Originally published on yourhappinessquest.com and republished here with permission.
I woke up, and it hit me, a sense of dread for the day ahead. “Close your eyes and go back to bed. You don’t need to DO today,” I try to tell myself.
But that’s a lie. There is a lot I have to do, and I’m an adult with rent and bills to pay.
A compromise is in order. I can keep my eyes closed for an extra 20 minutes as long as those minutes are spent meditating. So I sit up, knees crossed, open my Insight Timer app, and hit play.
As I settle in, I rest my hands on my knees.
When I feel like I need grounding and connecting, my hands are face down. If I need openness and expansion, my hands face up with the tips of my thumb and forefinger touching to form a loop while my other three fingers relax straight.
This hand position is called Jnana or Gyan Mudra and is said to help aid concentration and knowledge.
Next, I connect with my breath.
Letting my belly expand out on my inhales and pull into my spine when I exhale. Focusing on my breath is vital to melt into a space of bliss rather than having my mind take control and list out the day’s to-do list frantically.
Calmness washes over me.
This is 20 minutes of bliss. Much better than strenuously hitting the snooze button over and over again.
The Insight Timer music drifts away, and the speaker tells me it’s time to open my eyes. Slowly, dreamily I follow their instructions.
The initial sense of dread for the day now feels manageable, maybe even a little exciting.
I’m alive, healthy, and have a purpose for the day! On top of that, I know my mood will be a lot more even today.
On days I don’t meditate, even a slight bump in the road can feel like a catastrophe. On days I meditate, it just is what it is, a little bump in the road.
When I talk to people who don’t meditate, the most common thing I hear people say is, “Oh, I tried it once, and I can’t do it. I just keep thinking.” This is 100% normal!
Meditation is not a secret talent that some people have and others don’t.
Like everything, to get any good at it, practice is required. In fact, the practice portion is one of meditation’s key lessons.
I’m not always great at meditating or even good. Sometimes I can’t turn off the frantic list-maker voice. It just screams at me the whole time I sit there, and all I can do is keep returning back to my breath incessantly.
There are days I don’t do it at all despite knowing I need it, don’t ask me why I do this.
Self-sabotage, I suppose.
But this is all part of the journey. The most important part is that I show up.
When I make an effort and show up, bliss, productivity, and resilience are my greatest allies, which is why I need to meditate daily.
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