I CAN'T MEDITATE!

I hear this quite often and I completely understand but I can help you work through this.

The first step in meditation is where to do it without interruptions!

With all the electronics beeping, ringing, buzzing, vibrating and then so many of us are spread so thin it does make it seem that sitting in silence would be totally impossible. Here is a little help with quickly finding time to first find private time without all of the interruptions from the phone, family and friends. Let us begin with a place we consider pretty private, the bathroom! Whether on the porcelain throne or in the shower. We usually spend this time alone with the door shut!

The second stage of meditation is to stop and make our mind clearer and more lucid.

At first our mind will be very busy, and we might even feel that meditation is making our mind think even more, but we are just becoming more aware of how busy our mind is. If we practice, gradually our distracting thoughts will slowly quiet, and we will experience a new sense of inner peace. It took me years to finally get it. I started 19 years ago and after about a year it started to click! Well, a silent click!

With the crazy pace and demands of modern life, so many of us are stressed and over-worked. How often do we think if there were only more hours in a day to get everything done?

Think about how that would be worse because it is a 24-hour day and if the days became 30 many of us would fill that 30 with 34 hours of work and want even more. The issue isn’t more time, the focus should be on how we plan our days and learn to say NO! Stress and tiredness make us unhappy, impatient, and frustrated. It can affect our health. I find it fascinating how our priorities have become screwed up. There is time to work and scroll through the phone and sit in traffic for hours and hours but to spend VALUABLE time with family, taking care of our bodies (Walking, Gym), Meditating, and finding time for prayer is no longer as important. We do have to pay our bills, but if we are not healthy what is the point of having anything. Steve Jobs today would be worth 45 billion dollars, but Jobs died on October 5, 2011, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. So much money, but when it is your time, no money in the world can save you. So shift your priorities a little! Not saying not to work but you must find balance!

So here we are again, “How do I make the time to meditate?” Meditation gives you more time by making your mind calmer and more focused. You do not have to set an hour or two to meditate. A simple ten- or fifteen-minute breathing meditation can help you to overcome your stress and find some inner peace and balance. Through meditation you will also begin to understand your own mind. With time you can learn how to change your mindset from negative to positive, from upset too peaceful, from unhappy to happy. Focusing on removing negative thoughts and creating positive thoughts is also a part of meditation.

This is a spiritual practice you can do throughout the day, not just while in meditation.

So here you go. Find a quiet place, set aside a minute maybe two. YES! Let us start easy!!!

(Set a clock if it helps)

1. Close your eyes and start to breathe.

2. Take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.

3. Inhale counting to 4, exhale counting to 4. (Don’t over think it)

4. With each inhale, imagine that you are breathing in confidence and power.

5. Say to yourself either out loud or in your head, “I am confident. I am sure of myself.”

6. With every exhale see stress and worry leaving your body!

7. Notice how nice it feels to take this time to work on yourself.

…and there you go!

The beginning of a new way of feeling and thinking. Not too hard right? One more thing. If while you are doing this a thought comes into mind, simply allow it. Let us say its the famous, "I must pay that bill" or "I must pick up my kid at 4" Well, see the thought written across your mind like on a chalk board. Look at it and understand that at this moment you are not going to pay the bill and you still have time to pick up your kid so LET IT GO! Then just continue where you left off!

…..I am confident. I am sure of myself. In time this minute will turn into five and maybe more.

Become selfish with this time.

You owe it to yourself.

Looking for some online meditations? There are so many on YOUTUBE! Find some that suit your desires. So many different styles! My collection is at www.noemahh.com/videos

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Namaste'

Jimmy Gonzalez CCH