Meditate, Won’t You?

Brandi Gollihar
Aug 8, 2017 · 3 min read

If you’ve noticed, I taken a few days away from writing. This was initially planned this way. I really didn’t expect to write every single day, but it seemed as though the first week I had things I needed to consistently get out of my brain. I wanted to purposely take some time away over the weekend, but then health things happened and I ended up spending most of the latter part of it in bed. That’s a different story that I’ll save for a later time.

Friday I was gifted with a most wonderful experience. I won’t go into too many details, simply because some of my Illinois friends will believe I’m an alien (maybe more than normal). I’ll just say that it allowed me to get to a level of meditation I can rarely achieve and it felt very healing. I’m so very grateful to the friend who allowed me this opportunity and I am anxious to do it again when it returns.

Saturday was my usual morning meditation and our fearless leader was back from her summer gallivanting to guide us. It was a nice experience, though I didn’t get as far under as the previous afternoon.

I suppose since I’m discussing meditation so much, I’ll go ahead and make it a focal point today. When I began my practice exactly eight years ago, it was out of desperation. I was facing a major spine surgery and my personal life had crumbled to a pile of what I wanted to call ash, but it was shit. It was at this point a very wonderful woman introduced me to yoga and meditation.

The meditation part of my daily routine was a crucial to my psychological recovery. Of course, like anyone who has ever been a beginner at anything, it was hard as hell! I could do exceptionally well if I had a nice soothing voice leading me into a progressive muscle relaxation or if I had my wonderful pain pills from the ruptured discs in my neck. FYI…pain pill meditation is not highly recommended. Drugs are bad, mmmkay! I just had a horrible time sitting myself down and silencing my mind like you’re led to believe meditation is.

But alas, there are various forms of meditation. You can be doing something and still be in a meditative state. I have to imagine women in previous generations found great solace in knitting, needlepoint, or crocheting, beyond the fact they were creating something.

Since I’m off work for a while, I find myself meditating multiple times daily. Sometimes I’ll just sit in silence. Sometimes I’ll do progressive muscle relaxation. Sometimes I color or draw.

I guess I’m here to tell you to just give it a try. I know, I know, you’re reading about this damaged-assed woman who is struggling with debilitating depression and anxiety and you’re supposed to take advice from her.

But the fact is, I’m alive.

No one knows the number of times I’ve wished I wasn’t. It isn’t pretty, but it’s the truth. When these dark thoughts enter my damaged brain, I take out my acupressure mat, put on my headphones, and listen to a guided meditation. It saves me… frequently.

I’m not saying you have to be damaged, suicidal, or even remotely sad in order to try meditation. I’m saying it simply gives you a lift. Those in my world would say it “raises your vibration.” It increases concentration, reduces stress, and leads to elevated happiness.

So if anyone is still hanging in there with me, give it a whirl. Do it for YOU! Go to YouTube, find a guided meditation video, plug in your headphones and zone out for a while. You deserve to take a few minutes to relax and potentially better your overall well-being.

I truly believe the more people we have on this planet with calm, meditative minds, the better place it’ll be. That’s my hippie, tree-hugger statement for today.

Please love one another and most of all, love yourselves.

Namaste

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