Meditation's Biggest Obstacle

I have heard a lot of different obstacles people face when they start to meditate, and I can definitely relate to all of them.

I'd like to focus here on debunking one of the most common.

It goes something to the tune of:

" I can't meditate because I can't calm my mind. I can't stop my thoughts."

Imbedded in this obstacle are several other inadvertent obstacles.

First and foremost, the premise is faulty: Despite a widespread belief in the contrary, the object of meditation is not to calm our minds and eliminate our thoughts.

I remember the day I discovered this. I had been meditating for about a year or so and found myself struggling with my "monkey mind" jumping from one branch to the next.

I was at a meditation center and asked one of the teachers about this.

He told me that quieting my mind was not what meditation was, but that it was about observing whatever was there; and then he gave me permission to have as many thoughts as I did and not to try to get rid of any of them.

What I began to see then, and continue to practice now, is how beautiful it is to let go.

Another way to look at this is akin to allowing yourself to move gently downstream a running brook. You don't want to fight the current and go upstream (ie fight the thoughts or emotions). Instead, you relax and float along in the direction of the current (the current is always being fueled by your breath, and no matter what is happening you can always shift your awareness back to your breath).

A few simple ways to start meditating:

1. Set your clock at work or home

2. Take 2 minutes in the morning before you start your day

and then 2 minutes in the evening before you go to bed

and just watch your breath

3. Allow whatever is there to be there

4. Just stay with the breath

This type of meditation is like having

bookends for your day.

5. Increase the amount of time spent in meditation as per your own discretion. No pressure to increase the time; just go with your intuition. It will feel easy and natural to increase the time.

I've been told that 20 minutes of meditation is like taking a 2-3 hour-long nap. That means you could add 730 - 1095 hours of rest to your life for a year for a mere 122 - 183 hours of actual time spent.

Now that's a deal people.

Finally, I will end on this note:

Of the many reported benefits of meditation, including decreased stress, decreased depression and anxiety, decreased hypertension, and more compassion, it seems fitting that we would have to work a little to get there.

Obstacles make us human. They are the jumping off point, not the end point.

And into the ugly we go...

I read a while ago from a "Blog Expert" that you should never, ever, EVER begin a blog with the words,

"I know I haven't blogged in a while, but..."

So let's just say I read and understood that piece of advice.

Speaking of advice, the whole point of this blog is for me to listen to my own advice, my own best advice that is, document it, and follow it.

What has come to me lately (and the thing that I'm most interested in right now for my healing) is that I need to heal the places where I've still been holding back in life.

I'm noticing very subtle things, or really now that I'm noticing them they seem glaringly obvious...but nonetheless...I'm noticing things that I've previously thought not worthy of my attention, let's just say.

Now I've begun to really hone in on a few of these things that I do A LOT, and by A LOT I mean numerous times throughout the day.

Think of the suck of energy that is...

Yhuhhhh.

That is how it feels.

These are energetic states I go into due to some very limiting beliefs that I've still been hanging onto.

I could blog about the many very positive things in my life and the corresponding very positive beliefs that I hold, and yes, that has its place.

But, if I'm being honest...and why shouldn't I be?...then I have to look at this and be real about it.

I'm actually feeling that this is a real celebration.

Going from a place where I've been feeling like these damaging beliefs somehow don't matter, or that they are small and insignificant, to a place of truth and letting go is HUGE.

I must then ask myself,

Why now?

I feel I may know the answer.

I see that the effects of these beliefs are taking a toll on me.

So, what does this all mean?

The answer is simple.

It all comes down to trust.

It comes down to trusting the universe that ALL things are in the divine's control.

In each of these limiting circumstances, I am not trusting myself. I'm fearing that I, Melissa, must control the situation.

This is not the case.

Health comes from letting go and trusting...and knowing that it will be ok.

I am committed to that path always...and life will surely let us know when we need to re-evaluate our circumstances...and sometimes that makes us look deeply into some dark, dark places we don't like.

This is the very, very best thing that could be happening right now.

So, for that, I am grateful.

Till next time, Blog on!