It's Like Facebook for the Soul - The Start of Meditation

About 6 weeks ago I started on an unexpected journey that has forever changed my perspective on life. Before you say, "oh, she just turned 49. Here comes the midlife crisis!", hear me out.

I was a pretty intuitive kid and teenager. Over time, as an adult with kids, a career, bills, stress, etc. my intuitive side was stifled as I ran myself to death on the hamster wheel of life. There was very little time to stop the perpetual spinning. I had come very close (many times) to breaking down. And the pending break-down most recently had me start something I'd tried, unsuccessfully, several times in the past.

Meditating. 

WAIT! Don't stop reading now. I'm not going to get all kooky on you. Just a little kooky. Take it from a once skeptic. I will not go back to life before meditation.

I'm going to be honest here. It was a daunting task in the beginning stages, hence the reason I quit before I ever got started in years past. However, this time, I was determined that I would stay committed to see what all the hype was about. What did I have to lose? Like normal, I sat as comfortably as I could, closed my eyes, took deep breaths, and *BAM*, the brain started: "Did I unplug the hair dryer? Did I call that guy back? Have I paid that bill? This is silly. Did I forget to give the dog his shot? I can't believe we missed trash day! Will Erika and Sutton ever mend fences on Real Housewives? What if Dave walks in and sees me sitting here like an idiot? My foot itches. My other foot itches. I have to pee. How much longer? Heyyyy Macarena!" 

If this has been you, don't despair. THIS IS NORMAL. As a newbie, meditation might leave you frustrated the first few times you try it. You might feel as if it isn't working. The beauty of it, that no one tells you is, it's actually working! I found that I didn't necessarily need a clear mind for meditation to be effective. What I needed to do is let the thoughts happen and gently ease them off to the side until the roar of my brain simply became a hum. That didn't happen overnight. It took time.

Understand that any time you can sit for 10 minutes and be alone with your thoughts, even with the Housewives and a full bladder, you are slowing yourself down. You aren't staring at a phone or computer or television. You aren't taking in additional information in your already informational overloaded mind. Your mind is sorting and shuffling and listening, watching, feeling, sensing and waiting. And, believe it or not, even with all that chaos, it is settling down more with each meditation. It took me quite a few attempts to reach what I felt was a "hum" instead of a roar. But once reached, meditation became so much easier and the mind automatically eased the chaos. There finally became a time my mind focused more on my senses than on whether I took the trash out.

With this mind success, I discovered the hype.

Unplugging from external stimulation a few minutes each day has done wonders for my emotional and mental well-being. I've been able to channel my creative side again. I've even found myself go deep down memory lane and run through short reels of my childhood. I can't tell you the last time I thought about my childhood home prior to. All of the emotions surfaced connected to my parents, my old room, playing in the yard, etc. The pure beauty of it all is you can make this time whatever you want to make it. You can go with your own quiet thoughts or let the mind clear and watch what happens. It's like scrolling Facebook for the Soul, but the people are kinder, the memories/visions have real emotions attached to them, and you actually feel refreshed and great when you "log off" versus wanting to throw a device out a window. 

Between my everyday stresses and the constant reminders of our rapidly declining world, meditation has thrown a lot of things in perspective for me. What is physically happening around us hasn't changed, but how I view and process it absolutely has. I don't see the world through the same lens anymore. It's less scary, stressful, and chaotic. The sunsets are more vibrant, smiles are warmer, and gratitude is abundant. But that's a blog for another time. 

This is just the beginning of me sharing my spiritual journey in its infancy. If you're interested in learning more, follow along.