Meditating as a lifestyle well-being practice.

It isn’t something I was brought up with as a child, or something I have always done. I am a beginner in practicing meditation, and a true believer of the positive effects meditation brings to one’s life, as a means to achieve better well-being.

I believe everyone is on a journey or a path to finding fulfillment, and this journey can be described as “process.” Within this process, a lot is experienced and felt. Emotions rise, hopes build or break, some remain firm through it all, while some just give up when it feels too hard and frustrating.

This thing called process is literally a test for stamina and sustainability. I consider myself still on a journey, still in the process ( in fact, aren’t we all?) but my “being” today of “still in process” compared to my “being” of few years back is totally different and mindfully transformed.

By bringing mindfulness, which I discovered through my personal development journey, into every aspect of my lifestyle has made my journey and process feel less gruesome. Eliminating frustrations or negative energy surrounding my pursuit for fulfillment. I live and exist today as a more conscious being, bringing awareness and mindfulness into every area of my lifestyle and guess what!?

That is meditation. I essentially live my life in meditation through my act of living mindfully.

Culturally, we are not all brought up to live in meditation. Typically and spiritually, meditation is viewed as “eastern religion practice” that can only be practiced in a specific manner. Being raised from an African background, meditation is misinterpreted because the concept is mis-understood by so many.

So how can I say I live in meditation? My answer, meditation is anything and everything you want and need it to be, as long as it is done with mindfulness and with positive intention for the betterment of self and for the releasing of positivity into the environment.

Practicing meditation makes me feel…empowered. More creative. Opens up my imaginative stream. Releases stress and feel calm and peaceful. Bursts through blocks of confusion to bring in clarity. Heals my ego so I can feel and connect deeply with my inner self, even if that means being vulnerable. Helps me to experience emotional freedom and heal from my emotional bruises. Living in meditation is bliss.

When I meditate, I engage my whole body to connect to my mind. Meditation should be done with intention and centered around a purpose. That is how meditation becomes effective.

I realized that when meditation is done for specific reasons, you always feel the result almost immediately. I can practice meditation anywhere and anytime because meditation is truly our ability to remain and feel present in the moment. It is being mindful of our current state and of our now.

So here are two ways I sometimes practice mediation:

1. I make myself comfortable, placing my hand on my lap with my palms open and closing my eyes. In this moment, I go within to that quiet place of quiet, where I can experience deeper connection. I Let go of all thoughts and allow myself to observe my breath. I Inhale and exhale and allow myself to get relaxed and more comfortable, feel peace. I then gently introduce the thought for wanting to meditate. It could be a mantra or a simple centering thought. I repeat it mentally.

2. Another way I mediate is to sit up nice and straight. Ground my feet to the floor and place my hands on my lap while focusing on my breath. Breath in through my nose and out of my nose. Now I simply focus on my centering thoughts/ mantra/ affirmations. I feel calm and when i am done, bring back to present body and into the now.

Meditation can be anything we want it to be, and it can serve any purpose we want it to serve, based on our intention for meditating.

So I create my meditation practice around areas of my lifestyle I want to experience well-being. Here are five basic lifestyle areas that I use to center my thoughts around anytime I decide to meditate:

1. Meditation for inspiring creativity : While I am in my chosen meditative posture and focusing on my breath, I inhale deeply filling up my diaphragm and exhaling through my nose. I focus my centering thought on this affirmation, “I am a creative being.” I mentally repeat this mantra and set intentions surrounding creativity. I breath in and out creative energy and walk through the parts of my body from feet to head. I resonate in the mind that each part of my body has been designed to serve my creative nature. I feel inspired after this practice!

2. Mediation for stress relief: Stress as we know it is one of the major modern health issues people battle. I created a meditation for relieving stress, which is simply setting my intention to be stress free and centering my thoughts during mediation to feel stress leaving my body. We can create a mantra or an affirmation surrounding that for ourselves such as mine which is, “I let go of every worry and issue weighing my body down.”

While I practice in my chosen meditative state, I let that mantra be the focus of my mediation and let it float consciously in my mental state. As I walk through my body, from feet to head, I release and let go, repeating silently the mantra and engaged for the duration while focused on breath. Finally I release the mantra and let go. Coming back to present!

3. Meditation for energy: I believe to show up, do the work we are called to do and energy is very much required. We need vitality and energy to sustain us daily, so I create my meditation practice around that by setting my intention to feel energized. Then I create a centering thought that supports this intention which is “my body has the strength to keep up with the work I am called to do.” Again, I focus on this centering thought and concentrate on my breathing. I repeat mantra, feel it all over my body and being and finally get back to present.

4. Meditation for empowerment: Feeling empowered says “I am enough,” “I have all I need to start,” “I know enough,” and “I’ve got what it takes”. I center my thoughts around empowering mantras while in a meditative state. I let that thought be the guide for my meditation and I release the mantra when done and come back to present.

5. Meditation for emotional healing: Our emotions and how we feel or state of mind is important for our well-being. So when we are not feeling so great, or when we are feeling broken in some way, meditation can be done solely for the purpose of healing emotionally. I would set my intention to experience healing and I center thoughts around that. I create a mantra such as “I permit myself to feel my emotions and be accepting of my emotions and I let go vengeance and negativity surrounding my emotions.” When done, I say a gratitude prayer and release the mantra.

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