I Can't Meditate!!!!

I hear this all the time!!! I cannot meditate; my mind is always going 100 miles a minute!

A common misconception about meditation is that it requires you to quiet your mind. Though this is a bi-product of consistent meditation practice, this is not the practice.

Meditation is more about spending time paying attention to your thoughts, welcoming them in, and then watching them pass.

Think for a moment that you are sitting next to a softly flowing mountain stream or river as you sit perched on a rock listening to the sound of the water flowing beneath you. Noticing how the stream flows.

Now maybe pretend that you look a little higher upstream. You see a leaf floating on top of the water. You follow the leaf floating through the water.

The leaf is flowing with the pace of the water, maybe bumping off the edge or flowing around rocks. None the less it keeps flowing, and you watch it pass by you. You continue to notice that leaf as it goes downstream until you it fades into the distance.

This example is much like how we should handle our thoughts when meditating. Sometimes our mind is like the river flowing quickly and irregularly, and other times the river is peaceful and calm. Both are completely normal!

You accept the pace it is moving, and you just observe. The leaf doesn't try to control the river's pace or which direction it floats; it just flows.

The same can be said about your thoughts in meditation. The important thing to do is not to attempt to control the thoughts. Just flow with them.

Notice the thoughts without judgment or frustration and let them pass by.

Non-judgmentally noticing the thoughts is so important because it helps you practice being aware of your thoughts. As we become more aware of our thoughts, we can learn to be more present and in this moment.

A friend of mine has been practicing being more present-focused lately, and she was saying she had no idea how much time being future-focused was taking away from her time with her kids and husband.

She didn’t realize all the cool stuff she was missing with them because of the time she was spending in her head trying to figure out “stuff” that would probably never come to fruition in the first place.

As we are more present and stay away from being future-focused, we tend to be less anxious and more able to enjoy the present moment.

As we are more present, we stay away from being stuck in the past, which tends to keep us more sad or depressed.

Learning to be present and aware of your thoughts allows you to recognize thoughts and reactions that are less healthy for you. There is extreme value in responding to thoughts instead of reacting to the emotions the thoughts evoke in us.

By being aware and mindful of our thoughts and emotions when things pop up for us, we can take a few deep breaths and decide how we will respond to what is happening.

As you practice this and become more aware, you will be amazed at the difference this makes in managing your stress and having healthier relationships and interactions with others.

Start with 5 minutes a day and just sit in a comfy place and be aware of your thoughts. Do this for two weeks straight and see what happens!

I bet you notice a huge difference for such a little investment.