The Power of Stillness
Red flag: “Meditation requires me to stop all my thoughts and just not think.”
Well, this is the furthest thing from the truth.
There is so much power in stillness. Let’s rewind to January 2019… In the span of 3.5 months, I said goodbye to my mom and then had to make the heart-wrenching decision that it was time to say goodbye to my dog Chloe at the age of 14.5.
In all honesty, losing Chloe was brutal. She was weaved into my everyday world and in literally seconds my whole world changed, again. I didn’t know what to do or how to be with all the time and space her loss created. And, that’s when I was ready to embrace the power of meditation.
The journey of walking towards the end of life with my mom and Chloe taught me to slow down and learn the art of being present in every moment. Every moment with each of them was the last; never to be repeated again. I knew in my heart I wanted zero regrets. Meditation has given me a whole new depth into my inner awareness, presence and more. Here’s some of how I’ve reaped the rewards of having a meditation practice:
Softening, heart open, and dissolving my armour
Increasing self-compassion and reducing self-judgement
Sitting in a space of discomfort
Anxiety no longer fuels me
Connection to breath
Moving through immense grief
Noticing and accepting whatever is showing up for me
Calming my monkey mind and quieting my inner dialogue of storytelling
Rooting into daily intentions and anchoring into my values
Spiritual growth
Letting go of expectations and detaching from outcomes
Each time I sit to meditate, it’s truly a different experience. Some days, I crave it and 45 minutes feels like seconds. Some days, I struggle to get through 5 minutes. And, that’s OK. My escapes into nature also feed my soul in similar ways to a sitting meditation: finding balance and calibration again. Everything we experience is impermanent.
How has meditation impacted your life? Are you willing to give it a try?