If so, do you love it or hate it? Meditating mindfully really does seem to induce strong reactions from people who have tried it.
Hmmm… Why is that? Let’s examine it for a sec…
Sitting with yourself, paying attention to your breath, noticing thoughts that pop into your head. Not being able to tune out said thoughts by using phone, tv or other modern day invention. Yes that can honestly be an absolute and total nightmare. And for many people including myself it was just that.
So why do it? What would ever possess someone to do something that painful?
The realization that life is a more painful and fearful place when one isn’t facing these thoughts.
Sometimes we learn that not facing what is bubbling beneath the surface of our conscious awareness can be even more damaging and traumatic than those initial experiences meditating, thereby giving us the stamina to try adopting a regular practice.
What happens with regular practice? A lot of wonderful things… everyone experiences meditation in slightly different ways and the experience means a lot of things to a lot of different people. Furthermore, meditation practice changes in meaning as you change with it. It is so similar to physical exercise in this way. First time exercising, horrific. Regular exercise? Most people love it and enjoy it and want to continue to do it regularly for as many reasons as there are ways to exercise.
Mindfully meditating has had a lot of different benefits for me specifically but the two that keep me in regular practice are the cultivation of compassion for oneself as well as empowerment.
The simple act of setting aside time to get in touch with who we are and how we are thinking and feeling is a demonstration of love and compassion. It is an act of validation of self, that we are ok just as we are, whatever our thoughts and feelings may be. We can then begin to cultivate feelings of acceptance for these thoughts and feelings which leads to inordinate levels of compassion for ourselves.
Empowering? How can something that puts us in touch with our vulnerabilities be empowering? You need a lot of courage and strength to face the thoughts that we have a tendency to run away from. When we meditate, we are suddenly warriors, powerful and brave when we give ourselves the time and space to face the fears and the pain. Sometimes so much so that we can begin to let them be and move forward from them. We realize that we are so much more than these thoughts.
Still on the fence about starting a meditation practice?
I definitely understand and have been there myself and I don’t judge. No really…I don’t. You see, learning how to suspend judgement of myself and others is yet another little benefit to meditating mindfully…
Restartwell 