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‘Time’ is No Longer an Excuse Not to Meditate

Busyness is praised in our world today; we hustle and bustle around on the proverbial hamster wheel, distancing ourselves from feeling our truth and hearing the calls of our souls. In the midst of one task, we are already thinking of the next four we need to accomplish before we lay our heads down on the pillow in preparation to do it all again the next day. We live by to-do lists and checkboxes, searching for the inner validation of the false sense of productivity. We turn our lives into a race with no finish line, no metal, not even a participation ribbon.

The world is coming around to the concept of meditation. With thousands of studies worldwide confirming the impact meditation has on our brains, the world ponders with the intention to take up this practice in order to infuse more peace, compassion, and acceptance into their human experience.

Making Time, Not Excuses

The resistance and excuse I receive more than anything else for not taking on this life altering practice is “I’m too busy.” People confess they couldn’t possibly create the space and time in their day to sit in lotus position and calm their thoughts. While focusing on being present, there is massive resistance.

Meditation is not exclusive to this position; you do not need to lock yourself in a dark room chanting ‘ommmm’ undisrupted for hours on end until you finally find the desired level of zen you’re after.

There is a beautiful thing I call ‘integrative meditation,’ which takes meditative concepts and applies them to your day and to the energy of your essence. This is a form of meditation that isn’t as mainstream as the classic picture we have in our minds when the word “meditation” arises.

One definition of mediation states ‘to engage in mental exercise (as concentration on one’s breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness.’ Nowhere in this description states that you need to be in the lotus position, alone.

Practicing Integrative Meditation

The divine practice of integrative meditation introduces the concept of shifting perception in your day to evoke an altered energy within the body that brings forth more awareness, thus connecting deeper into the soul. This practice is rooted in the concept of presence – being hyper-aware to one’s surroundings, feelings and emotions – while completing tasks that are done regardless. This takes no extra time, only a shift in perception.

Let’s try this right now. As you are reading the words in this article, I want you to feel into your body, keep reading as you feel. Take a moment as you continue to read and notice your breath, notice how it feels in your body when you deepen your breath. As you continue to read this article and deepen your breath, I want you to notice how you are feeling, what is the state of your emotional landscape? Take time now, continue to read as you notice your breath and observe how you are feeling, right here in this very moment.

You just experienced a total state of change; you went from reading this article – by ‘trying to get through it’ – to reading with intention while you focused on how your body was feeling. This is a brief example of the magic of integrative meditation.

Applying Meditation to Your World

Now imagine yourself bringing this same energy and awareness to the things you do in your world – the seemingly mundane and insignificant tasks you complete each day. When we can bring our whole selves to each moment and bring meaning to each moment, we can create a totally different experience by not changing the external actions at all. When we can wake up to this reality, our lives shift. We become more present, more aware, more calm and more connected.

In this state, we drastically change our behaviours and states. We are in complete control to shift our internal worlds by simply bringing awareness to the present moment.-Samantha Skelly

In this state, we drastically change our behaviours and states. We are in complete control to shift our internal worlds by simply bringing awareness to the present moment. It’s a beautiful and innate practice that we are distanced from. Coming back to this state of hyper-awareness will require consciousness to revert back from the hamster wheel. Yet when engrained in the body, we will slip into it with ease, as if living this way is how we were fundamentally designed to operate.

Distraction, struggle and the need to always ‘get ahead’ is a learned behavior. It’s much more natural for us to be present in the moment, inclusive of all of our states, than it is to numb out to what is and become externally focused and driven. This is meditation; this is how we can change the structural makeup of our brains, which allows us to access our souls, which creates more ease in our lives.

Allow your breath to guide you; focus on how your breathe, as it is the access point to completely calming down your nervous system. Notice the colors, the beauty, the expressions on people’s faces. In this space, you have the complete awareness to harness the inner power you have to settle into desirable emotions.

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