I have discovered something amazing. Life-changing. Perplexing. A practice that has revolutionised the way I see life, do tasks and be in relationships. I’m waking up refreshed, accomplishing more, sinking into the deepest of sleeps, finding that I’m able to meet challenges and parenting head on (mostly) and enjoying life a whole lot more.
Meditation.
Okay, don’t switch off, I get it – I was that person too. I thought I was terrible at meditating, having tried it a few times on my Headspace app. After a few goes I didn’t really get what all the fuss was about and I chalked it up to a practice that just wasn’t for me.
Meditation just seemed like something for those zen spiritual people, not people who wanted to get things done. I didn’t have enough time to sit on my butt, cross legged and just wait. Besides, in my head were all those thoughts I had been trying so hard to avoid. The ones that got stuck on repeat and then drowned out with alcohol.
When I got sober (over a month ago now!) everything shifted. At first, it wasn’t pretty. I had this hope that maybe it was just the alcohol making me an irritable, grumpy person and that once I took that away I would be nice and calm again. Unfortunately, I discovered that even when I stopped being jittery and panicked around crazy hour, scouring the cupboards for something to consume, the irritability and anger still seeped out. Am I just a horrible person? I wondered in those moments, hoping I wouldn’t have to resign myself to that.
Last weekend I was really feeling it. Dave let me sleep in and even sent me out after rest-time for some time to myself. But the breaks, nice as they were, failed to lift me out of my funk. What is wrong with me? I wrote out page after page of the thoughts that were tumbling through my mind. Over half of them began with ‘I’m worried...’. On the way home I switched on a podcast to help me focus on something else.
It was an interview with Emily Fletcher. She spoke about how she discovered the art of meditation when she was in her early twenties, on Broadway, apparently living her dream but unable to ever enjoy it. She was stressed to the point of her hair going grey, crippled by insomnia and experiencing many health problems. When she discovered meditation it was a transformation. The practice revolutionised her body, her hair returned to its natural colour and she slept through the night for the first time in years. She delved deeply into the neuroscience behind meditation, voraciously consuming knowledge about why this practice is so incredible and she created Ziva Meditation.
Using the principles of mindfulness, meditation and manifesting, she teaches a way to meditate that doesn’t require you to be super human. You can meditate anywhere, there is no requirement to switch off your thoughts and the practice is compatible with any spiritual background. It requires fifteen minutes, twice a day, and as I discovered on the very first day – it is potent and powerful stuff.
I began with her free guided meditation and found tears streaming down my face ten minutes later. A deep and profound sadness was released and I felt so much lighter as a result.
In Emily’s book ‘Stress Less, Accomplish More‘ she outlines page after page of research about the benefits of meditation – everything from a 90% success rate for insomnia, marked improvement in migraines, slowing down the process of ageing, paving the way for better sex, improved health and wellbeing and an increase in one’s energy.
It seems almost like cheating that a mere 30 minute daily investment can have such magnified outcomes, but I have experienced that for myself this week. Nothing on the surface has been easier, in fact, there were parts that were extremely challenging – from a vomiting episode, a virus that worked its way through our family, an outbreak of hives, a party where our son’s entire class was invited to our house, navigating a mid-year school change for our eldest, and a car that refused to work just as we were leaving for school this morning.
And yet, my response has been markedly different. I’ve been waking up half an hour earlier to meditate which has lead to much smoother mornings for all of us. The afternoon lull is replaced by another meditation which imparts another boost of energy that gets me through crazy hour. I’m getting less sleep but feeling heaps more rested, finding space within myself to respond to challenges that would have otherwise sent me reeling and I’m able to have more fun and be more present with the kids.
I look forward to each meditation experience now, so grateful that I have found something that works so comprehensively.
Of course, it hasn’t been all roses. The process of ‘unstressing’ or ‘detoxing’ – releasing years of past stress, anxiety, sadness and irritation has been really tough at times. On Friday I was a complete mess, sobbing most of the day and facing some deep things about my own health and my identity as a mother. But, knowing that this stuff is coming out for good is so satisfying and healing. Where I would have just topped up the glass only a month or so ago, now I’m fighting my battles and feeling stronger.
Meditation. Who would have thought such a simple practice could be so transformational? And the best thing? Looks like it might be catching on!
Sorry in advance if I rave about this too much. I thought putting it in a post might be more palatable rather than going on and on about it in person! Let me know if you have a meditation practice or if you have found anything else that is revolutionising your world at the moment. I’d love to hear about it.
