Meditation has become a huge part of my life. I have been meditating on my own for about three years now, and it has helped reduce my anxiety, focus on the present, slow down the pace of my thoughts and reactions, and truly live a more peaceful life.
Being mindful is all about bringing full awareness to what you’re experiencing in the present moment—what you’re thinking, how your feeling, what you’re smelling, seeing, hearing, etc. I also like to refer to it as checking in with yourself. Mindfulness is practiced through the act of meditation and breathing exercises.
Most days, I feel like I’m on auto pilot, rushing through life. Because of this, I meditate every morning and have multiple “check-ins” with myself throughout the day. I tend to ask myself these questions: How am I feeling? Why am I feeling this way? What am I thinking? How does this thought make me feel? If I’m thinking a negative thought—how can I change this thought to a positive?
Meditation and focusing on living life moment by moment helps keep me grounded in a chaotic city that can easily throw me off my game. When I take the time to meditate, I bring my mind back to living in the present moment instead of living in the future, which tends to make me feel anxious.
Reflection and self-examination are great tools for all of us, and meditation takes practice. Believe it or not, it’s easier said than done to sit on a cushion in a quiet place and empty out your mind. However, once you find comfort by focusing on the moment and letting go, you can soon take your meditation and mindfulness practice off the cushion and apply it to every situation outside your meditation studio or “safe place.”
I recently had the opportunity to take my first meditation class in the city at MNDFL (pronounced ‘mindful’), New York’s premier meditation studio on the Upper East Side.
The first time I took this class, I woke up late, feeling very anxious and rushed to get there. My thoughts centered on my to do list and all of the things I had to accomplish that day. My anxiety took over as I worried about not being able to get everything done in time.
Amazingly, everything changed after I finished the class. I immediately felt a sense of calm, and I was able to realign my attitude and my thoughts and get through the day with ease! For me, MNDFL is a much needed escape in a city like New York.
