Far too many of us start our day, while still in bed, by reaching for our phones. What might start out as a lazy, luxurious excercise of checking the weather, news or our social feeds, soon turns into text and email…and just like that we project ourselves into the middle of our fast-paced, never-ending to-do-list of a day…body tense and heart pounding before a foot steps from the warm comforter onto the floor.
For the past month I have changed this by stepping into meditation.
I started by training my mind as I wake up to first be grateful for a good nights sleep before stepping out of bed. From there I get up, put on some tea, grab a cushion and sit for a short meditation. At first this started as a simple 10 minute excercise. Now I often find myself sitting for 20-30 minutes without knowing it. The length is not important. What is, is the discipline, quality and focus. To say that this has had a profound effect on my day would be an understatement.
Think about it.
Why would we choose, directly upon awaking, to bombard our senses with multiple streams of thought and lack of focus while staring at a tiny screen? Doing so, robs you of a day once full of time, space and promise. We cheat ourselves of those early, waking moments. We rob our day by unconsciously jumping right in. By engaging in this action we are creating scarcity of time against a list of things we think we need to accomplish.
By meditating I have found that I am able to extend the space and time needed for the things that are most important for me to accomplish. Not to mention the fact that showing the mind who is boss by training it to focus while creating the space for it to work. This is an excercise in creating abundance.
So, you pick. Scarcity or Abundance.
I guarantee you that after a week or so you will find a general improvement in your focus, performance and energy levels. You will feel more in control and you will have better days on average. Try it.
If you have never meditated before and are interested in starting a practice, here are a few links that might inspire you, along with a few groups that you could join to help you learn and get started.
