21 Days Meditation Challenge — From Life is Shitty to WOW!

This article was originally written in 2016.

Meditation? Does that even work?

I was brought up in India — the land of YOGA & meditation. I have heard about meditation umpteenth times, but never tried it.

I was working in an IT company & life was getting tough with new responsibilities.

I was losing friends, getting stuck in office politics, and feeling overwhelmed because nothing was going as planned.

I was sick & suffocated. I acknowledged this two months back. I woke up at 3.59 AM in morning with a creepy sound in my head. I felt miserably alone.

I kept thinking about it for one hour. I couldn’t sleep at my own & I asked my little sister if I can sleep on her bed, she hugged me & I slept well.

This incident was a reality check that something was really wrong with me. As a child, I was happy-go-lucky. Things hardly bothered me, I was self content & really happy to be alive. That’s it…

Somehow things took ugly turn when I started working. People were vulture there, they took away the best of me. I don’t blame them because it was me who allowed them to ruin my happiness. I was at their disposal.

To look calm outside, you need to be composed inside. I was no longer the same girl. My soul ached for the real me. At this point I started meditating for 10 minutes a day.

Day 1 was not magical. It was like any other day. I hardly felt any difference, but it became a routine. Life became more interesting & lovable.

If you feel no difference in initial day, don’t give up. Trust me it will get better day by day.

What I Learned from Meditation?

1. People try to demean & defame you. Your friends might get influenced by those toxic people. Forgive them all. It is an art to let go graciously.
   You need not to worry about what people think about you. They will eventually understand.
2. It is absolutely fine to feel angry, sad, insecure, overwhelmed. You need not to suppress these bad feelings. I was suppressing my negative thoughts & hence I had that horrible sleepless night.
   You have all rights to feel any emotion that surfaces in any given situation.
   Meditation teaches you to response rather than reacting. It teaches you to release your emotions.
3. Your past should not haunt your future. I agree that past experiences shape who you are. It has a great value in your life, be it positive or negative.
   If you hold back on someone or something, it affects you in its own way. Our biggest fears are attracted to us & catch up with us eventually. So, it’s better to face them once & make peace.

What is Meditation & How to do it?

There are many definitions. For me, meditation is practicing mindfulness & taking time for yourself.

Meditation is feeling good about yourself, that’s it… It is not about long inhaling-exhaling sessions. You don’t need a spiritual guru. You need yourself.

We all have an inner child seeking love & attention. We keep on abandoning this inner child for years. We don’t find time for ourselves.

There are many alarming signs that tells you about your degrading mental & spiritual health. Never ignore these signs.

If reading a book makes you happy, it is meditation for you.

If listening music or dancing helps you releasing toxic emotions, it is meditation.

Meditation is about mindfulness, you feel every breath of yours & your existence is larger than life in these few moments.

How I do Meditation:

I like to sit on my couch with closed eyes. I feel my breath in my lungs & how my body squeezes & releases every time I breathe. On a deeper level I feel inside out.

I notice very simple things like my hair in the wind, my eyelashes resting on my cheek, my little hands on my lap.

These all makes me feel grateful that I have a beautiful life. These are my Wow moments.

I don’t force myself to stick to this for 10 minutes. I keep it carefree.

I am smiling all the time, because of these strange sensations that I never notice.

For me it’s meditation & it helped me to go through my worst time.

A Beginners Guide to Meditation & Mindfulness:

If you want to start meditating. Take these simple steps:

• Practice mindfulness in small things. Like, say, making coffee, walking, talking to your mother etc. You can extend its vicinity, once you achieve these initial goals.
• 5 minute rule: Don’t worry about trivial things for more than 5 minutes. If something is not going to matter in your life after 5 minutes. Do not worry about it more than 5 minutes ever.
• Talk to kids & smile at strangers. It seems absolutely rubbish but it works magic. On my way to home, I smile whenever a stranger have eye contact with me. It makes their day & mine too. It brings a self confidence in you & also helps you to learn about others.
• The power of touch: Close your eyes. Touch your eyes with your fingers upside down.
  Make sure your fingers are light as feather.
  You can also use a peacock feather. This makes you relaxed in stressed situations instantly.

I can extend this blog as much as I want, but I would like to keep it short & more importantly simple. Just like meditation.

If you are facing any problem in your life. Meditation won’t make it disappear but it will give you the strength to deal with it.