Why I Started Meditating?
Why I started Meditating? As a chronic migraineur, hearing that meditation would alleviate my debilitating symptoms was incredibly frustrating. It felt like a brush off from doctors and well-meaning friends. I felt like people were telling me that my pain must not be that bad. I just needed to chill out and breathe for a minute. Honestly, it made me more upset that people thought chronic pain could have such an easy fix.
I can now admit I was wrong about meditation. It hasn’t cured me, but it has helped me in so many ways. I have always incorporated Eastern and Western medicine into my health care routine since I was a teen, but meditation wasn’t something I could grasp until this year. Now, I can honestly say I can’t see myself without my daily practice.
WHY I STARTED
In December of 2019, I committed myself to start with ten minutes of daily guided meditations. I wanted to see if meditation would help alleviate some of the stress and anxiety I was experiencing. I planned to commit to the practice for three months and record the results. By the end of the three months, I couldn’t believe the changes. I felt more in control of my emotions, and I was better processing the external stress affecting my physical and mental health.
GETTING IN THE MOOD
I get in the meditation frame of mind by lighting candles, incense, and sitting on soft pillows and blankets. I ended up downloading an app that uses guided imagery to assist me. For ten minutes every day, I sit in my nest of pillows and blankets and let the app guide me through breathing exercises and imagery to relax and breathe.
REDUCES ANXIETY & REGULATES EMOTIONS
As I sit in my nest of pillows and soft lighting and breathe deeply for maybe the first time in the day, I begin to relax. Using meditation techniques I learned online, I have trained my mind to quiet itself and focus on the present moment rather than snap to worst-case scenarios.
When a stressful situation arises, the stress hormone in your body cortisol starts to release. Meditation reduces cortisol and quiets an overactive brain. In addition to lowering cortisol, meditation also decreases activity in the amygdala or emotional center of your mind. It activates the prefrontal cortex, which tells you if the alarm is justified. Knowing the medical reasons that meditation was helping me just made me want to do it more.
REGULATES EMOTIONS
Ten months into mediation practice, my migraines are still hanging around. They didn’t disappear. The biggest thing that has changed is my mediation space is now one of my favorite places to go when I have a migraine. Even in pain, I can find solace in the practice of breathing and checking in with my body. By no means does this mean I leave my cozy nest in ten minutes with no pain. It means I have used meditation as a tool to assist in pain relief and tune in to my body. Another tool in my toolbox is a good thing! Read Top Ten Oldest Languages in the World.
IS MEDITATION WORTH IT?
Just like anything health practice, meditation only works if you do it. When you think about the proven meditation’s physical benefits, there are many, including lower blood pressure, strong immunity, reduced stress, and reduced pain levels. If those reasons weren’t enough to mediate, there are also proven psychological benefits to meditation, including reduced anxiety, improved sleep, increased self-awareness, and better memory. I will continue for my health and mental health. What is Spirituality
Written by
Jen Hribar
Scottsdale, Arizona – Writer, CEO of Leadership Requested, Coach (Leadership/Goals/Wellness) & SOLVASA Connector
