Starting with Meditation
HOW I HEARD ABOUT MEDITATION
I first heard of meditation from my close friend in college. Her dad used to wake up early in the morning to do some kind of meditation. It didn't spark anything on me that time. Fast forward to about 9 or 10 years after, I encountered meditation again through our company's team building. One of our managers engaged us on a 10-minute meditation. There's no long introduction about it. He just said that it helps you in focusing on things. We were told to find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and in his cue, we closed our eyes. A few minutes into the meditation, we heard one of our colleagues snore. The focus was completely lost after that and one by one, those people near me were smirking and holding their laughter. It didn't strike me again. Not yet.
One year has gone after that awesome team building. Some lessons were applied and helped in progressing in my work. I got promoted from being a graphic designer to a trainer. But my lifestyle didn't improve. We were going out to fast food restaurants more often, treating our daughters to sugars and fatty food. My husband and I realized we're gaining weight rapidly. I spend more time in front of my computer finishing tasks after tasks. At the end of the day, I always find myself exhausted and often released it to my kids when they don't follow my command to pack away their toys. More often I pick on my husband when I find him relaxing on the sofa after doing the laundry. It was a messy kind of life.
WHAT MADE ME TRY IT... AGAIN!
A few days ago, one of my close friends invited me to join in their health awareness program. I intentionally attended the event in exchange of my request from her to get sponsorship for a medical mission I'm partly organizing. A lot of the things they presented were already common knowledge to me. But it's different when you hear it from those who have experienced the bad effects of unhealthy lifestyle rather than just reading it. It's really an eye opening situation for me.
Before 2017 ended, my husband and I had a "meeting" about our goals in 2018. We reflected on where we are at that moment, how much we're earning, how much we're spending, what needs to be prioritized, and what are the things we can start to let go of. When 2018 started, our plans started to materialize. My husband Gary started to cook again instead of buying ready-made meals. We minimized going out to cut our expenses and finally being able to save up! In reality it actually just needed discipline and determination. And those same things helped us to work out on the current situation of our health. We cut back on our pork and rice intake. We're starting to do intermittent fasting. Everything seems to go just fine but I still have some anxiety issues. It's not a very serious one but I find it draining when I have to deal with it while dealing with my actual problems. It's like taking care of your sick child but you know that you are also sick. If you can relate, let's give each other a pat on the back. So, this morning I thought: "Why not try meditating?" But the big question is HOW?! I was following the blog of Mika Perry and read her post about meditation (link here). She's a busy mom (like me!) and meditation requires a quiet place. Quiet. In a house with kids. Okay. But she shared that she goes up earlier than her kids to do the meditation. So I thought: the first thing you need to do is to actually commit to it. And by committing, you are planning ahead of time how you would squeeze it into your "busy" day. This morning, I woke up late. I rushed in preparing my first daughter so she won't be late in her school. When she and her daddy left the house, I made sure my 2 other kids are still sleeping. When everything's clear I opened my computer and went to Youtube. I just searched for a 10-minute guided meditation. I put on my headphones and began my journey.
I can't say it's done miraculous things already. Today might just be a good day when everything seems to go as planned. But what I think it's started in me is to let the thoughts pass you by. Focus on what's happening now. Focus on your breathing and how the intake and outtake is helping each part of your body. I hope I can keep doing this until I'm old and gray.
I first heard of meditation from my close friend in college. Her dad used to wake up early in the morning to do some kind of meditation. It didn't spark anything on me that time. Fast forward to about 9 or 10 years after, I encountered meditation again through our company's team building. One of our managers engaged us on a 10-minute meditation. There's no long introduction about it. He just said that it helps you in focusing on things. We were told to find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and in his cue, we closed our eyes. A few minutes into the meditation, we heard one of our colleagues snore. The focus was completely lost after that and one by one, those people near me were smirking and holding their laughter. It didn't strike me again. Not yet.
One year has gone after that awesome team building. Some lessons were applied and helped in progressing in my work. I got promoted from being a graphic designer to a trainer. But my lifestyle didn't improve. We were going out to fast food restaurants more often, treating our daughters to sugars and fatty food. My husband and I realized we're gaining weight rapidly. I spend more time in front of my computer finishing tasks after tasks. At the end of the day, I always find myself exhausted and often released it to my kids when they don't follow my command to pack away their toys. More often I pick on my husband when I find him relaxing on the sofa after doing the laundry. It was a messy kind of life.
WHAT MADE ME TRY IT... AGAIN!
A few days ago, one of my close friends invited me to join in their health awareness program. I intentionally attended the event in exchange of my request from her to get sponsorship for a medical mission I'm partly organizing. A lot of the things they presented were already common knowledge to me. But it's different when you hear it from those who have experienced the bad effects of unhealthy lifestyle rather than just reading it. It's really an eye opening situation for me.
Before 2017 ended, my husband and I had a "meeting" about our goals in 2018. We reflected on where we are at that moment, how much we're earning, how much we're spending, what needs to be prioritized, and what are the things we can start to let go of. When 2018 started, our plans started to materialize. My husband Gary started to cook again instead of buying ready-made meals. We minimized going out to cut our expenses and finally being able to save up! In reality it actually just needed discipline and determination. And those same things helped us to work out on the current situation of our health. We cut back on our pork and rice intake. We're starting to do intermittent fasting. Everything seems to go just fine but I still have some anxiety issues. It's not a very serious one but I find it draining when I have to deal with it while dealing with my actual problems. It's like taking care of your sick child but you know that you are also sick. If you can relate, let's give each other a pat on the back. So, this morning I thought: "Why not try meditating?" But the big question is HOW?! I was following the blog of Mika Perry and read her post about meditation (link here). She's a busy mom (like me!) and meditation requires a quiet place. Quiet. In a house with kids. Okay. But she shared that she goes up earlier than her kids to do the meditation. So I thought: the first thing you need to do is to actually commit to it. And by committing, you are planning ahead of time how you would squeeze it into your "busy" day. This morning, I woke up late. I rushed in preparing my first daughter so she won't be late in her school. When she and her daddy left the house, I made sure my 2 other kids are still sleeping. When everything's clear I opened my computer and went to Youtube. I just searched for a 10-minute guided meditation. I put on my headphones and began my journey.
I can't say it's done miraculous things already. Today might just be a good day when everything seems to go as planned. But what I think it's started in me is to let the thoughts pass you by. Focus on what's happening now. Focus on your breathing and how the intake and outtake is helping each part of your body. I hope I can keep doing this until I'm old and gray.
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