You have relationships with people, your beliefs and believe it or not with time, money, your phone and so many other things that consume your energy, why not have a relationship with mediation? Can’t hurt, can it?

Let me tell you why I have been creating short free meditation videos on Substack, sharing my tips and tools for meditating anywhere, anytime.  Put simply I want you to know it can be done no matter how long you have been making excuses or putting it off and I want you to tap into something life-giving and life changing. 

It is quite possible that I began thinking about meditating when I was young and creating my relationships with my Higher Power and Self. Long before I got married or had kids, it floated in my mind to start a meditation practice, but my brain was wired like a squirrel and my energy like a whirling dervish. I dabbled in it here and there but just couldn’t keep still. I fantasized about meditating when our kids were little and instead put my focus on always being there for them. Finally in my early forties, one morning tossing and turning in my bed, kids asleep in their room on the other side of my bedroom wall, I sat up in bed and said, enough already, I start now.  

I thought about meditation for at least ten years before I sat up on my butt that morning and took this relationship seriously. Like any relationship there were the romantic, starry-eyed moments and the lonely, confused bouts of wondering what the hell I am doing getting involved with creating a meditation practice. 

One pivotal time, in the beginning stage of my relationship with meditating, I was traveling in Italy with my mom. I had recently turned forty, the sunshine felt like a kiss on my face, and I was sitting next to my mother with a group of a hundred or more Enneagram workshop attendees in Assisi. We gathered outside on a rooftop, as we were guided by our leader, Richard Rohr, to breathe and only close our eyes if that felt good. Yes, that Richard Rohr. American Franciscan priest, prolific writer and I would say, modern day mystic. We settled in and received Rohr’s guidance to drop in deeper and deeper to our breath and meditation. The next week mom and I visited relatives in Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany and I started my mornings in the dark with small bits of light seeping through the small castle’s windows. Using the meditation I had learned from Rohr.

Not that I am a big world traveler but the year I kicked off my meditation practice I had the opportunity to practice in Jamaica where my husband and I traveled for a wedding. I was the officiant and grateful to have this new practice to ground me. Then there was the time in San Pancho Mexico giving card readings and coaching sessions to yoga retreat attendees. My meditation practice gave me the connection I needed, the discipline I craved and the understanding that holds me with every breath.

Meditation is personal. If you are willing it can be a balm to your spirit, the bulldozer to your self-imposed obstacles, the anchor to keep you from drifting too far away.

In the early days at home, not kissed by Italian sunshine or German ancestors I began with setting a timer. It was quite comical. I would set the kitchen timer for three minutes and get up after thirty seconds to check the clock. Attending classes, reading books, being a participant at meditation retreats gave me knowledge but practicing it on my own gave me true learning and growth. Sharing and teaching it to my clients gave me more understanding but engaging with my own practice provided an even deeper understanding.

Meditation travels with you if you are a world traveler. You don’t need an app, Wi-Fi, a meditation cushion, or singing bowl. You need an open mind, open heart and willing spirit. And even better than being a world traveler, this can be your way to travel. Your personal ticket each day to the home within you. In my practice I visit the Assisi rooftop, Hawaiian beaches, Mexican shade, Californian gardens, Jamaican grass hut, and German mountains of past travels–all backdrops for my practice. I even visit places I have never visited as I take one breath at a time, surrender to the now, come back to my word or breath, mantra or stillness. 

My practice is personal. Part structure and format, part all over the place. I find my center, I reset my nervous system, and I remember what matters most to my soul. If you are “thinking” about beginning your own practice, creating your own relationship with meditation, I invite you to start where you are, without waiting for the conditions to be ideal or the time perfect. 

If you want a little gentle hand holding with some structure and format and definitely a little all over the place, join me on Substack, Mondays and Wednesdays, where at least for now, I am offering free meditation videos.

Begin where you are, come as is and let’s travel together to a place only you can get to, one breath at a time.

Cheers, Jenny