Inward Journey
Most of us are surrounded by a cacophony of chaos from the moment we wake up and assault our eyes with screens until the moment we set them aside to go to sleep. They have been designed by brilliant minds to be more addictive than cocaine or sugar! Of course they are handy for staying in touch with friends and neighbors, for looking up recipes or ordering food, playing games, and keeping reminders. I’ll pick mine up to check the weather forecast and immediately forget and be drawn in by a red number indicating news I’ve missed in the last 30 seconds since the last time I picked up my phone. It’s maddening!
I know I’m not alone in my addiction. I also know that I don’t currently have the time or the funds to go to a tropical beach or a mountain hideaway to unplug. Lucky for me, I have something that has been so rewarding that I take time every day to do it. It leaves me feeling grounded, lowers my heart rate, and has helped me change from someone who reacts to someone who responds most.of.the.time. My reactionary moments now happen on the days I don’t do this thing.
For almost three years, I have taken time each day to meditate. My practice has evolved along with me. I started out with my Insight Timer app and looked for meditations that interested me. Did you know there are guided meditations on there that last a minute?! When you’re going for consistency and time is a factor, they can become your best friend! There are some that practice breathwork and some that are bedtime stories. Some are infused with reiki, and you can’t go wrong with a Ho’oponopono meditation. Eventually, I quit using guided meditations and just listened to music: drums, flutes, sound frequencies. Now, I can take my inward journey alone in my home, in a doctor’s office, 30,000 feet up in the air, or in a crowded venue.
The key is consistency. I didn’t start out being good at meditating, but I could take a deep breath, hold it, and release it…then do it again. It’s kind of hard to keep track of your breath going in, holding, and releasing for a minute, or two, or five - so counting helps. I would inhale for 4, hold for 4, release for 4, pause for 4, and I could do that quite a few times paying attention to my breath and counting. Eventually, I would fall into a rhythm, counting would fall away and I would notice how breathing like that would make me feel.
In guided meditations, I would go to wondrous spaces and focus on what I was seeing, hearing, even smelling around me. Sometimes…often, my worries would creep in. I was taught to acknowledge them and let them go. Particularly helpful leaders would have us put them in a container and we could pick them up later if we wanted. I wonder if anyone ever wanted to?
Some days my mind races more than others. Those are the days I need to stop and take deep breaths the most. I have found that just like music, the pause between the notes, and the pause between the breaths are the sweetest spots. You discover whether the song is lively and bright or lumbering and sad. It’s also the space where you truly discover yourself: Who am I? What is important to me? What is my purpose?
It doesn’t happen after one session. It doesn’t happen after a week, or month, or necessarily a year…but it does happen. Start with one breath in and one breath out. Eventually, you’ll notice that inward journey beginning before you complete your first inhale. That, my friends, is better than anything you’ll see on any screen!
