Are you doing meditation right?
Jul 16, 2024
When you meditate, is your mind still racing with thoughts--maybe even negative thoughts that you can't turn off?
You're not alone! I often hear from clients:
"Jeanell, I think I'm meditating wrong. I can't stop my thoughts!"
My reply? "That's great, you don't need to!"
A common misconception about meditation is that it's supposed to make you feel a certain way--happy, peaceful, grateful, enlightened, whatever. But meditation is actually more like a workout; some days it sucks, and those are the days you're probably getting the most benefit!
If your thoughts are racing but YOU'RE STILL SHOWING UP, that means you're doing it right, not wrong!
Meditation is about training your mind for how you want it to focus in the rest of your life. Just like lifting weights at the gym, you practice for one hour but you feel strong all the other hours of the day. Sometimes you might enjoy working out, sometimes you might hate it, but you don't do it for the workout time alone, you do it for the countless benefits it brings to the rest of your life. Meditation is the practice of building a mind-muscle.
When you get caught up in the idea of meditation needing to make you feel a certain way, you've missed the point of meditation. Yes, sometimes it feels GREAT. And, paradoxically, if you meditate a lot, you'll likely feel better in other parts of your life as well. But not always, and that's okay.
Meditation allows you to see and experience the thoughts and patterns that are the underlying causes of stress, anxiety, and misery. When you experience them, they're often uncomfortable. They don't feel good. You're becoming your own internal witness, like watching the movie playing in the background of your own mind. If you mistake that internal witnessing for a failed meditation, you'll miss out on the benefits.
Remember, it's a PRACTICE because you're practicing, not because you're finished! Just show up exactly as you are and train your mind to be a loving witness to your own experience. In time, your mind will calm down naturally. You won't have to do a thing.
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