Meditation- ain’t nobody got time for that! If this is your perspective on starting a daily meditation habit, read why and how you can start.
Meditation- ain’t nobody got time for that! If this is your perspective on starting a daily meditation habit, read why and how you can start.
“I’m running late!”
“There’s no time!”
“Me time- what’s that?”
Do you feel like time won’t give you time, or you are constantly battling the numbers on the clock or your phone? Are you constantly running 5 minutes behind for everything, and even sometimes feel like you are constantly bouncing from one task to another?
This is not uncommon, and it doesn’t have to be your default setting. In fact, this may be a classic sign of being stuck in survival mode.
What is survival mode? That is the feeling you get when you are simply trying to get through your day, and feel like a victim of your circumstances. It could be you are seriously sleep-deprived, constantly dealing with heightened emotions, or trying to figure out how to feed your family.
Physically, survival mode has some serious implications for your overall well-being. While some level of stress is actually helpful in the short term, as it increases our body’s ability to fight or flee, long-term stress can result in becoming both mentally and physically exhausted. This is due to the release of stress chemicals, such as adrenaline and cortisol.
Prolonged exposure to cortisol can promote depression, according to this article.
Aside from tackling depression with medicine and therapy, there are other practices you can use to improve your stress levels, and avoid the slippery slope of survival mode.
Did I mention it only takes a few minutes every day, and involves relaxing?
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, I will share with you why you should bother meditating (despite your busy life), identify which meditation practice is best for you, and outline a plan for how to start a daily meditation habit.
First let’s talk about time. Feeling like you don’t have time is not the same as not having time.
Before I dive into what that actually means, let’s take two examples.
Woman A:
- Works full-time outside the home
- Has 4 kids and a partner
- Volunteers at her church
- Goes to the gym 5 days a week
- Runs marathons on weekends
- Rarely drives through McDonald’s
Woman B:
- Works part-time
- Grown up kids
- Watches her grandkids every week while her daughter works full-time
- Walks her dog every day
- Eats out 4 times a week
If you just looked at those details, you might be tempted to say that Woman B has “more time” to meditate than Woman A. Right?
Wrong!
Both women have the same amount of time to work with. There are 24 hours in a day- no matter how you slice and dice it. No matter how many commitments you have lined up in your beautiful life, or how many responsibilities are on your back, you have the same amount of time in which to feel your best.
The really ironic thing is- I often work with more women who have incredibly busy schedules who still decide to prioritize their healthy habits by working with me.
They don’t have more “time”- instead, they are prioritizing a bit differently.
Let’s break it down into the numbers (yes, I am a numbers girl).
Hours in a Day: 24
-
Sleeping: 6-9 hours
-
Working (including commute time): 8-10 hours
-
Eating/Meal Prepping: 1 hour
-
Exercising: 1 hour
-
Morning Prep (shower, teeth, dog walking, etc): 1 hour
If you use the low end of these numbers, that is 17 hours in a day, or the high end is 22 hours in a day.
Free Time: 2-7 hours
(Psst! Want me to walk you through this process in a Lifestyle Inventory assessment? Schedule a phone call, and we can break it down for your day).
Even if some of that “free time” is commitments to someone else- like getting a young child ready for school, driving a teenager to their events, or date night with your partner, you still have several hours a day to play with.
So, what do you do with these hours?
Most of us use it on TV, phones, music, or books. I am not dissing entertainment- I love nothing more than putting my nose in a book, or watching the latest Marvel movie. Plus, everyone knows I love spending time on Facebook (have you joined my awesome group yet?)
What if you could use a small portion of some of those hours to boost your mood and relieve stress, so you feel more capable of tackling the nitty gritty of daily life?
You can- with meditation!
Why Bother with Meditation?
Here are some of the amazing benefits of meditation in short form (it would take several articles to outline them all properly!):
- Reduce anxiety and depression
- Increase self-esteem and empathy
- Boost your memory and focus
- Lowers blood pressure
- Increases brain plasticity and gray matter
- Improves sleep
- Lose weight and stick to your goals
Sources from https://nickwignall.com/mindfulness-benefits/, https://raisingselfawareness.com/different-types-meditation-affect-brain-news/, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/377598750006972412/
Plus, it is completely free, you can do it anywhere, and there are no crazy “side effects” that you might experience from a pill that claims to tackle even SOME of those things on the list above.
What about the minimum commitment you need to invest before you see results? After all, if you are struggling in survival mode, you probably can’t imagine adding one more thing to your list.
According to Mindworks, many studies show that as little as 20 minutes of daily meditation can offer these benefits. Even better, one study from Harvard University found that meditating for 2 months consistently resulted in noticeable restructuring of the brain regions associated with memory, learning, emotion control, and self-awareness.
Which Meditation is Best?
Did you know there is no wrong way to meditate? In the beginning, I tried to sit still and breathe, which was BORING. Then, I tried listening to some funky music or sounds with maybe some affirmations thrown in. That made me feel like I should retreat to a mountain wearing all white.
According to Medical News, there are 7 most common types of meditation you can try. These include loving-kindness, body scan, mindfulness, breath awareness, Kundalini yoga, Zen, and Transcendental.
There are even subsections within these categories, but this may be a good start if you use a meditation app like Calm, Headspace, or Insight Timer. The first time I logged onto Insight Timer, I was confused as to how to find the right meditation for me!
Speaking of the right one for me, I finally landed upon guided visualization, especially ones that tie to natural aspects like the moon or the four elements. I like to focus on certain imagery, as I am a very visual person, and those images make me feel good.
I have also used versions of loving-kindness when I was dealing with emotions or grief, body scans when I was training for my half marathon or post-injury, and Transcendental when I need a bit of future visualization help.
At the end of the day, if you don’t enjoy the style, voice, or technique of the meditation you sample, you will not be able to set a consistent schedule for it. Experiment with different styles until you find one that brings a smile to your face!
It’s ok to “two-time” your meditation styles- until you find the one that’s “just right”.
How to Start a Daily Meditation Habit
Now that you have an idea of exactly how much “free” time you have in your day, the incredible benefits of meditation, and which types you can play with, how do you go about starting a daily meditation habit?
As with any habit I help my clients with, I suggest you find just 5 minutes in your daily routine. That could be first thing when you wake up, right after you exercise, during lunch or break from work, while waiting for your kids at school or at the doctor, or even just before bed. In order to make it easier, choose the same time every day.
The time of day only matters in terms of your ability to consistently do it.
Next, decide if you need guidance, or you will go it alone.
If this is your first time or you haven’t been successful at getting meditation to “stick”, getting some sort of guidance is helpful, either through a free app, YouTube videos, or an accountability partner.
Throughout the month of May, I am supporting my clients through creating their own daily meditation habit inside of 30 Days. This way, you get specific guidance and accountability for an entire month. You can enroll using the button below. Enrollment ends on Friday, May 3!