Be honest – when you think “meditation,” what exactly comes to mind? Meditation can seem like this big, scary thing, but it’s actually much easier than you think. In fact, it’s just as simple as taking a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
Like, get rid of every one of those thoughts. Get rid of every one of those beliefs, remove it from your mind and just take a moment to breathe. Seriously. Let’s breathe in: take a nice deep breath into your belly and then slowly let it out. We get to breathe.
Breathing in and of itself is a meditation. Meditation is about bringing your awareness to a focus. It’s about bringing you to present in this moment here now.
If you have the ability to, close your eyes and focus on the air that goes in through your nose. Take a nice long, slow inhale up into your nasal cavities. Feel it as it fills your lungs and expands your chest. And then you release and pay attention to how your body just slowly comes back to center. This in and of itself is meditation.
Do it again, take a deep breath in and focus on how it goes in, how it feels, how it cools your nasal passages, and then exhale your mouth and feel the change in your body Because your mind is focused on this in and out of breathing, you are present.
You just meditated.
It’s as simple as that. You can do this in the car when you’re waiting to pick up the kids from school, you can do it while you’re chopping vegetables for dinner, or maybe you’re in the woodshop and you’re sanding that wonderful piece before you stain it. Perhaps you’re at your desk at work and you’re frustrated and you just need a minute.
Take a deep breath in.
Life is complicated enough. We add complication because we think that that means that we’re achieving more because there’s that added stress. And that added frustration. When we stop to be in the moment, everything shifts, everything changes. In that moment that you say, “no, I’m going to breathe in for a minute.” You have created an intention. “I am doing this for me.”
So you breathe in and then you exhale.
That intention in and of itself gives you self-care. It all feeds into the next thing. They’re all building blocks to create a happier, healthier, more aware life. It’s a gift to yourself. That’s what meditation is. It’s a gift to yourself. It’s an intentional moment.
Now we all have monkey mind. It’s common. We are going, we are doing, we have a million different projects. You know, if you have your spouse or your life partner, your kids, your parents, your whatever, you have your job going on in life. There are a million different things that need your time and attention. This is the way we live. We fill our need to be important by adding more stuff on top: “I need to do this. I need to do that.”
And most of that is all a gift to other people. Most of that is “I’m doing this for, for, for,” we rarely take moments for ourselves. And so that monkey mind is constantly going. “What else do I need for who? What else do I need to do for this person? What else do I need to do that person? And what else do I need to do for work? What else do I need to do…” It’s this constant. “I need to go and do I need to work? I need to focus. I need to achieve.” How often do we stop and say, “what do I need for me? How can I fill my cup?”
We are so focused on giving to other people and filling other people that we often forget ourselves. And then we end up failing. Our health goes downhill. We aren’t able to sleep. We struggle physically. If we stop and say, “no, I’m just going to breathe for a minute,” that changes. And the way that we call them, that monkey mind, that thinks “I’ve got to go. I’ve got to do. I’ve got to be,” is to say, “no, I’m going to take another deep breath.”
It’s that easy. It’s that simple.
Not everybody can sit down and do meditation. Not everybody has the ability to stay still in order to just breathe in and breathe out. There are times I, myself, need to move. So I’ll go for a walk and while I’m going for a walk, I’ll enjoy the beauty that’s around me. And I’ll take a deep breath in and then I’ll let it out.
It’s a moment outside of my daily grind. It’s a moment to just be and enjoy it is in and of itself. A meditation on life. Sometimes I want to color in a coloring book and while I’m coloring and enjoying the different hues that appear on the page, I just meditate into it. I let my mind go free. I don’t have to ruminate on everything because I get to focus on a color. And my monkey mind calms down because what I’m focusing on aligns. My monkey mind calms down because I’m focusing on how the air feels cooling my nasal passages and how my rib cage starts to deflate as I exhale.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have other thoughts. I acknowledge those thoughts. “Yeah. Yeah. I’ll come back to you later.” I let it go. And I come back to just breathing in.
I said before, it doesn’t have to be 20 minutes. It doesn’t have to be 10 minutes. It doesn’t have to be five minutes. Take 10 deep breaths. Take a moment to breathe in and out 10 times, here’s a fun one for you when you’re breathing out.
Think the words “I Am.” And when you’re breathing in, think of a positive word. So breathing out, “I am,” breathing in, “joyful.” Breathing out, “I am,” breathing in, “compassionate.”
These little words are manifestations. They are things that you can think and, and bring into yourself.
I am beautiful. I am kind. I am patient. They’re all true.
It also gives your monkey mind something else to think about. It gives your mind something to focus on and relax so that you don’t have that continual “let me think of something else. I need to go and do.” The more you try it, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Take another breath in.
You’re here. In this moment. Play around with what works for you.
Meditation can be really easy. I’m excited to play in the space with you. I’m excited to bring you new ways to meditate, new thoughts, new understandings. I’m excited to help you come more to a centered way of being. I’m excited to help you be more authentic in yourself, through meditation and through other topics that we end up covering. I look forward to exploring this space together. I’m Krystal Jakosky on Instagram, and I encourage you to go there. Tell me what you think. Is there a topic you’d like me to cover? Is there a question you’d like an opinion on? This is a great community. I’m excited for you to find your own permission to be you, always, and I’m excited to have you come back to be here with me on Breathe In, Breathe Out.
I hope this moment of self-care and healing brought you some hope and peace. I’m @krystaljakosky on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and I hope you check us out and follow along for more content coming soon. I look forward to being with you again here on Breathe In, Breathe Out. Until next time, take care.
