You do it because you feel better when you do

When I first started meditating more than 30 years ago I found the whole concept fascinating and I wanted to learn more. As I searched I discovered that there were all different ways of meditating, including going away for 10days and spending that time in silence. As I had four children, was working full-time and paying the bills was our main focus 10 days away didn’t seem like an option. I must say that the silence didn’t appeal to me at all as I had spent too much time unable to speak when I went to boarding school at the age of seven (although silence from the constant bickering and ‘mmmmuuuuuummmm’ did sound rather blissful!) So I had to find something that worked for me. We lived in a very small house, the six of us, and finding a space to be alone was impossible, that is until I discovered that if I had a bath I could legitimately locked the door! As everyone else in the household was mad about football, but me, they would watch it 5 nights of the week. It was too early for me to go to bed with a book and I could still hear the commentary. I would take myself off to the other end of the house, lock the door and sink into a bath full of bubbles. The quiet was shattering. It was in this quiet that I learned to feel comfortable. It was such an odd experience when my life was filled with noise, but after a time I began to crave it. There is much you can do in the bath. You can have candles, music, be in the dark or read a book. Put on a face mask. Be alone with your thoughts This is where I started to practise the meditation techniques I had learnt. For a few minutes to start with and then I would read a book. Slowly I began to enjoy being alone with my thoughts, something I had avoided in the ‘real’ world by constantly surrounding myself with noise. If the ids were at school I would have the radio or TV on for some background noise. But what I was in effect doing was avoiding being in the silence, that, I was terrified of. I moved out of the bathroom and began sitting on my decking first thing in the morning with a cup of herbal tea before the rest of the house stirred from their slumbers. There is something magical about being up before the rest of the world. It is so quiet. And then the birds start to sing – just for you. What I started to noticed was I began to feel different. I was calmer, deep down inside. I had found small moments of peace. And the more you do it, the more you want to do it. So you begin to make sure you fit it in to your day. Meditation became an escape. It was my way of retreating from the world. As I say in my classes, when you are little you clean you teeth because your mother nagged you, or got you in a head lock and did it (ask my eldest son!) or you were scared of the dentist. As an adult you clean your teeth because it feels better when you do it … and that’s how it is with meditation. It doesn’t mean you have to sit on the top of a mountain cross-legged chanting mantras, although that is rather wonderful. You have to find what works for you … in your life, now. And then … You do it because you feel better when you do.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
More from Maiya

Maiya's Latest Musings

Money is the Root of All Evil …

Did you hear that when you were growing up? Perhaps you heard ….. ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’, ‘we can’t afford it’, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to pay these bills’, ‘you need money to make money’, ‘you have to work hard to earn

Read More »

Our body is always talking to us?

Sadly, most of us don’t listen.   Or we only listen when we are brought to our knees.   I admit that even though I have known this for a long time and have been teaching it for the past twenty years I don’t always

Read More »

Gratitude is an Attitude

A funny story from a long time ago …

When I first heard about gratitude, years and years ago, I thought

that if I was grateful for what I had in that moment that meant I would be stuck there and never have anything better!

And because that was my belief at the time I didn’t carry out the act of gratitude for many many years.

Definitely not a smart move

I was living in Sydney at the time and wanted desperately to move out of the rat race to somewhere quieter that would feed my soul.

Twenty years ago next month the dream I had held onto for so long came to fruition

and we moved to Kiama, the best decision we ever made!

Before that eventuated I had to sit in the situation I was in at the time and have gratitude for all that I had in my life then and there

I had let go of the belief I’d had such a tight grip on that to be grateful in the moment meant I would be stuck there

So not true!

In fact it was the reverse

Once you begin to have gratitude for what you have in your life then more things start to flow to you

The most important thing is to know what it is you wish to manifest in your life

Most people when asked what they want in their life come up blank

We all have a great long list of all the things we don’t want and nothing on the ‘do want’ list

So what happens is we are focused on the ‘don’t want’ and surprise, surprise that’s what keeps on showing up!!

The lesson here is to have gratitude for everything you have in your life now (just look around you) and focus on what you do want in your life.

Gratitude is a powerful manifestation tool.

TIP: if you have a list of what you don’t want it is easy to flip it to what you do want

📷 by Donald Giannatti on Unsplash

Read More »

I love Christmas!

I’m not embarrassed to admit it. I love the feeling of Christmas … the decorations, the trees all dressed in their finery, the shops all fitted out for the season, the movies, the songs (I have them playing while I write this), I even collect

Read More »

Ho’oponopono

You may or may not have heard of Ho’oponopono, here is a very brief explanation.It’s not a religion. There are no teachers, gurus, high priest or middle men. It is simply a prayer from you to the Creator / God. Ho’oponopono is an Hawaiian and

Read More »