How I Learned to Disconnect the Mind and Body and How I Conquered Balance. It’s Easier Than You Think!

Surprised to be reading about anxiety?
Well, yes, it is something I experienced and probably many of you have as well.
Luckily, there are ways to tame it, and this is how I do it.

For the past four years I have been juggling different roles and I found myself doing a lot of things last minute like traveling nonstop without even knowing where I was anymore and my stress level has been increasing over time. Life is going pretty fast for all of us these days, isn’t it? We are always in a rush, going from one place to the next and projecting ourselves to the future, without even thinking about the present. We face pressure at work,  and generally in society. Most of the time we don’t have the right instruments to deal with all this stress.

One day I was at my house in Bogotá and I started feeling very anxious. My heart was beating very fast and I didn’t even know the exact reason why I was feeling so stressed out. I was trying to concentrate, but I couldn’t really focus on anything.

That’s when someone recommended that I meditate. Though it sounded a bit too hippy for me, I decided to give it a try. “Ten minutes,” I told myself. “Let me start with that and see what happens.”

As it turned out, those first ten minutes I dedicated to meditating was exactly what my body and mind were starving for. Ten minutes of total silence. My mind was finally resting and my heart was beating at a slower pace. Even though I wasn’t sure whether I was doing it right or not, it somehow felt like things were in their place; it felt right.

Since then, I have been trying to meditate regularly. I have been doing some research and talking to friends and family for their recommendations. I must tell you: getting started is easier than you think. Technology comes in pretty handy for this, there are plenty of apps that can help anyone get on track.

The wonderful thing about meditating is that it can be done anywhere in the world, at any time. All you simply need is yourself and some comfortable clothes. Nothing more, nothing less.

Meditation has given me the tools I needed to be more present and to be able to calm my mind and guide it to better places. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed in these current times and to feel frustrated and anxious. Being able to put things into perspective, removing myself from the daily madness, letting my mind wonder and ultimately realizing how little I am compared to the universe, has been essential to my personal growth. Meditating to me is like standing in front of the open ocean- a beautiful, deep feeling of calmness made to last for a moment.

I encourage you to give it a try too. It could be one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2019, or maybe you can simply experiment with it and see if meditating is for you or not. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time, it takes practice like anything in life.

Start with 3 minutes, then move to 5 and then 7 and so on. Look for an app that works for you and put some relaxing music in the background. Then, follow the flow and let yourself go.

Are you ready to give it a try? If you are, then these are my three golden rules:

• Find a good place for you to meditate. It could be at a park, your home, a beach, your living room or any place that gives you a sense of peace;
• Wear something comfortable, I always go in sweatpants. Feeling comfortable while meditating is essential;
• Find the right position that makes you feel relaxed and at ease.

Remember to try it all a few times, you will see the benefits as you go along. If you like it, keep up with it. It takes repetition to form a habit, and once you realize how good it makes you feel, it will not be a burden to find those 10 minutes for yourself.

I once heard the phrase: “meditate for 20 minutes each day; if you can´t, then meditate for one hour.” This is to say that if you can’t find 20 minutes to dedicate to the wellbeing of the most important thing in your life -your mind- then you should re-think your entire routine and really make some serious time for it.

Let me know how it goes!