The Power of Meditation
When you start to become conscious that you have an energetic and subtle body, you begin to ask yourself ‘Who am I? Who are we all?” You begin to realize that we are supported by everything that’s around us, and there’s a sense of peace and comfort in that knowing. Or at least, that’s what it did for me.
Though I have practiced yoga for years and was aware of the mind/body/spirit connection, I did what many of us do when we first start doing yoga - we view it as a new form of exercise, another regime to stay in shape, be more flexible and find more balance.
And though it did all of those things for me, it was the final pose that always struck something deep inside of me - savasana, also known as corpse pose. And not because of the relief in knowing that I had finally reached the end of my practice, but rather because I was finally giving myself permission to just lay there in stillness.
My life was always so busy, mostly due to my own subconscious need to over-complicate my life by taking on too much, but also because that’s the culture we’re all living in. Everything is so fast-paced and we constantly feel the need to get stuff done, as quickly as we can. There are many demands on us every day, coming from so many different sources, whether that’s work, home, kids, our partners, friendships, and other outside interests.
When I could finally just lay there, and shut off the outside world, even for just a few minutes, it gave me a sense of calmness that had been lacking in my life.
I have always been wired to be sensitive. It’s just who I am and I have come to accept and appreciate that part of me, but along with that comes the subtle vulnerabilities to the external world. Whether I intend to or not, I more easily pick up other people’s feelings and energy and at times it can feel quite heavy.
Meditation is something I started to explore deeper as a result of my love for yoga. When I first began, I started to do guided meditations because I struggled with thoughts racing through my mind whenever I tried to meditate with just music or in silence. The guided meditation gave me something to focus on, which helped take my mind off of my own thoughts (which for me was not very easy to do!).
When we come back to ourselves and really feel what’s inside, we can set ourselves free. Meditation helps bring us back to our intuition, which is our guiding system. It’s what informs us when something feels wrong or right.
In this crazy, beautiful, and yet chaotic world that we live in, it’s easy to get disconnected from our subtle or etheric body, and our intuition. That’s when we may start to feel out of balance, stressed, and even sick.
When we give ourselves the time to just let go, breathe, and connect with our inner self, we maintain the flow of energy in a harmonious way. That’s when our lives begin to feel easier, lighter and more clear.
There are many ways to meditate. It can be staring at the flame of a candle, sitting in nature, watching the sunrise or the ocean, repeating mantras, listening to the sound of rain or water flowing, or through guided meditation.
Guided meditation was an easy one for me to begin with. Below is a free meditation you can listen to anytime to begin your meditation practice.
Meditation should not be a struggle so don’t be hard on yourself if you feel like you’re “not getting it right”. There’s absolutely nothing you can do wrong when you start meditating. By simply showing up, you set the intention.
I know far too often when I first began, I thought I was doing it wrong, so it stressed me out, which defeats the whole purpose of meditation lol! I was holding onto an expectation of what it should look like, which was a Buddhist monk sitting on the top of a mountain with his forefinger and thumbs touching, resting on his knees looking like he was in complete bliss. I didn’t feel that, and certainly didn’t look like that, so I immediately felt like I was doing it wrong. I had thoughts racing in and out my head (as usual), and was finding it difficult to sit still without fidgeting. I could barely manage to sit there for even a minute!
With more practice, like anything else, the art of meditation will become easier and much deeper. You will start to experience a shift in your life that will keep you coming back to this practice.
Committing to show up daily for it is the first step. Let go of any expectations and just let yourself explore the practice.
With love,
Rhianna