Meditation was a major player in my healing journey.

I can’t remember where I even first heard about meditation but I know I definitely thought it was too woo-woo or hippy dippy for me. But everyone seemed to be trying it, so I did and I hated it. 

My first experience of it was when friend gave me a 20 minutes meditation. The first few minutes in were ok, relaxing even but after a few further minutes in the silence of my own mind I started crying uncontrollably (yep, the really ugly type of crying!).

So that was it, I decided meditation was not for me, why would I go looking to bring up unnecessary emotions? So, I buried the meditation along with my feelings. 

During times of struggle I shot down anyone who recommended it to me time and time again.  In my mind I had tried it and it wasn’t for me. I thought you had to be a certain type a person for meditation to work.

Now I realise that I was struggling so much with my own emotions getting still was so uncomfortable for me.

This discomfort was showing up in many forms such as self-esteem issues, depression, anxiety, psoriasis the list goes on. If we don’t allow ourselves to get still and deal with emotions they will keep showing up in other forms. 

When I was battling the feelings of pain, emptiness, loneliness and anxiety I figured I better give it another go. Things couldn’t get much worse than they were. So I broke it down to trying 2/3 minute mediations each day for a week then I started building up the time. Now I can’t go a day without it.

Initially I used meditation to allow me to feel calmer amongst the chaos that was my life. But more importantly it allowed me to get feelings back in my heart other than pain.

I still remember the day I got that flutter of feeling life again in my heart. It only lasted a few seconds that day but it allowed me the hope that I could access that feeling again, so I continued to show up day after day to get that feeling back and gradually the feeling started to last longer. 

If you want to get that loving feeling back in your heart give it a go. Here is my 5 tips to build your meditation practice and heal your heart: 

1) Start small: Do the 2/3 minutes a day, or if you feel you can do 5 go for it! Build up as you feel it's necessary.

2) Pick a time: Set your alarm 5 minutes earlier in the morning, or set a reminder for when you know you can dedicate these small few minutes of your day.

3) Find a resource that works for you: There is so many out there and some amazing free ones. My personal fav is an app called Insight Timer. 

4) Stay Consistent: Like everything consistency is key, you might not notice the benefits straight away but keep showing up, keep trying and listening to what comes up for you.

5) Don’t be hard on yourself: Thoughts will come up for you but you can allow them to leave. Even if you can’t get into the zone on a particular day keep showing up for yourself.

Remember it’s called a meditation “practice” so keep practicing and it will change your life. 

I really hope you found this useful and give it a go. 

I’d love to know your thoughts or if you are still struggling with this practice. Let me know!

Cheryl xoxo