A little update on my personal journey with meditation...
If you read my blogs in January "My Addiction to Growth and Meditation" - https://www.themusicsoup.com/post/my-addiction-to-growth-and-meditation and my "Interview with Noah Levine, Founder and Author of Refuge Recovery", https://www.themusicsoup.com/post/interview-with-noah-levine-founder-and-author-of-refuge-recovery you would've sensed that I am fairly new to the practice of meditation and am still surprised how much it's done for my life.
We live in a world full of stressors on a daily basis. If you feel your stress levels are too much or perhaps you'd simply like to have more patience and balance in your daily life, maybe meditation may be something you'd like to have a look at, like me. Or perhaps your doctor recommended it for high blood pressure, or to make general improvements in your health? A little added peace and happiness in life could never be a bad thing, right? Or maybe you simply want to build an inner core of calm...meditation may be the right path for you.
I began meditating a year ago in Refuge Recovery meetings. I didn't really know what it was. Nor did I ever think I was doing it right. For the first six months I simply went along with it keeping an open mind every time. My life was far from perfect. At that time I was grieving the loss of a person very dear to my heart, I was battling childhood trauma and I was impatient and suffering in various ways. It was even mentioned to me, that I may be a little ADD. My core never really felt calm. And I've always been open to self improvement. Okay, all good reasons to keep an open mind and an open heart to this thing called meditation and anything I could learn that can help my future life. I did a Tony Robbins program, Alanon meetings, multiple other self improvement courses and my main jam throughout seemed to be regular daily meditations. So I plugged on, everyday, 2-4 times per day, going to meetings and meditating with the Sangha for a year. ('Sangha'-community).
Exactly one year later I went away to see family and friends for a couple weeks. I only caught a couple meetings during that time, which meant I only was able to sit a couple times meditating. Whilst away I wanted to get as much time as I could, with the people that I was there to see, so I thought nothing of my neglecting my practice. Besides...I wasn't even sure I was doing it right or the benefits I was getting from all those daily meditations.
Upon returning to life the answer was clear...I am doing it right and the benefits are enormous! I know this because when I returned, my core felt different. I felt revived and elated having had a lovely visit with those I went to see, but something was off upon my return. I didnt feel as 'at ease' as I had, before. Though my trip was wonderful and it unveiled a couple huge life lessons along the way that I had never planned on. It's been taking a little over a week and I feel my inner calm returning, finally. Not fully but I am starting to feel the benefits of my meditation practice coming back. Going away and reconnecting with my family and friends was not only good for my soul. But it showed me that without a doubt, meditation is real. It provides me with real solid benefits for my inner being, my soul, my health and my peace and happiness. My time away proved it. Not to take away from the quality time reconnecting with my loved ones, which was also important. And for me it turned out that some huge things happened whilst I was away to prove that without a shadow of a doubt, "YOU'RE EXACTLY WHERE YOU'RE MEANT TO BE!" In my personal opinion....Whatever you try, stick with it long enough to trust that you're doing it right. As long as you're doing it and following your breath, you ARE doing it right!
This Metta prayer can also be a very calming mantra that you can say daily out loud or in your head as I do. "May you be well, may you be happy, may you be free from suffering and may you find peace." And as always, from The Music Soup to you, "Life is short...break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, MEDITATE, and never regret anything that made you smile". ❤️ 🎵 ❤️ Affiliate Links: Meditation singing bowls - https://amzn.to/3ScmSOb Meditation singing bowls - https://amzn.to/3vxzaHZ
The following are a few of the links that are online if you'd like to try meditation. There's a plethora of them to chose from. All the familiar motivational coaches have their own favourites, such as Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Joe Dispenza, Eckart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, the list is endless. So many people have discovered the benefits of this incredible life changing practice. There's also Refuge Recovery meetings and Against the Stream meetings you can Zoom in on to get a taste of meditating in a group online.
Some helpful names, books and organizations:
Refuge Recovery book - https://amzn.to/41RP1NH
Refuge Recovery - https://www.refugerecovery.org
Against The Stream - https://www.againstthestream.com Wayne Dyer - https://amzn.to/47yLLrV