Meditation Practice

I started meditating during the early days of my health coaching studies in 2016 with Duke Integrative Health Medicine. The instructor would start each two-hour lecture with a five-minute meditation. She made it seem so natural and easy. It became the best transition from "busy mom" to "health coach student.” I continued with the practice, but made it my own more recently during the COVID pandemic. It is a healthy habit that I will keep and hopefully continue to develop.

I always wanted to meditate, but I often found an excuse. In April 2020, I had all the time in the world, and I longed to experience the benefits of meditation; so I started slow and small. Here is how I developed my meditation habit:

I STARTED SMALL: I made small daily commitments: "For example, "focus on just four breaths" or "meditate for three minutes." Dr. Weil's 4-7-8 breathing technique was my early “to go” routine.

I USED GUIDED MEDITATIONS: I used  Insight Timer. It's free to download, and there are more than 30,000 free meditations; for $60 a year, you can get access to premium content. I also used the Peloton App.

I WAS GENTLE WITH MY SELF: Fleeting thoughts would hijack my mind, but I would gently bring my thoughts back to the moment. I tried not to be hard on myself and my default habit of focusing on my never-ending "to-do" list.

Meditation reduces my stress and anxiety, plus science proves that the regular practice provides several immune-boosting benefits. "When we meditate, we are reversing the biological damage caused by stress and trauma," explains psychiatrist Dr. Gordon, professor at Georgetown. "Concentrative, mindfulness and expressive meditations all balance the sympathetic nervous system's fight-or-flight response and quiet activity in the amygdala, a center of the emotional brain responsible for fear and anger."

Fast forward to today, and I use meditation with all of my clients. I also have a personal practice that I continue to develop. In the Fall, I am so excited to work with Kelly Corbet to deepen my practice and make meditation more effective when working with clients!