I always thought of meditation as a bit cheesy. Whenever teachers told us to meditate, it would be right before a big exam, and it never helped calm my nerves. I tried yoga, breathing exercises, and other types of meditation, but after a few minutes, I would get bored and not try it again until a few months later. Recently, I spent two weeks meditating every day for only five minutes whenever I had the chance. Here is what I realized:
At first, the five minutes felt like forever, and my mind would wander every time. After two minutes, I’d open my eyes thinking that the five minute-window was about to be over. In addition, I felt a bit strange closing my eyes, especially when meditating somewhere on campus. I felt very vulnerable. The reason I started meditation was due to feeling overwhelmed by all my coursework and the general stress of my day-to-day life. I was unsure if meditation was going to help, but I thought I would give it a try, and I am glad I did.
The more I meditated, the shorter the five minutes felt. After the first week, I found myself wanting to meditate for longer, and I felt so much more comfortable closing my eyes. It created a part of my day just for myself, where I did not have to think about anything or anyone. I found that meditation was a part of my day that I started to look forward to. I was excited to be able to get out of a stressful class or the busy campus to be able to sit in a quiet room and just let my mind go blank.
I did a range of meditations, but one of the most helpful was a meditation for anger. I had one of those days where everything was bothering me, and I was just so angry. I realized that I could take a few minutes to do my meditation right then when I needed it. I sat down and followed a guided meditation that talked me through my anger, where in my body I might be holding it, and how to release it. I found that I was holding my anger in my jaw by tightening it. When I was able to lie down and let all of this tightness leave my body, I almost immediately felt better. I then went on with my day without that anger clouding my head, and I started brushing things off much easier. This was shocking to me since I never thought that just five minutes of meditation could turn my whole day around.
After two weeks, I felt less stressed and overwhelmed. I realized that when I had a lot of work to do, I could take a five-minute mental break to reset my whole day. I became much more in tune with my body and breathing and meditating helped me to realize that when I am overwhelmed or anxious, I breathe faster and can’t keep my body still. In these moments, it is much easier to continue my day after meditating for just those few minutes. Typically, I would try to fight through the stress, but I found that I was much more productive after letting my brain rest for those few minutes. Overall, meditation helped to lower my stress levels and allowed me to be more in control of my emotions and body.
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