Let me tell you a secret about myself – I’ve suffered through a lot of anxiety and
times of deep crisis in my life, more than once and more than twice. From time to
time I still suffer from anxiety. This is what helped and still helps me understand
people and my clients in particular so well. I know what it means to deal with deeply
challenging states and ongoing times of incredible suffering.
I want to share with you something I’ve come to discover over time about the power
of meditation and times of silence to facilitate more inner stability during such times.
Those of us who suffer from times of anxiety, depression, confusion and crisis in
general, know that a big part of these times is uncontrolled, leaving the mind and
emotions in a pretty wild state where negative thoughts and emotions run freely in
our consciousness and create a lot of mess. We may also have physical reactions such
as increased heart beat, sweating, panic, tiredness etc. These symptoms tire our body-mind
complex and it yearns for a little break to breath and regain some strength.
While I’m totally pro using psychiatric medication when needed, and any support we can
in order to lessen our suffering, I believe that in the long run we need to train our
body-mind to strengthen itself using natural means and tools. One such tool is meditation.
I practice meditation for about 15 years very intensely and have been teaching it for the
past 7 years to numerous people. I can say one thing for sure – meditation in so many ways
is a miracle. It is a place of true peace for our soul, body and mind and we should definitely
use its power to help ourselves go through difficult times.
What is the biggest advantage of meditation?
The biggest advantage is that it teaches us how to let go, how to leave effort aside and simply rest even if just for a few minutes. By learning how to ‘not do’ our mind gets the opportunity to rest for a little while and recover from the ongoing stress it continually experiences. Meditation also teaches us how to not fight ourselves, how to be compassionate and soft with ourselves. Instead of fighting our anxiety, or trying to change ourselves while being worried, we take a little break – for 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes a day in which we simply let ourselves rest, we let ourselves simply BE what we are unconditionally. We let the mess be as it is.
As we learn how to meditate, these moments become like precious pearls woven throughout our day. We close our eyes and let the body rest for a little while, the mind relax, our emotions take a break. We don’t have to do anything special but simply sink into silence. Simply enjoy for a little while, not doing anything special to solve the situation or change ourselves. Then our energy starts to balance itself, the mind can relax and our emotions can gently become more settled. This reminds our entire body-mind complex that everything is OK even when things seem very turbulent. This reminder is so vital and empowering as it shows us that even within times of great difficulty, a part of us is never affected or damaged. This is very reassuring.
Another great advantage is that meditation aligns our chakras and energy body. It corrects the flow of energy by aligning it with the central channel in the center of our body, thus integrating any scattered energy and bringing it into balance. Our chakras receive renewed energy and come into alignment with one another, thus creating a sense of greater balance and quietness. In the long run these moments teach the body mind that it can recover, that there is silence and balance even while difficulty is present. This is an important lesson altogether.
Of course in order to do it correctly it is always good to contact a well trained meditation teacher who can show you how to relax in the easiest way possible so that you don’t try too hard. Meditation after all is the art of effortless relaxation, of effortless BEING rather than effortful doing.
Sign up today and get High-Quality Spiritual Inspiration, Numerology Content and notifications about special offers and events and a free eBook.
