IF YOU THINK YOU CAN'T MEDITATE, READ THIS!
“Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.”
What do The Dalai Lama, Bill Gates, Beyoncé and myself all have in common?
No, it’s not our talent for rocking a sequinned mini-dress (although I’m sure TDL would look excellent in one!) - we’re all regular meditators. If you’re someone who thinks meditation is woo-woo and only for monks and hippies then think again. And don’t tell me you can’t meditate because you “can’t switch off'.” You probably think you can’t possibly do yoga too, because you’re “not flexible”. I’m a pretty laid back kinda gal but if you ever say either of those things to me I’m likely to lose my cool and give you an earful. Who in the world has ever said “I can’t go to the gym because I’m too unfit”?
Awakening I - 18x24cm, acrylic on canvas
That’s right, no-one.
You go to the gym because you’re unfit. So, you do yoga because you’re not flexible. And you meditate because you can’t switch off.
Today (21st May) is World Meditation Day and so I wanted to share a little about my personal journey with meditation in the hope that it might encourage you to try it too. Just as going to the gym improves your physical prowess, having a regular meditation practice improves your mental strength.
Now, this may seem hard to believe but I’ve never exactly been loud, in fact pretty much every single one of my school reports expressed concern over my reluctance to speak up in class, and I’ve always rather enjoyed my own company. But, after a turbulent few years in my personal life I needed something to keep me sane. Everything looked fairly serene on the outside but inside my head the noise was deafening.
I had always been curious about meditation and altered states of consciousness and so, with nothing to lose except my mind, I gave it a try. I typed ‘meditation’ in to the YouTube search bar and clicked the first one that came up. I began by doing a half hour guided meditation around 3 or 4pm every day for three weeks (as recommended by the voice on the recording) and found that I enjoyed it so much I carried on. Giving myself permission to stop and literally think about nothing but my breath for 30 minutes a day was so comforting.
Being guided to think about what my dream life would look like made me feel excited about what I could achieve.
After about six months I decided to start my day with a short 10-15 meditation and discovered the 6-Phase Meditation by Mindvalley founder, Vishen Lakhiani. This takes you through different steps such as gratitude and forgiveness, and then invites you to visualise you ideal future and your perfect day. I loved it. Being guided to think about what my dream life would look like made me feel excited about what I could achieve. It set me on the path I’m on today.
Nowadays I bookend my day with a meditation, doing a guided one in the morning and then a silent one in the evening. It really helps ease me in to my day and to unwind before bed, and while I can’t say I have transcended to other realms (yet!), I do know that regular practice has helped me over come depression, improved my sleep, reduced my stress levels to practically zero and generally made life awesome. These days, I am a full-time resident of Chillville.
If you’re still not convinced, I promise you don’t have to sit in the lotus position with your eyes closed while chanting ‘Om’ 108 times (such a cliché!) - you can do it with art.
Check out my Meditation Collection to find your perfect tool and don’t forget to download my free resource, How To Use Art For Meditation to learn more.
If it’s good enough for Bey, it’s good enough for you.
Kx