On our individualized journey’s one of the themes weaved throughout our lives is the search for calmness within. We all have the power to go there and the ability to access it, but most of us don’t know how to tap into the calmness within. Have you ever noticed that the first few minutes of a meditation session you may be experiencing all of the thoughts from throughout your day pouring into your mind and all of the feelings come to the surface? At this moment we realize we should be focusing on the breath and do our best to return our attention there, but the thoughts keep bubbling up. Sometimes we may feel discouraged to get to that calm place when we have racing thoughts and can’t settle our minds. We so desperately seek that feeling of being calm and centered that we may avoid meditation in the first place or are eager to end the session early. The wonderful thing about meditation is it opens doors into your mind. If you begin your meditation practice with a different intention – just returning to the attention of your breath as often as you can think of it, then the more you practice this the easier it will become to let thoughts go. Be easy on yourself – allow the thoughts to flow effortlessly without trying to control them.
Set a timer during your meditation practice and let the first 5 minutes be a warm-up. Maybe you listen to some meditation music that allows the thoughts to come and go. It can be the same thing when you are trying to go to sleep – all of a sudden you are relaxing and your body is settling down that your mind thinks this is the perfect time to analyze and figure out issues from the day. Give your mind that time. Allow it to run free. Release the need to control and harness your thoughts – at least during that first 5 minute warm up of your meditation. Once the bell rings and your 5 minutes are up – see what thoughts are still there, maybe you need a longer warm-up such as 10 or 15 minutes. The more thoughts that keep coming up to the surface means the longer you need to meditate. When you are ready to move into your deeper meditation practice – you can do this through a guided meditation, a music meditation, or silently. Set your timer again, it could be for another 5 minutes, 10, 15, 20, you name it. See the difference you feel once you have completed your warm-up meditation and allowed your thoughts to flow freely through your mind. Notice how you activate that sense of calm in a deeper meditation.
Meditation is just one avenue to take to activate calmness within. There are many more that are covered throughout this book. At the end of the day – who doesn’t want to be free from suffering and pain? To have less stress, anxiety, and sadness? Who doesn’t want to live a better life and be happier? Through increased practice and awareness of mind-body practices such as yoga, meditation, breath-work, and mindfulness we can instill a sense of calm we all hope for. Life is a continuous development, and we are always changing and adapting. The calmness is already within you – find the key that accesses it.