Beginnings

Have you got an exercise mat (or maybe quite a stash of equipment) that stares at you from the corner of your room? Maybe it's been pushed into a cupboard, gathering dust.

I don't have time

I don't have the energy

I need to lose some weight first

I'm not supple enough

These are just a few of the "reasons" that I am given by others (and have given myself!) over the years, for not practising. And yet, there's a secret that I really need to share.... If you can just unroll that mat and sit yourself on it, put those trainers on and step outside for a walk, dip your little toe into the water of that river or pool ... the hardest part is over.

I cannot think of one occasion when I regretted landing on my mat, attending a class or heading out for a walk, swim or run. Without fail, I have always felt buoyed and energised from my physical practise - whatever it might be. Reminding myself of this fact has served to help me to keep this discipline in my life. As I write the word "discipline" I feel that it has connotations of things that take effort and are not always enjoyable, or done through choice, and yet the discipline needed to form a new "habit" (perhaps a less loaded word) can lead to so much joy and pleasure that very quickly you find yourself actively seeking to do it.

During lockdown, I decided that I would try to change my meditation practise from a sporadic thing, in classes and sometimes at home (often with the help of recordings or apps) to a daily practise. With two of my three children having to navigate homeschooling, a husband who was wfh, two gorgeous but crazy spaniels who needed lots of walks and an overnight need to get my not very-tech-savvy head around online teaching, this almost seemed like the worst time to add another daily "chore' to the mix. And yet, wasn't that just exactly why it was the best time? I would need the headspace and the chance to remember to breathe, before I reacted to life's challenges, more than ever before.

I started with a goal of just 5 minutes each day. I set my already early alarm to 10 minutes earlier and began each day with an attempt to watch my breath, to check in with myself. Some days were really challenging, and my mind refused to quieten, whilst others I felt an immediate sense of calm and stillness. And what I noticed, as I continued with my daily attempts, was that whether they were what I deemed "successful" or not, I felt better just for trying. Very quickly I found myself setting my alarm earlier so that I could spend longer, explore more ways of practising, bringing in mantras and visualisations that I had previously reserved for scheduled class. And I no longer saw it as something I had to do, but something I wanted to do. Here I am, nearly 3 years later, and I LOVE my daily meditation practice. It's the perfect way to start my day; to enjoy the stillness and the peace of the world before the rest of the day begins. And more often than not, that feeling spills over into the rest of the day, making me a little more patient when faced with life's challenges.

So dust off that that mat and roll it out, put on those trainers, find a quiet place to sit. Whatever it is that you feel you need to bring to your life, there is no better time to start than now.