Do you meditate? Are you resistant to meditating? What do you like or not like about it?
When I was in my 30s, I dated a man on and off for about nine years. We were well matched in some respects, but there was a deal-breaker that neither of us was willing to budge on: Meditation.
One day, at the very end of our relationship, he asked me, “Why do you have to meditate every day? What is wrong with you?” It broke my heart. I didn’t have a good answer so I just stared at him and cried. The question felt like such an arrow to my heart.
I have thought about this question a lot over the years and my reasons for meditating are many.
I meditate because it feeds me.
Because it fills me.
Because it supports me.
Because it nourishes me.
Because it calms me.
Because it inspires me.
Because it challenges me.
Because it rewards me.
Because it opens doors
Because it changes me.
Because it expands me.
Because it connects me.
Because it amuses me.
Because it’s home for me.
Because it heals me.
Because it creates trust.
Because it builds confidence.
Because it’s easy.
Because it’s hard.
Because it’s beautiful.
Because it frees me.
Because it teaches me what’s right with me.
Because I just love it.
Like food, water, sunshine and sleep, meditation is an essential life-sustaining element in my life.
If you are new to meditating, just start. There are many ways to meditate … with breath, bells, music, mantra, mindfulness, gaze, a guiding voice, silence … the how is not as important as the when. All doors lead to you. There are thousands of tools, resources and teachers out there online, in the app store, and in the world to help you. Most importantly, there’s a teacher within you who already knows exactly how and what is right for you. Just begin. Gifts are waiting for you.
Start by following your breath. Inhale. See it. Taste it. Feel it. Let it expand you. Let it bring whatever newness it wants into you. Let it swirl within you. Let the gentle vibration of the inhale shake loose whatever is ready to move. Let every cell of you resonate with the newness of that breath.
And then let it go.
Feel your bones and muscles let go.
Feel your brain let go.
Feel your heart let go.
Feel your anxiousness let go.
Feel a habit let go.
Feel a thought form let go.
Let whatever wants to go
Go.
Let it ride out on the wave of your breath like a leaf being carried downstream.
And then inhale anew and watch what arises again.
Discover what wants to speak
What wants to dance
What wants to move
And let it.
More is always coming.
Inhale and begin again.
This is how it starts. One breath at a time. This is how it ends, also. With one breath letting go. The space between those breaths, that is where your bliss lives. Live there fully. Go there now.
