Day Two – Matt Young’s Introductory Meditation again
Sometimes simple is good and this meditation for stress relief proves it so. Matt’s down to earth approach can help remove the pressure people sometimes feel when they begin to meditate. There is no right or wrong way to do it – you don’t even need to sit still. (10mb)
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I missed out on Day 2′s meditation, I was waiting for an email to say that it was ready. It’s all good, I’ve found them now and will log on to listen to them from now on.
Day 2. Even later finding meditation-time today…three kids back at school next week so hope to try daytime sessions soon. Had a big day shopping for last minute school uniforms and shoes with all three kids in tow…and have to say, Mrs Calm did accompany us today. Let me say – this is quite rare. Now whether it was coincidence, or the fact that I bothered to take 10 minutes to rearrange my brain cells in last night’s meditation I will never know, but I’m willing to keep trying! Tonight’s effort had me feeling like I’d melted into my chair and I really couldn’t distinguish between me or the fabric. Nice sensation. And despite feeling very tired beforehand, I feel much more alert now. Loving the experiment so far!
Funny you say that. I did my meditation early yesterday morning and was super calm and nice to my kids despite making 82 lunchboxes and finding lost cello cloths and left shoes. Hope its not a coincidence!
After finding the 1st meditation so relaxing and ‘easy ‘, the 2nd was the complete opposite! I was fidgeting throughout and couldn’t get comfortable, My mind was all over the place and although it was so easy to follow Matt’s instructions, my internal gremlin was working overtime! I was arguing with myself that although Matt said it was fine to be thinking about things and not to expect the thoughts to stop, my inner voice was berating myself for not being able to sit still for 10 minutes without my mind thinking about a million things! Aaaargh! Lets hope day 3 is better!
A couple of things to remember.
1. Meditation is not all sweet, happy and calm. What we experience during meditation will vary (potentially a lot) each time we do it, and it’s likely that what happens when you meditate will be a reflection or microcosm of your your day (or week / month / year / life / habits). Naturally enough, if you have a really crap day, or there’s something stressful on your mind, then that will filter into your meditation too.
2. It might be useful to think of meditation as ‘clearning the mental desk, or ‘cleaning the basement / garage / attic’. Sometimes it’s a dirty job, and we discover all kinds of muck floating around that we’d forgotten about, but afterwards you can sit back and appreciate the work you’ve done. This cleaning or clearing might also mean that we don’t let unresolved mental and emotional stress accumulate to the point where we start snapping at our kids / husband / dog etc.
3. Think of meditation not as stress relief, but as stress release. Relaxation can be seen as a process in which stresses come to the surface, to be seen, acknowledged, processed and let go. In this way meditation is a bit like pulling splinters. Splinters of course, hurt when they go in – and they hurt when you pull them out. It’s much better though, to pull them out, than to leave them to fester.
4. Meditation is best seen, and this is a really KEY POINT, not as a means of becoming calm, but as a means of learning to tolerate a full range of experiences – physical, mental and emotional. We’re learning not to expect or hope for peace, but to be gentle with ourselves. When we’re wishing that we were wonderfully relaxed, but find ourselves bored or agitated, perhaps we can let go of those expectations, and gently explore what we actually feel now. When we notice a tendency to berate ourselves, perhaps we can bring some curiosity to the moment. “What’s going on here?”, “What emotions are driving me?” Or maybe we can just practice letting ourselves feel how we do. You could give yourself permission to feel cranky, or irritated, or sleepy, or bored. As often as not, it’s our wish to feel something else, that causes our stress (rather than how we do actually feel). A useful definition here might be to think of meditation as ‘matching rhythms with yourself’. Your job is not to change or create a new rhythm, but to harmonise with the existing ones. I hope that makes sense.
Feel free to comment if you want to explore or clarify these ideas further.
Really enjoyed it! It was nice to focus on the surrounding sounds and actually notice certain things going on within your body. Felt very relaxed.
Interestingly I found it harder to settle into the meditation tonight. Maybe I was just buzzing a bit more after a busy day today, wondered also if it made a difference as it was the second time I’d listened so I kind of knew what was coming and didn’t concentrate as much. Still, I feel more rested, glad I took the time to do it. Looking forward to more.
We are still figuring out the right number of times to repeat meditations so I’d love to hear how day 3 goes for you.
It was good to have a repeat session. It helped me to settle more quickly as I knew what was coming next.
Thanks. Lovely, not so good doing this in the evening will start to fall asleep.
I have listened to Matt twice now. He is very easy to listen to and certainly ‘takes the pressure off’ to be ‘doing anything in particular’ during meditation or to be ‘doing it right’. Without this pressure I felt able to really relax into it.
Thanks so much for this Kathy – my first shot at meditation.
It’s been a full on day today AND I am not feeling well but this has helped me ‘come down’ a bit before bed. Looking forward to the coming days!
Thanks. I enjoyed that. Matt’s voice was wonderfully normal and the humour in it was reassuring. My main trouble was stopping myself from falling asleep. I seem to want to nod off whenever I stop for too long these days.
No need to stop yourself from falling asleep. As often as not, that’s just what you need. Sometimes the value of meditation is that it gives us a chance to tune into our body enough to realise just how fatigued or tired we really are. Without taking this time out, we might just continue buzzing around with the endless list of things to do (or distract ourselves with). Meditation gives you a chance to see what’s really needed. Many of us have accumulated quite a sleep debt, and many of us have long, full days. In such circumstances, a nap-like meditation might be just the ticket – perhaps leaving us feeling a little more refreshed and at ease afterwards.