I’ve done it. I’m one step closer to becoming a master yogi where I can detach my physical self from my energy self through meditation. Hurrah! Except that I learned that this is not the end goal when meditating. I’m totally kidding. Meditation has become a connected word to ‘hippie’ and ‘veganism,’ but the reality is that it's simply a really interesting practice where your mind goes into a relaxed and tranquil state.
My parents are true yogis. They’ve always been interested in the healing power of energies, the mental control you have over your bodies, and their incapabilities and have preferred the use of natural herbs and essential oils over modern medicine. So while my parents are this interesting juxtaposition of practicing alternative Indian and Chinese healing methods and latin, catholic teachings, I've been able to be mindfully ignorant to most of what they do. I’m receptive to their healing methods, but I never partook in their activities until recently.
I’ve never felt as much stress as I did a few weeks ago, where I was getting bombarded with work from school, clubs, and activities, as well as outside opportunities I did not want to let go of. What did I do? My great idea was to take naps every afternoon due to the crippling exhaustion I was facing daily. So now, my sleep schedule was messed up, I was tired every day, and my list of things to do kept growing. Now, why does this matter? Other than a way for me to complain about the trivial stresses of my life, this matters because of how I was able to change my stress thanks to meditation.
We had four classes, where a taught instructor came to my apartment and taught my siblings and me to meditate. We were presented with a mantra (which I am to never repeat to anyone - yeesh I know) and we were told to repeat it mindfully and eventually enter this state of tranquility that the conscious mind is never at. So okay, with my experience at home I was a true believer. I hoped it would work, and… It did. I came out of this meditative state after 20 minutes, and I was rejuvenated. My knee no longer hurt, I could see clearly, I had entered the avatar state. Okay, obviously none of this happened, but I noticed I was in a better mood the entire day, and my physical state matched my mental state. So then what?
We were told to meditate every morning and every evening for 20 minutes. Did I do it? For the first few days, yes. Then I got stressed out about wasting time meditating, and the whole cycle began to repeat. Great… Although the way I practiced meditation was not sustainable, it opened my eyes to the potential life I could lead. I woke up every morning for three days at 5:30, meditated, worked out, made breakfast, got ready for school, and left my house at 7:20. The crazy thing was, I didn’t feel exhausted during class, or after school, and my mood had improved overall. Was this sustainable? Hell no. Does this mean that I unlocked some secret part of my brain I had never encountered? Who knows.
My overall thoughts on this experience are that it’s something to try. Possibly this was a placebo effect, and it was just my knowledge on the subject that allowed for me to reach this meditative state, or maybe this isn’t some phony practice and actually works. All I know is that I recommend every open-minded person to try this. Even if you don’t stick with it, it presents your full potential to yourself. I don’t meditate every day, but at the moments where I genuinely feel able to concentrate on myself, meditation is a great way to allow yourself a few moments of peace.
“1 Hour Meditation.” Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/artist/6xsHJWz07oWd3DzqcJ9xrl.
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