The last couple of months in my life have been challenging to say the least and meditation was one of my daily rituals that I followed religiously. As everything in my life started to work itself out, I was happier, full of energy and extremely optimistic about the future. This is obviously great news, but as I started to focus on all of the new things coming into my life a few of my daily rituals seemed to slip into the background and they weren’t so “daily” anymore.

Meditation was one of the rituals that faded into the background of my life and after 1.5 weeks of not meditating regularly, I realize how much I miss it!

And I’ve also realized just how much value it adds to my life….

* When I meditate on a daily basis my sleep quality improves drastically! I have a busy mind and without meditation, it takes me a very (very, very!) long time to settle down and fall asleep.

* My focus over the last 1.5 weeks has been sub-par and this definitely isn’t the case when I meditate! Again, this might be my busy mind coming into play again, but when I meditate my days flow effortlessly and I just know what needs to get done and I do it. Without meditation, my days are more difficult to map out and the tasks needing to be done are more difficult to identify and accomplish.

* My overall energy levels have been lower than when I meditated on a daily basis and I now know for a fact that meditation boosts my overall energy! I can’t wait to get my energy levels off the charts again!

And there are more meditating benefits that I was benefiting from that I never even realized until they were gone. Definitely an eye opener for me and I plan on getting back into the meditating routine asap!

The question now is how do I get back into a meditation practice when it easily slipped through my fingers?

I plan on scheduling meditation into my daily routine because when I actually plan for something to happen, it does!

I also plan on meditating for 10 minutes rather than 15-20 minutes to ease myself back into my meditation routine. I’m also considering listening to some guided meditations to get me back on track!

Basically, I plan on going back to the basics of beginner meditation to ensure that daily meditation becomes (and stays!) part of my life again!

There are many benefits to incorporating a daily meditation practice into your life and the good news is that it’s easier than you may think!

Now I meditate on a regular basis (at least once a day!) and I understand why a regular meditation practice is beneficial. There are numerous benefits that come with a regular meditation practice and it seems as though the meditation benefits are almost endless!

If you’re interested in losing weight, meditation can help!

Maybe you want to overcome a fear or phobia or stop that bad habit in its tracks. Again, meditation can help!

There are other health benefits including lowered blood pressure and cholesterol as well as a significant decline in stress levels. If you’re up to date on the health complications that can be caused by stress then you’ll realize just how significant this benefit truly is!

I love meditating because it helps me to truly relax and my sleep patterns have also significantly improved. I’m able to fall asleep easily because I have a relaxed, thought-free mind and I always wake up feeling refreshed when I’ve meditated the night before.

I realize that meditating can be a bit intimidating when you’re just starting out, but rest assured that it gets easier with time and practice! With most things in life, the more you practice the easier it becomes and meditation is no exception.

This is where the importance of establishing a daily meditation routine comes into play. Make this a  priority and set aside time for your meditation practice. At first it might be a struggle to find those extra 10 minutes in your day, but stay committed to yourself (and your health!) and make an effort to give meditation a chance to prove it’s benefits in your life!

If you’re new to meditation, I’ve created a 10 day meditation challenge and I think you’ll find it useful!

I’ve also included links to some free guided meditations that will allow you to test out the different types of meditation out there.

Free Guided Meditation Audio: Relaxation, Daisy Pond Meditation

Free Guided Meditation Audio: Silva Centering Exercise

Enjoy and feel free to share your meditating experience below!

Two of my closest friends and I set out on early Saturday morning and 20 hours later, we reached the peak of Mt. Kinabalu at 4095.2m, completed the “Worlds Highest Via Ferrata” (according to the Guinness World Book of Records) and made our way back down the mountain.

I’m in fairly good shape and I jog and do yoga on a consistent basis but I don’t attribute my success on the mountain solely to the physical activities in my life. I have a daily meditation practice that I adhere to faithfully and there’s no doubt in my mind that my meditation practice contributed to my overall success and enjoyment on the mountain!

Let me explain how meditating improved my mountain climbing experience….

Breathing:

I’m not sure if you’ve experienced high altitude environments before, but to fill you in, the air becomes more and more thin the higher you climb. Altitude sickness is something experienced by people of all fitness levels and there were many climbers along the way that suffered from the lack of oxygen.

Thankfully, my breathing technique has vastly improved since I started meditating. I was able to focus on taking deep, full breaths with slow exhales as I hiked the final kilometers up the mountain. One of my friends had a difficult time controlling her breath and she was constantly taking quick, shallow breaths throughout the final leg of our journey. She did not enjoy herself and unfortunately, wasn’t able to take in the beauty of the trip throughout our journey.

I reminded her to mindful of her breath and to take long, deep inhales and exhales. This helped her to a certain extent but because it didn’t come naturally to her, she still struggled to enjoy her journey.

I’m very grateful that my breath was in check for this hike (thanks to my daily meditation practice!) as it allowed me to live in the moment and enjoy my beautiful surroundings.

Along The Way:

Yes, there were times when I wanted to be whisked up the mountain by a helicopter and the thought of camping out along the way also crossed my mind, but for the majority of my 2-++ hours of hiking I was in a relaxed state of flow. My movements were effortless (for the most part!) and I was living in the moment. Thoughts would come and go but I really ceased the moment for what it was and lived in the present.

Looking back on my experience now, I believe my hike up the mountain was Active Walking Meditation at it’s best. I slowly hiked up the mountain at a steady pace and my mind was completely at ease and in the present moment.

Again, this definitely contributed to the overall success and enjoyment of my climbing trip and I ‘m thankful that my meditation practice came into play when it was most unexpected.

The Summit:

We reached the summit at 6:00 am in the morning, just in time for the sunrise, and it was an absolutely breathtaking experience. Again, when I reached the top I was in a relaxed state of mind and I was able to truly connect with the oneness of my surroundings.

I remember taking deep breaths as I soaked in the beauty of my surroundings and this was not the case for everyone. Most people were exhausted, frustrated and freezing cold and unfortunately they weren’t able to live in the present like me.

All in all, it was an amazing experience and I personally owe my enjoyment and my positive state of mind throughout the excursion to meditation. This is just another example of the many meditation benefits waiting for you to discover and I look forward to the day when you discover these treasures!

I am challenging you to incorporate a blissful meditation practice into your daily routine for 10 days! And guess what? I’ll even let you have the weekends off!

This is a beginner meditation challenge and it’s purpose is to help you introduce meditation into your everyday routine. Why do I care so much about you and your meditation practice? Because the meditation benefits I’ve experienced are amazing and my life continues to grow in every way as I dive deeper into meditation!

And really, what’s 10 days when you think of how many days are in your entire life? Not much in some regards, but 10 days can be hugely significant if they add positivity and hope to the rest of your life! Of course this is assuming you recognize how powerful and beneficial meditation really is and make it a part of your daily routine….:)

Ok, so here it is, my 10 Day Meditation Challenge. I hope you decide to take me up on this challenge and that you have some fun along the way

10 Day Meditation Challenge:

1. Start off by setting a declaration of what you choose to achieve. This involves creating a contract with yourself detailing what you’re committing to.

“I, Leanne Kallal, will meditate every morning and night over the next 2 business weeks for 15 minutes a session.”

Maybe you choose to meditate 1x/day for 10 minutes or maybe you’ll start off with 5 minutes/session and work your way up. Whatever the case, be sure to include as many details as possible in your contract as this will help you to succeed!

2. Decide if you’ll meditate in the am or pm. Maybe this will change depending on your plans for the day, but be sure to set your meditating intention for a specific day 24 hours in advance. The more you plan for it, the more likely it is to occur!

3. Keep a meditation journal and briefly jot down the details of each meditation session. Was your mind busy, clear, peaceful? Did you feel sleepy or energized after your session? Are your overall energy levels increasing compared to what they were when you started the challenge?

4. Share this challenge with someone in your life and tell them that you’re doing it. Maybe they want to do it with you, but be sure to have an “accountability buddy” who’s sole purpose is to keep you on target with your goal. Don’t be afraid to reach out to this person if you’re needing that extra kick-in-the butt to stay on track with your goals. Sometimes a little outside-motivation is a good thing

5. Celebrate your achievement and give yourself a pat on the back after each meditation session. You’ll slowly start to realize that making time for yourself is in an important (and very healthy!) aspect in life and this practice will flow into other areas of your life as well.

6. Don’t stop at 10 days! If you’re loving the benefits that meditation has to offer and you already notice positive changes in your life, imagine what a daily habit of meditation can do for you? And if you haven’t found the type of meditation that’s best for you, don’t give up! Keep trying new meditation cd’s and guides or try meditating in a different room or at different times of the day.

Meditation benefits are amazing so keep up the good work, develop a daily meditation routine and you’re bound to notice the payoffs soon!

I think we’ve all experienced something like this or at least something very similar.

Just the other day I had two amazing ideas come to mind, completely out of the blue! The next day I thought to myself, wow, those are really great ideas. What was I doing when I thought of them and is it possible for me to replicate this scenario?

After a few minutes of retracing my thoughts and actions from the previous day, I figured out how these amazing ideas just showed up at my door.

The first idea came to me as soon as I woke up from a restful sleep. My alarm went off, I woke from my sleep and this idea suddenly appeared. Then I remembered that the night before I had an amazing meditating session and I went to bed with a clean slate, submersed totally in the present only to awake with a lucrative idea!

Thomas Edison has been quoted as saying, “Ideas come from space. It’s hard to believe but it’s true. Ideas come from out of space.”

Edison (one of the most famous inventors of all time) was fond of taking naps and when he’d awake, a flood of ideas, thoughts and innovations would flow to him.

My second idea came to me during a deep meditation. My mind was clear and I was focused on my breathing when all of a sudden another amazing business idea presented itself.

Coincidence? I think not…

You see, without meditation or dream-like states our minds continue to be cluttered and choke full excess (and often irrelevant) thoughts and information. How are you expected to come up with that million dollar idea when you’re already thinking ahead to what time you have to pick the kids up at, what should we have for dinner, is that black dress that I want to wear to the party clean, and what about my meeting tomorrow that I need to prep for?

Meditation helps to bring your thoughts back down to earth, to the present moment in time. It helps to clear the clutter and in the long run it actually helps to reduce the clutter and learn how to control it. In a way, meditating makes space for those ideas to come to you. You’re also more connected with your subconscious and higher self when you meditate and you’d be amazed at how smart those parts of you actually are!

So next time you’re trying to come up with that break through idea or you’re stuck in a slump and not sure what your next move should be, take 5-10 minutes to yourself and unwind. Focus on your breathing and clear the clutter from your mind to make way for those new ideas! You’ll truly experience amazing meditation benefits

There are also those days when I slip an extra session in here and there when I need to re-align my focus and efforts.

Today was one of those days….

I started my day with coffee and breakfast at Starbucks with a great friend and I was super motivated and ready to conquer the world (and my day!). Turns out that this excess energy was actually hindering my performance. Yes, an abundance of ideas were flowing to me, but I was having difficulties harnessing my energy.

What did I do to turn my day around?

I resorted to my good ‘ol trustee friend “Meditation”.

I gave myself 15 minutes to relax and become fully present and now my day is back on track and headed for success.

There are many benefits to be reaped when you meditate and becoming more focused is one of them. Meditating helps to focus your energy by calming your mind and bringing your thoughts to the present moment. Rather than being bombarded with an influx of thoughts, ideas and whatever else life throws your way, you’ll be able to separate the trash from the treasures and focus your energy in the right direction.

Now there are many other benefits to meditating such as improved sleep quality, increased intuition and an increase in overall energy levels. Hmmm Maybe that’s why my energy is off the charts today?

Regardless of what benefit you’re seeking, don’t rule meditation out until you’ve tried it (on a fairly consistent basis) for yourself! You can experience the meditation benefits too!

Know what I’m talking about here?

Chances are good that your soothing activity is actually serving as meditation for you.  Meditation is not restricted to sitting still in complete silence while you strive to clear your mind of all thoughts!

Surprising to hear isn’t it?

There are two general types of meditation, active and passive, but most people link general thoughts of meditating to the passive meditation category. Granted it is more common,  but is it really as much fun as active meditating?

Active meditating involves numerous activities such as walking (most commonly practiced in the Buddhist meditation practice) or dancing (commonly known as Sufi Whirling). Osho, a well known meditation and spiritual guru, is a fan of active meditating and has created many types of of meditations that fall under this category.

Don’t think that your active meditations are limited to only dancing or walking though!

Remember those activities that popped into your mind at the beginning of this article? Bring those back into the picture right now because they may very well be your meditative activity.

One of my meditative activities is finely chopping food. Now this might sound bizarre, but I get a lot of satisfaction out of calmly chopping vegetables and fruits. I find that I’m completely in the moment and by the time I finish this task  I’m relaxed and my tension from the day has disappeared. My roommate loves to cook. For her, the entire act of cooking is meditative and she often cooks late at night to unwind before she sleeps.

Maybe weight lifting, folding laundry or practicing yoga are meditative activities for you. Whatever it is, make sure to incorporate your satisfying, meditative activity into your daily routine. You’ll become much more relaxed and you’ll naturally incorporate a meditation practice into your day!

Take for example, light meditation. Now is light meditation a particular type of meditation? My answer to that question is yes and no. This might not make sense at first but hear me out on this one!

Yes, many people incorporate “light” into their meditation practice but that doesn’t mean that you can only connect to the light if you choose to only study and practice light meditation.

For example, Healing Meditation is a specific type of meditation wherein your focus is typically on healing a long-term ailment. This specific type of meditation guides you to connect with the healing light and allow it to heal you from the inside out.

I have also practiced other types of meditation where you simply connect to the “light” to feel the power, the energy and positivity it brings to your life. Now you might be thinking, “What kind of light is she talking about?” and justifiably so, because up until recently I had never meditated using the power of the light.

Think of the “Light” that you connect to or allow in during meditations as simply Universal energy entering your body for to improve your overall well-being. Some days I visualize myself inhaling pure, white light that is full of energy and optimism (usually when I’m tired and need a pick-me-up!) and other times I connect to the light from above and allow the greater source of energy to fill my body from top to bottom.

Meditating with the light is really about what you’re looking to bring into your life and your meditation practice! this is exciting news because you get to choose what kind of light you want to let into your body and you decide what it will do for you.

Are you connecting to the light from above, are you inhaling this light on each breath that you take or is it both?

Will the light fill you with energy, enthusiasm, peace, strength, joy? Again, you get to determine what this light is meant to do for you!

And what color is this light? Is it pure white, soft lavender, bright blue, red or yellow? Choose a color that has significant meaning to you and this will help you to connect to this source of energy on a deeper level.

Next time you meditate use your positive visualization techniques and try bringing in the light and notice what you feel. You can connect with the light the entire time or simply start your meditation practice by simply breathing it in. The choice is yours and I know you’ll enjoy it

Meditation is still a misunderstood practice by many and maybe you’re already thinking, “there’s no way my husband or children would be open to meditating with me!”

While I completely understand that meditation isn’t viewed as an “amazing experience” by everyone, I also believe it’s important to do what we can to introduce more people to this practice and all the amazing benefits it has to offer!

Here are a few tips on how you can make meditation a common (and highly regarded!) experience in your household:

1. If you’ve been meditating for awhile and you’ve already experienced some amazing benefits, share these experiences with your loved one! Let them know that  meditation has great benefits for everyone and that it’s easy to do if you simply give it a chance. Simply sharing the great benefits that meditating has had on your life will be a good shove in the right direction for your loved ones to try it too.

2. Incorporate 5 minutes of meditation at your family meal time. Once everyone is seated at the table, set a timer for 5 minutes and sit peacefully in silence for 5 minutes. Let everyone know that this is a time to clear their mind of the worries and stresses of the day or to simply be thankful and grateful for all the amazing things that took place throughout the day. This can be a great topic of conversation throughout the meal as each family member can share their experience or outwardly express their appreciation for the wonderful people and things in their life!

3. If you have young children, take advantage of tucking them into bed and incorporate a meditation practice into their bed time routine. Sit with them on their bed and hold hands while you both enter a space of calmness and peace or let give them time to do this alone and let them know you’ll be back in 5-10 minutes to  finish tucking them into bed. Meditation and the act of reflecting on the positive and good things in life are great practices for children to develop at a young age. This will benefit them now and will continue to benefit them throughout their life if they make it a daily habit!

A wonderful meditation course that I recommend for families and individual use is Love or Above. You can learn more about the Love or Above course that was developed by Christie Marie Sheldon here: Love or Above

So why not incorporate meditation into your daily routine at work and create a daily meditation routine?

Now this might sound like an idea that you do not want to further explore, but there are a lot of great benefits to be had by making the conscious choice to meditate on the job.

Speaking from personal experience, I find that I’m much more productive on the days that I meditate at work. I work in an amazing, supportive environment where everyone believes in bettering themselves (yes, we even have a meditation room at work!) and realize this isn’t the case for all.

Don’t be discouraged if this type of work environment doesn’t sound familiar to you because there are ways around the stiff corporate atmosphere which will help you bring more zen into your day!

1. Leave your house 10 or 15 minutes early and meditate in your car before entering the office! This is a great way to start the day off right and rid yourself of the morning stresses in your life such as traffic jams or getting the kids off to school on time. Set the alarm on your phone and simply sit in peace for an allotted period of time. You can even choose to listen to relaxing meditation audios in your car while doing this.

2. It’s customary in most work environments to have coffee breaks throughout the day so why not turn your coffee break into a meditation break? Go into a meeting room, find a bench outside or make a trip to your car but find a quiet place where you can take 10 minutes of solitude for yourself.

Meditating before or at work is a great way to set yourself up for a successful day and it’s also a great way to re-focus your efforts on those days when nothing seems to be going your way!

You can choose to meditate with the goal of achieving a calm, thought-free mind (known as mindfulness meditation) or you can meditate and visualize all the successes you’ll experience throughout your day. Focusing on something positive and visualizing a successful outcome in a meditative state is a great way to actually accomplish what you want. Our subconscious mind cannot separate reality from perceived thoughts and if you focus on a successful, positive outcome your subconscious mind will work towards that goal without you giving another thought to it!

Whether you choose to meditate for the sole purpose of relaxing your mind to wave good-bye to the thousands of thoughts running through your head or to set a positive, successful intention for your day, you’re bound to bring more focus, purpose and success into your life on the job! And did I mention that you’ll be happier because of this new meditation practice too?

Make an effort to meditate at work and I promise you’ll notice your performance and your mood sky rocket to levels you’ve only imagined!

Learn more about holistic healing and meditation