There is something powerful about using meditation for self care. It helps for such things like grounding and more. If you ever have found yourself overwhelmed meditation is a great tool to use.
What is meditation?
It is the ability to focus the mind and calm your overall well being. That is the simplest of definitions. You use some physical techniques to help you do it. One of the best things is that you don’t need to be a professional to make it happen.
Meditation and Prayer
Since I’m a PK (Preachers Kid) I had some deep conversations about prayer vs meditation. Growing up I was taught that meditation was a distraction from prayer. It was tapping into the spirit world and if doing so could bring forth an unhealthy alignment with evil spirits. The reason for me mentioning it now is there could be others who was taught the same belief system.
However meditation is about grounding your thoughts. It’s not praying to a spirit. If you’re in the midst of a mental health moment sometimes you’re not able to pray. So I will ground myself and quiet my thoughts with meditation then shift into prayer.
Mediation and Self Care
Although it is a tool to use when you’re not able to be in a calming space I want to stress that you don’t have to wait for those immense moments to use it. The more you make this a daily habit the better you are at eliminating the need to use it to come out of a stressful moment. It doesn’t take your stress away like magic. It grounds your mind so you’re better equipped at handling whatever comes your way.
Pitfalls of first encounter of meditation
I surprisingly found that sitting in a quiet space for a period of time was hard. That was odd for me. As a mom who doesn’t get a lot of down time and always seeking it struggled. You could find this to be true for yourself. However with practice comes a better way of tapping into it. Here are my suggestions for meditation.
- Find a quiet space
- Sit up
- Focus on one thing
- Use a meditation app like Headspace or Calm (my personal favorite) to guide you through it. Here are free apps
- Dedicated for instance 10 minutes for your first time and increase it over time
- Find a time that works for you. You don’t need a meditation schedule
Church and meditation
For those who grew up in a church setting know that meditation on God’s word is in the Bible. It talks about meditating or thinking of it all day so you get closer to God. Therefore the regulation of thoughts can be used to ground yourself for other reasons like stress, anxiety, depression and more. It’s like clearing the cache of your device so you can think anew.
Do you meditate regularly? When was the last time? Are you going to add meditation into your daily life?
Practical reasons to Meditate
Again you can meditate for a number of reasons. First to clear your mind or ground you. Secondly, to decrease anxious thoughts. Things like depressive moods, stress, and more. With regular practice it won’t seem as odd to sit and be sit. When I first started therapy almost 15 or so years ago for postpartum my therapist would advise me that when I was in a heightened state to sit in a chair and grab the chair for 10 minutes. We later progressed into mindfulness and meditation. Along with having an outlet to help me through it did wonders.
Meditation is a beautiful tool. Consider its use. Happy Meditation! FYI, you can do it anywhere! Although you see people in a more traditional pose for meditation with their hands guided up you can simply sit up and ground yourself.
