And thus , began my journey with meditation . As you might have guessed from the above , I was a meditation virgin , no idea where to start or what the jaysus it was all about , I mean what ’ s the purpose here ? Coincidently ( there ’ s that demandable universe again ), the company I work for had just announced that every staff member would have access to the ‘ headspace ’ app free of charge for the foreseeable , so I started there . As my therapist suggested , I started small , with five minute slots in the ‘ basics ’ section of the app . In the basics section are guided meditations – which means that someone talks you through what to do – with frequent reminders that you are supposed to be meditating and not planning on what to cook for dinner . It ’ s not been easy , meditation and I have fallen out many times over the last few months , but gradually I began to slow down , I began to look forward to the time I had to sit still . My thoughts began to slow down , I could recognise when I was interrupting myself and put the thought aside . In meditation we do not berate ourselves for having thoughts , we recognise the thought has come in , note its presence , and let it go for now . Easier said than done right ? Like anything worth doing meditation takes practice , start small and work your way up . Pick a quiet spot , book a slot in your diary , allow yourself the time to just be . In the beginning I had to set an alarm to meditate , I dreaded it , I sat half the time peeking at my watch thinking how many other ‘ more useful ’ things I could be doing with this time ( I mean the skirting boards won ’ t clean themselves ). Gradually my mind began to get used to the time alone , the time to breath , the time to relax and take a break from the seeming never ending stream of consciousness . Meditation has taught me ( and by that , I mean I have taught myself ) to be more mindful about what I ’ m doing , to concentrate on what I ’ m doing , when I ’ m doing it . I can honestly say that meditating has changed me in ways I didn ’ t know were possible . I notice what I ’ m doing more , I remember where I put my keys , air pods , phone , sunglasses , dog lead , Dunnes stores voucher , handbag , water bottle , cup of tea . I no longer take the stairs four at a time for fear of wasting precious minutes . I no longer reach the top of said stair having forgotten what I went up there for in the first place . I no longer run in and out of the house six times - while my husband sits passive aggressively in the car with the engine running - when I am going somewhere . I no longer get to where I ’ m going realising , I have forgotten something I have promised 12 times to bring with me yet forgotten every time . I no longer boil with frustration , a sweat breaking out at the utter waste of my precious time , in the queue at LIDL because this FOOL at the checkout has forgotten his PIN . I don ’ t mean to suggest that I float through life on a pink cloud of tranquillity where nothing can touch me , what I am trying to say is that I am calmer and because I am calmer , I can cope better .
Meditation has helped me to slow down and in slowing down I have not lost time ; I have gained it . Meditation is for everyone and everyone can meditate , in fact in my opinion everyone should . Go on , give it a try , what have you to lose ?
lots of love Claire xxxx
| AUGUS T 202 1 • HOL A SOB E R |
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online