Over the last 5 years I have had the privilege of learning from some of the world’s leading practitioners and experts about the lifestyle interventions that have scientific proof pointing to their efficacy in calming our parasympathetic nervous system, enabling rest, reducing inflammation and more.
In my early 40s I started a meditation practice on my bathroom floor - the only place I could find quiet - and committed to a daily routine of 10 minutes before the day began. Over the years I’ve kept pretty regular. Until I didn’t. A combination of a stressful house move to a tiny new space, living with 3 very large men and a dog, a work schedule that seemed to get faster and faster and health concerns in my family meant every minute was taken. There was nothing left for me.
I got to breaking point in January. I could feel it in my bones. And having had burn out before, I knew I had to act.
Feed your curiosity not your inner critic.
I spent a weekend reflecting on what I’ve learned and asked myself, ‘what feels right next’? Because I think one of the hard truths of our transition at this stage of life is that we need to reassess the tools we use regularly.
I encouraged my inner voice to be less critical about what I was ‘failing’ to do - and instead explore, with curiosity, why I no longer found my meditation useful? And I concluded that I needed a new format. My brain needed a different way to find calm and space. And so my adventure and eventual adoption of ™ Meditation as a daily practice began.
I can genuinely say I felt a shift in my being within a week. I have not missed a single day. My family noticed a shift and I felt it profoundly too. Life was still bumpy but I had a new found context and deep sense of gratitude for the important stuff too.
Trust the process. But test it too.
Last month my life shifted again. Things got really tough. My inner critic was back and LOUD! - and asking whether the 20 minutes morning and night was really worth it when I had more than I could cope with crowding into my every day? ‘Was it really making a difference anyway?’.
Last Tuesday was, it turns out, the test I needed. I was invited to speak at a conference in Madrid to a room full of HR Directors. I’d prepped a knock-out deck. I’d rehearsed my script. I got to the airport at 5.45am. I was ready. But it turns out the planes, passport queue and taxi rank had other plans for me.
I was so delayed I actually landed just as the conference ended. Old Me would have been sick with anxiety and full of shame. Today's Me? Well this is what she did…
- I spent the time on the runway meditating for 20 minutes.
- I opened my laptop and took advantage of the lack of wifi or mobile signal to do some deep thinking on the business that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.
- I thought about how I could ensure delegates at the conference could still access my presentation and research and wrote a new deck and script to record and send to the event organisers on my return to the UK.
- I looked at where my time and energy was flowing and what I needed ‘next’ to support my body and mind.
- I’ve booked an advanced meditation course that starts in June.
I was frustrated, of course. But the perspective and gratitude to find a solution and even enjoy a glass of wine and good tapas that evening in the local neighborhood restaurant too.
Turns out meditation works. Turns out I needed to test it a little too. My reflection for you to reflect on perhaps this weekend too is that, when we hold on too tight to a blueprint of what ‘works’ at any stage in life, we prime ourselves for stress.
It’s a constant practice of ‘test and learn’, of ‘evaluate and refine’.
And, if we can meet the challenges that life throws at us with curiosity and a little space the difference in how we feel it in our body is immense.
Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest
