“Have you tried meditation?”
Queue the eye roll.
I remember when I first heard this question, it was in relation to me opening up about the stress I was facing, whether it be pertaining to my workload that week or the social anxiety I was experiencing in my attempts to make meaningful connections amongst the other girls in my high school. I couldn’t understand how sitting still in the midst of the chaos would magically solve all of the “big-girl problems” teenage me was facing at the time. I quickly began to dismiss the asinine suggestion that so many seemingly out-of-touch and granola adults would propose. It wasn’t until my early adult years that what felt like a scapegoat dismissal of my troubles was actually the missing puzzle piece I needed to make sense of the emotional rollercoaster I was when it came to truly discovering myself as a person. Meditation was so much more than just sitting still.
The oldest recorded practice of meditation dates back to around 1500 BCE rooted in Hindu traditions of Vendatism, a school of practice that focused on finding the path towards spiritual enlightenment. Other forms of meditation have been found in Taoist China and Buddhist India, with many different religions from Judaism and Islamic Sufism partaking in their own forms of the practice. Being introduced to the Western world in the 1960s and 1970s, meditation slowly began moving away from its religious roots and was encouraged to be practiced by anyone, within a spiritual context or outside of one. During this time, many techniques were associated with the iconic Hippie movement and only started to become more mainstream in the 1990s along with the introduction of yogic practices concerning mind-body health.
Research took off in the mid-20th century, furthering our understanding of how meditation and mindfulness can positively affect our mental health. The development of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in the United Kingdom in treating those experiencing anxiety and depression and utilizes techniques that encourage self-awareness in patients, appreciating small pleasures in life, and how to manage difficult and daunting emotions.
The beauty of meditation is tapping into the powerfulness that is your mind, creating your own safe space for when you can’t seem to escape the “hustle and grind” mindset of our 21st-century landscape. It’s about pressing that reset button, reminding yourself of your purpose, goals and importance in this seemingly vast and fast-paced world. However, one will not fully reap the benefits of meditation just from simply sitting “criss-cross applesauce” in a silent room, eyes closed, with your mind running wild. Putting your thoughts on pause is where the magic happens! In my experience, only with maturity and further education did I learn that practicing meditation is just that; a practice. It can be difficult to turn off our brains in this digital age. With tons of information being received and processed every second of our daily lives, our minds are simply not used to, well, not thinking. However, meditating can be as simple as repeating a personal mantra, creating a gratitude journal, taking a moment away from coursework to go on a walk through a nature trail, or practicing breath work and connecting with your body.
Incorporating what seemed like menial habits in my life had opened my eyes to what those mentors were actually suggesting and what meditation really is; taking a moment to reset, recenter and remember. Overall, I believe that by taking the step to include small acts of mindfulness in our daily lives, we’re taking a step towards creating a more compassionate, self-aware, confident and joyful community.