The Power of Meditation

Part 4 of the Monday May Mindfulness Challenge

How to use the present moment to shape what you want out of life.

meditation, meditation pillow, buddha, relaxation

Before I realized I had changed, I began to feel it. It was wild, and still is, to experience the way my brain snaps myself out of negative-thinking-loops as quick as I had brought myself into one.

I would’ve described myself as a chronic negative thinker. I was always imagining the worst possible outcome to any given situation before it happened, and I was always talking down about myself unconsciously.

“I am so stupid for not knowing how to do this. My thighs could not look bigger today. I know I can’t do that so why even try.”

Then, there’s also the underlining anxiety we all suffer from. The other voice telling us that person is better, look at what they have, look at what they look like, I need to work harder…the internal chatter that just never seems to end.

When I started wanting to live my life more purposefully is when I fell into wellness, which eventually led me to the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza.

Learn more about Dr. Joe Dispenza

dr. joe dispenza, mindfulness, meditation, brain, health

A prominent neuroscientist and metaphysics expert, Dr. Joe provided me with a lot of my answers to the questions of what was going on in my own mind, and how I can train my body, to a new mind. And therefore, create my own version of reality.

I never thought about waking up each day and choosing gratitude. Such a simple thought, yet so many of us wake up planning our days, each moment, calculating every second, to work as HARD as we can, just to restart the program and do it all over again the next day; living almost completely unconsciously.

It’s scary to think about, all of us just rushing through life, hunting for the next great accomplishment or success to be better then others and measure our purpose in how much we can achieve. Because truly, what does that all mean anyways?

Before I get in the how’s, why’s, and what’s of meditation I’ll tell you a quick story which might be woo-woo enough to make you stop reading or, inspire you to continue.

I started my meditation journey with the help of Boho Beautiful’s Guided Meditations free on YouTube. I would walk every morning to my park bench (photographed below for visual), plug my earphones in, sit with my hands facing up on my knees and sink into calmness. After about a month, I finally felt the shift. I lost track of time and space and saw just light. At this particular point in my life, I was going through something difficult that required a lot of strength and perseverance. Although I had attended church most of my young life and had visited several sacred spaces, it was here on this park bench that I felt what I describe as the Higher Power. I felt the presence of four loved ones who had passed around me, and felt a lightness inside of me that I have carried since that experience. When the guide of the meditation rang the soft bell to awaken me from the meditation, I knew I was on the right path to my healing and cried at the feeling of their presence. I never had that type of experience again, but I don’t meditate everyday just for the revelations, rather, I treat it as a practice that I keep at to work towards many different experiences like that in meditation or in life.

Meditation has been a proven remedy to combat all forms of mental distress and illness. It all starts in the mind, and in believing in the gift that the present moment provides.

To exist in the present moment is to understand awareness of where you are in space; when you gain control of that, you gain control over your sense of purpose and worth.

Here are some benefits of meditation:

Meditation Relieves Anxiety:

Several studies of the brain have indicated that when someone who suffers from anxiety and depression engages in a mindfulness-based practice it leads to significant decline in those feelings, both during the treatment and once the treatment has ended. It trains the brain to stay in the present moment through the limit of distractions and stimuli. Once you have trained your parasympathetic nervous system (the opposing system to fight-or-flight) to turn on, you can take control in situations more easily when you start to feel out of control. In a recent Yale Study, meditation showed a decrease in the default mode network, the network in the brain responsible for mind-wandering, a lack of focus, or “monkey mind.” When our minds aimlessly wander they tend to lean towards unhappy thoughts and bad outcomes in the past or future. A decrease in this will increase happiness.

Meditation Encourages Deep-Focused Breathing:

When we breathe slowly and mindfully, we automatically trigger our parasympathetic nervous system to turn on and slow our heart rate. Slow, conscious breathing directly impacts your brains’ functioning patterns and decreases the production of the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol.

Meditation For Brain Health:

A study out of UCLA found that those who meditated for an average of 20 years had more grey matter volume throughout the brain than those who did not. Grey matter in the brain is responsible for our movement, memory, and emotions; therefore, those who meditated long-term had better preserved brains.

brain, mind, health, abstract art, skull

Meditation To Combat Chronic Disease:

Research continues to prove the effects of meditation on not just the mind, but the body. Although inseparable entities, the mind and body work together to provide us with optimal health; however, when one is off or ailing, the other tends to follow. Studies have shown a boost in overall immune function, lowered cholesterol, decreased blood pressure and hypertension, increased production of anti-aging hormone DHEA, and decreased insomnia in those that meditate daily. All of these benefits working in conjunction create a formula for healing. When you take time to look within, you may find you are more attune to the messages your body is trying to tell you, and act accordingly. Not to mention meditation is a drug-free, therefore, risk-free solution that you can implement anywhere at anytime.

How can I start my meditation practice?

I always suggest the best way to start is sitting in a comfortable chair either sometime during your morning routine when you have 5-20 minutes. Maybe skip the morning news cycle to give yourself the time. Make sure the room is quiet and preferably you are wearing earbuds. Find the type of meditation that works for you whether it is trying the guided meditations from YouTube that I will provide below, affirmation repeating guided meditations, mantra repeating meditations, invest in an app (I don’t think is needed there are so many free resources), Spotify guided meditations, or on Apple Music listen to a meditation music playlist and just quiet the mind.

Once you feel comfortable enough, I suggest sitting on a meditation pillow on the floor, cross-legged, with your hands facing up if you would like to receive or hands facing down if you want to feel grounded.

Below find links to book suggestions, meditation recommendations, and links to items on amazon that may help you start your meditation journey. Find your light, and bask in it.

Resources:

https://chopra.com/articles/why-meditate

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/02/09/7-ways-meditation-can-actually-change-the-brain/?sh=704018f14658

Books of recommendation:

Becoming Supernatural, by Dr. Joe Dispenza

Total meditation, by Deepak Chopra

You can Heal your Life, by Louise Haye

Rewire Your Brain, by Jacob King

Ikigai, by Hector Garcia

Free Meditations of recommendation

Boho Beautiful Meditations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTN29kj7e-w&list=PLb09q0R7gAwS5dzSXP5sryVkKMuySB7LM

Deepak on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2__xi29Mq4