Hello everyone and Happy (almost) Spring! I hope this finds you well. This month, I would like to dive into a topic that I have a lot of passion for and that is sometimes misunderstood. That topic is Meditation. What I have found is that meditation is either a mystery to some or a “buzzword” to others. In this edition, I hope to clear up some of the misconceptions, explain some of the benefits and ultimately, attempt to make meditation accessible to anyone!
A Quick Back Story: For some background about me and my meditation journey, I would like to go back to when I was very young and our family lost our father in a car accident; I was only two. From as young as I can remember, I had a deep “knowing” that his essence lived on. Some may call that wishful thinking, but I would like to say that his passing changed, not only the trajectory of my life; it also altered my relationship with spirituality – with faith. Faith is a loaded word; however, I use it here to describe my profound feeling that everything would be ok. I would find myself seeking quiet moments to talk to my father and ask questions waiting patiently for an answer. I delved deep into books about near-death-experiences, past lives and spirituality – always hungry to understand myself and my connection to the world around me. Although I did not have a regular meditation practice, I spent a lot of time in quiet reflection listening for answers or seeking guidance. Fast forward to 2017 when my mother passed away, that was when I found myself diving deeper into meditation; I sought out guided meditations on Spotify or other platforms. Then, one day, one of my coworkers introduced me to the meditation app called “Insight Timer”. In June of this year, I will have been meditating for six years without missing a day. In 2023, I became a Certified Meditation Instructor through the Chopra Center. Obviously, I am a big proponent of developing a meditation practice.
Meditation is very personal: Everyone decides to meditate for different reasons and those reasons can be very personal. As was the case with mine. I found solace in my quiet space seeking guidance and understanding of my deeper purpose. I literally have about a dozen journals filled with insights and impressions I have gathered during my time meditating. Whatever inspires people to take time to “go within” may evolve over time as well. Some come to meditation as a means of stress-relief, or relaxation and it turns into a quest for deeper meaning. Making the decision to start meditating is subjective to past experience as well as any preconceived notions of what meditation actually is.
What Meditation is Not: To better understand what meditation IS, it is important to understand what it is NOT. Mediation is NOT turning off your mind, clearing your thoughts or becoming a blank canvas. On the contrary, meditation is the practice of becoming aware of the thoughts we have, acknowledging them, then letting them go without allowing them to sweep us up. Between each thought we have, there is a gap (I know, sometimes that is hard to believe). Meditation slows our thoughts down and allows that gap to widen. Within that gap lies our truth – there is peace in the gap. With jest, I like to say that “you don’t have to be a Buddhist Monk” to meditate – I used to think this! I recall my grandmother explaining to me that I had to go to some special class and receive my own specialized mantra that I was not allowed to talk about to anyone all in the name of learning how to meditate. I was so intimidated! However, all those things are false.
Benefits of Meditating:I know what you may be thinking – “why would I want to sit quietly and observe my thoughts? Can’t I be more productive doing something else?” Great question! Glad you asked! If you can believe what I am about to say, it could potentially unlock some mystery behind meditation. By being still and letting go you can actually accomplish more in your waking life. Think of your mind as a cell phone or iPad; when there are too many apps or tabs open, it slows things down. Everyday pressures or negative thoughts can end up accumulating. There is so much turbulence in the mind and this busyness can disrupt our everyday functions, such as, memory or recall, or responsiveness versus being reactive. After meditating, you tend to carry that stillness and peace into your everyday life.
Meditation is essentially a pressure relief valve. By calming the mind and slowing our thoughts (even if it is for a few minutes a day), can have amazing effects both physiologically and emotionally. We can think of meditation as a detoxification process whereby we effortlessly dissolve the deep-rooted stresses, fatigue, and emotions which don’t serve us. Although you do not reach a state of sleep, meditation is a means of achieving a deep rest. Deep rest is how the body naturally heals itself. As a result of this, our mind becomes more alert and creative, our health improves, there’s more harmony in our relationships, and we experience more happiness and satisfaction in our lives. Sound too good to be true? Try it and let me know what you think! There are many more spiritual benefits, but I will save those for another edition.
Making Meditation More Accessible: If it is not obvious already, I strive to make meditation more accessible to everyone! The intimidation I felt during my initial curiosity was real, so I get it! This is a true passion of mine. I have found so many benefits in my waking life that I want to share this with everyone I talk to! I recently was accepted as an instructor on the Insight Timer App, and I have uploaded five guided meditations as of today! I also have them on my YouTube channel as well as on Audio.com. If you are interested in starting a practice and don’t know where to begin, I would consider doing guided meditations first. You can find them nearly anywhere. Another suggestion I make to newcomers is to start small and build on that. Perhaps all you can tolerate is 5 minutes – that is perfectly ok! Even 2-10 minutes a day is impactful. Also, please (and I cannot stress this enough) be GENTLE on yourself! Remember the mind is meant to think thoughts so, when you attempt to meditate, you WILL be thinking, and this is totally normal!
If you would like to learn more about this, please reach out! I would really love to hear from you! Also, I have included some links below to my most recent meditations.
https://youtube.com/@yourtruthbetold?si=ZSpZPV5NH6zpB10l
https://insighttimer.com/adrianagri00002?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=content
https://audio.com/adriana-grieco
Be well and Namaste,
Adriana