My Meditation Journey
My own meditation journey has gone through some ups and downs and that’s ok. My first exposure to meditation was in college with my first exposure to yoga. I remember the yoga instructor walking us through a meditation during savasana. It was always easier for me to settle into that relaxed state when she guided us. I found it very difficult if left to my own devices to unwind and relax. Regardless, I always felt good after. After that initial introduction, I would dabble with a meditation here or there. I got a little more exposure when I was a student in PT school during my clinical rotations working with a chronic pain clinic. Looking back, it is shocking how little exposure I had, especially considering that all of my formal education was in the health and wellness realm.
Photo by Mathilde Langevin
After graduate school, I tried a few different apps but honestly was too cheap at the time to purchase the full version so would usually end my journey when the free trial was up. I restarted my journey with meditation again when I joined a 30-day meditation challenge hosted by another practitioner. It was nice to have a weekly accountability and go through some guided practices but even then I couldn’t “make it stick”. It wasn’t until part way through quarantine last year that I really had some consistency with my practice. I am by no means “a pro” if you can even be that (hint: you can’t). But hopefully through my ups and downs and personal struggles I can help you figure out what your meditation practice can look like and feel like.
From a professional standpoint, I often recommend meditation for my clients. Mediation can be useful to help modulate your nervous system, which can directly impact your pain symptoms. Mediation can also be useful for sleep regulation, improved performance, decreased depression and anxiety and overall improved happiness. Recognizing how difficult it can be to implement a new habit, I realized that just recommending meditation isn’t often enough. So thus began the concept of a 30-day challenge!
Things to consider: Like any behavior change adding meditation into your life can be challenging. In general, utilizing some sort of accountability can be super helpful in this (whether that is external or internal). Pair it with something that you are already doing. For me, I was able to make this habit stick only after I put it into something I do daily regardless of a workweek or weekend. We take our dogs for a walk every day (rain or shine) so putting my daily meditation practice in my schedule right after our dog walk has been very successful for me.