Why Mindfulness Meditation is the Elixir of Life…
“Mindfulness-Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years,
And it has been scientifically tested thousands of times,
To be effective”
If you are one of my clients, you might have heard me say this before. Why? Because I believe it with every fiber in my body. As a clinician I know I should rely on the research, don’t get me wrong, I do, but I believe this because of my own practice and I have experienced it and witnessed the positive impacts it has had on my life, and the life of my clients who join the practice.
I’m a child of the 60’s. Meditation and yoga was introduced to the mainstream U.S. population by the legendary Beatles. I remember watching PBS on our tube television in the early 70’s and the television show “Lilias, Yoga & You”, hosted by Lilias Folan would be on in the background while my mom ironed my stepfather’s work shirts. Lilias had a calming voice, demeanor, and energy. From this young age, I knew there was something to this “yoga and meditation thing”.
I would try to meditate. I would take a chair in my bedroom, close the door, close my eyes and wait….wait….wait…. for the magic to happen. Nothing happened. What was supposed to happen? I didn’t know then, but I do know this, I felt frustrated. I thought I was doing something wrong or it was only meant for other people, people who were famous, or who had been on a long journey that I didn’t know how to take and I obviously was far behind.
I didn’t really try meditation again until many decades later. After having children of my own, I found myself in my own therapist’s office telling her that I was anxious, depressed and had racing thoughts that I could just not quiet. My therapist introduced me to mediation and it changed my life. She too,did and does, have the same calming voice, demeanor and energy. She was and is a healer. She would guide me through a mindfulness practice, and this allowed my body and my mind to become aligned and present in the moment. I was able to connect with what I was really feeling because I wasn’t caught up in all the stories and my negative monologue in my head. She also introduced me to the app Headspace.
Headspace was a game changer. The app does an amazing job at demystifying the practice. The tutorials are amazing. If I had the app when I was 8, I would be a guru by now. The most valuable piece of information that I learned from Headspace was that the “goal” of meditation is not to be without thoughts, it is to be AWARE of thoughts. We will never stop thinking. It’s impossible (at least while we are breathing). Even when we are sleeping, we are thinking. Ever woken up at 3:00 am? I do! Typically with thoughts that are racing around in my head “Did I call Sue back?” “I forgot to pay that bill”, “Did I complete my lesson plan for Friday’s class?”.
Mindfulness works folks. If you don’t believe me, Google it. Go to Google Scholar, PubMed, Science.gov any scientific scholar research engine. The Veterans Affairs utilizes various modalities to assist our service members with chronic physical pain and trauma.
Mindfulness doesn’t have to be difficult. It doesn’t have to be practiced for hours on end. You don’t have to sit in any particular way (on the floor with your legs crossed), and it is not a religion. But you do have to commit to sitting daily. For as little as one minute!
Please join me in a 30 day mindfulness practice. Click the link below, and all the instructions and tips are included. I promise you, this will not be hard. It may be a challenge for you to implement a new routine, but all I am asking is for 10 minutes a day for 30 days. That’s 300 minutes. If 300 minutes can change your life, aren’t you willing to try?
Please email me to deeprootsut@gmail.com with a summary of your journey.