How to tell your inner lunatic to take the day off..

I got up this morning a bit tight for time.  I had to make a choice, do I sit down to write my morning email to the guys on my list or do I meditate.

I really wanted to keep up the momentum of writing but I’d no clue what I wanted to write about……….

On the other hand, I knew I would probably be meditating later as I was on a course so I could have easily skipped my morning ritual which was very tempting………I still had lunches to make, a shirt to be dried and well another 100 things to do, you know the drill.

I started to think about all the things I had to do ……. I could feel my stomach start to tighten (and my inner lunatic start to stir!).

So I decided to sit down for a minute because I could feel her on the move…..one minute wasn’t going to make a difference……

Well that’s where I was wrong…..that one minute DID make a difference……all the difference.

I took a deep breath, then another.

I thought about what topic I could write about today…….then took another breath…………

Then I thought about the shirt and socks in the dryer……then took another breath…..

I thought about the topic and then went back to my breath………

Then I moved around in the chair to get comfy…………then I went back to my breath.

Before I knew it my body started to relax and my breathing fell into its usual rhythm.    I let go of whether or not I would email, what topic, the shirt in the dryer and just allowed myself to be with my breath.

I allowed the thoughts to come up and I allowed them to float away again….

After about 15 minutes (my mind and body just knows when to finish now) I ended the meditation.   I popped onto the computer and before I knew it I was writing to you.

The practice of meditation itself isn’t hard.  What is hard though is sticking to it, especially in the beginning.

Meditation though is just like working a muscle, the more you practice the stronger the muscle becomes and the exercise itself gets easier and more enjoyable too…

After a while our bodies and minds get used to it and it becomes as normal as brushing your teeth.

Had I not just sat down, I probably would have wasted another hour trying to think about what I would write about.   I’d probably have burnt the toast, forgot about the shirt, left somebody’s lunch behind and God knows what else.

If 15 minutes, sounds too much, taking just 3 minutes or even 1 minute every morning to meditate or just stopping to become aware of your breathe can make a huge difference to your day.

And if you’re reading this and it’s the middle of the day you can still stop, take 1 minute and just breathe.

Notice your breath, notice your thoughts, start to see them as something separate from you, come back to your breath and just do that for a minute or two.   You’ll be surprised how good you feel.

Ok have a great day.

Much love

Deborah