How Meditation Helped Me Become a Better Version of Me

Before sharing my meditation story, let me make a disclaimer: Meditation often has a bad reputation for being associated with certain religions, causing many people to avoid it. However, I want to set the record straight—meditation is non-religious and can be practiced by anyone. It’s not even limited to sitting positions; you don’t have to twist yourself into a pretzel, I promise. In modern society, this practice is also known as mindfulness. A friend of mine calls it ‘Quiet Time,’ which I find quite fitting.

How Meditation Found Me.

Meditation started for me a few years ago when I had an appendectomy, along with a growth removal on my colon. I was in the hospital, in pain, and yes, I refused the heavy pain medication. After negotiating with the doctor, he agreed to only give me antibiotics to kill the infection and paracetamol. I have a real fear of having drugs in my system. Hahaha!

Anyway, I was scrolling through social media to distract my brain from the pain when an ad for a horoscope site popped up. Usually I don’t click on links, but I was curious. I felt compelled to click on it, like some invisible hand was guiding my finger to click that button. So, I visited the site and did a tarot reading, which was very pertinent to my situation at the time.

I then promptly signed up for a daily reading (which I still receive and read every morning!). I started reading all the information they had on the website, including the meditation section. There and then, I decided to download some of the free meditation tracks. Those were just frequencies and sounds, not guided meditations, but I found them very soothing.

Rookie Meditator

That night, I had my first-ever rookie meditation, lying down in a hospital bed. I listened to all the tracks throughout the night, while not fully sleeping but half awake, half dozing. Not sure if I’m explaining it correctly, but I hope you understand what I mean.

The more I listened to the tracks and instinctively focused only on the sounds, the calmer my mind became. And will you believe me if I tell you that because my mind was calmer, the pain felt less? It’s a true story.

Tea and Meditation

I’m not going to bore you with my full recovery story, you probably also had an appendectomy and know how painful it is. But being me, I refused to fill the prescription for antibiotics and pain medication. I opted to recover at home using my holistic methods and meditation. Well, my version of meditation at the time anyway. Just listening to the tracks worked so well in the hospital that first night. Why not use that method to help me recover?

I didn’t only use meditation to feel better. I also blended an amazing anti-inflammatory tea from peppermint leaves, Rooibos tea, organic cinnamon, and organic ginger. You really should blend this tea for yourself. Not only is it very good for infection, but it also serves as an immune booster. This tea helped the infection go away, while the meditation helped me cope with the pain.

The Way I Meditate Now

I see meditation as the action of sitting quietly and doing deep breathing while not thinking of anything. About a year after starting, I stopped meditating lying down. I feel that sitting up is much more effective as it flows better. And I don’t sit in the Buddha position with my legs twisted into a pretzel because I can’t. I have never been able to sit like that. And I am a testament to the fact that you don’t have to twist yourself into a pretzel for meditation to work. No offence to anyone who can do the pretzel thing; I take my hat off to you.

First session of the day

I meditate first thing in the morning when I wake up because my days are so busy that I don’t find time during the day. Meditating before I do anything else helps set the tone for the day. After going to the bathroom, I sit upright on the edge of my bed and have quiet time. I make sure that my feet are flat on the floor. They are either bare or covered with socks, depending on the season. This helps keep me grounded.

I then proceed to breathe in slowly and exhale slowly while keeping my thoughts at a distance. (I go more in-depth on meditation exercises in the Mind Evolution Program.) This practice in the morning takes me 30 minutes. It started out as a 10-minute session, but it flies by so quickly that I can’t make it any shorter than 30 minutes.

Second session of the day

The second meditation session for the day is something I worked out to help me sleep. I do this one at night before I go to bed, but I don’t sit on my bed. Instead, I sit upright in the lounge with my curtain open so I can see the lights outside. Sometimes, I burn a candle, but often I utilise the distant lights. Staring at a candle flame or at the lights outside while counting breaths really helps to put my brain into snooze mode. I believe in this Sleepy Time Meditation so much that I have turned it into a free guide for you to download. You can access it here.

Certified!

About a year before writing this article, I did a meditation course to see if there was anything else I needed to know. I am now a certified meditation coach.

The course was very informative on all the different types of meditation, breathing techniques, sitting positions, hand positions, etc. But I still find that my way of meditating works best for me. I did incorporate some breathing exercises and hand positions. But otherwise, I still do it my way.

How meditation has changed me

Meditation opens parts of your intelligence that you never knew existed. For example, I was always an extremely anxious person and not very emotionally intelligent. I could never handle stress, but I was always a stressball. How’s that for being honest? It’s a whole other story involving a horror show of a childhood, some of which I mention in the Mind Evolution Program.

Meditation has helped me work through that very traumatic childhood and has given me the much-needed insight to find my better self.

My point is that meditation has activated the part of my brain that could never be calm in the past. In turn, this helped me realise that I am more than just the nervous wreck who allowed people to walk all over her. It helped me discover a love for myself that I had never felt before. Before meditation, I was just a people-pleasing, anxious workhorse of a person who merely existed. Now, I am alive!

Ways in which meditation still helps me be the better version of me:

It calms my racing mind. If you have a mind that never stops thinking, you will understand what I mean.
It is detoxing, believe it or not. Hahaha! I know a lot of people will say there are detox patches out there. But no patch will do for your soul and your inner peace, plus keep you regular, like meditation. I promise you.
It helps keep negativity from entering my psyche. No matter what stressful things happen during the day, I always find my way back to a space of peace.
I actually see and appreciate the beauty around me. Before meditation helped me work through my traumas, I never noticed beauty. I have had a small sea view for almost 13 years, and only now am I appreciating the beauty of that view. Most nights I do my Sleepy Time Meditation looking out the window with that view.

Before this article turns into a book, let me conclude with this: Give meditation a try. It might be the one thing you need to help you cope with something challenging in your life. You never know how much it will help you until you try it. Maybe it will help you find a better version of yourself too.

If you want to talk or need advice on meditation, you are welcome to email me at freshmind@chbfresh.com.

Look after yourself!

Christina xxx