And so is finishing your meditation…
At a workshop over the weekend I heard that Yogi Bhajan quote: happiness is an accomplishment. And I found myself thinking, so is meditation! Because if you meditate, I know you’ve been there. And by there I mean being completely in the flow and feeling great in some meditations. In others, seconds feel like minutes, and you want to scream EFFFFFFF at the top of your lungs. (Or is that just me?) So how do you stay engaged in your mediation?
In the past I’ve shared with you why I’m such a believer in meditation, but a quick recap for any newbies. It has helped with sleeping, anxiety, success, self-worth and healing my thyroid disease. Buuuttttt, that doesn’t mean every single meditation is enjoyable or easy. These days I know the tough meditations do far more for me than the easy ones. But in the moment of struggle it’s easy to come up with reasons why I should quit.
While I’m meditating, how to I re-engage when I’ve disconnected from it?
That’s a question I get asked a lot, and today I’m going to share with you my top three {crazy} ways! Each of them works well for me, but usually one works better than the others depending on my mood, emotions, goals and mindset that day.
- Engage in some people-pleasing and devotion
For me, meditation is more than an opportunity to clear my crazy and relax. It’s also about deeply connecting with my wild light, which is the phrase I use for the light within us that’s always shining brightly… the light we were born with… before we learned that we’re worthless losers (ummm… which you’re totally not by the way). Wild light is that knowing that you are worthy just as you are – without any accomplishment, action or title. That you deserve to feel sparkly and amazing just because you exist.
It instantly made me sit up straighter, align those chakras, and get devout with my meditation. If I am going to ask for assistance, the least I can do is show some damn respect by showing up with focus and discipline. If I want to seriously recieve, I should probably give some serious effort! Ultimately I do have an old people-pleasing pattern within, which I harnessed in this situation for a great purpose! (Our shadow sides aren’t always bad!)
- Celebrate that I’m kicking my ego’s ass
This one is kind of fun (for me anyway). Another reason I meditate is to quiet my ego. I know when my ego starts rearing its pesky, nagging voice during meditation that the meditation is working! Because it is my ego that starts telling me to look at the timer, or that I could be doing something else, or that I don’t really need to meditate. When it starts projecting those thoughts, I know it’s feeling threatened by the meditation. Actually, it’s scared shitless. This is a sign of victory! It’s working, it’s working, it’s working!
By the way, the ego isn’t the devil. Its job is to protect us. But we get messed up when we listen to it for guidance when we DON’T need protection. Cleary, I don’t need protection during my meditation! My guides are protecting me. 😉 When I hear my ego during meditation, I smile knowing that my ego is learning it’s not the boss. I am. Victory! (Because P.S. it is our ego that messes with our self-worth.)
- Reconnect with my why (the benefits)
Prior to starting my meditation I read through and connect with my intentions for doing the meditation, which are written in my journal. I always set them before I start a new meditation. I do the same meditation for 40+ days in a row to create a specific result, which is a Kundalini practice. (It takes 40 days to change a habit in this tradition.)
Even if you don’t have the same practice, I’ d still recommend setting an intention about why you’re doing your meditation practice. That way it’s easy to call to mind when you’re unfocused during meditation.
Because thanks to amazing technology, anything we want is basically at our fingertips these days, and instant gratification is the norm. Committing to mediation and other healthy habits requires discipline, and the payoff isn’t necessarily immediately realized. But you will notice them overtime, if you don’t immediately. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked back at an intention I set and said something like, I can’t believe that used to bother me! I can’t believe I was worried about that!
Set your intention and reconnect with it when your ego is trying to distract you.
Ultimately, I do believe happiness is a choice and an accomplishment.
We choose how we react to situations, diagnoses, people and more. We can process or stuff our feelings. We can become a victim or victor to our circumstances. We can choose to remain helpless or choose to take positive action through something like meditation.
So yes, meditation is one critical way we can choose happiness. It doesn’t prevent the upsets or lows in life. But it does help manage those with more grace and less pain.
Let me know which method works for you or if you’ve come up with your own that works! 🙂
