Few years ago, I was at the edge of a burnout. I was the kind of person that was caught up in an endless busyness from my work and from my lifestyle, the kind of work hard, play harder mentality. The fast life pace, the professional commitments, responsibilities towards family and friends made it difficult for me to find time to stay in touch with myself. In these situations, I found it easy to beat myself up and engage in negative self-talk. So, I kept asking myself, how do we live in a fast-paced world and keep in touch with our inside world?

It sounds obvious if I say practicing mindfulness and meditation did help. But taking a few minutes to meditate and calm the wandering mind can ease up those overwhelming feelings and get back on track to face life challenges with clarity and strength.

Here are some misconceptions about meditation and tips for new beginners.

I do not have time to meditate.

People who usually say that they do not have time to meditate are the ones who need it the most. As the old Zen proverb says: “If you don't have time to meditate for an hour every day, you should meditate for two hours.”

Meditation is a lifestyle. It should be ideally included in your daily routine. Once you will notice its benefits, you will make time for it.

IT JUST NOT FOR ME, IT’S TOO HARD TO MEDITATE!

At the beginning, meditation can look intimidating because we do not know which style we should try (Transcendental Meditation, Guided Visualization, Qigong and Vipassana among others); we get lost in a new Sanskrit language that seems rooted from another galaxy. We find it difficult to calm our monkey mind as we experience several thoughts wandering at the same time.

Mind-wandering does usually involve thoughts of future, past, or present events, and judgments of ourselves and others that makes us feel overwhelmed.

Do not panic! It is totally normal to feel overwhelmed at the start as some supressed emotions can surface. The key is not to supress these emotions but to try to keep calm and journal after about how you felt can be of a great help.

Perhaps some people find it more challenging to meditate than others. Like with many other things in life, meditation is not a one-time magic healing, but it does require a lot of patience. When you start your practice, it is recommended to not set high expectations but to start small. Staying persistent and committed is the key to unlock the benefits of meditation. 

“IF YOU CAN BREATHE, YOU CAN MEDITATE!”

Meditation will fix your problems. 

Meditation is a well-being exercise, it’s not meant to solve your life problems, fix your relationships, nor completely heal your traumas. It’s not a short cut to happiness. If you approach meditation with these ideas, you’re running the risk of turning it into a means of escape from reality instead of a self-care and grounding practice.

Meditating regularly help increase awareness, develop resilience, and let go of trivial things that doesn’t serve us anymore. Living in the present moment make us enjoy more what we have while working towards what we want to achieve in the future.

MEDITATIONS MAKES YOU LESS PUSHY.

Dan Harris, a Former ABC News anchor, shares in his book ‘10% happier’ his experience with anxiety and meditation. Following his panic attack on live television, Dan offers a skeptic’s journey through the world of self-help. He also underlines these pitfalls that we have about meditation and of which he thought that meditation will make him less successful as the calmness you gain from meditation will not allow you to push for the things he wanted. He argues that when you release your expectations about winning, you will relax, and your performance will naturally improve.

MEDITATION HELPS YOU THINK POSITIVE THOUGHTS. 

Think of Meditation like a rendez-vous check-in with yourself. It does not change your thoughts to a more positive ones, it’s just makes you more aware of what negative thoughts are recurrent in your mind and how you can overcome those fears. Being happy all the time is idealistic and might be a sign that you are wanting to escape from reality.  

FEW TIPS TO START WITH: 

Start simple

The best way to start a meditation practice is by doing short sessions of five minutes each day. Once you get used to it, you can build on a longer or more complex meditation exercise. By keeping it simple you will not get discouraged, and you will feel motivated to keep doing it.

Dedicate a spot for it

Find a place at your home that you like and where you will not get distracted. Make that spot the place you want to meditate every day. You can make it cosy and add to it special meditation cushions and candles. At times, I will listen to a meditation playlist to get initiated (Headspace Or Calm are fantastic for beginners). These are ideas to help you out, but you can choose what works best for you. At the end, meditation is about intention and focus.

Make it a daily routine

You can include meditation into your morning or evening routine and complete the exercise each day at the same time. Making it a habit will help you stick to it. 

Journal on how you feel

As we have seen previously, meditation is about observing your thoughts and feelings. It will be helpful to journal on those feelings just after your meditation practice as to allow you to detach from them and understand why you feel that way. 

True Zen may well be one of the hardest states to achieve, nevertheless, remember that your new meditation practice as any other habit you want to implement into your life need to be approached with a healthy and positive perspective. Be relaxed when starting your practice, curious when experimenting with different meditation types, and kind to yourself when encountering challenges of meditation.

I hope that your new meditation practice will calm down your soul and bring you harmony and inner peace.

Namaste 🧘🏽‍♀️🧘🏼‍♂️ 💭