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Recently, I discovered just how powerful my meditation practice can be. Over the past 2 years I’ve found benefit in 20 minutes of meditation each day. Sometimes I can only do 5 minutes. Sometimes I get a second time to sit! But no matter what, I start with a few sun salutations and very basic yoga moves.
It’s my “me” time. No one bothers me. No one judges me. I control when it starts and ends. After a few days I found the aches and pains that come with my active lifestyle, work, young kids, and 2 dogs were actually alleviated by a few downward dog and cat/cows repeated each day before meditation.
Not only that, but also my ability to become aware of when I’m angry and to think before I react has become sharper. This was recently really put to the test, and I want to share this story with you:
I bought a brand new yoga mat to encourage myself to keep up the powerful yoga and meditation practice. I paid $75 for an organic, non-slip mat, free of PVC’s and sustainably made (whatever that means!). I really looked forward to it’s arrival in the mail.
Then my bullmastiff got to it, before I could even unwrap it from the packaging.
The moment I saw this, my heart began racing and I was about to scream. Any mindfulness I had cultivated was out the window – I’ll admit it. There’s no way the company would issue a new yoga mat for free. What a waste of money!!
About to scream, I realized my dog would have no idea why I was screaming, since clearly he had moved on to a real chew toy somewhere else in the house.
If the culprit had been a child, I could handle it appropriately with a few choice words and a possible punishment. But who can I vent to when the offender is this sweet, helpless, four-legged companion?
I realized that this was a moment that represented many other parts of my life; frustrating situations that no one can fix for me or give me the satisfaction of justice being served. We all want someone to blame, someone to take our wrath out on, or even someone to punish for the perceived wrongdoing.
And when we can’t get that satisfaction, our own anger and discomfort swells up inside of us. We know now that these mental changes can affect our health too. Which is why I remind myself everyday not to take on the anger.
But how?
First a long round of deep breaths, holding in for 3 counts and letting out slowly. Then, when I felt calmer but still angry, I went to the couch cushions and proceeded to beat them up until I had no energy left. Exhausted from the breathing and out of breath from the beating, I reassessed my mental state.
You don’t have to be anywhere serene like this to take those cleansing, deep breaths!
I laughed out loud. How funny that my dog ate my yoga mat! He does love plastic things, so why not this? And really who could I blame but myself for leaving it out for him to discover?
It’s only a material object, I thought. I would continue to use my old yoga mat and when I was ready, I would buy another one, most likely for less than $75 this time.
The anger released, I could think clearly and not be affected by what others do, canine or not. My favorite saying is “You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.”
Meditation is about getting to the root of how you feel and letting go. Accepting your feelings and not letting them control you. Ahhhhhhhh is how it feels. So good, so helpful, it’s a truly life-changing practice.
At the end of the day, this “little” guy brings so much love into our lives how could I possibly get mad at him?
