At times the pictures you see when you search for meditation make me long for peace and quiet. Please beam me over right now! On other days they make me laugh. The setting seems to be always beautiful, calm and tranquil. The picture perfect meditation setting! But I wonder if that kind of “meditation cliche” is perhaps a reason why some do not even bother to start or procrastinate. After all, when will we ever have such a situation in real life over a longer period of time?
Don`t get me wrong – I would love that setting, too. But if I would wait for the perfect meditation scenario I may just never even meditate. More often than not we do not have days that are representing the ideal setting. And more often then not it is in those moments we need it the most!
For me it it is time to shift the meditation idea away from the “perfect”, yet often illusional idea, to real life. To find time to quiet down despite, during or because we face stress at the job, craziness at home, on-going action with kids, construction works around you, noisy streets, illness, you name it…
A couple of weeks ago I started again to meditate around 10minutes a day, no matter what is happening around me. Simply to quiet myself and my mind. It can be in the midst of the day while the neighbouring construction work is giving its best. Or when the kids are playing in the living room and I just decide to lie quietly in the midst of it all. Or when indeed all is quiet at night and I can embrace the silence. I do it when I feel for it, or when I seem to need it! Screw the surrounding, the best timing, the best setting.
And funny enough, mindful meditation right down in the craziness gives me so much more. It was great to see that it took some pressure away and to not procrastinate in the search of the perfect, quiet moment. And to not get annoyed anymore at the end of the day of never having found it.
Meditation is difficult as it is even in the perfect setting.
Stop waiting for it to be perfect, instead just start!
Hopefully, you find it as rewarding and relieving as I do! Go for it, find calmness in the midst of chaos!
Have a lovely day
AK