I’m having trouble comprehending something. I’ve apparently only posted a #winewellnesswednesday about meditation specifically twice; once in 2016, and once hypothesizing about reading as meditation. (I'm including the original text below.)
Even though I post a #mondaymeditationminute regularly on Facebook, and even though I meditate almost daily, I’ve barely talked about it! Zoikes!
I realized this morning as I was meditating just how much I needed it, and just how much I enjoy that part of my daily routine, usually my morning routine. I’m also going to be very candid; for some reason, while on vacation and on weekends, the meditation routine goes splat and I don’t entirely know why! It’s probably because routines in general go splat at those times, and it’s definitely something I’m working on changing!
I’ve been all the way up to 15 minutes recently, and then my routine went splat and I started over at 5 minutes, then 6 minutes, then 7 minutes, and so on. :) (I really enjoy the Centering Prayer app on the iPhone/iPad for its timer, sound, and background settings.) I’m back to 9 minutes and it’s amazing to me how fast those 9 minutes go by when I’m focusing on breathing and a mantra. Speaking of, this is one of my new favorites:
Kind hearts are the gardens;
Kind thoughts are the roots;
Kind words are the flowers;
Kind deeds are the fruits. (English proverb)
I know people who can meditate for an hour at a time, and I know people who think trying to meditate for a minute at a time is torture. We are all on that spectrum somewhere!
How about you? Do you have a meditation practice? What do you think about trying to start one?
Cheers! Here’s to your health!
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Wine & Wellness Wednesday 01/06/16
For this week’s Tea (Wine) & Wellness Wednesday, I want to talk about meditation. (Yep, I’m still temporarily off wine. But I’m on the mend!)
Meditation is my favorite thing to forget to do every day. (Say…whaaaat?) Working with my own health coach, I’ve set a goal to meditate every day. And I’ve already missed more than one day in a row. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea why this one is so hard! I exercise at least a little almost every day. I use essential oils every day. I drink good amounts of water every day, and I finish my shower with cold water every day. All of these are really good healthy habits to maintain. Meditation would be a great healthy habit to maintain, too, and I can’t seem to get it to stick!
Some of the benefits of meditation include (although the HOW it works isn’t clear) decreased blood pressure, decreased stress, and improved concentration skills. When I meditate at night, I feel clearer and more settled, more ready to be done for the day; I don’t have solid evidence for it yet, but I think I sleep better. When I meditate in the morning, I feel clearer and more settled, more ready to get into whatever the day may bring. (Are you sensing a trend yet?)
Meditation seemed like this big, impressive thing that would be hard to make myself do. (It’s still hard to remember to make time for, honestly.) It’s not nearly as hard as I thought it would be!
Here’s my short version of how to start meditating. :) Pick a comfortable place to sit, preferably somewhere quiet. (Keeping the dogs out of the room when you’re meditating might be good too.) Pick a short timeframe, for example, five minutes, and set a timer. Start. That’s it. Start meditating. It doesn’t mean shutting down your brain. (I mean come on! :) You need your brain to function.) It means shutting out the brain rats and focusing on something. Pick a mantra, a phrase you’ll say over and over to yourself. Pick a breathing pattern. Do something you can focus on, and acknowledge to yourself that you’ll get distracted. You’ll think about things you didn’t get done the previous day, or things you want to do the next day, or…or…or…I’m sure you can think of a dozen things that you’ll think of. Allow it to happen, and go back to your focus. When the timer goes off, congratulate yourself for giving it a try, and commit to yourself to do it again tomorrow. When you don’t look at the timer every five seconds, increase it to six minutes. And then to seven minutes. And so on. (I’m all the way up to ten minutes!)
So what do you think? Do you meditate already? What benefits do you feel? Do you think about starting? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
Cheers! Here’s to your health!