All in a Days' Meditation

While nestled amongst the green mountains of Vermont I always feel a sense of inner peace and the power and majesty of something bigger than myself. I have been hoping to introduce meditation into my life for some time, however, I always seem to jeopardize my attempts before I get far enough to call it routine.

This time was different. While on vacation I saw listed an introduction to meditation class and I knew I had to try it out. So glad I did, the instructor was wonderfully inspiringl a world traveler and student of budism, yogis of India and Thailand and a calming presence immediately. I knew she would inspire me and finally I would understand the process. After an hour and a half of conversation, practice and instruction I began to be able to find the calm that many people, including this instructor, have told me would be life changing.

Mind you, I'm a fantastic multitasker, I could easily follow my breath, think about her instructions to the class and also catagorize my "to-do" list! Not the intention, however! I've been doing this since first grade when I'd constantly be reprimanded by my teacher for chatting during class instruction time. "No problem, I heard you, lady!" Still, always found myself at recess spending days upon days walking up and down the parochial school sidewalks as my punishment.

You would think this would have been a good time to practice being alone and focusing my thoughts on one thing at a time. instead, I continued to nurture my multitasking skills and over the years have even shaped my business around this theme.

Time to stop. For me slow my thoughts and my brain, focusing my breath and just "being" is very difficult. We started small and hoped to be successful in five minute incriments; pushing the thoughts away as they fought their way back. Five minutes is a long time in meditation when you are new at the practice. Trust me, it's worth it. I know that it is going to take me many, many weeks of practice to find meditation to be easy, but it is a test of wills and I always enjoy that type of challenge.

I have found some soothing instrumental musical selections and downloaded them onto my ipod. Right now this helps to put me in a more meditative state but eventually I hope to be able to find this place just about any time. I'm proud to say I am finding the minutes are flying by. Five minutes isn't that difficult and ten minutes is more suitable, hoping twenty to thirty will soon follow. Finding the time to sit down is harder but I am really working to make that a priority. The calm and sense of peace that I feel afterwards is evident. When my mind wanders during the day and I begin to feel stressed I let myself think back to my mornings' meditation and redirect the calm. It is a process and a decisive mental practice.

Take some time today for yourself and explore your calm. Thanks for reading! Miriam