“You wander from room to room
Hunting for the diamond necklace
That is already around your neck. ”
It was sometime in the middle of 2013 when my friend introduced me to Osho meditation music. There are different types of meditation music from Osho, but she introduced me specifically to kundalini music. I started meditating every day for about 15-30 minutes. It felt great. My mind was clear and calm; I replaced over-stimmulation and overthinking with a practice of mindfulness.
Being the type of a person who never sits still, you can imagine that mindfulness was not my strength. But during the period when I regularly allowed my mind to disengage from outside distractions and focused solely on my meditation music, I noticed a few things in my life started to change. It became easier for me to make clear decisions that I did not doubt later. It also became easier to make a conscious effort to be truly mindful when working, writing, working out, practicing yoga, talking to my family and friends. I was also able to process my feelings without running away from them and distracting myself by shopping, social media, etc.
Then, my life got busier and busier, and I realized that I no longer had made the time to meditate, to detach myself from my surroundings and connect with myself. I started to cheat on being mindful, and it eventually caught up to me. I'm sure I'm not the only one. The majority of us are rushing through our days with pre-occupied minds, spreading ourselves thin and trying to focus and do too many things at once. We want to recharge throughout the day and reach out for a cup of coffee, frappuccino, or our cell phone. We think it's a good quick fix and don't think twice that there might be a better way how to renew our creative energy for the rest of the day.
I have some good news for you, though. No matter how busy you are, there are a few time-efficient ways how to incorporate meditation practices into your days, boost your creativity, calm your mind and download new ideas. Because at the end of the day, meditation is mindfulness. I found these five forms of meditation easy to practice no matter how busy I get.
1. Maximize free minutes in the day
Do you have five minutes in between your business meetings? Are you waiting for a friend who is running late? Do you find yourself aimlessly browsing social media? Great. Why not to use these minutes to meditate. You can do it with music or without. Just close your eyes and for a few minutes detach yourself from your surroundings and happenings in your day. Allow yourself to sit in silence. It's not important where you are. With a little effort, you can really detach and center your mind. I promise you that when you finish, you will do so much better at whatever it is you will have to deal with. There is a power in silence. And when our mind is still for a few minutes, answers we have been looking for might jump at us.
“Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. ”
2. Make your yoga classes count
Sometimes I do yoga and my mind is all over the place. I have been learning to get the monkeys out of my head (as my instructor frequently advises), and indulge in the moving mediation that yoga offers. When I'm in the moment and focused on my practice, I feel much better after the class, and I'm also more likely to stay mindful and fully engaged in my next activities and endeavors.
“Mindfulness is about training our minds to be more focused, to see with clarity, to have spaciousness for creativity and to feel connected.”
3. Daydream, visualize and let your mind wander
It's funny but the word "daydream" takes me back to times in elementary school when teachers used to catch some of us in the class room not paying attention and told us to stop daydreaming. Well, this activity is actually very healthy. Through visualization, we can reflect on what happened to us, or imagine the future or outcome we want. We can reach a creative breakthrough by doing as well as daydreaming, visualization and letting our mind wander.
Why? Because some of the best ideas come to us when we are not actively trying to come up with an idea or a solution. So, let's forget our elementary school years when daydreaming was forbidden, and let's learn to daydream again and nurture our imagination. We can daydream for a few minutes when taking a shower, walking our puppy, sipping on our chamomile tea or sitting on our patio before going to bed at night. Would you count this as a form of meditation?
4. Journaling
“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. ”
Another ways how we can incorporate a form of meditation into our day are journaling, making notes and reviewing our notes. I find these forms of meditation especially helpful in the mornings before I start my day at work. I like to read a chapter in a book that inspires me and make notes that I review at some point. These notes serve as a source of inspiration later. It's a great way how to start a morning.
Journaling is a way how we can reflect and set ourselves for a trip of self-exploration and inner-discovery. We can always come back to our words and reflect on where we were and where we are now.
Sparkling Word pencils.
“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.”
We are at our best when we are centered and content. I believe that meditation and mind cleanse are part of the Third Metric of success that Arianna Huffington talks about in her book Thrive. When our mind is clear, we are able to connect with ourselves and people around us. And that is a success. Find moments of stillness and enjoy the journey.
