Stop catastrophising everything and meditate already (a daily conversation between me & me)
This article is a nuanced look at my journey of going live and meditating for 20-40 minutes every day. And why it's the medicine I need to stop me from going insane.
Meditation has since been introduced to the West for many years now so I doubt the benefits and reasons behind it will need explaining to you. If you’re anything like me, you’re bored of being told what to do, what you need to do more of and overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. So, I’ll go for more of a personable story instead.
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I recently went to a talk called ‘What is Healthy?’ and it solidified a belief of mine: healthy looks different for different people. Side by side, the speaker, had different images e.g. salad vs a burger, running a marathon race vs sitting watching TV with your family, a branded carbonated fizzy drink vs water. The conclusion being: life can be this fun playground used to experiment with what feels healthy to you. Life doesn’t have to be a war of resistance and non acceptance of yourself or your body. HOW COOL!
The older I get, the more aware I am that we’re being constantly sold to — and I fall for it! There was a time in my life where I refused my parents to buy me a smaller bed because I wanted to live minimally and sleep on a yoga mat. A time where most of my belongings fit into a 30L and 20L backpack (recording equipment included). Now I’m in a period of ‘settlement’ in my life and my possessions are slowly building up - it’s safe to say I’m panicking a little. Because not only do my possessions build up, so does my brain and it’s thoughts.
You see, my brain is super busy (hi ADHD!), it’s busier during luteal phase and it’s even more busy post usage-of-social-media. Recently I’ve had a few major life changes and my self-development work is at its core, deeper than I’ve been before. I’ve gained a new awareness of patterns and truths about myself that my ego really doesn’t like. You know when you think you’re an x kind of person and turns out actually you’re an xy? Yeah, big identity shifts and realisations.
What is grounding me through all of this right now though is meditation. Without daily meditation and prayer, I honestly think I would go a little insane. My gosh, especially in luteal (can you tell, I’m currently in luteal). Meditation gives me time to really be present with myself, and ever since my inner-child-parts have experienced that, they really don’t settle down or stabalise until that time has happened. It’s genuinely medicine for me now. I often go live on Instagram during these meditations and have now put up journal prompts in case others want to chill in the vibes for a while, but don’t necessarily wanna meditate.
If I don’t meditate my thoughts look like this:
When I meditate, my mind looks like this:
Nice and serene. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’m sat there meditating and I’m adding fuel to the fire of the thoughts, of the story in my mind. It’s like a cinema sometimes up in there. But, when I follow through on my intention to be present with myself, with God — I sometimes get pockets of pure serenity, of stillness, that makes it all worth it.
You’re more than welcome to come and join my lives! I don’t interact during the meditation but I usually do at the ends if anyone is there, and there are journal prompts available for your reflections. Would love to have you there.
P.S. I used the ‘—’ for the first time in my writing today!! No, it’s not AI, but two little tap taps on the ‘-’ key.
If you like my writing you can support me here
If you like the depth of my writing, you might enjoy my music (also available on all streaming platforms)
I love this so much!! That talk sounds really cool! The week of meditation is also impressive! And hell yes for the em-dash! ❤️