Meditation: the very basics

Some of you saw the title of this blog post and rolled your eyes. I get it. I’ve totally been there too. “Another person trying to convince me how good meditation is for you. Sorry – not interested. It’s so weird – and voodoo” – you think. Hang with me here.

Some of you saw the title of this blog post, and were like, “YES! Meditation is LIFE CHANGING!!!” And for you all, hang in there with me too.

Meditation is such a weird, uncomfortable word for me. And most days, I don’t really consider myself a “connected with my spiritual self, let the thoughts enter and exit my mind freely” kind of person. I’m very much an in-my-head person. I analyze things to the millioneth degree. My brain just doesn’t seem to stop very often. YEARS ago I was going through a really rough life time, and my brain just never seemed to shut off. I’d sit for hours and hours at night unable to sleep because I was analyzing things OVER AND OVER in my brain. And I had someone ask me, “Have you ever tried meditation?“

And I hadn’t really. I kind of thought it was for the super in-tune yoga junkies, and I have very dear friends who meditate, but I didn’t think it was for me. But, in this situation, I was desperate to try anything. I started with an app call Headspace that I still use to this day.

I’ve never paid for the “premium” materials – I just simply do the Basics course over and over again. And you guys, I have to tell you, it makes a huge difference in how I mentally feel each day and before going to bed if I’m meditating even just 3 minutes a day.

How it Works:

Are you ready for this? The app makes it super simple to start. You just start with the Basics course, and all you have to do is pick how long you want to meditate, and then push Play.

The Real Deal for Me:

I say all of this because, I’m still totally awful at meditating on a regular basis, and I also, by all means, am terrible at it. There are times during those 3 minutes that I will let the app talk to me in it’s super soothing voice, and I realize after three minutes that I’ve covered mentally my to-do list, that Sawyer needs a vet appointment made, did Nathan remember to turn the sprinklers off in the morning?, and that I forgot to stain treat Harrison’s clothes from that day.  And to boot, I’ll go weeks, sometimes months at a time forgetting to meditate.

But, when I’m consistently trying to get better, I can honestly feel a shift in my mental health. How I approach the day, how I approach being a mom, how I approach being a boss and employee, and how I approach being a partner to Nathan – and it’s a Lauren I like so much better.

Have you tried meditation before? What do you find that helps you?