Lighten Up Meditation

Change your life - learn to meditate!

depression

“How can I meditate if I’m heartbroken?”

“How can I meditate if I’m heartbroken?”

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Extremes of emotion can be debilitating in so many ways. If you’re going through the heartbreak of a relationship that’s ended or grieving any other type of loss, then meditating can be really difficult. You may find that all you do when you try to meditate is sit there and cry. Or you may be so depressed that you cannot even get up the motivation to meditate at all. In my experience, it requires a certain amount of my-life-is-together before I have success with maintaining my meditation practice. If things have gone to sh!t then it’s way too easy to blow it off — especially if I’m feeling very down on myself already. When I get into the “I’m not worth it” cycle of self-blame and wallowing unworthiness then it can be downright impossible to do anything healthy and strong, including meditation or working out or all of that. Sometimes it’s hard to even get out of bed. How can you be expected to do something as life-affirming as meditate on top of such a Herculean accomplishment as that?

If you’re currently going through it and dealing with difficult times in your life, then that’s when meditation can be the most beneficial* — but you may not even know it. If you meditate when you’re depressed or sad or in pain, then it may often feel like you’re just spinning your wheels. It can be even harder than usual to find your focus. However, forcing yourself to sit down and TRY to meditate is actually doing a huge amount of good for you. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel like you’re getting anywhere. The fact that you put in the effort, that you took a stance and told Eternity, “Yes, I’m going to meditate, even though I feel like my world is ending” — this is a big statement. You’re asserting that you do have faith, that you do believe you’re worth something. And, very very important, if you sit down for your regular meditation session and you don’t skip it, even if you feel like crap, then you’re re-establishing that habit. This will make it easier to do it again the next day. Continuity on your meditation practice is one of the most important aspects to evolving. If you blow it off all the time, then pretty soon you will realize that you’re no longer meditating at all.

So, even if it feels like it’s not getting you anything or that you’re really out of it and being ineffective with your attempts to quiet down, it’s still tremendously important that you try.

And who knows, perhaps Grace will visit you and you’ll be able to slip away into the silence of your mind for a time.

And when you finish, then you’ll realize that there’s a bit more peace, and calm, and even a peek of joy coming through.

It’ll make you stronger, and make it easier to deal with the darkness or despair that you’re feeling.

Meditation brings light into your mind — or more accurately, it lets you experience the light that’s always there waiting. When emotions are painful and heavy, it can be very difficult to perceive that light. Sitting down to meditate, even when the challenges in your life are especially severe, can help you through them and bring you to healing. It may be all you need to let those emotions loosen their grip, even if just for a time.

Meditation when you’re emotional can be really hard, but just try. Focus on your heart, or if nothing else, then on your breathing. Watch. Wait. Listen. Say a mantra, or repeat a prayer or even a poem. Bringing yourself back to the center can help you remember the Truth of who you are, and that Truth is beyond all suffering.

If it proves too difficult, don’t force it. Let it go, and go do something else, like watch a movie or read a happy book, or talk with a friend. Be proud of yourself for putting in the attempt. Even if it seemed worthless when you tried, really, it’s not. All meditation is good, even when it feels pointless and hard.

If you’re having a rough time, then I wish you comfort. Peace is there, beneath it all, but sometimes we need to feel the anguish, as part of the process of discovering what’s real.

 
 

*ANY meditation is “the most beneficial” though!! Sometimes it’s even harder to get yourself onto the meditation pillow when things are going really great, since there’s no motivation to push us to fix it. However, that’s when you can make some seriously tremendous progress.

How to feel better

How to feel better

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This life is hard, there’s no doubt about it. If you’re struggling from any kind of feelings of malaise (and who isn’t, given the state of the world at the moment) all the way through full-blown depression then it can be really really challenging to bust free. There are no easy fixes, and if you’re truly suffering, then getting support from qualified medical professionals is important.

However, there is a simple formula that you may find to be incredibly effective for battling the blues and keeping your spirits high (and keeping your spiritual practice alive!), and it comes down to these things:

  1. Meditation
  2. Exercise
  3. Career

These are listed in order of importance (if you meditate every day, then I promise you, your life will work out!!), though they’re all supremely effective when approached with the right way — and even though meditation shows up as #1 on the list, let’s talk about them in an alternate sequence today.

If you’re in a rut and feeling down over a period of time, where things aren’t going well and you can’t seem to break out of the funk, and especially when you know that it’s because you’ve been a slob — eating what you know doesn’t work for your body, indulging too much in the excesses of drinking, sitting like a sloth on the couch — then instead of trying to meditate yourself out of the funk, the best thing to do is WORK OUT.

Make a commitment just for today to do something physical.

If you’re someone who has in the past had a consistent workout routine and you’ve just let the habit sag, then simply decide today that you’ll get back on that pony and do it. You’re not committing for the rest of your life or even this week. You’re just doing it today.

If you’ve never been a regular exerciser, then this may be more difficult, since you’ve not got the past habits ingrained deep enough to leverage them now. If that’s you, then no problem! All you need to do is put on your shoes. Get those sneakers on your feet and go for a walk. It does not need to be anything severe or too strenuous. Just get your body moving.

Exercise is #2 on this list but at times, it can be #1 in importance. If you’re in a black place in your head and it is not lifting, then exercise can be way more effective than meditation.

It can be very difficult if not impossible to meditate a foul mood away. Sometimes when life gets too real, you’re lucky you can even get yourself out of bed in the morning. To expect to be able to layer on an activity that is at such a higher level of self care as meditation is often unrealistic.

In order to meditate, you have to have self esteem. You have to believe in yourself.

Or, sometimes, you need to be at absolute rock bottom and seeking help before you lose yourself completely, and in such situations sometimes meditation is also proscribed along with an entire intervention. If someone tells you, “Just meditate, you’ll feel better!” they’re not wrong, but they also may not be being realistic.

Meditation **always** works if you do it, but its effects can be exceptionally subtle, and they build. One single meditation is rarely going to change your attitude if you’re in a state of the blues. It adds to the levels of hope and optimism that may then be able to filter through, but you may find that the whole process of meditating is such a slog that you give up.

The thoughts can be too heavy to break through.

In this case, commit yourself to being physical instead. Let that be your practice if necessary, for a short time.

Then, once the endorphins you’ve released start to buoy you and your mood begins to lift after (hopefully!) a number of days, you can look around with greater perspective and add back in your meditation again. Taken together, these two tools can perform miracles on how you feel and what you’re capable of.

You need to start where you’re at, and be realistic, and certainly never give up hope. If you feel exceptionally despondent and tremendous despair, then seek attention from a professional. Talk to someone, tell a friend. There is always help available.

But if you’re just in one of those up-and-down ruts that all of us experience in life, and are feeling moody or unmotivated or down in the dumps, then try working out today, and see what it does, and maybe try it again tomorrow. And then on the third day, along with your workout 🙂 you can add in some meditation.

And call a friend. Share where you’re at. Don’t suffer alone. Get some help if you need it, and when the clouds lift then meditation is always available to carry you to the new heights you deserve.

image credit: StocksnapImage retrieved from Pixabay 6/6/18