I suck at being quiet. It’s just not a part of who I am. When I’m forced to be quiet, I feel like I am placing an invisible hand over my mouth just to stop me from saying what I feel needs to be said.
It’s daunting to be an extrovert sometimes. It’s even more daunting when you’re an extrovert with a million aspirations and a shortage of necessary resources, the biggest one of those commodities being time.
So, what is one thing that many successful and happy people do to set their intentions and make the most of what they have? They look inward through meditation.
2015 was a year of several sudden and unexpected changes. They shook things up every time they happened and left me fearing the aftershocks for weeks and months to come.
Now as 2016 begins, I’m at a crossroads in my life where I’m trying to figure out what the next step is for me. No one can make these decisions for me, but I feel like since becoming a wife, then becoming a mother, and now an aspiring self-employed individual, I’ve transformed into this person who is so busy that I haven’t really even had time to “meet” her and get to know what she wants.
I’ve tried to develop a personal meditation practice several times before. I can never get my mind to shut up, even just for the recommended 5 minutes in the first few weeks. But I am determined this time. Because being in my conscious mind allows for too many distractions, and I’ve got so many things I want to learn about myself – the new me.
I feel this inherent need to tune in and tap out, like if I don’t learn how to be present now, I’m going to miss everything going on around me.
I have to unlock what’s inside of me. I have to find out what my purpose and my intentions are. I’m tired of living in fear of the next thing that can shake my world when I want to feel stable and secure in who I am and what I am here to do.
If you are feeling this way too, then I encourage you to join me in this meditation journey.
I’m going to take this journey day by day with a weekly meditation prompt and goal. I’ll be posting my struggles and victories from developing this practice each week.
This week I’m focusing on just learning to STFU (if you’re not familiar with this acronym, here’s the Urban Dictionary definition). I want to really focus this week on finding a place of silence and stillness in the rushing of my mind. I’m also going to practice not lying down when I meditate. This may seem silly, but it’s necessary.
No joke – any time I have ever tried to meditate lying down, I fall asleep. I guess you could say I get “too relaxed” and then I don’t really get any of the mental clarity out of it. Just waking up hours later dazed and pissed off that I didn’t get through the meditation successfully.
Week One Meditation Goals – Practice Meditation While Sitting Up and Learn How to Quiet My Mind
What are your goals for reconnecting with yourself this year? Share them with us on our Facebook page or on Twitter: @dybsanctuary