Meditation: Be present and Climb On!

Yesterday I climbed after a year. I do have a fear of heights, also I "self doubt" a lot regards to what I am capable of, I am also anxious about falling, although there is a trusty belayer ready to catch me; these afflictions in my mind, affect my body, and my climbing.

My first wall, I panicked the whole way up, forgetting to breathe, scared of falling. On my second climb, I heard my climbing teachers voice yell in my mind "breathe! breathe like you're having a baby." My breathing brought me to an utter awareness, and it was easier to climb.

My next climb, I almost gave up, but I took a few minutes to breathe, focus, meditating while hanging on a harness, 20 feet off the ground. Just collecting myself to here, now, me and my body. I let everyone else fade away, I let the world drop away, my breathing, my muscles, my heart all united in completing this small task of climbing to another 10 or 15 feet. It was a simple climb, but it seemed a gargantuan task, for a non-beginner, beginning to climb again. Those few minutes helped me gather some phenomenal energy to calm down and climb on. My focus was solely on me, and it was easier.

Why do I fret? Because I forget to be. I let fear take over, when all I need is me.

Meditation can help us immensely even though it maybe short... Maybe that's why they say when stressed, breathe and count to 10 when angry or flustered! So if you think about it there's been different types of meditation, through out the ages, cultures, places, and religions! The effects are always the same.

Breathe!

Om.

Meditation and Filling the Cup

Every now and then I feel drained: work, friends, family, commuting, altruistic work, hobbies, and sometimes we forget to take time out for ourselves. I felt that recently, I let myself get stressed, I noticed the lack of quality time with me, and I crashed. A mini breakdown. I as afraid I wouldn't be able to live up to my busy schedule and I would let people down.

What I really needed to do, was focus on being present, and let things fall into place. Let go of control, and just focus on my breathing. That simple act for 5 minutes even can help so much. My mind wanders, but I bring it back, to the breathing. So I finally had time to do that on Friday during my yoga class (I hadn't been able to do Yoga during the week, or meditation), except it was longer than just 5 minutes. So it really helped me align my mind, body and soul. Suddenly ten minutes was not enough! I needed more time to enjoy this feeling of calming down. This meditation, basic as it is, was filling up the shell of my body with positivity, nurturing my soul,  calming my body, and taking pressures off my mind.

The exhaustion, and emptiness I was feeling, was gone! I introspected, and then gently looked at the world around me, and suddenly it dawned on me, that I had missed connecting with me. The thing is things will never be less crazy, or slow down to resume whatever schedule I would like, so I have to make time, and fit my meditation in, I do this for me. Same with the Yoga, I have to just make minimum 10 minutes for it. Sometimes taking out time for yourself may seem selfish, but we need it, and more often than not.

OM

Meditation for wellness