“Meet yourself before your thoughts, not after your thoughts”.

Read that again*

Meet yourself before your thoughts, not after your thoughts.

Meditation helps us to practice strengthening the muscles of being a witness to our thoughts, rather than a victim to our thoughts. We start to strengthen the muscle of getting to know our mind on a non judgmental level. We get to observe the stories we tell ourselves and repeat over and over in our minds. We learn to observe these stories — these patterns, and learn how to observe, rather than react.

Through meditation, we can start to reprogram these stories and thoughts, bringing ourselves into more clarity, peace, and alignment.

Here is a simple meditation practice that you can bring into your life today:

Step one:

Find a comfortable seat, preferably sitting with your hips elevated on a meditation cushion (any pillow will do if you don’t have this) and close your eyes.

The simple act of sitting, awake, with the eyes closed, is the most important part of meditation. Typically, the only time we close our eyes, is to go to sleep. How often do people close their eyes while conscious? What this does, is immediately shifts our attention inward, and allows us to begin to observe what is going on in our body, mind, and spirit.

If you don’t have time for anything, make time to simply sit down, close your eyes, and observe. The shifts you will see from practicing this every day will change your life!

Step two:

Begin to follow your breath. Begin to observe the inhalations, and exhalations. Your mind will begin to drift into thought. This is CORRECT. A lot of people have the misconception that you’re not supposed to think thoughts while meditating. However, thinking is the nature of the mind, and it is correct and accepted for your mind to drift into thoughts.

Step three:

Bring your mind back to the breath. Your mind will naturally drift into thinking thoughts, and the moment you become aware of this, bring your awareness back to your breath. Repeat this cycle of focusing on the breath –> drifting into thought –> become aware that you’re thinking –> bring awareness back to the breath.

Step four: Once finished, allow yourself to open your eyes and slowly bring yourself back into the space. Rub your palms together, and brush your hands across your body. This grounds yourself back into your body after being in a transcendental space.

Food for thought post meditation: I invite you to take a few moments before you jump up off your meditation cushion, to ask yourself some contemplative questions such as:

• What stories were on repeat in your mind?
• Did anything make you feel frustrated?
• Did anything make you feel peaceful?

There are many different types of meditation, but this is the fundamental basis of them all. Give it a try, and please don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know how it went for you!