Are you too busy to meditate?

Do you not have the right kind of space, routine, body, breathing pattern, mind-set?

One of the problems with meditation is that there is a lot of chatter and received wisdom about it swirling around that people take into their practices as unquestionable truths.

Call it logging into your higher self or reaching into your deeper being – or, for some people, connecting to natural wisdom which feels like common sense – we all have access to intuition.  It is a native, innate part of being human.  It’s just that we don’t all use our intuition or use it as powerfully as we could.

What is the first thing you do when your alarm goes off in the morning, or when the sunshine gently rouses you from slumber?  Before you have completely emerged from the depths of your inner dream world, before your eyes have adjusted to the light and while your vision is still partially assimilating, before your consciousness has transitioned in its own time, from interior to exterior awareness, what do you do?  What is the first energy you capture as you come back once more into your embodiment and life?

In this article, I offer you a repertoire  of accessible, practical practices designed to meet a whole range of specific needs we may have right now. 

Where does a need to compare ourselves  with others come from? What forces might be at play when it becomes a ruling state of awareness?

It is natural for all of us to have voices in our inner space that are unwelcoming, self-critical or harsh and that can put us off going inside. But this is exactly where our practice is. We are gifted the chance to cultivate a good inner space: a sanctuary in which we have a chance to befriend ourselves for life.

How often have you heard a phrase like that spoken in yoga class, or during meditation? How many apps and guided meditations do you think exist which make breathwork the priority practice?

I personally don’t believe the universe tests us, and I find it a problematic idea to entertain. Living life as if something bigger than you is out to prove you wrong or right is, to my mind, a miserable way to live that leaves little room for self-forgiveness, risk-taking, creativity and experimentation, authentic learning, and a healthy free will. What if the universe wasn’t testing you, but loving you?

This article is for the perfectionists and recovering perfectionists out there who want their lives back. It comes from a personal place: I am a recovering perfectionist.