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Nika Figuring It Out

Everyone Can Meditate – Here’s Why

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When I tell people that I am a meditation coach, often I get the response: “Oh I’ve tried meditation, I can’t do it – I just can’t get myself to have an empty mind or to focus”.

I am always perplexed by that statement. Meditation is literally just breathing and noticing that you are breathing. It is that simple. Everyone breaths – how can people not breathe. One thing is if you tell me: “I’ve tried burping the alphabet and I can’t do it” or “I’ve tried rolling my tongue and I can’t do it”. Those are actually difficult things – but meditating is something we all do, you just may not know it.

The problem is many people believe meditation is this state where you can sit for hours, cross legged on the floor, saying OM and not having a thought in the world. That – to be honest – does sound nice and a little bit painful. It’s like running – most of us can walk, some of us run, and others run marathons up a hill. Meditation is the walking part.

The whole premise of meditation is about being present. About being there in the moment with yourself and learning to accept your thoughts and feelings to the point where they don’t distract you from simply breathing. That’s it. And we can all do that.

We all do it, you might not notice. It’s when you are watching a scary movie and to calm yourself you breathe deeply. Or when you are at the dentist trying to breathe and take your mind off what’s going on in your mouth. Its when you are eating a piece of dessert, and you focus on scooping it up in the spoon and enjoying each bite. So much of everyday life is meditating. Don’t make it a new task or new objective – you have enough of those. Be aware of the moments where you take a step back from just functioning and focus on yourself. Tell yourself “huh – I am meditating”. You just might come to realize you are a pro.

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Meditating In Meetings

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Meditation in a studio can be difficult. Sometimes the person next to you is breathing healthy, we hear a door close or are interrupted by someone moving in their cushion. Meditation itself is difficult – it’s a practice, almost like training for a marathon.

on, some days you run with ease, other days you can’t get through 3 miles and the training never stops. It’s a continuous effort for the rest of your life, if you are willing to embark on it. And we all do it for the positive side effects including increased health. You can say while running is for the body, meditation is for the mind.

The goal is of course, to be at peace with your thoughts and feelings and to regard them with no judgement. Its effects should reach outside of that studio with the heavy breathing person. So how does this work? If its hard enough in a studio, how could it possibly work in every day life? I may practice meditation for the rest of my days, but how can I increase its effects in my daily business? Luckily there are some exercises you can introduce into your life, without having to be in the studio –  which is what I will share with you.

meditating while in office meeting

One of my favourite exercises is tracing your fingers. I do this in meetings when people overwhelm me or I notice I am getting agitated: Under the table, with your left had, trace up each one of your fingers. Breath in as you trace up, and breathe out when you get to the palm of your hand. Do that for each finger. Focus on how you breathe as you trace your fingers. This shifts your focus from the content, by moving it inward and diverting your attention from the meeting to your breathing. So many times in life we forget to breathe, and just focusing on breathing in and out is not enough – this action drives your focus and makes you take a step back. It’s ok if you zone out for a bit – the exercise takes no longer than a couple of minutes and has stopped me from letting people know my true emotional state or even better – has stopped me for letting it out on them.

Another one I like to do is under the table. I concentrate on breathing in as I roll my feet to the balls of my feet, and breathe out as a move to the heel of my feet. I usually do one foot at a time. It has helped me deal with my anxiety by focusing on the movement and the breathing a long with it. If you find yourself the type of person that often shifts around or fidgets easily, this is a great way to feel grounded and focuses. Plus its not a large movement so people wont notice and it allows you to still take notes and seem present. No one will know you are taking a moment to step back from the challenging elements of the world.

Life is beautiful, but sometimes it can get hard and then on top of that, we tend to throw meetings and deadlines to make it more challenging. Meditation can help with that. It takes little things and little steps, but the benefit you’ll get cannot be compared to the little training you have to put in.