Making "Headspace" via Mindful Meditation

The path towards mindfulness is a journey, without clear beginning or end. Each individual is unique and may find themselves at various points along the path, at times regressing or accelerating in growth and progress. Through commitment and focused action, self-awareness and mindful practice evolves. 

Demystifying Meditation 

The practice of meditation is widely recognized by both scientific and spiritual communities to be of significant value. Additionally, it clearly aligns with my goals of greater connectivity and active engagement. Yet, meditation has always seemed far reaching and out there – a practice reserved for the spiritually enlightened. 

Truth be told, I never believed that I was capable of meditating.  My mind works fast. The flow of thoughts and ideas are constant.  With my coworkers and students, it is often necessary to slow things down, even backtrack at times to break things down into more digestible bites.  I am a fast thinker and talker and need to be cognizant of my pacing in order to relay ideas in an understandable way.

I remember a certain professor in college who guided our class through meditations.  My mind refused to sit still.  One time I attended a seminar and workshop on hypnosis.  My mind wandered.  I downloaded and listened to countless meditation tracks on my iPod, yet my mind still never seems to stop.  Perhaps I am just not wired for meditating? 

Yesterday, I was watching a series of Ted videos and came across a speaker by the name of Andy Puddicombe. His purpose, to educate listeners on the benefits of meditation and encourage people to take just ten minutes per day to practice mindful meditation.  Check out the 10 Mindful Minutes Video 

About halfway into the lecture, Puddicombe made a statement that redefined meditation for me, instantly making it both relevant and accessible:  

"Most people think that meditation is about stopping thoughts, getting rid of emotions, somehow controlling the mind, but actually it is quite different from that.  It's more about stepping back, seeing the thought clearly, witnessing it coming and going, emotions coming and going without judgment but with a relaxed, focused mind."

I am allowed to think, meditation is within reach! It struck me that on many levels, I already do this! While not as intentional as Puddicombe describes, I unknowingly refined my meditative practices through acts of diffusing negative thoughts, learning to recognize and observe my judging self-narrative in contrast to an observing self-narrative, replacing evaluative language with more objective, descriptive language. Powerful and important connections.

So now what?  Although I am progressing down this path and learn more each day, an intentioned practice of mindful meditation may help slow down the constant flow of ideas. I recognize the stress it can produce, particularly when I am ready to slow things down. I find it difficult to relax and just be.  There is a whole can of worms in the last sentence, post pending! 

In the meanwhile, I am going to give Puddicombe's method a shot. There is even an app to help people get started – a systematic method and step-by-step plan with supports in place to help people like myself practice and develop mindful meditation skills. One caveat, after a ten day free trial, there is a cost to subscribe.  Headspace App

I am not sure that I want the computer to be part of my meditation routine. However, this may aid to increase my own confidence in the ability to practice meditation and at the same time, help to develop good habits.  It might also help to center and refocus at times when it is difficult to motivate or the environment is less than ideal.  I'll give the trial a gander and report back.  

– Jennifer Fox