Meditation and mindfulness, like many of the things I’ve tried so far, have promised to fix everything in your life. It will reduce stress and pain, promote healing, reduce anxiety, increase relaxation, improve relationships, promote productivity, and much more. I personally have been a subscriber to Headspace for more than a year now, which I only know because I had a charge on my credit card for the annual subscription renewal that I had completely forgotten about. As much as I had tried in the past, I haven’t been able to meditate consistently over time.
Many of the studies done on meditation show that it’s important to “retrain your brain” by practicing meditation consistently rather than when you feel like it. I wondered if I would see the benefits of meditation if I actually did it every single day, so that’s what I did this week.
When I was feeling extremely overwhelmed with wedding planning or my back pain (I currently have 3 bulging discs), meditating in the moment helped immensely. Otherwise, meditating mostly showcased how unfocused my brain really is. I struggled to stand or lie still for more than a few minutes. While I know that your mind wandering is totally normal and part of mediating, it was frustrating that I couldn’t focus for more than a few seconds at a time. I now have a long list of things to try for this blog like uni-tasking, staying off of Instagram and other social media sites and setting up specific times to check emails.
Did meditating every day make me happier? I think it’s still too early to tell, but it did make me realize what other actions I could take to make me happier. For now, I’ll keep my streak going and provide an update when I’ve meditating every day for a couple months.
LiftBakelove 