Meditation: Calm, Anxiety Release Length: 10 minutes Where: Home Office/Guest Room, Los Angeles How It Felt: De-cluttering
Things have gotten hectic, as things tend to do in life. With the sudden addition of dealing with a leaky roof today (see last post), I spent the day rushing around to get everything done.
For the first time since 2021 started, I found myself wishing for some of that 2020 energy. Not too much! Just… a couple of days? Where everything stops? You know what I mean. 2020 but with Biden and vaccines.
This is the trap: fill your life with things you want to do and learn and people you want to spend time with and fulfilling work and passion projects, then be so busy you can hardly enjoy all of it. Right?
This is the cycle I’m determined to end, once and for all!
I took a break from the Chopra Abundance series today because I wanted to snap out of my “survival mode” and slow down. I want to actually enjoy the things I worked so hard to bring into my life!
My mind was so cluttered that I was struggling to even make a proper list for a quick Target trip. I just couldn’t remember everything, and I felt anxious about getting back in enough time to finish my to do list. So, instead of freaking out or letting my anxiety climb ever higher, I simply stopped and took ten minutes to meditate.
The Calm app has a fabulous section of meditations dedicated specifically to anxiety- a nice reminder that I am not alone in this eternal cycle! I chose one aptly titled “Anxiety Release” and set the time for ten minutes. It may not seem like much, but it was enough time to let me slow down my breath and check in without creating more anxiety by taking too much time out of my day.
I followed the voice guide, breathing slowly in and out. It honestly felt like a brain massage. When prompted to think of a word that described how I was feeling, “cluttered” immediately came to mind. I’ve started too many things at once without taking the time to slow down and really organize everything the way I would like. I realized that was my anxiety recipe- it isn’t having too much to do, necessarily, but not being organized enough in my approach.
I also took time to do a body scan and realize I was sorely in need of an electrolyte drink, which I drank immediately after the meditation. I was rewarded with a little burst of energy!
This is exactly what I hoped to start understanding: how can meditation help me slow down and really know what I need in any given moment? What am I neglecting? What is out of balance? Can I stop for a few minutes to bring some of that balance back? To do a mini-defrag of my brain? To slow my heart rate and reverse the effects of anxiety, mania, even depression?
The answer seems to be a resounding “yes!”
I think I’m started to get the hang of this, guys! 10/10 recommend!
To help YOU feel less anxious right this second, here is a photo of Tigre fast asleep in my arms tonight. I was supposed to get up and be productive much earlier, but obviously I couldn’t wake him. I’m not a monster.
My Year of Meditation 