams about the future I’ve created. I’ve also noticed that I come back to that place of gratitude much more often. If I find myself feeling frustrated, grumpy or tired, I look about and find something: a tree, a cloud, a person, or just the knowledge that I’m on this little planet spinning in the universe, and recall those feelings of gratitude and wonder. Like a muscle, the more I use this the easier and more frequently I come back to this place and it makes everything more shiny and colourful.
As Joe Dispenza says:
That’s it. It’s not rocket science. It doesn’t take long. There’s no right and wrong and you can find your own style and flavour. If you feel better than when you started, you know you’re doing it right!