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If we’re being honest, we understand that life isn’t perfect for any of us.

We may not have the same issues as the people around us, but our issues are important. They take up valuable space in our minds. They steal what’s happening now from us and keep us thinking about the past or focusing on the future. They stress us out.

I got tired of that.

I had no idea what meditation was

I used to think that meditation meant that you simply sat on the floor with your legs crossed, made sure you had good posture, and closed your eyes.

No really, I had no idea what happened after that. Once my eyes were closed, would a vision appear? Would I hear a voice giving me directions? What if I suddenly had an itch on my nose, was I allowed to scratch it, or did I have to wait until I was done? How would I even know when I was done?

So much overthinking. I already had enough going on and just the thought of meditating seemed to add to the workload of my brain- Not exactly what I was looking for.

Full disclosure- My brother had given me a couple of music-meditation CDs a long time ago. He’s been all about the body-mind-soul thing for years. Back then, he’d sit for what seemed like forever in the same position that I always believed was required for the task. To me, that’s exactly what it seemed like, a task.

One of the CDs was to be played in the morning, and one in the evening. They were both pretty calming and I found myself putting them on pretty regularly. Aside from occasionally kicking back on the sofa and falling asleep to them, I never actually tried to properly close my eyes and reach out to God, Jesus, Allah, or Tom Cruise, much less my “inner being.”

Meditation is simply stopping and focusing

It turns out, it’s nothing like that at all. It doesn’t require any depth and isn’t equated to Sunday worship at all. Go figure?

(Apologies to the big guy upstairs, but this actually is all about me, well, just for these 10 minutes.)

Simply put, meditation is all about stopping everything that you’re doing, focusing on one simple thing, and letting everything around you just be there.

It’s so effortless, but consistently doing it each day can have a profound effect on your everyday life.

These are the 8 steps of my 10-minute meditation routine each day. I try to do it in the morning before I open my laptop or do anything work-related, but there are times when I stumble and don’t get to it first thing. When that happens, I’ll set a reminder or an alarm for later in the day so that I stop whatever I’m doing, and take those few minutes for myself.

1. My phone goes into do not disturb mode. This is my time, everyone and everything else can wait.
2. I set an alarm for 10 minutes. I use a harp sound for the alarm at the lowest volume. Believe me, nothing ruins a good relaxing meditation like coming out of it to a screeching siren of sorts.
3. I sit down and close my eyes. My legs may be crossed or not, and I’ll sit on the floor, in a chair, or on my bed.
4. I take a few deep breaths and relax.
5. Without thinking about it too hard, I lightly focus on my breath.
6. I hear all of the sounds around me and just let them be there while I continue to focus on my breath.
7. When a distracting thought of any sort comes to mind, I quickly acknowledge that it’s there, realize that I can deal with it later, and instantly go back to focusing on my breath.
8. After 10 minutes, my alarm goes off. I take another deep breath and open my eyes.

Yep, that’s it.

I don’t normally put on music. As a musician, I tend to focus on what’s playing in the background rather than my breath. I prefer nature sounds like rain or ocean waves– anything soothing that doesn’t draw my attention to it.

Strengthening your mind

Still wondering how this can actually accomplish anything? One word- equanimity.

Equanimity is defined as the evenness of mind, especially under stress.

In a sense, it’s a muscle of your mind. Exercising it consistently each day allows it to become stronger. That means that with daily meditation, the evenness of your mind, especially under stressful situations, will be stronger.

When you meditate daily, you’re building up the muscle that directly correlates with how you deal with people and things in your life.

It’s no different than hitting the gym each day with a focus on strength training. Your workout allows you to become stronger, which gives you the ability to lift heavy things.

That’s exactly how meditation works for your mind. Keep at it, and you become better at dealing with all that life throws at you.

I’m becoming a better person for myself and those around me

Meditation has allowed me to be more focused, have more patience, and be less stressed. I’m much calmer than I used to be. It’s become easier to handle everything in my life and I physically feel better. More importantly, I’m able to be in the moment rather than constantly thinking about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow.

I also just want to be a better person to be around, so I meditate.

Oh, and it’s okay to scratch the itch.

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