Moving Through the Chaos Into Calmness
Life has been chaotic for most of us in the last few years and for many of us even more so in recent months. There seems to be no let up and it can be utterly exhausting as we try to keep our heads above water, gasping for air, but as we learn to be in the present moment, as we learn to feel our feelings and as our senses begin to relax, it can become easier to move through the chaos into calmness.
We all have different ways of doing this and meditation is the perfect self-care practice to help you deal with whatever the universe sends your way. It is talked about by people all over the world; many of us already have a regular practice, while others are dipping in and out and still more of us have yet to try it.
Life’s challenges can sometimes feel overwhelming, and we need to find practical ways to calm ourselves. We all need to learn to escape the noise of daily life and meditation gives us the opportunity to be still and relax while we take time to notice any tensions that we are holding in your body, gently breathing into any discomfort and allowing our bodies to relax and let go.
Navigating Intense and Overwhelming Emotions
Sometimes our emotions can be intense and leave us feeling overwhelmed. Meditation helps us work through and manage the difficult emotions of anger, grief, disappointment and guilt. Most of us have been taught to suppress our emotions, especially the challenging ones, which affects both our minds and our bodies, in time causing stress and anxiety and leaving us feeling low. The ripple effect is that we stop looking after ourselves properly, we don’t eat well and we are often unkind to ourselves. We look for ways to numb out, whether through alcohol, online shopping or sitting watching television – anything to ignore or avoid our uncomfortable and painful feelings.
When we ignore or supress our painful feelings, we push them down hoping that they will go away, but in doing this it means they will rear their ugly heads when we least expect or want them to surface. The best way to deal with our unpleasant feelings is to allow ourselves to feel them, because as we acknowledge how we feel our emotions begin to move through us. Breathing into the pains and hurts that you are holding in your body allows them to gently dissolve away.
When we are stressed, hurt or unhappy we tend to give ourselves a hard time. We aren’t kind to ourselves and our self-talk is negative: ‘I’m so stupid’, ‘I’m not good enough’, and we often add judgement and blame into the mix. We get trapped in our mind space, which is not always the most loving place to be. In these moments we often rely on our minds to try and solve the problems rather than dropping into our heart space. It’s our heart’s job to soothe us; from here we are able to let go of the negative self-talk and begin to find positive solutions to our problems.
We all know that life can be chaotic and with the simple practice of checking in with our breath we can begin to calm the nervous system and assess the situation going on around us rather than joining the fray. Taking a moment to focus on your in breath and then on your out breath can begin to soothe you, allowing you to bring your focus into your body rather than on the chaos going on around you. A meditation practice helps us to do this. As we bring our focus inwards we begin to relax and in turn, the breath deepens.
Connecting to the Present Moment and Opening Into Love
Meditation brings you into the present moment. We often worry about what’s already in the past and about what might happen in the future but in truth, the only thing that we can control is the present moment. Meditation helps us to let go of all the noise going on around us and brings us into the present moment, into a place of stillness and ultimately to inner peace. Meditation dissolves away the stresses and strains of everyday life because when you meditate you are lowering your senses and you come into your body. It calms you down, making space for you to process the stress.
With each and every breath you begin to go deeper and deeper. The deeper you go, you begin to allow yourself to really feel your feelings and as you breathe into the pains and hurts, your body gently and slow begins to soften, relax and let go. Be open to breathing and receiving. Meditation helps you to quieten the inner critic and open into love. It is a practice of self-love, reconnecting you to loving and supporting yourself, and then you become open to receiving love and support from others.
We are generally in the habit of allowing our mind to rule our heart but through meditation we learn to connect into our heart space. In doing this we enable the heart and mind to work as a team. We allow our heart to feel and use the mind to assist us in interpreting our feelings rather than overriding or ignoring them. The mind is so loud and we need to make and take time to be in our heart space. We are so busy doing that we sometimes forget just to be. Being is so unfamiliar to us. Through a regular meditation practice we can begin to let go of old limiting beliefs that have been deeply embedded within our sub-conscious. We can let go of patterns of self-sabotage as we learn to stop the inner critic. We can begin to change our inner dialogue from ‘I’m not good enough’ to ‘I’ve got this’ and ‘I’m amazing’. As we let go, things begin to fall into place.
Meditation can help us make sense of what’s going on around us. It helps us work through our emotions and to understand our own thoughts and feelings. We sometimes feel battered by life and it can be hard to let go, but meditation helps us to quieten the mind and to go deeper. As we sit in stillness we begin to relax and let go, finding a calm space deep within us.
The Importance of Inner Reflection
As we begin to observe our learnt behaviours and limiting beliefs we begin to understand why we behave in the ways that we do and it is only then that we can begin to release and change these behaviours. It is then that you begin to love and accept yourself. Inner reflection also enables you to connect with your own innate wisdom, with the quiet voice within. We may encounter resistance or discomfort but this is all part of the journey. Trust and allow as you focus on your breath, letting the resistance and discomfort fall away.
In observing and acknowledging your behaviours and negative patterns you begin to see what no longer works for you, enabling you to let go and find new ways of being. As you let go of your old patterns and behaviours you create the space for a new, positive way of being to come in: this is healing. It takes time and you need to be gentle and compassionate with yourself. Releasing old patterns is an ongoing process. We are all a work in progress and it is a journey of growth and self-discovery.
In time and through a regular meditation practice we begin to have happy thoughts and emotions. Then when we have a negative reaction to something we begin to see the way through these thoughts and emotions and come back into joy. Our emotions are incredibly powerful and left unchecked, our thoughts can lead us astray. Remember that the art of meditation is not to stop our thoughts, but to stop allowing them to distract us, instead noticing them and letting them go. I suggest to my clients that they imagine placing their thoughts into bubbles and blowing them away.
Meditation and the Mind
As you meditate your job is to notice each time that your mind wanders, bringing your focus back to your breath. As you gently slow down your breathing you too might enjoy imagining a beautiful bubble surrounding you as it expands and contracts to the rhythm of your breath. We can’t control the outside world but we can change how we respond to all that’s going on around us. Make time and space just for you.
A meditation practice gives us this space to quieten the mind and as we do, we create the room to receive new insights and solutions to old problems. As we gently focus on our breathing, our body begins to relax and we begin to let go of our thoughts. We allow our muscles to relax and we let go of our pains, hurts and judgements. And as we do, we begin to see things from a different perspective and new solutions come into play.
Relax and be. As you sit in meditation you will have good days and bad days, but that’s okay. Give yourself permission to let it be whatever it is on any given day. Some days when I sit down to meditate there is just too much going on in my head and I know that I need to go away, get on with things and make time a little later, and that’s okay. It’s all okay – show up for yourself, that’s enough.
Bringing Meditation Into Your Day
Meditating in the morning is a wonderfully self-nourishing way to start the day. It gives you the opportunity to make space and time to order your thoughts for the day ahead, but this may not be practical if you are busy getting the family up, dressed and organised. If this is the case, then perhaps the evening works better for you. Your well-deserved ‘Me Time’ might be taking a relaxing bath or shower to wash away your day. Allowing your meditation practice to assist you too in relaxing and unwinding before bedtime can support a relaxing night’s sleep, because meditation offers us the gift of deep rest.
Whichever time you choose to bring meditation into your day, a lovely daily practice to try for yourself is as follows:
Sit comfortably and place your hand on your heart centre. If you’d like to, close your eyes and begin to notice your breath, breathing softly and easily into your heart space, feeling your chest rise and fall to its rhythm. Come into your body as you start to relax, allowing your muscles to soften with each and every breath.
As we open to listening to the whispers of our soul we learn to trust our own intuition and life unfolds in divine timing. Meditation truly is a wonderful gift to ourselves because it helps to bring about positive change, enabling us to face life’s challenges more easily. As we focus on the positive we draw more positivity to us. We open into self-care, self-worth and self-love; we learn to accept ourselves warts and all. As we learn to love ourselves we draw into our lives those who love us too. Life is messy, but it’s how well you come back into your centre that matters.
Happy meditating, everyone!
Please do get in touch if you’d like my support. I’d love to assist you on your healing journey and guide you through empowering meditations as you connect ever more deeply into who you truly are. Contact me on +61 4 2451 8884 or email hello@pippaneve.com.
