3 of the Greatest Lessons I’ve learned from 10+ Years of Meditating
Meditation has without a doubt been one of the greatest gifts I’ve discovered in my lifetime thus far. When I first got into it, I was coming out of a harsh breakup and was looking for something to fill the void in my life. I was heartbroken and felt helpless.
I had heard about meditation from online resources at the time and was definitely curious about it, but not a lot of people were into it, so my personal experience was limited.
Alas, they say when you’re ready to welcome it into your life it will find you. Well, it found me. I met my meditation teacher at the gym I was working at and we started chatting. I was immediately intrigued. That weekend, he invited me to a three-day immersive experience to learn how to meditate. I had no plans and being the heartbroken young 25 year old girl I was, I jumped at the opportunity, iIt didn’t hurt that I happened to find him very handsome ;). That weekend, I showed up with an open mind and heart, and boom!! I was hooked.
Since then, I have fallen in and out of my practice but knowing what I know now, I understand that there are normal ebbs and flows to this practice so I try not to judge myself too much when and if I fall off. I’m proud to say I’’ve been back and full blown in my Vedic practice now for three years.
Here are three of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from meditation over my 11 years of practice:
I am not my thoughts
I am separate from my thoughts, and more importantly, I can CHOOSE my thoughts everyday. This was a powerful game charger for me. I often thought I was more of a victim to my thoughts. But once I learned that I am in charge of CHOOSING my thoughts and knowing that our thoughts create reality, this completely changed my life.
My thoughts are not always true
Just because I’m thinking them doesn’t mean they are true. Meditation has helped me to: Pause and Question the validity of my thoughts.
I can allow my thoughts to flow through me
I don’t need to react. Instead I can be proactive and CHOOSE to respond to life’s circumstances.