Meditation is too hard
If you’re like me, meditation is flipping hard. At least, the way they teach us we should do it is hard. They teach us to empty our thoughts and keep returning to the breath. I know many people who have mastered this, and have profoundly spiritual experiences. I celebrate them. But if you’re like me, it’s a struggle so we just don’t do it. Even though I know meditation is the key to peacefulness and divine connection - all the spiritual masters meditated for goodness sake! And yet, I just didn’t do it. Because it was hard and felt unpleasant, and almost unnatural in a way. And then we’re told there’s a lesson there for us - we must push through that difficulty and conquer it. Master our minds.
But a new and liberating thought appeared…what if meditation is supposed to be easy, natural, even fun? What if we can take the pressure off ourselves for meditation to look a certain way? What if taming our mind is a byproduct of meditation and not the tool itself? Let me explain. I don’t meditate, I mediprayte. (Meditation + Prayer = Mediprayte.) For those of us with limited time in the day to both meditate and pray, this is an awesome solution! I keep medipraytion very simple and don’t spend a ton of time doing it. And I’m able to enter both a spiritual and meditative state very quickly.
I sit outside, in a chair, close my eyes, face turned toward the sun, shoes off (if there’s no snow) and feet on the ground so I can get the benefits of “earthing.” (Check out this thought-provoking, free movie on earthing or “grounding,” if you don’t know what that is). I put headphones on with beautiful binaural beats music that resonates with my heart. (👉Tip: YouTube has a ton of free binaural beats - some of my faves are on @SleepTube.) Sometimes I place my hands on my heart. And then I don’t try to empty my thoughts at all - I just turn my thoughts toward Source, God, the Universe…whatever your higher power is. I may ask a question, like “what is it you’d like to show me today?” And then I let myself let go, my thoughts get soft and floaty, I can feel a sense of love and warmth and gratitude filling me up. I start to see things on the back of my eyelids, I start to “hear” messages of heart wisdom. It feels as natural as breathing. It feels like I can let go. It feels like I got an extra 2 hours of sleep. It feels glorious.
And the result is, my mind becomes uncluttered and I’m tapped into divine guidance in the hours that follow. That’s what I mean by taming the thoughts being the byproduct of meditation vs. the tool itself. So let’s free ourselves to define meditation (or medipraytion) any way that feels natural to us and leads us to the peace and connection that we seek. It could be a walk with mindfulness, or maybe being very present as you’re brushing your dog’s coat. Something where you can let go of worries and let your mind float to gratitude, love and joy. It really can be that simple. I believe our spiritual connection and practices are supposed to be intimate and unique to us - like a fingerprint or a snowflake.
When we were kids, we knew how to mediprayte, but we didn’t realize what we were doing. In moments of quiet, in nature, we just felt peaceful and connected. We gazed up at the sky and felt the wonder. We knew there was something there for us - the source of love, peace and abundance. And the good news is, it’s still and always there for us. Just waiting to fill us up with love and warmth and wisdom 💛.
Check out my Love Bucket exercise for more tools on filling yourself with divine love.
Do you relate to what you just read? I’d love to see your comments, below.
Want to explore your spirituality in a safe space? Schedule an appointment or mention this post in my contact form for a private link to schedule a free 45-minute workshop.