I haven’t talked about meditation much lately, and despite the fact that it’s something I’ve done nearly every day for the past four years, I’ve never written a musing about it, so I thought it was time! Meditation is something near and dear to my heart, but it’s such a strange beast of a thing that it can be hard to talk about sometimes.

For years, I could hear this voice inside me saying, “You should meditate.” But, I would ignore it or just push it off for later, when I “had time.” Lol.

Here’s a secret: There’s never a good time to start a new awesome habit. Life is always a bit nuts. We always have so much on our plates that taking time out to sit still and “do nothing” might seem silly. Couldn’t that time be better spent doing something else? That’s what the old me thought. Then I learned otherwise.

The time I spend in meditation is anything but silly. It’s vital. Integral. Wildly important. It has changed my life in more ways than I will probably ever fully understand.

That’s a lot to attribute to “sitting still and doing nothing.”

So, why is meditation so important to me?

It makes me feel more alive, more loving, peaceful, calmer, one with life, and so much more. My mind is also a much more inviting, beautiful place now after years of meditation. I have so much less noise and traffic from discordant thoughts. I have so much less fear and self-doubt. I feel more poised and confident that I’m able to deal with whatever life brings my way. And most of all, it has helped enable me to transform into the person I’ve always wanted to be. It has refined me, distilled me, and helped me connect to my true essence and purpose. I am a better version of myself because I took up the habit of meditation. I’m a more loving and forgiving wife, daughter, sister, friend, boss, and human. I’m a more dynamic, effective version of myself. It’s pretty wild that all that could come from “sitting still and doing nothing.”

If you’re like old me who could never take meditation seriously or make the time for it—I get it. There were so many times that even if I wanted to and had the time, I felt intimidated and dumb when I tried it. I started off only being able to sit still for two minutes, and even then, my mind was overrun with thoughts and the million things I needed to do.

Then, I learned that’s pretty normal. As soon as you sit down and give yourself time to just be, your mind seems to jump with joy that it can now bombard you with everything that suddenly needs your attention immediately. That’s okay. It’s to be expected. When I first started, I was so frustrated because I couldn’t understand how this process could ever help me. Then, I started finding little tricks to help myself.

If when I sat down, all the thoughts of everything I needed to do came rushing in, I opened my eyes, grabbed a pen and paper, and brain-dumped all of those thoughts until there was nothing left to write, and then I closed my eyes and started again.

I learned that it was okay if I was only able to sit for two or three or five minutes. I learned that it was okay if thoughts came. They come like clockwork—and I learned I could just let them float by. I didn’t have to mentally latch on to every single thought and start thinking about it. I could just see the thought, acknowledge it, and let it float by. Little by little, it got easier. Month by month, the thoughts lessened and the peace and silence between them lengthened. Eventually, I could really start to feel myself sink into that peace. And then, I could begin to recognize when my brain wave state was shifting into ultra-relaxed, lower hertz levels. I started to realize that when I could relax enough and shift my brain wave state to those levels, I was connected to something so vast as to be indescribable. I would find myself in this place that wasn’t a place, where everything was so obvious and clear. The truth was just there—bright and bold and unquestionable. It’s an amazing place to be. For a while, I got a little addicted to that feeling and that place that isn’t a place, and wanted to be there as much as possible. But then I realized that there are seasons in life, and I couldn’t spend all of mine hidden away, meditating like a monk and ignoring the world. As they always do, the seasons shifted again, my focus on meditation lessened and other parts of my world were enlivened and animated. But still, I always come back to meditation. Even if I miss a day or a week, it doesn’t matter. It’s still there for me. And all I have to do is become intentional about sitting in silence, releasing my thoughts, clearing my mind, and sinking into the sea of consciousness—wherever it may take me. The peace is always there to be accessed.

If you’re interested in meditation or if you’re hearing that voice in your head or heart like I did, I encourage you to investigate it and give it a try. One of these days, I really should come up with my own beginner’s guide to meditation. It’s on my list. In the meantime, there are a ton of resources out there about how to get started. My best advice is to follow your heart and your intuition. There are a bunch of different kinds of meditation. Sample them. Feel what resonates with you and lifts you up. It’s okay if you don’t vibe with certain ways. They won’t all be for you. The most important thing is to keep trying. Eventually, it will click. Eventually, you’ll know the bliss you can reach too if you don’t already. Either way, it’s a simple, free, timeless tool that you can take with you anywhere you go, and—it can take you on journeys and adventures you never knew were possible.

Good luck and happy meditating!

With tons of love,