I have concluded we need meditation. It is also my opinion that we would not want to make the mistake of not starting a meditation practice. Here is why. I have spent a large portion of my work life as a manager of humans. Of course, it is under the guise of “business management” which essentially translates into “people management”. As with people management, there are many conversations and daily exposure to the transfer and absorption of various types of emotions and energies. Anywhere from stress to success. A cultivated awareness, mindfulness in other words, of triggers and techniques for resolution is the advantage my devoted practice of yoga gifts me. Admittedly, my yoga and meditation practice is selfishly motivated. I grasp at any chance I can get on my mat, in a thoughtfully selected space, where I can sit, close my eyes, sink into myself and begin to feel the “muck” of the day drip and melt away from my thoughts and further even from my body. I choose not to socialize but to dissolve deeper inward to self-awareness and begin the healing from the past. Yes, even the most recent past; the workday, the traffic driving to get there, the extreme productivity and multitasking required to accomplish and succeed.
~At Last, MEDITATION~
That is what it is. Getting there. Sitting. Self-aware. Mindful. Going inward, closed eyes to shut all that stimulation out, feeling the beating heart, slowing down the breath, feeling in control again. Wondering how I got so wound up to begin with. Finally feeling quiet. Finally feeling safe. Finally feeling peace. Feeling. Instead of being numb. Checking in with myself. Subtle mindful realities. Finding my sensitivities. Finding my insecurities. Meeting my exhaustion, my hypertension, my anxieties, my loneliness, and my overstimulation. I found all of this there. Struggling to meditate. Swirling confusion, tingling sensations running through my body; neck and shoulder tension, leg discomfort, mouth dry, too much caffeine, not enough water, phones still ringing in my ears, hands, and eyes hurting from being on my computer all day. Emotions so surfaced they bring tears to my eyes and breath to a halt. But I still grasp onto meditation.
All of these sensations I sat there with. I stayed. I grabbed at them, I cried, I looked at them one at a time, I learned from them, and then, I let them go.
Drip away, float away, and shrink away. Until at last, there was just ME…….and Meditation.
Buddha said, “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting.”
Don’t make the mistake of not starting…start your meditation here…
Written by Tara Dawn Navdeep Kaur ~ November 22, 2021
