“Ah ha!” Woah. There are so many wild connections with this recent meditation, I don’t think I’ve completely come to grips with all of it.
So, the other day, after one of my sweaty indoor circuit workouts I was walking around the track and saw a guy sleeping on a mat, in the middle of a mat right next to the track. As in, anyone who walked by or who was working out and breaking a sweat exercising would have seen this guy on the mat. Asleep. How’s that for motivation? Here you are kicking your butt and Joe over there is asleep! That’s what I wanted to be doing, I was exhausted. I was a bit jealous, the way he could so boldly snore while people all around him are pushing themselves to work just a bit harder, to be the exact opposite of lazy.
And then it struck me, this was the perfect time to get in a mediation! My body was exhausted, my mind was quiet, isn’t this what all the gurus say to do? That exercise of the body can quiet the mind and create a stillness perfect for mediation? So, I pulled up some track, just across from our sleeping Joe, plugged in my noise canceling headphones (I didn’t want to be distracted by conversation), closed my eyes, sat cross-legged, put my hands on my knees and became still. The only thought that crossed my mind was my mantra, “I expand in abundance, success, and love every day, and inspire those around me to do the same”.
Things were still. I didn’t fidget. My mind didn’t wander (as much as it usually does), I wasn’t distracted by the noise of the basketball games below or the pounding of weights from the weight room, or even the conversations around the track. Just me, darkness, and breath.
And it was over.
I felt like I had just woken from a long nap. It was great! A couple of reasons it was so great:
- I had just meditated, something I promised to do daily (check).
- I had meditated on the track, how many people had wandered by and seen this middle-aged woman, legs crossed, hands on knees, just short of “ommmming”? I didn’t care! I just dropped and did it. (breaking free of other people’s judgments and living in my reality and doing what I need to do for myself – check!)
- I had regained and realigned the day to be mine.
So, back to the office I go, more grounded and more fit.
Side note- I’ve been looking for people who have become successful with their blogs. Mainly I’ve been googling, “people who have found success through their blogs”. It’s yielded some results. But not many.
Ready for this? Before I went to the gym I sent out some invitations to folks who I don’t know. I was asking them to participate in a focus group. And there, in my inbox was a response from a woman whose signature read “Because we’re all a work in progress”. Wait, what?! I clicked on the links following the signature and was taken here Lisa Sugarman. She is a writer, a columnist, a blogger, an author…. the list goes on and on! She’s a mom, she writes about life, parenting, figuring it out, being her! She is just the person I was looking for on my google search!
Wait. It gets better.
I write back and tell her I love her blog and am bookmarking it (I did, and have read it daily). She responds and asks if I happened to do November Project.
“Yes, I did, but I stopped because I was injured.”
She said, “I thought your name was familiar.”
I asked if she wanted to grab coffee sometime.
What?!?!?! Is that crazy or what!
Me – Hello, universe! I’d like to meet someone who’s successful at the exact thing I want to do.
Universe – Ok, sure, I’ll make an introduction, oh, and by the way, you guys have met before.
I’m telling you, this meditation stuff is crazy.