Meditation- What It Means To Me-

At this point, I'm not entirely sure how long I've been meditating for but it's been years.

When I first started my practice it was simply with the intention of stimulating my parasympathetic nervous system- responsible for: rest, relaxation, and digestion. You see, in our society the norm is "survival mode"; or rather an overstimulated sympathetic nervous system- responsible for: fight, flight, or freeze.

With that in mind, my original approach was simply determining a length of time I knew I wasn't needed elsewhere. This was typically 5-10 minutes to start. I'd play some relaxing music, lay lengthwise on my foam roller, close my eyes, and focus on deep, diaphragmatic breathing. This is when you attempt to fill your belly (like a balloon) on your inhale and try to fully deflate it on your exhale.

There are many methods of breath counts each with their own benefits. I started with a simple box breathing method where you inhale for a 4 count, hold for a 4 count, exhale for a 4 count, hold for a 4 count, and repeat.

With diaphragmatic breathing you'll discover that on the exhale of the very first breath you can feel tension in your body begin to subside! Now, imagine what can happen if you take the time to repeat this method for 5-10 minutes or more!

Since then, my practice has evolved rather dramatically but- it happened one session at a time with zero pressure or judgement of what each session offered. Some days were notably better than others but what mattered most was being consistent.

I have since had some truly life altering experiences in my meditations (completely sober BTW)...ranging from full body relaxation, to visualizations, to astral projections (where you have an experience of your spirit leaving your body and traveling the universe free of the body 😳), to "visits" from loved ones that have passed...most of which were things that I'd have never believed possible if I hadn't experienced it myself.

Needless to say, meditation has been and will continue to be; a massive part of my lifestyle and daily practice.

Now, it's time for you...go get started and let me know about your experience!