Today was not great for me. My head has been in a bit of a haze for the past few days, and my dive ended terribly. With a small but decently impactful injury (don’t worry Mom and Dad, I’m still healthy), I’m going to have to take a solid week or two out of the water. To make it worse, I just ordered a new pair of fins, so they will be taunting me from the confines of their shiny new box.
By the middle of the afternoon, I seemed as if I just couldn’t shake this downer of a feeling. I tried writing about it, talking it out, but that heaviness was still there, sitting on my chest with a firm stubbornness many of us know all too well.
Instead of letting the negativity eat away at me, I decided to turn this into a positive experience. I’ve practiced mindfulness meditation for the past few years, but never in a particularly serious fashion. Today I decided that I’ll meditate everyday for 5 days and journal about each one. It will be interesting to see where my mind takes me, and just how much impact doing something for as little as 10 minutes a day can have.
With that being said, today I did a meditation called ‘Immunity Boosting Meditation’ that aspires to “boost your immune system and manifest health in your life as you set the intention of releasing fear and anxiety and cultivating health and well being.” The podcast is called Mindfulness in Minutes, and I listen to it just using the Podcast app on my iPhone.
Initially, I was so happy to throw on my headphones and tune out the rest of the world. The last thing I wanted to do was think about everything that happened today. My mind was more than content to switch off and tune out.
Of course, it’s easy to forget to be mindful, and as soon as the meditation started I realized that. Beginning with a focus on the breath, I was able to let go of everything that had happened thus far in the day. At least for this moment, I was here, focusing on the present. It took a few minutes to fully relax and let go of all the tension I was carrying. It’s so easy to carry heaviness in our muscles and our minds without awareness.
The meditation walked me through the use of exhales to release negative energy and emotions I was carrying, and inhales to accept positive energy. To some people this might sound kind of silly, but you’d be surprised just how much of a difference redirecting your thoughts can have on your physical body. Already I was feeling lighter, like I could actually change the physical and mental tension I was carrying just by using my breath.
A mantra, or a repeated saying, was then incorporated into the meditation: My body is healthy and I am nourished and healed with every single breath. For me, I liked having the mantra as something to focus on, not just to keep me present but also trying to absorb everything it was trying to say. Each inhale brought positivity, and each exhale was releasing the negative.
For those tranquil 10 or 15 minutes, I let go of everything that had been weighing me down during the day thus far. I focused just on my mind and my body, what I was feeling physically and emotionally, and then let it go. It was such a great feeling and reminded me why I enjoyed meditating so much in the first place.
Honestly, I was getting distracted by the end. I had been sitting in the dive shop, so the people and noises around me started pulling at my attention. That’s okay though, everything takes practice and time.
After this Immunity Boost mediation, I feel much more relaxed and less stressed. This is one I’ll definitely be saving to listen to another time again. Let’s see what tomorrow’s mediation brings!
Very interesting Sophie.Thinking of you.Take care and keep mediating.GM.🌞💝