Mindfulness, Movement, and Meditation
“The work you do in a conscious controlled environment is what prepares you for life in the unconscious, uncontrolled environment”
- Kate Galliett; The Movement Manifesto
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about coming to center, standing in my power, and self-compassion, it is that it takes a lot of work. For real healing to begin, we need to start doing our homework. In the last four months, life has been a real adventure; and by that I mean, it has tested my resources and my resolve. Determined to respond differently and take the challenges into a whole new light, I took to the 3 healing M’s in my life - mindfulness, movement, and meditation.
These three M’s have helped me gain a deeper understanding of my situations, taught me how to choose a better response, and gave my body the energy and strength that it needed to meet the daily demands of my work and relationships. I called it #ProjectRewrite and as the title itself suggests, I wanted to rewrite my life. And in order to rewrite something, I would have to begin somewhere. This is where mindfulness, movement, and meditation really helped the healing process.
Today I’d like to share with you a few tips on how you can begin the healing process through mindfulness, movement, and meditation.
1.Mindfulness. Let’s begin with mindfulness. You may already have a definition for it and in some ways you have learned that mindfulness involves paying attention to yourself and to the situation. But let me take that a little further by saying that mindfulness simply means looking at your thoughts with complete curiosity. Here’s how:
- Right at this very moment PAUSE. Focus on your breath as it comes in and out of your nose / mouth.
- Pay attention to the rise and fall of your breath
- See what thoughts come to mind
- Look at them with curiosity. Acknowledge that they exist.
- Return to your breath and try to spread the awareness of your breath throughout your body
Did you try it?
Essentially, what mindfulness is saying is “wait right there, let’s take a look at this situation before you do anything.” It also says, “so you thought that, and then?” and finally it will say, “can we just go back to the breath and be present now?”
Mindfulness has to be one of my favorite things to do because it really teaches me to take things with a grain of salt and to approach myself with kindness and generosity. Try looking into your own thoughts with a little bit more curiosity next time and simply return to the present moment and let go.
2. Movement. The fact is that exercise gets us high on endorphins and stretching helps our blood flow. In fact, it increases our focus, and it gives us the energy boost we need to get through the day. When I get into movement and dedicate time to it, I like to do this FIRST THING in the morning. Why? Because it gives me the boost I need and I also know that in however hard I work through the exercise, I will continue to burn calories throughout the day - even while I am working. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if I’m moving for 15 minutes or if I want to workout for 2 hours, what matters is I’m moving and my body is flowing.
Movement enhanced my discipline for self-care and it taught me a lot about compassion. Wherein I sometimes find myself merging mindfulness with movement, I have learned more about my body in the process. I know how far I can reach, how much further I can go, up to what extent I can push myself, and how much more I can improve. It taught me that being strong physically was ten times more important than trying to get really sexy. I think sexy just happens when you work hard enough and enjoy every single minute of it.
So how to get started on a movement routine? Set a time and commit to it.
Start with 15 minute stretch routines, 30 minute yoga tapes, and the like before you push yourself any further. Remember, the goal is to celebrate your body’s ability for strength and you want to get strong, so take it slow.
3. Meditation. And finally meditation. I could sit for as long as 45 minutes in a complete meditative state these days. I listen to BINAURAL BEATS and hold space for MYSELF. Is it like mindfulness? In a way yes, however, with mindfulness you are not trying to achieve any state of calm, but you are looking at things with curiosity. Meditation, however, will bring you into a state of calm, and sometimes nothingness.
One of my favorite meditation tapes that I always like to get people to start with is LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION. If you don’t usually meditate, I recommend that you begin with this.
You may also like to listen to chants and mantras that can change the energy in your body and the room around you. You’ll be surprised how music can heal your surroundings and how chants send out a vibration that penetrate through your very being. You don’t need to know how to meditate when you listen to a chant, but allow yourself to listen and absorb the good energy from it.
This one is currently my favorite: MAGIC MANTRA
Wishing you so much love and healing,
G