It has now been 5 days since I have started to meditate every day for 10 minutes (only 10 minutes! I hear you say). Yes, 10 tiny miserable minutes which I did not have the courage or the will power to summon up in my life before. I had all manner of excuses to myself as to why I could not find 10 minutes to do something so little yet, so important in my life. A mind break.
You know we do, we do it all the time to ourselves finding reasons why not to find 10 minutes to sit in silence to quiet our minds or to simply stop thinking. Which is very interesting since we all could do with a little more time to relax and be still.
Well 10 minutes, is all I have allowed myself, at least to begin with, after all, I do look after a little person full-time and she does not care about meditation. All my 2 year old boss cares about is that I am there to love her and attend to all her needs.
I want to share the beginning of my meditation journey with you with the hope that you will feel inspired and maybe it will give you that little bit of courage, that you are so needing to take this journey on..
And this is how the fifth day went:
I sat down, cross legged, facing my garden; my garden is my ZEN area at home. I sat there with my eyes closed mainly getting my posture right, my back kept arching backwards and my head tilting back slightly. I got very self conscious of it. I heard that it is hard at the beginning but it gets better and easier. I am not giving up yet!
I then focused on my breathing… in through my nose, out through my mouth. It did help me to change my focus and I started to visualise my thoughts. Then, I get thoughts left right and centre; like a very busy traffic junction, picture New York at peak time. All my thoughts rushing through like yellow taxis in every direction. My mind is a hectic place. I then make a conscious effort to visualise the color black and clear my mind of any thought, this is a break, time to stop thinking, I tell myself. Then as I am there trying to think of nothing an new idea for a blog just pops into my head! Just like that! doing absolutely nothing. I am overjoyed with excitment as isn’t this how creative people get ideas? Without any pressure to perform? That was not the plan but if meditation helps with the subconscious mind to resolve problems then be it. I am embracing it!
I let the thought flow and then I start to relax. I still had to keep thoughts under control but when I finished, I can honestly say that I felt rested. I did open my eyes towards end to check on the timer (naughty!) at least I am trying and I will keep on working at it.
Even though this 10 minutes have been a #tinystep for me, from an outsider’s point of view, it has been a huge leap in mind terms. I am reprogramming my brain, I am creating new neuro pathways, which will get more and more established with time. I am creating new habits and with this comes change. Where will a #tinystep take me? I do not know, but one thing I do know is that I feel proud of myself.
Will you hold my hand and join me on this holistic new journey?
What #tinysteps have you taken in life? And where have they taken you?
I’d love to hear your stories!
Janine
