Ah. The New Year’s Resolution. What’s yours – start a diet; exercise more; develop healthier eating habits; quit smoking; learn to meditate? If it’s learning to meditate, that’s not impossible. I’m not going to spend a lot of time explaining the “how to’s” of meditation because there’s so much that’s been written and recorded about it that it could fill a few dumpsters! I want to go beyond that and generally advocate silence.
Meditation is a great way to start being silent. Start slowly if it’s new to you. Carve out five minutes of your busy day and take that time to look inward. I was taught the “RPM” method of meditation – rise, pee, meditate! Some days that works for me and others it doesn’t, but I always try to fit it in my day, even meditating with my earphones plugged into my iPhone’s recorded meditation music on an airplane. Busy parents can get their children to meditate with them by showing them this method for slowing down.
Your meditation can take many forms. You can use a CD for guided meditation or find music that fits the length of time you want to sit in stillness. You can always just use a timer to signal the end of your session. If these methods don’t appeal to you, just look into a candle or into any crystal and see where it takes you. Find a mantra or affirmation that appeals to you and repeat it to yourself during your silent time. Don’t worry about the mind chatter; just think of it as clouds passing before your inner vision and let them drift past.
For me, meditation was my first step in going deeper within. Sometimes that mind chatter really meant something to me – it was an “ah ha” moment. I found that those moments increased as I let my world got quieter. I turned off the TV, stopped listening to even classical music on the radio, and stopped playing CDs as I went through my day. I paid less attention to the computer and did less texting. All these things (and all the resulting silence) brought me more inspiration and insights. I could hear the voice inside me that really guided me. That was my inner self. And I learned that when I truly had inspiration, that came from my higher self. I believe that my higher self is my connection to the divine and I know that we all have that ability to connect with our higher divine self.
So, take time and start that meditation resolution. Enjoy the silence it brings you, and you just might find that you start craving that quiet for longer than five or ten minutes. Bring it into as much of your day as you can and listen to your higher self for inspiration and guidance. We just have to get quite and listen!
Namaste, Debbie