There is a Hindu saying: When the student is ready, the teacher will show. Meditation was certainly that teacher for me. Meditation and I first met each other almost four years ago during a period in my life when the challenges on the path before me were great -- the launching of a startup, the healing of a broken heart and acclimating to a city where I at first knew no one.
During this period, the idea of meditation started to pop more and more into my awareness as something I needed to try, but I didn't know how or where to start. The practice looked still, serene and basically the opposite to what I had been experiencing in my life. I knew I needed to know more. Since this difficult time in my life, I have been on a rewarding journey with meditation and mindfulness.
At first, learning how to sit, focus on my breath and calm the mind was the equivalent of stepping into the ring with a rowdy 10-foot gorilla. How could being still be so hard? Would I ever become one of those people who meditate and seem to find their bliss? The short answer to that is yes, but it didn't come right away... and the answer is a lot more complex.
Learning how to meditate took practice, time, courage and a lot of self forgiveness for when I felt I wasn't doing it right or when I tried to convince myself my mind was too fast to ever slow down.
Through practice and over time however, meditation is unfolding to became an incredible tool in my life. It has given me is the opportunity to be myself. To see myself for all that I am. To love myself deeper and to re-enter the world more calm, more happy and a lot more grateful.
Meditation for me is about letting go of all that the mind wants to hold onto and let the awareness be present with what is -- and over time, is a peace and calm that can be ours, any time we need it.
Meditation is like a mirror, reflecting back to us the miracle and beauty of our lives, the wonder and magnificence of our bodies and the peace that is always in our hearts and readily available to us. When we meditate, we can become still enough to see the great poetic beauty of life.
It opens a door within, allowing you to set aside your thoughts, concerns and to-do lists, and create a space for you to simply be with your breath, to be with the love that you are made of, and to be in the now.
Whether you are considering meditation for the first time or have previously fallen off the wagon, I want you to know that you are ready and that can do it. Meditation has given me deeper awareness of life, a healthier mind and body and a state of bliss that I can tap into anytime. I wish the same and more for you.
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