Many of you know I’m a massive advocate for meditation. Research shows its benefits for mental health: reduced likelihood of depression, anxiety, and stress levels, amongst other things. This was certainly my motivation for getting into meditation. I set up my business over 8 years ago now and was concerned about how I would handle the uncertainty, so I wanted to find a way to support my mind and mindset.
Eight years on I have experienced the power of meditation in helping me adopt a growth mindset, be less reactive, think more clearly, and come up with new ideas. Part of my commitment to my practice is to do a couple of meditation retreats every year.
Due to restrictions, my latest retreat was canceled. However, one of the amazing women I met on my last retreat decided she would host a virtual weekend retreat. So, I jumped into attending, and I’m so glad I did. Here’s why…
For me, once I settle down the ‘stuff’ going on in my head (why did I say yes, I just want to chill, I don’t feel like talking to new people, will they like me… insert your own ‘resistance reason’ here…) and get onto a retreat, amazing insights surface. They shift my perspective, which helps me let go of things (grudges, annoyances, unhelpful ways of thinking, the ‘me me me’ mindset) and to feel a sense of calm and a re-booting of my energy. Whether or not you are into meditation, some of these insights may resonate with you, so I thought I’d share…
3 key insights to help shift your thinking right now
We are all connected
One of the retreat leaders, Kamadama, talked about how he’s connecting with a friend in India every day. They’ve been talking about her experience of COVID over there. He reflected in connecting to her about this that it was “creating him here in this moment”. It was forming a sense of inter-connectedness across the world and was shifting his perspective here in Australia. When we take the time to connect wholeheartedly with others, we actually connect with ourselves. I really related to this because I have realised my inner introvert has been happy right now not having to connect. I want to stay in my comfort bubble, but then I know that when I do connect with others it starts to create me as well. New ideas form, I grow by hearing different perspectives, and I feel a greater sense of purpose. Sometimes, we just might have to push ourselves out of our comfort zone to achieve this…
When your life can start to feel like a chore
We were talking about the tension of feeling like we should meditate. Sometimes, habitual practice can feel like a chore. You know those days when there’s no joy to be derived? But what if in these moments you started thinking there was nothing you had to do.
What if you lived your life removing the ‘have to do’? What would change? What risks would you take? So often, I feel like I have to do certain things. I’ve made commitments. I don’t want to let people down. I have to say yes to squeezing in an extra meeting when my diary is packed with coaching sessions or trainings or, last-minute opportunities pop up when I’m really swamped. I should be grateful, but all I’m feeling is obliged to say yes. I wonder how many of you also feel this sense of obligation to say yes. These habitual ways of thinking squeeze the joy out of life. But what if you could choose to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ intuitively, without consequences? I’m not sure about you, but this would be a huge leap for me (hey, I am a magnificent work in process as well!).
I’m planning to take baby steps and will adopt this 5 percent more. Even saying this gives me a sense of greater freedom. What do you think would change for you?
What is confidence?
I also heard the best definition of confidence. Confidence is actually to ‘con-fide’. To ‘con-fide’ in yourself or to ‘con-fide’ in others requires you to be vulnerable, to acknowledge how you are feeling, and to let others be honest also. The only way you can build confidence is to really con-fide in where you are at and to develop a self-feedback loop instead of seeking feedback (and your confidence) externally. I loved this definition so made it the topic of our last community luminous conversation.
