meditate

5 Ways to Chill Out in the New Year

Mundane tasks like dishes can be a time to be present.

I need to listen to what I’m about to say more than most. But as 2016 approaches, and we start thinking about New Year’s Resolutions, I’m trying to come up with little changes I can make that serve the purpose of meditation (help me chill out), but don’t require me to sit and be still for more than 30-seconds. Because every New Year I fail at that.

Stop at Yellow Lights

I’ve always lived by the moto: red means stop, green means go, yellow means go faster. I also have a tendency for road rage. Driving calmer and trying to get less frustrated has helped me hate driving a little less. This is actual the idea of one of my clients who used to work with patients post heart-attacks. It was one of her tricks to help them de-stress.

Pick the Longer Line

This idea was from the same client, and I love it. So much of life is a mind game. If you pick the longer line at a store, it doesn’t seem […]

5 Ways to Chill Out in the New YearMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:31:10-04:00

My Never Ending Struggle With Meditation

I’m a terrible meditator. Though I need it (I guess), I resist it. Whenever I settle down into a routine of meditation, which usually lasts four days, I feel like a phony. Which is why I suspect a couple of friends recommended the book 10% Happier by Dan Harris. He describes feeling phony when he started meditating. While the book wasn’t as helpful as I hoped, it was worth reading for one meditation nugget that very possibly provides the only chance I have of success. He suggested making meditative moments a game. Basically, make meditation self-competition. Sold. Basically, this is the game:

Inhale & Exhale
Pay attention and notice the sensation somewhere in your body (nose, stomach, chest, etc.)
Think the word “in” when you inhale and “out” when you exhale.

Now, here is the real challenge.

Keep count. With each breath count, one, two, until you get to ten and then reset.

The first week I tried, I couldn’t complete two breaths without getting distracted. Seriously. I’m apparently that much of a spaz. Thinking of the monotony of meditation like a game really helped me. Because now I could set a goal that wasn’t just to fill a minute. If you’ve ever wanted to stop […]

My Never Ending Struggle With MeditationMaggie Downie2015-07-29T06:28:00-04:00

Meditative Gongs

Last week some of the PE staff went to a meditative gong concert at the Conduit Center in East Hartford. I’d been wanting to try it for months, but all day, I kind of felt like it was going to be lame and that I really didn’t want to meditate for 90-minutes. How was the girl whose record meditation is 45-seconds going to lie there for 5,400-seconds? That’s a lot more seconds.

Then I walked into the building, went up the stairs and immediately felt good. I saw the familiar faces of our staff and was hit with the feeling of warmth and comfort. Granted it was 30-degrees outside and they had the heat cranking, but they had the heat cranking and it warmed the cockles of my heart. They had me at heat.

The room had an option for chairs or lying down with blankets. I went for the floor and colorful […]

Meditative GongsMaggie Downie2017-09-12T19:34:29-04:00