A Different Way Of Meditating: Relax Your Mind
I don’t meditate. I wish I could, and I would certainly recommend it — there are so many benefits. In the past, I’ve tried transcendental meditation and just quieting my mind, but I haven’t been successful.
Like many people, I have a hard time quieting my mind. The cards are really stacked against me, astrologically-speaking, with strong Aries (ruled by my head), Capricorn (highly analytical) and Virgo (strong critical thinking) in my chart(!) Whether it’s relevant or not, suffice it to say that I can drive myself crazy overthinking.
But it hasn’t stopped me from tapping into that special inner place that’s available to everyone, where we gain access to our inner guidance and universal intelligence — which is the primary benefit of meditation, in my opinion. Instead of meditating, I relax my mind.
I discovered this by accident when I moved from New York City to Los Angeles. After work, I would walk on the beach. I was also recovering from cancer — the reason why I moved to sunny, southern California. Spending time in nature was an intentional part of my healing plan.
As with most people, my job was stressful. By the end of the day, my mind would spin endlessly — agonizingly — around the day’s worries and events. To make matters worse, even though I was grateful for my job, I didn’t enjoy it.
What started out as a daily, hourly walk began turning into two and three hour walks. I would just walk and walk, deiven by something unexplained. Eventually, I realized that I wouldn’t stop walking until all of my worrisome thoughts of the day were released and replaced by lightness — solutions, ideas, inspiration, creativity, and positivity. A shift in my state of mind. The difference between my state of mind in the beginning of my walk and the end was profound and distinct. But it wasn’t because I’d necessarily resolved or let go of the problems of the day. It was because being in nature. which is pure consciousness, is relaxing — relaxed my mind, helping me to release my incessant thoughts — which, in turn, allowed me to tap into that special, inner place.
Recently, I was in a part of town where life is pretty typical. It’s a commercial area where there are stores, restaurants, people, traffic, congestion. Where it’s common for planes to fly overhead, firetrucks sound their sirens, speeding down the street. Inside stores, cafes, and restaurants, too loud, distracting music plays. Staff scurry about, calling out orders, seating people quickly, and ringing up items at the cash register with breakneck speed. Customers getting in and out of their cars in the parking lot moving briskly, with precision speed, pulling out into the traffic whizzing by, and probably later checking in on the news and social media and immersing themselves in any number of other busy activities.
I had just finished hiking, my mind was relaxed. Noticing the contrast between how I was feeling and what I was observing, I realized that this is how most of us live. Living like this, how could anyone tap into their inner place? Whether intentional or not, the world inhibits it from happening. The world creates so much physical and mental noise that it blocks us from looking inward and deciding for ourselves whether this way of living is something that we want — and determining what is our truth.
By the way, I differentiate between noise and sound. One of my favorite ways of connecting to my inner place is to listen to sound in the form of music.
When I started writing my first book, it took about eight months to discover what was my creative process. Which is to begin my day by getting up early and going straight to a cafe — literally. Waking up, getting dressed, gathering my things, and stepping out the door. At the cafe, other than placing my order, not engaging in conversation. Not going online or immediately digging into work. Stopping anything from filling my mind. I sip on a beverage or take a bite of food, let my mind wander. Look out the window, observe what’s going on around me. Maybe quickly answer a text or email. Eventually, an idea or inspiration pops into my mind. It could be something familiar or out of the blue. Jot down some thoughts. Listen to a specific song. And before I know it, the next task or activity that I should do presents itself to me. With a relaxed mind, I ease into the day. This is my inner guidance at work, tapping into universal intelligence. I complete my day’s work within about four hours feeling productive and fully satisfied and rewarded. My creative process grounds and prepares me for the rest of my day — to have a good, pleasant day. When I don’t begin my day in this way, my day doesn’t flow so well. So, I make beginning my day in this way a priority.
When I left my home this morning, the idea for this post came to me. I thought I should work on something else, but I wrote this instead, following my inner guidance. I’m not sure why, but it felt like the right thing to do.
Have a beautiful day!
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