As your Joy Coach, my primary endeavor these days is connecting with my heart. Meditation is one way to do this. I hope I don’t lose you here. Sometimes people run the other way if there is even a whisper of the spiritual. Please hear me out. Talking of things spiritual often involves intimate subjects that evoke feelings of vulnerability, like hopes and dreams and pain and loss. And when we talk about hopes and dreams and pain and loss, well that can be difficult. Can it also be fruitful when we are connected with our hearts? I think so.
In some ways, the world feels like it’s spinning out, flying apart. With all the distractions and busyness in living, it is easy to lose my balance and connection to the natural world. Sometimes I lose my relationship within myself, and with the world around me. It feels like we are living in an era of outrage, anger, and greed. I wonder: Are we humans in some sort of shouting contest? Do we think we can shout our way to the top? The top of what?
Sometimes I have to stop and question my need to be connected to a screen. With my head buried in a screen, I’m often missing real life that’s unfolding. Heaven knows the Earth is undergoing some dramatic changes. That’s why I’m focused on connecting with my heart. That’s why I meditate. I want to be present to what is happening with calm compassion, and joy.
To me, meditation is simply the restorative power that comes from sitting down every day in stillness and silence and being with myself. I wish there was a speed-dial way to meditate, to clear all my mental obstacles, to help heal myself and the world. But, there’s not. Nevertheless, slowly with increasing gentleness, I continue to learn to be with myself, to forgive myself, to love myself, to forgive others, to love others, to enjoy myself and others, to realize that I am a person I actually like…. most of the time. And, yes, to realize the wonder of life–how big, spacious and interconnected it is. This has been my experience. It may sound odd, but there is a lot of joy in meditating and sticking with it.
If you meditate, or if you are willing to try it here, I wonder what your experience feels like? How do you sit quietly with yourself? Do you notice changes in how you perceive yourself and the world when you sit quietly? Are you able to relax enough to let your troubles subside a bit? Do you feel connected to some energy source greater than yourself?