Meditate Your Way to a Stress Free Life: Unlock Inner Peace in Minutes!
“Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.”
(Matt 11:28, KJV)
Broadband reality with a mind on dial-up.
In today’s world, there is a constant bombardment of stuff going on. Everywhere we turn someone, or something needs our attention. For most of us, grabbing five minutes to ourselves is like going to the moon. We can see it, but we’ll never get there.
Let me tell you what happened. I had issues with shutting off. I had to get things done and would not let up until it was all finished and out of the way. I was working late, working weekends, and not seeing family or friends. Then, when I did, I was too tired and made everyone miserable. Happy days!
My anxiety was building up, but I didn’t know it. It was manifesting in a multitude of ways. Insomnia, irritability, lack of concentration, moodiness, abruptness. It’s fair to say, I was not listening to what my body was telling me, nor was I listening to anyone who meant well.
Maybe you’re like me. I used to dread Mondays because we would have a weekly meeting at 10:00 am and I didn’t know if the boss had had a good weekend or not. I couldn’t face it. I didn’t want to face it. I would screw my face up, scratch the side of my head, and click my pen, like a sports master timing shuttles. Week in, week out. Getting more agitated, having spoilt the weekend beforehand.
Eventually, nature took its course – shut me down. Hard.
One day, on the way to work, out of the blue, my brain blew up.
I realised something was wrong as I was working my way through the questionnaire that you get before seeing the doctor. It was like swapping football cards again with my mates at school. Got it, got it, got it.
Common signs that someone is suffering from an overworked mind. Get a load of these bad boys.
- Constant Stress and Anxiety
- Feeling Overwhelmed and unable to Cope
- Lack of Energy and Motivation
- Strained Relationships
That’s just the tip of the iceberg!
Burnout is what the 90’s doctor called it. Enforced rest in today’s money.
Picking up chard brain fragments.
Time passed, and for the life of me, I couldn’t tell you how long. But, let’s just say when the solution came to me, it was like making a choice.
I didn’t go off and ‘find myself’, if that’s what you’re thinking. Nor did I drown myself at the bottom of a bottle – been there, done that, nearly went to AA. If the twelve steps had not been downloadable, I would have been in a right old state. No, I did something that I never expected me to do.
I am sharing this with you because maybe you’re lost in the woods right now. Overwhelmed with life, unable to cope, can’t seem to get through that to-list, not enough hours in the day. It’s the same for everyone. And that is the first step. You’re not the first. Other people have gone through this as well. Once that penny dropped, I could move on to the next step.
Before you say ‘Here we go’.
I found meditation. I’m not talking about ‘sitting on a mountain for a year, no matter the weather’, or the ‘escape to a temple and shave my hair’ types. (I did that later, but on my own terms). I’m talking about the kind that anyone can do, at home, in their own space, without bothering to find the right ambience track or scented candles.
Don’t get me wrong. The right track will set the right tone. Natural – not too ‘girlie’ scented candles can add to the mood. Besides, being a bloke, the most important thing on my mind, was to shut the thing down.
After experiencing chronic stress and burnout, I had to find the lazy man’s way to meditation. In other words, I had to find a ‘Way’ that suited me.
Just because my mind blew up, did not mean that my life stopped. Oh no. My life carried on, or should I say, those who needed something from me still needed something from me. I tried to not let it ‘pressure’ me, but it did, and it will do the same to you, to start with.
There had to be another way!
A much easier way that I was in control of. A way where it didn’t matter if I missed a day, you know, ‘leg day’. A way, where if I fell asleep, it was not a fail, but a natural thing, just because it happens.
I searched high and low. This book, that book, this class, that club. Not for me. Was for me. Kind of for me, but…They all took time, a luxury I did not have.
Ready. Set.
Then one night, after doing my ‘getting ready for bed routine’, because I’m a bit weird like that, a flash of inspiration hit me. Just before I closed my eyes, a bright light filled my room and a Being commanded me: To follow the way.
I’m joking, it was nothing like that. No “Dogma” moment for me.
More like, I had beaten myself up so much all day, making myself feel like a complete ‘no-hoper’. I found myself alone because I knew no one was coming to rescue me. The fact was, it wasn’t until then, that I hadn’t realised, that I didn’t even know, how messed up I was.
It’s true, I was lying there, my mind reviving at 2000 rpm because my carburettor would not close. I came to learn, that my mind was its own worst enemy.
My mind was on overdrive. Even it was being distracted by itself. I had to take control. This wild stallion, as beautiful and powerful as this beast of a brain was, was running me out of dodge. All I wanted to do, was sleep. All the way through, I did not wake up, but for some Freudian reason, my mind was on nights.
Transform.
Back to the flash. It’s true, clarity knocks, like a bolt out of the blue. I looked at what I was doing, not in a think-about-the-day-in-a-kind-of-reflective-kind-of-way, but right then. What was I doing right then? In that moment.
I was in bed. Thinking.
About what?
Everything
Why?
We all know that trying to think about one thing, is a skill reserved for ‘lifer’ monks and trying not to think about something that you don’t want to think about, is as hard as diamonds. I came up with an idea. Don’t think. Listen.
man on bed
I will listen.
There in that moment, my life changed. At that moment, I went from being a thinker to a listener. I decided that I would still think, but only on my terms. At night though, once I was in bed, I would listen.
‘That’s all well and good,’ you say. ‘Listen to what?’
I was not going to listen to my thoughts, because there were so many of them and they all spoke at once. No, that would not do. I had to listen to something that wasn’t an opinion, a concern, or a replay of a conversation. Listening to something outside of me was not going to cut the mustard either. It had to be internal, not mental.
Boom, ba-boom, ba-boom.
Racing, loud and finally heard.
Yes, it was racing, and it was loud. It did have a funny calming rhythm to it. I felt it slow and come to its steady rhythm. I closed my eyes, just following the beat, sometimes tapping my index finger.
Boom,
ba-boom,
ba-boom.
Not sure when I dropped off, but I slept peacefully that night.
The following morning, I woke just before the alarm, jumping out of bed. Hit the shower, grabbed a coffee, got dressed for work, then realised it was Saturday.
Walking back into the house, I knew that I could go back to my old ways, or say ‘Enough was enough’. Serious changes were in order. Had I found Another way?
As Saturday was my day off, some things needed to happen. Like I said, life doesn’t stop, but that day was different. You can call it beginner’s luck if you want. But that’s only true if you stay a beginner.
I chose a simple task. Just one. That took five minutes, no more than ten to do, which fitted in with my daily routine anyway. I mean, everyone goes to bed, right? Instead of allowing my mind to work against me, over time, I disciplined myself to listen to me.
Just so we are clear, it took time to get good at it. Funny thing, practice. There were nights I fell asleep, there were nights when I forgot, but more importantly, there were days when the S*@T hit the fan, and this simple technique saved me from a situation.
When you come to realise that you can find relief from the effects of an overworked mind, the type that leads to constant anxiety, stress and all manner of subsequent medical problems, then you will know my simple truth. Meditation helps to bring focus and clarity, which might feel a bit weird to begin with, but it is empowering. Persevere.
I wish you well, and I hope, a new sense of hope, finds you well when you listen to your heartbeat.
P.s.
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Sources
Images.
- Featured Image by Ola Dapo:
- Photo by Andrea Piacquadio:
- Photo by cottonbro studio:
