Meditation: Any Amount is Helpful
November 20, 2019guest post by Heather Fenwick
How does your meditation practice look and feel? We’re highlighting stories of meditation in everyday life to help de-mystify this life-changing practice and share simple meditation techniques with those just getting started. Share your experience in the comments or by email, info@yogaonesandiego.com
My meditation practice lately is not as regular as you might think – some days on, some days off. I meditate for up to 20 minutes, or as little as 3 minutes. Even just three minutes, (as Amy Caldwell reminds me, “any amount”) is helpful.
I have a meditation altar, which I love. It’s a place that always invites mindfulness when I see it. Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion, sits atop the triple India guide book throne. The Dalai Lama, Chinese medicine accoutrements, and Himalayan salt lamps (to neutralize the ions put out by electronics) complete the scene.
Sometimes I just observe the monkey mind in disbelief (when your thoughts are restless and swirling) and I try to cultivate amusement or acceptance, or some combination of both.
Other times, I drop into a breathing practice that I learned from Sarah Clark:
Breathe in and feel the height of the inhale in the upper palate, lifting to the crown.
Exhale, engage a light root lock, feel the seat heavy on the ground.
Breathing is so simple and so profound.
~ Heather
Even just enjoying a conscious breath can be meditation. Give it a try?