If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard someone say something along the lines of, “Meditation is not for me… I don’t enjoy it… It’s so boring…,” well, I’d be a very rich woman. I totally get it. I said these words for decades myself!

I grew up hearing I should meditate. I resisted it. I said the words above, and then some more. As I got older, my stress-relief strategy was focused solely on fun escapes: time at the beach, massages, relaxing getaways. But the stress was still there when the escape ended. Perhaps this sounds familiar?

I started my yoga practice at Breathe Together Yoga during their first year and their first 60-day challenge. During that year, it was 60 days of any combination of yoga and meditation classes. I was in! Except…I had a super-busy schedule at that time; it wasn’t a calm and quiet year. But, I had a few friends who were all in, and so was I! I had both determination and the ever-so-influential #FOMO, fear of missing out, on my side. 

Yoga was an hour plus; meditation was 30 minutes. Meditation wasn’t my preference; there were no arm balances, sweat, or music. But, it was a no-brainer. I was short on time, and meditation would “check the box”. 

As I checked the boxes though, some amazing things started to happen:

• 7 days in: I no longer dragged my feet into meditation. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.
• 15 days in: an awareness formed to habitual patterns I hadn’t noticed before. 
• 30 days in: I noticed my first calm pause amidst chaos and noise. Just a few magic memorable seconds, but it took my breath away.
• 45 days in: I seemed to flow through my day a little lighter, with a little more ease.
• 60 days in: I began to understand the term “moving meditation,” as I noticed changes to my physical asana practice.

After the 60-day challenge, I started making space for more meditation in my schedule. Sometimes it was 20 to 30 minutes; sometimes only five minutes in my parked car, before heading into work or coming back home. It didn’t matter; I was starting my practice.

Recently, while taking BTY’s Summer Meditation Intensive, I’ve been thinking back on that first challenge. Along with new styles of meditation and a new understanding of the science and studies of meditation’s impact on the brain, I had a few moments of déjà vu. The familiar sensations of a new level of self-awareness, magic, memorable moments of calm pause, and finding myself making space for more.