No, I’m not talking about the unit of electrical resistance (as surprising as that might be) but rather the “ooooooohm” that goes along with meditation (at least on TV it does).
So – yes – let’s talk meditation for a minute or so. How many of you out there meditate? Everyone? None of you? It’s something that I’m pretty new to and I’m not sure that I do it “right” — if there is, indeed a “right” way to do it — but I am doing it as best as I can. As I’ve mentioned before, I use an app called Headspace that I really like (I have not yet graduated to unguided meditation). Andy, this cool British dude, guides you through the exercises and they have packages of meditations along different themes: relationships, anxiety and confidence to name just a few. In fact, go watch Andy’s TEDtalk. That’s where I first heard him and got introduced to Headspace and haven’t looked back since.
So, what do I get from it? It depends. Some days it’s what I need to unwind from a busy day. Other times it helps me (inadvertently) fall asleep. And then there are the times that it’s the only thing that gets me to release my shoulders so that they aren’t hunched up around my ears.
I’ll say this: it gives me peace. It may be fleeting; it may only be for the 10 or 15 minutes that I’m sitting there, but it’s peace nonetheless and I’ll grab any bit of it that I can get. And sometimes, that peace bleeds into the rest of my day. Meditation #FTW.
If you haven’t tried it, why not? I can hear people saying “oh yea, I bet it’s great but I could never get my brain to quiet down for that long.” Know what? I think just about everyone says that before they start the practice. The best part? Meditation is all about practice, not perfection. It’s noticing your mind wandering and bringing it back, again and again. Meditation can teach you to quiet your mind when you need it to quiet, as well as giving yourself just that bit of space you need to notice the moment around you and be grateful for it.
Sounds like magic, doesn’t it? I’d say that it kind of is magic. And it’s free and doesn’t require any equipment — just 5 or 10 minutes and the desire to sit and be quiet.
Here’s a great short video about meditation to explain it better than I ever could:
Meditation 101: A Beginner’s Guide from Gobblynne on Vimeo.