About ten years ago, when I was in my 20's, life was hectic to say the least. My oldest daughter, Skylar, was 4 years old and excited for kindergarten. I had given birth to Madison, my second daughter, 8 weeks premature, and she had just come home from the hospital after 5 weeks in the NICU. My husband worked full time, and I was on my own during the day. I remember every day at about 5:30 pm, I would panic as I looked around the house that was clean at one point that day, but since Skylar's afternoon nap, had become a little messy again. I needed to fix dinner, figure out when to get the girls' baths, make myself look a little presentable for when my husband got home....the list could go on and on. I'm not sure what it was that made me think I had to be the perfect mother, wife, maid, and chef, but I was not living up to that image I had in my mind.
One of my girlfriends told me I needed an outlet for all the stress in my life or eventually suffer a breakdown. Like many women in my situation, I was last on the list of who I took care of. I could barely find time to brush my teeth or take a shower, let alone exercise, but one day I came across a simple magazine article about the power of breathing. I used the simple technique that day, and it changed my life.
Take a deep breath while counting silently to five. 1-2-3-4-5. Hold that breath while you silently count from two to six. 2-3-4-5-6. Exhale while you count from three to seven. 3-4-5-6-7. Repeat.
There's something in counting the numbers that held my focus on just the numbers. Not what my schedule my kids were on, if the carpets had been vacuumed, or if I looked good enough. I would use the technique before sleeping and stopped having trouble falling asleep. I used it when I went back to work full time during stressful times to reset my focus. I was meditating. It was great.
In the ten years since then, I've become a a more spiritual person and both my husband and I have found different meditations that we enjoy doing. There's a blessing in experiencing the sounds, thoughts, and feelings in each moment while I sit quietly before meditating. I focus on my breathing, feeling it come in my body and leave. There are random thoughts that try to get my attention, but the meditation is the practice of allowing that to happen and refocusing on the breath. I know how my mind works now; what it will resist and what it hangs onto. That awareness is wonderful, because it creates the possibility for new ways of thinking and living my life.
If you are reading this and have never tried a simple breathing meditation, my hope is that you try it. Maybe it will work for you. If you already meditate, I would love to hear what works for you, and what is the most enjoyable meditation for your life.
Namaste.
