Meditate to Medicate

Lately I've been having kind of a rough time lately and so I've turned to other things to help me stay sane. Healthy things- not unhealthy things!!! One of those things has been meditation. I've always heard how good it is and my Dad really likes it a lot. I never felt strongly about it before. 

A few weeks ago I started going to a Meditation group with some women from my ward (aka Church). For the first 30 minutes, we learn about certain health aspects/ benefits of meditating and the last 30 minutes we meditate. I learned a lot in those first 30 minutes and for the second 30 minutes, I thought there was no way I would be able to meditate for 30 minutes. 

But I was! For the first class we watch a youtube video on "the inner smile" meditation and that gave us a guideline of what to think when you are meditating (you smile at your mouth, your head, your tummy, your feet, your neighbor, your world- working out). Try it out! (Dad, I think you would love it!)

I was able to meditate for the whole 30 minutes. I think I may even have fallen asleep for a little there, but that's part of the process! I think quite a few of us fell asleep actually!

The second time we did a validation process that talks about validating our feelings. I think I often just suppress any negative feelings and move on with my life, hoping they will go away. Turns out that they don't go away- they just get stronger until you pay attention.

I'm so excited to be more open to new ideas, to new ways of living, to more prayer and meditation and to be open to the world around me.

This is my blog. My name is Megan Abbott.