Meditation 2.0
Returning to daily practice
I was first introduced to meditation during a time of great stress. My mother was slowly dying, and I was her sole caretaker. My time was split between caring for her as she cycled in and out of the hospital and caring for my own household, husband, children, and pets. My mind was rarely quiet and anxiety ruled my days and nights.
I sought help, going to therapist after therapist and finding nothing that really worked for me. Desperate, I reached out to a person who was not just a therapist, but a specialist in EMDR and hypnotherapy. I was hesitant to try these things at first, but after reading about how they can help with the very problems I was experiencing, I went for it.
These therapies taught me how to relax and see the world more objectively. I learned how to forgive those who had hurt me, and I learned how to forgive myself. By forgiving myself, I learned how to love more deeply.
My therapist then taught me how to relax into a state of self-hypnosis. He gave me a list of affirmations to work on during this hypnotic state, two weeks per affirmation. I practiced this every day for months and it really helped me.
I continued to learn more about meditation and found it is really no different than that self-hypnotic state. You don’t need to sit cross-legged or say “Om” or light a candle, though I did find it helpful to close my eyes and have the smell of lavender on my person or in the room.
I did this daily for a long time, and then I slipped to a few days a week, and eventually I found myself not meditating at all. I got caught up in daily life and neglected this twenty minutes of reflection time.
I can’t remember now what it was, but something recently made me remember how whole I feel when I meditate—fully relaxed, allowing thoughts to come and go, releasing the ego, and feeling the oneness of the universe. I am now back to daily practice, and will try to keep it up.
Do you meditate? If you did but lost the thread somewhere along the way, I hope this post serves as encouragement to return to it.
