13000 Minutes of Meditation
Ever since, I have stepped into the productivity space. The first thing I wanted to try was meditation. This year the mental health has been one of the most discussed topic among the world just because we have limited the social contact.
You can use the following tools to improve your mental health: meditation, reading, writing, listening to songs, audiobooks, and podcasts. For yoga, exercise, songs and audiobooks you can go with the YouTube and for reading there is Kindle. Make your intensions clear when you open the apps because you can drown there if you don’t know how to swim.
For meditation I have tried Calm, Headspace, The Mindfulness App, and the list never ends. I use headspace because I like the multi-platform support and they are upgrading their app frequently. There are various courses in headspace that you can try, including stress, sleep and focus. They have recently added the features of exercise and focus music. Also, there is group meditation, streaks and journey tab, where you can track your progress. I’ll share my story and you can decide for yourself.
I started using headspace around November 2017, and after the trial period, I purchased the subscription. This was my first ever subscription and the most valuable money I have spent for the last 3 years.
It’s not that things were always good. On November 2018 I again purchased the subscription, but for two months I didn’t open the application. I was very busy in college assignments and didn’t have any time to meditate. I realized my mental health is suffering. Everything was falling apart, I started the meditation again to see what change it brings. I started course “Letting go of Stress”, and I could see the difference in me. It helped me see things from a fresh perspective and take a step back from all the stress and anxiety.
Recently, one incident changed my perception made me more dedicated towards the meditation. At the dinner table, I had an argument with my father. As always, he was saying things like “you are worthless; I see no future in you, see children of my colleagues have so many good things in their life you can’t even give me one thing that I can be proud of.”
I was angry but I could see my thoughts wrapped in bubbles “throw the plate”, “scream at him and tell them you are worth it”, they were all around me. Thoughts were bullets waiting for me to pull the trigger. But I did nothing, I sat there smiling to my thoughts, and that was the first time in years I acknowledged myself for doing nothing.
That moment I realized I can change the course of my life. From that day I made meditation a priority in life and started focusing on other areas of improvement like sleep, exercise, journaling and managing finance.
I hate mornings I Am same person who used to wake up at noon and went straight for brunch. Seeing the evidence of improvement, I realized, I need to get my life on track. Unless we see the results of our actions, we continue on the same path.
We don’t want our family to sleep empty stomach that’s why we work every day to make sure the day never comes. It’s simple: if you are serious about something, you will find the time for it.
If still you are struggling with the time consider 2 or 5 minutes after you have bathed in the morning or in the evening when you reach home after long day. You can make use of washroom breaks if the work is too stressful, nobody is coming there to check what you are up to. Start with small like 2 minutes and things will change after you have evidence of the changed behaviour.
You may have to experiment with the thousand things to get to the one that helps you on your journey. Pave your way through the resistance and fear.
Originally published at http://balancealchemist.wordpress.com on November 12, 2020.
