Have you tried meditation but get frustrated because it seems the harder you try, the less effective it is for you?
Are you worried that meditation will result in you “losing your edge?”
With most things in life if you want it, you have to go after it aggressively.
That’s how I live my life and how many people I interact with live theirs.
Being “always-on” and hunting like a heat-seeking missile is the way we go about our lives…and we get results but at the cost of not being able to calm our minds, focus, be mindful or live within ourselves – all important to ultimately being happy and successful in life.
Does that sound like you?
Here’s How To Make Meditation Work
Over a decade ago, I began studying meditation (and people who were successful meditating) learning several valuable lessons, but none more valuable than this one…
Meditation is accomplished by just being completely focused in the moment, allowing thoughts to race ahead without being attached to them and letting go of judgement linked to those thoughts rather than seeking to control, limit or force quiet
After hearing this statement, I decided to heed this advice.
The first day trying after hearing this advice, it felt liberating not being attached to all of those thoughts that would have otherwise pumped me up, elevating my heart rate and causing stress that I wanted to be able to turn off – if just for a few minutes each day.
The next day, I went further my pretending to watch my thoughts race overhead as if they were clouds passing over my head…the key was that I started to detach my feelings from those thoughts – almost as if they belonged to someone else and I was just watching them from afar
The third day, those same thoughts raced ahead and once again I decided to just let them flow and gently pushed them above me so I could let them flow (sort of like a ticker on the stock exchange) but without them seemingly to belong to me. On this third day, after about 10-minutes of letting my thoughts flow something incredible happened…
I suddenly fell into another level of consciousness, where my attention was nearly completely off of the thoughts, though they were likely still racing along and I suddenly became aware that my breathing had slowed to about half what it was when I started. At the same time, I became colder and felt like I was floating. The amazement and joy with reaching this state distracted me and that was it for the third day.
Then Meditating Becomes Easier
From that point on, I was able to continue to reach that state of abandoning the “busy mind” that we all deal with these days. I continued to reach further depths by repeating to myself, “now go deeper” over and over again instead of letting the feeling of reaching this first level of calm overtake me.
Honestly, some days were better than others.
I would say 1 day in 5, I did not reach the deeper levels and it took me longer to even reach that state of detachment…but I would always remember to let it happen rather than trying to force it.
Worst case, if it just doesn’t happen one day, make sure you double back the next day with the intent of not judging what happened the day before.
Meditation is incredibly important for arming you with confidence, internal control and focus, peace of mind and emotional calm, external posture and influence and overall health and wellness.
There are so many benefits that it is just something you MUST get a handle on.
The turnaround for me was in understanding the harder you try, the less likely you will to succeed. Instead, let your thoughts flow but simply see them without judgement – as if they belonged to someone else and you were just an observer. Ironically, through allowing a busy mind for a time, you will allow it to exhaust itself and allow it to reach calm on its own.
Give this a try and let me know if you have reached this state or use these techniques in your meditation.
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