First of all, when I initially envisioned meditation, I pictured silent, robed monks with shaved heads wandering around in beautiful, but ridiculously remote, mountains, who spent the better part of the day engaged in this mysterious practice. Aside from hanging out in beautiful mountains, I could not see myself having this experience. It honestly seemed torturous rather than peaceful and not like something I would be interested in.
When I got in to yoga several years ago, meditation was sort of part of the package. I didn't have to put on a robe or shave my head and was encouraged instead to simply focus on my breath. I loved the idea of that, but my mind was the furthest thing from quiet you can imagine, and I really couldn't even spend a few minutes focusing just on my breath. My mind kept darting all over the place, which then created anxiety that I was "doing it wrong," which made my mind bounce even more. As with all things, I got better at it the more I did it, but I still felt like I needed something to ground my mind and something that felt a bit more solid than my breath.
A couple of years ago I went through the most difficult experience of my life to date, and my mind needed grounding more than ever. That was when I created a two-minute meditation routine for myself (because two minutes seemed like a time commitment I could realistically commit to). Since I wanted to focus on my breath, I decided to tie specific thoughts to my in-breaths and my out-breaths. Further, I decided to make those thoughts opposite pairs, taking in the attributes I wanted to see in myself and releasing those that felt like a burden. I would choose five to ten characteristics, always beginning with the same two: Breathe in happy; breathe out sad. I put an alert on my phone to pop up three times a day entitled "Breathe." When I would see the alert, I would give myself permission to stop what I was doing for just two minutes to breathe in the positive and breathe out the negative. I truly think this practice saved me in the early weeks and months of my personal tragedy. (In truth, it may be saving me still.) And eventually, I didn't need to say the words in my head because my body and mind just knew what each breath meant, and my mind was quiet enough to finally just focus on the breathing. And I didn't need the phone reminders anymore because I could engage in the practice any time I needed or wanted to. (However, I still have the alerts in place to this day because they kind of feel like good friends now, and because some days are busier and more distracted than others and it doesn't hurt to be reminded.) My mind is still not as quiet as I would like for it to be, but I don't feel like it's an exaggeration to say the two-minute meditation has been a life-changing practice for me.
If you're looking for a place to start with meditation, here is a sample of how I got started. It can be done anywhere because it's literally just breathing, and you can adjust your paired thoughts according to your own needs and the amount of time you have available. You can say the same words every time, or change them up to match up with what you are dealing with at any given time. I also incorporate them into my bedtime yoga routine, adding particular stretches to the breaths. Say the words in your mind as you take deep breaths in to a count of four and as you slowly release them:
Breathe in happy;
Breathe out sad.
Breathe in calm;
Breathe out chaos.
Breathe in forgiveness;
Breathe out bitterness.
Breathe in love;
Breathe out hate.
Breathe in confidence;
Breathe out fear.
Breathe in peace;
Breathe out anxiety.
Breathe in kindness;
Breathe out rudeness.
Breathe in patience;
Breathe out impatience.
Breathe in wholeness;
Breathe out brokenness.
Breathe in hope;
Breathe out despair.
Beautiful
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