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People who know me know I am a dedicated meditator. I began doing it in 2016, when I had a feeling things were about to go a little crazy in the world, and it helped keep me sane through the deaths of both my parents, the pandemic, the increasingly bizarre political situation in the US and some dreary health problems.
Eventually, I took an online course to become a teacher--a rigorous course that took me 16 months to complete. It opened up my life to exploring a variety of meditation practices, and not just the mindfulness I've had the most training in. Nonetheless, mindfulness meditation is what I do most to this day, and I consider it the foundation of all of my other practices, including reiki.
How does meditation help my home life? First and foremost, if I'm dreading a task, I find a few moments of taking deep breaths and focusing on them will calm me enough to get most jobs done. Second, I find that after I've meditated, if I need to, say, clean my refrigerator or do laundry, I get it done faster because my mind isn't distracting me with negative chatter about how awful I am at the task. Finally, I find that if I meditate first, I can move on to another task more easily.
If you've never tried to meditate or tried and "failed," don't let that deter you. First of all, you can start by just doing one minute a day, and anyone can work that into a daily routine. That's literally how I started. Secondly, every single person's mind wanders when they meditate--usually every time they meditate. There is no "perfect" in meditation. It's not even an expectation or a goal.
Meditation is like water smoothing out a rock, as it flows over it, year after year. Over time, even the most jagged stone will become smoother. With meditation, even the spikiest, most scattered mind will be smoother and calmer over time. So give it a try, and see if it improves your life just a bit. You only need to work yourself up from one to 10 minutes a day, and you can take as long as you need to do reach that goal. even if it feels like it's taking as long as Sleeping Beauty's nap!
Confused as to how to start? Just go to YouTube and watch this video from the Calm app. You can close your eyes or watch the water. Just breathe deeply and enjoy. You'll be surprised how much it helps.
Kate Wolford is the publisher of FTM and The Enchanted Press. The press published its first book, Glass and Feathers, by Lissa Sloan, on March 26. You don't want to miss this engrossing continuation of Cinderella's story.
Second image from Pixabay.