Meditation – how a simple practice changed my life

Episode 15 – Full Transcript

There’s no video this week, just audio. Next week we will return with video

Michelle: Hey, everyone. My name is Michelle. And I’m Lindsey, and you’re listening to nurse verse. Today we’re going to be talking about meditation. And I’m so sorry for our video watchers. There’s no video this week, just audio. But we will return with video. Bye. Next week. And it’s also just me today. Sadly, Lindsey won’t be joining us, but she’ll be back next week as well.

Meditation is the ability to remain in the present moment

So the reason I wanted to bring up meditation, it’s something that is very near and dear to me. It’s something that has absolutely changed my life and I think is, incredibly crucial for wellness. Just to start, what is meditation? There are lots of different definitions or meditation, but for us today, utilizing it in the aspect of focused attention and the ability to remain in the present moment. So that’s the definition I’m going to use for meditation today. but please understand, there’s many other definitions, and depending on the context it’s being used in, can be described differently as well. But I’m going to describe it in terms of my own experience and what has helped me and my wellness. So why is meditation important for your health and well being? Well, because, as we’ve mentioned in many other episodes, your thoughts dictate your emotions, your emotions dictate your behavior, your behavior dictates your life. And therefore, focused attention can ultimately change your life. How meditation works is through practicing. Focused. Meditation is almost equivalent to exercise for your muscles. So, for example, if you exercise to train your body to get stronger, to have greater endurance, to play a certain sport, meditation is what you can use to help train your brain. And the more you practice, the more this becomes a natural state and a natural ability. So, just like anything else in life, the more you do it, the better you’re going to get at it, and the more natural it becomes, and it starts to become your natural state of being. Just for an example, has anybody ever driven home from work, and by the time you got home, you don’t remember a single part of the drive? Like, you don’t even remember how you got home? Well, that is a, prime example of just not being present, obviously being spaced out, being someplace else, anywhere but where you currently are. And as human beings, we have the ability to do this in many different ways, in many different ways in life. And so by practicing meditation, it’s equivalent to practicing being present and truly showing up for your life. Because when we have a lot on our mind, it’s so easy to get distracted and to just start thinking about something else. And that thought leads to the next thought, leads to the next thought. And before you know it, you’re traveled back in time. And you’re having a conversation with somebody that it feels so real. But it’s not. It’s just you got carried away by your own thought process. And so by practicing meditation, you can help practice your awareness of these thoughts occurring. So that you have the choice then to decide whether or not you’re gonna continue along that thought process. Or you’re going to interrupt that thought process, change it. Or you’re just going to notice the thought and simply let it go and return back to your present moment. So meditation can be done in a multitude of ways. Typical meditation might look like sitting cross legged in an upright position. And focusing on your breath. In and out, in and out. You might use mantras, which are repeated sentences. Or a handful of words that you would repeat over and over again. You could listen to guided meditations, which is somebody else walking you through a, meditation. You could do a walking meditation. You could even sit and stare at a candle flame. Without breaking your focus and focusing simply on the base of that flame. There are even other activities that you could consider meditative. For example, for Lindsay and I, shark tooth hunting is one of those activities that is completely meditative for us when we’re searching for shark teeth. It’s so incredible how quickly we can get into that zone of you are so focused on what you’re looking for. And in that moment in time, nothing else exists. Like nothing else is running through our brains. There’s no other thoughts. We’re so focused that we could be doing that for hours on end. And not even realize how much time has gone by. So if there’s other activities that create this similar state of flow for you, then I would also consider that as a meditative activity for some people, it might be working with your hands, building something, creating something, doing art, whether it be painting, drawing, etcetera. And even sports are a great example of getting into a meditative state. Or a, ah, state of flow, where truly nothing else exists. And you are so ever present in that moment right then and there. This feeling of flow is what some people might describe as nothing else is going on in their brain. Nothing else matters. Being in that state of flow for some people is addictive. You feel that state of flow, and you want to feel it over and over and over again. Because it feels so great just to be present, just to be in that current moment in time. And so I think it’s extremely important to have some activity that gets you into that state of flow every single day. And for those people that are lucky enough to get to do a job where they can experience that meditative state every day in the work that they’re doing, then that’s the most ideal. It doesn’t really get much better than that. But if you have, like most jobs, a lot of distractions, constant context switching, this can be super exhausting for the brain. And starts to train your brain to think all over the place. You’re constantly being interrupted because that’s the thought process and the state that you’ve had to adapt to for your current job. So the more you do one thing, the more your brain is trained to do that one thing. Therefore, when you’re not working and you don’t want to be in that state where your brain is just all over the place, then you want to practice being present, whether it’s doing one of those meditative activities or doing more of a formal meditation. Now, in order to choose your method, if meditation is not something you’ve dabbled with at all, then I highly recommend doing a activity. Activity that gets you in a meditative state. First, you want to feel that state of flow, that state of relaxation. It could even be coloring. Coloring in a coloring book. I know this sounds super silly, but I’m not going to lie. I actually really do enjoy coloring or making bracelets with my nieces. I find those activities very meditative as well. It really gets my body and my brain focused on one thing and allows me to get into that meditative state. So this is an easy way to just get started and begin to notice what that state looks like. Then, as you start to enjoy that process, I recommend increasing your meditation practice from there. I think it’s extremely beneficial to do something that is a bit more challenging as you begin to enjoy the process. Process. So, for me, I love to be active all the time. I like to be doing things, and I like to work with my hands. Therefore, a, formal seated meditation is much more challenging for me. But I think it’s important to do it, because the more you do something that is challenging for you, obviously, then the easier it’s going to become and the more you can adapt and the more you can grow. And so by doing formal seated meditation, it’s increased my ability to remain or maintain that focused attention. It’s given me the practice to not react and instead create some space between me, the observer, and my thoughts.

It’s important to ease your way into meditation, because a lot can happen

And noticing that I’m not my thoughts. I am, I am the thing that is observing my thoughts. And so in order for your practice to be sustainable, I do think it’s important to ease your way into it, because a lot of people, when they start meditation, are probably going to feel frustrated. Especially if you’re doing a formal seated meditation. You might find yourself nodding off or getting distracted by thoughts, and then the timer goes off and you feel like you’ve accomplished nothing except mold in your thoughts. And this can cause frustration and cause people to not want to return. But the whole point of meditation is not to get the thoughts to stop. It’s to just create some space or some separation with those thoughts. You should be able to have those thoughts, but just notice them and let them go and return back to your present moment. Return back to your breath or your mantra or whatever type of meditation it is that you’re practicing at that moment in time. And I think it’s also important to stay committed and to choose a time of day and a duration of time that you want to practice. Every single day. There’s going to be days that you’re not going to want to do it because you’re so busy. But just even five minutes a day will make such a massive difference. And I find it very helpful to do your meditation practice in the morning because it really helps set up a great tone for the day, and it’s just a great way to get your day started. And you can even start with a quick five breath count. So, for example, you can count five breaths without getting distracted, without, having any other thoughts veer you off course. So this would look like breathing in, breathing out of count one. Breathe in, breathe out, count two. And you can even do box breathing, where you breathe in for a count of 41234. Hold, two, three, four. Exhale 2344. In two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. Exhale, two, three, four. And do that for a count of five to ten breaths. If you don’t get distracted, keep going, and you’ll notice how much of a relaxed state you’ll gradually fall into the longer you do it. One of my favorite personal meditations, when I’m just trying to do something really quick, is I’ll do a five minute bell meditation. This is a recording which you can access on the calm app. The calm app offers a variety of bell meditations. And by bell meditation, I mean that on every minute, a bell will ding. And that ensures that if I’ve veered off or got lost in thought over the course of that 60 seconds, a bell will ring. And that will remind me to come back to the present moment. So it’s okay if you get distracted, but I’m using the bell to remind me just in case I did get distracted to come back. And it’s the practice of constantly coming back to the breath or coming back to your present moment that is meditation. It’s okay if you have a day where you feel like your thoughts are all over the place, that’s fine. It’s all practice. Some other apps that you can use that offer guided meditations and bell meditations and things that can help you on your journey. my favorite is the calm app. I can’t recommend it enough. They have tons of options and something for everyone. They even have sleep stories and it’s a great app to use for guided meditations. Headspace is another one that also provides a lot of assistance and guiding people through the meditation process. Waking up is another app. I have yet to use this one, but I am planning on trying it out. Also, YouTube offers a series of meditations or meditative music and you can also find that, on Spotify as well. The things that I noticed a, ah, difference in myself when I started practicing meditation. As I became more calm, I became more present. I was much less reactive to people or to circumstances or situations. things started to bother me a lot less and less. It’s almost like you stop caring about things that just aren’t that important anymore. You’re able to see your life the way it is more clearly, and you’re able to see your priorities more clearly and what’s truly important to you. And those, those priorities and values and morals that are at your core are more ever present. You’re less likely for a circumstance or an emotional state to veer you from your morals or values because you’re more aware. You are way more self aware. And you’re able to create that space between you and that situation or you and that emotion. And when you can create that space, when a scenario plays out or you start to feel an emotion arise, instead of just acting on that emotion right away or letting it carry you away, you can stop and think and say, I’m noticing that this is upsetting me right now. And then you can think, why is this upsetting me? What is bothering me about this? And then you can take a step back even further and say, what m is within my control in this circumstance? And what can I do to improve this circumstance, to change this circumstance, or to just merely accept it? And that ability to do that can truly change the trajectory of your life. Now, instead of your emotions running your life, it’s going to be guided by what is truly important to you instead. I was also able to see improvement in my focus and attention. I noticed I was more grateful for things on larger scales and smaller scales. You start to notice more and more of the world around you and all of the small miracles that are happening every day, whether it be just in nature or the smile or laugh of a loved one, or just the taste of delicious food. It also helped me increase my compassion for others. Because as you get closer to your truer self, what is truly you and not just the emotions that get stirred up in you. I believe that our true selves are who we were when we were little kids. We’re all just full of love and light. We forgave easily. We loved everyone. We played and laughed a lot. And I think we have a lot to learn from kids. And I think, as adults, the closer we can get towards our childlike tendencies, but yet still behave as mature adults, the better we can make this planet, the better we can make our communities. And therefore, by getting closer to our truer selves, we can find that we can forgive others easily. We can love everyone around us, and we can play and laugh a lot. And the more we do this, the more we notice that we’re all so similar, and everybody’s going through something. And sometimes, in a moment in time, when somebody does something rude or mean or whatever it might be, the ability to pause and take a step back and know, you know, what? They’re going through something right now. Who knows? Maybe they just got really bad news. Maybe they’re dealing with an illness. Who knows what it is? But having compassion for others and showing kindness is a ripple effect that goes extremely far. And having compassion for others can directly affect our own well being. The more we are kind to ourself, the more we are kind to others, the more we are hurtful towards ourselves, the more we are hurtful towards others. We’re all merely a reflection of one another. And so what? One thing somebody instigates in us is simply a reflection of what’s going on with us internally. And the more we can be aware of this, analyze it, or let it go, and the more we can return to our truest selves.

In conclusion, with meditation, start small. Try to choose something you can do every single day

In conclusion, with meditation, start small. And in whatever form works best for you, stay committed and consistent. Try to choose something that you can do every single day, once a day, for a minimum of five minutes. And as you start to get into this routine, consider growing your routine, consider extending that amount of time or even try something different. Life is in the details, and if you’re not fully there, you’re going to miss out on the best parts of it. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you enjoyed my monologue. And we’ll see you next week with Lindsay back on the podcast and video returning. Okay, thanks. Bye.