Jamelle Zablow-Moloney, Bare Roots Energy 2020
I know what's on my mind: everything! Every year our advanced society requires more and more from us. There is more input without enough time to process it all. There are longer work hours, fewer children raised by their own parents, and the price of bread and peace increases daily! On top of what is outside, our insides are screaming for clean nutrition and a clear purpose, our families need us, our friends want us, and we 'have to' plan for it all. Before we know it, we're caged by the very thing that motivated us, or trapped by a good conscious and honoring responsibilities. Being human is hard, especially being good at it!
Do you have a daily meditation routine? I know it sounds enticing and yet time consuming- but it doesn't have to be. You can change your life with 20 minutes a day. You can start changing your life with 5 minutes a day! Consistency can be the key to success, and typically is during the first stages of any pursuit we chase. Here are my top 5 integrated meditative practices that may help you too:
1. Work-Out Thoughts 🏃🏽♀️
I have to work out-I go crazy when I don't! If you're not an exerciser, perhaps you're a gardener, walker, shopper, or a daycare provider! Just about any daily situation can lend itself to meditation. For me it's my work out time. When I work out, I either work out with a teacher or I walk, giving me pockets of time between 60 seconds to several minutes to use for my highest good. This time is golden! This is the perfect opportunity to go through my gratitude list or repeat affirmations. By intentionally focusing on these positive thoughts, and unless I am really pre-occupied by an outside stressor, I usually keep this practice going until my workout is done! By the end of the exercise, I've challenged my mind, my body, and given myself over a dozen reasons to keep going for the day! No time taken, but a huge difference in my mood has been made!
Working meditation into your routines is easy to do once you can identify the tiny moments in the day that don't require your full cognitive attention. We are always multitasking in this society anyway- why not make it a productive practice! Times that may give your brain space for reciting small meditation practices could include: doing the dishes, using the loo (yep, I said it), walking to your office, when the kids have gone down for a nap, the subway ride, etc.
2. Shower Cleansing 🛀🏾
What a better place can there be to cleanse the mind but in the shower while you cleanse the body. It's easy to use your natural cleansing processes to the max by integrating affirmations and meditation routines. For me it took about two months to get my shower meditation down to a mindless routine, however, since I have started, and because I am consistent with it, I have seen a massive difference in my moods and my ability to handle stressors. To us this time to its fullest, incorporate a chakra cleanse or affirmation statements about how you want your day to play out. Use the same statements daily to stay consistent at first, and then after about two months of consistent practice, change your statements as needed, as your life changes.
3. Vacuum Up The Crud 🧹
We all need to let that dirt go! Think it, say it, and then throw it on the floor! Vacuum it up with the dog hair, and you've just completed a great meditative release practice! It is a complete misconception that meditation must take place in a seated position with your mind focused on the empty spaces of the universe.
Meditation, like the reset of existence, can have a living definition and be a moving target. When we are in the daily struggle, just trying to stay afloat, sometimes we need to bring the meditation to where we are- our daily lives that keep us busy and involved. Don't let your schedule do you in, and don't let the traditional ideals of meditations keep you from jumping off the cliff into your own private luxury pool! Say your frustration, grab it from the air, throw it on the floor, and vacuum that sucker up!
4. Affirmation Posting 🔖
Since I was twelve, I have lived surrounded by sticky notes and index cards. My dad would have his affirmations posted everywhere. EVERYWHERE. But he was serious about what he was manifesting. He wanted peace in his life, and he wrote it in until it was so. He wrote affirmations on note cards and put them all over the house in places that he knew his eyes would regularly glance.
There were affirmations on the lamp shades, cabinet doors, refrigerator (obviously), on the mirrors, above the toilet paper, next to the coffee pot, next the daily vitamins, you name it, Dad labeled it with an affirmation. Doing this is an effortless way to integrate a routine of meditation into your life, and spread a higher frequency of energy throughout your house. If you find it hard to keep a routine, this trick is a great starting place!
5. Journaling 📝
You have to take time to processroccess your thoughts whether it's on paper or just in your head. Fight for the time, plan for it, start small and no matter what you do, give yourself time to think about your day, reflect on your decisions, process your experiences, review your reactions, and plan your next moves. This in itself is a meditative practice.
If you don't process your day, the energies from the day stay in your energy body. Journaling is a great way to release these energies. When you're all in and your intentions are focused, you can turn your down time from empty commercials to affirmative meditation through journaling, providing you the outlet you could be missing.