Meditation is a mind-body practice where you focus your attention on the present, your breath and your mind to cultivate wellbeing and reduce stress and anxiety. It’s something I’ve read countless benefits on, but putting it plainly, never made time for. I would do it sporadically, mostly when my mind was racing and I needed a way to tone it down. But the real sauce is in the consistency. Jon and I have been meditating together every morning for thirty days. Here’s why you might want to give it a shot, and the easiest place to start:

THE WHY

1. Find the space between reaction, and response. This has been a goal of mine for longer than I can remember. When I’m stressed, I default to snippy retorts and reacting to what’s happening around me, rather than *pause* responding. A daily practice of meditation has helped me to tap into that space of peace + calm I cultivated earlier in the day, and find that well of presence. When I start the day in meditation, I find I am more mindful throughout the day, and can breathe a little space before I speak, act, and “do”. It’s subtle, but can amass great ripples in your life that spreads to everyone around you.
2. Improved emotional well-being. I’ve done deep dive after deep dive on ways to reduce inflammation, and as a result, have a bevy of go-to smoothie recipes we’ve developed to lower inflammation in brain + body. But did you know meditation can help, too? Researchers link inflammation in the brain to anxiety and depression. Several scientific studies suggest meditation may reduce anxiety and depression by decreasing levels of inflammatory chemicals (cytokines, which are released in response to stress and can negatively affect mood).
3. Longer attention span. Let me go out on a limb and say, I feel like we could all benefit from this one. I know I can! Focused meditation is like weight lifting for your attention span. It helps increase the muscle memory, and allows you to build strength and endurance of your attention. One review I read found that meditation may even reverse patterns in the brain that contribute to mind-wandering, worrying, and poor attention (yes, please!), and another study found that meditating for just 13 minutes daily enhanced attention and memory after 8 weeks.

START HERE

This is one of my favorite morning meditations. I also love this as another layer to manifest certain goals we’re working towards. Anything by Abraham Hicks has been a winner for me (start the day with this 10-minute positive powerhouse) – or this one for financial abundance so thoughtful and soothing!

I’m also doing the SuperHuman two-week trial. There are a TON of meditations on the app, but it is pricey after the trial ends, so I will report back if I think it’s worth it. We’ve been using all of the free YouTube sources so far and they have been terrific. This is something we all have the ability to do. Make a promise to yourself to give it a try – you may be surprised how good it feels when it sticks!

THE HOW

PRO TIPS:

• You don’t have to have any special equipment. You can meditate any time, anywhere, in any position, and still reap the benefits.
• When you put too much pressure on it, you’re selling yourself short. Let it be! Give yourself grace. You can’t do it “wrong”.
• Be comfortable. Go to the bathroom first, have a few sips of water or tea, let your body be calm.
• Do it with a partner (or not). When I first thought of meditation, I thought it was something I had to do alone (and you can!). But when a friend suggested Jon and I try together, it was a game-changer. We each have a built-in accountability partner, and it’s another thing that helps us find common ground. We usually do a morning meditation while we’re still in bed, right after waking up. But my favorite is an evening meditation (again, warm & cozy in bed) that helps you show gratitude for that day, then blow it away to prepare for a new one. I always sleep better when we meditate at night.
• If thoughts come up, ask them to leave. I always focus on the mantra or my breath, or the sound of the speaker’s voice. But when ideas or intrusive dialog comes in, I envision myself putting it in a cloud, and pushing it along in another direction. But again, don’t look too deeply into it, or feel like you’re somehow “bad” at meditating – it takes time to fire and wire those neurons together. You can do this!
• Sometimes I love to put on this with my legs up the wall (to reduce inflammation and drain the lymph). It’s a great way to habit stack the self-care and take a few minutes to recharge when you need it. The 528hz has been proven to reduce anxiety in rats and improve concentration (it’s also so peaceful to listen to).
• Stick with it. Like we said in the intro, like anything else you do in life, the consistency makes it count. And that’s when you’ll see all of the benefits we talked about above. In addition to lower heart rate and blood pressure, increasing creativity, more patience, tolerance, focus, and on and on.

We hope your well is full today, and that you make time for the joyful moments you deserve. Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We appreciate you so much 💙.