Our Experience with Meditation
Meditation, while an ancient practice, has exploded in popularity over the last few years. People have raved about the benefits when integrated as a daily routine, including regulated moods, more patience, and increased mental clarity. To see for ourselves, we implemented meditative practices of our own over the last week to see just how effective meditation can be on our overall mental and physical wellbeing.
What We Did
The first step to this process was choosing a time of day in which to meditate. We settled on two short sessions daily: one in the morning before getting up, and one in the evening before bed. We chose these times as we often find how you start your day is an indicator of how the rest of the day will go; and how you end a day is a good indicator of how you’ll start the next one.
Next, we decided on a mantra; something to ground ourselves in during the meditation session. For us, the affirmation “you are here, you are happy, you are healthy” worked well. For you, this can be anything that speaks to you: a special saying, a reminder, or anything else that brings you peace.
The last step was to pick a spot in which to conduct the meditation. A quiet, sunlit space was our preference, as it helped with concentration (and getting a little extra vitamin D). You don’t have to feel limited to your home, however. If you have a favorite spot in the park or the gym, perhaps, these are also great places to consider meditating: as long as you’re comfortable!
From there, we just needed to put everything into practice. In our favorite spot, morning and night, mantra in mind, we closed our eyes, focused our breathing, and released all that weighed on us.
How We Felt
Being novices in the realm of meditation, we found the first few sessions a little difficult. The act of clearing your mind takes practice, especially when you've got a lot going on up there after a long day—don’t be surprised if initially you struggle with keeping your mind quiet, too.
Don’t be discouraged, though! After we got into the swing of it, though, we felt ourselves starting to look forward to the sessions. Eventually, it became easier to silence external stimuli and focus on what's happening inside—how we were feeling, what we needed to hear, and where to go with it.
By the end of the week, we felt a greater sense of peace than before. When you’re stressed, your body tends to tense up, often in ways you don’t even recognize. Meditation has been a healthy way to relieve some of that stress so it’s not carried all throughout the day and into the next.
Don't get us wrong—meditation isn't the magic fix-all some make it out to be. Rather, for us, meditation has been an opportunity to reconnect with ourselves, to remind ourselves of all that we are and all that we want to be. We recommend giving it a try! Remember that you can utilize resources to help you such as guided meditations through Headspace, YouTube, or another platform of your choosing.
