Resilience – Want It? Build It. Here’s a meditation to try.

Whether you’re “into meditation” or not, I think you will enjoy this blog today.

As my dear friend and owner of Third Eye Yoga, Lisa Theis, says “Meditation is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. Though easy to dismiss, taking even 3 minutes out of your day to quiet your mind can be helpful…especially in times of finger pointing, name calling, and other such grandiose assumptions about “Them”. Learn to train your mind see what lies beyond your first thoughts and reactions. Empower yourself (and the rest of the world) by choosing a more enlightened path of being, acting, thinking.”

I agree with her big time! Meditation is simple but powerful.

Well, this Friday, December 11^th, my book, Just Roll With It: 7 Battle Tested Traits for Building a Resilient Life, will be available on Amazon.com.

Mark your calendars to get it in just a couple of days! 🙂

And whether you purchase my book or not, I want to offer you some of the best of what I have to give right now.

In my next few newsletters, you will get meditations and excerpts from my book that I think might empower or inspire you or someone you love.

Today, please try this “Resilient Meditation,” and let me know how it goes! (This meditation is in Chapter 9 of my book.)

Consider setting a timer so you don’t have to worry about when the meditation is complete. I suggest at least 3 minutes, but if you have more time, set it for 10 or 15 minutes or more.

Begin by allowing yourself to come to a place of stillness and comfort, sitting on the floor or on a chair with both feet flat on the floor. If possible, be somewhere quiet and without distractions and give yourself a moment to just settle in.

If sounds, distractions, or sensations arise, do your best to integrate them into the practice.

Then begin to inhale and exhale just through your nose, allowing the inhale to be a little longer than the exhale. If you’d like to count, try counting six on the inhale and four on the exhale. You may feel yourself building a little energy.

Then do your best to recall a time that you bounced back from something, that you rose stronger than you were before. As you’re able to do so, keep the memory simple and focus on one or two aspects of your own inherent strengths and gifts that empowered you to resiliently recover after that tough time. Just pick a word or two, or a simple phrase that calls this sense of resilience into your mind and body.

Then continue with inhaling a little longer than you exhale as you breathe in and breathe out, smooth, calm, deep breath. Meditate on those traits for a few minutes, keeping your breath smooth, deep, and even. You may even want to repeat, “I am resilient.”

PS This meditation has also been recorded on Gaiam. They are launching a meditation ap soon and you can access it there. I’ll keep ya posted on when it’s available!

PPS If you’re interested in practicing meditation with me in person, check out details on my next retreat June 18-24, 2016 in Costa Rica.