Oprah & Deepak‘s lastest 21-Day Meditation Experience, Making Every Moment Matter, kicked off this week with something I woke up thinking the first day it started. Stop waiting to do xyz until the perfect time, because the best time of my life to do xyz is NOW. Proof yet again that everything happens for a reason and how time heals all.
Read on to see how this meditation experience strengthened my resolve to stop waiting and act, then follow along as I post daily Instagram posts here, or come back here for Week 2 and Week 3’s recap!
Running Out of Time?
If you’ve been procrastinating on something or been thinking that there aren’t enough hours in the day, this meditation experience is for you. Because it’s time to start paying attention and prioritize those items that align with your life’s purpose, vs. those that are just helping you pass the time. This awareness makes time your friend and you begin to move toward the life you want.
The power to be timeless lies within, not in the seconds, hours, minutes, days, months, or years that tick by. All we have to do is look at how a 30 yr old can look 50 and a 50 yr old can look 30. It all has to do with our beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyle, more than it does on our chronological age. And while our body has several internal clocks letting it know when it’s time to breathe, eat, sleep, etc. it has nothing to do with our interpretation of time because it all happens without any prompting from us.
That is how the flow of life operates as well. We just have to allow stillness in, tune out our daily challenges, and allow awareness to connect us to that flow, which will always find a way for us to meet the tasks, experiences, etc. that are meant for us. This is exactly what day 2 of Oprah & Deepak’s meditation is all about.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I lose that connection and tend to think I know better and try to make things that aren’t meant for me, happen. Those are the times when I fall flat on my face, stop to reflect as I pick myself up, and realize that I need to sit in stillness to find my way back, and I always do. I just have to work on finding that stillness more often than not, and allowing life to flow naturally.
Time is a funny thing. When we’re doing something we love or spending time in the company of those we love, time flies. When we’re bored, time drags. When we do something that isn’t important to us, we feel like we wasted our time. Time itself isn’t what changed from scenario to scenario. What changed was our perception of what we did with it. Perception is key.
So instead of bowing to the stress and pressure of checking off all our boxes, racing from one thing to the other, why not actually take some time to re-prioritize our day and choose the items that we want to spend time on? Weed out those things that aren’t as important, for things that you’re truly passionate about. Whether that’s time with family, friends, or working on a project, goal, etc. Doing so allows you to stay present and live in the moment, vs. worrying or thinking about moving on to the next. It also allows you to feel accomplished and complete in every moment, vs. only feeling accomplished when you’ve checked off all your boxes or feeling defeated when you don’t. This is what brings us back in balance and harmony.
When we truly live in the moment, we don’t allow highs or lows to derail us. If we get delayed, or our perfectly planned day gets thrown off, we know it’s time to let go, roll with it, and enjoy the break. Everything will work out as it is supposed to as long as we trust the natural rhythm of life and don’t try to control it every step of the way. This is what today’s meditation is all about. So instead of going through the motions of the day, why not focus on those that will make memories instead?
Healing Power of Time
It’s true, while the stress of our everyday lives can wreak havoc on our health, relationships, work, etc., sleep has the power to heal. So does play and any other quiet time we can gift ourselves. That’s why in today’s meditation, Deepak suggests a few things to help. Whether it’s just taking a few deep breathes between tasks at work, meditating, heading outside for a walk, or laughing with family and friends, it all allows us to reset. When we rob ourselves of these moments or we don’t get enough of them, we rob our body from clearing out all the day’s stresses, both mental and physical. Over time, that can show up in our health from fatigue, to weight gain, mental imbalances, and chronic diseases related to inflammation, caused by stress. I know I definitely have. So if you’ve started to feel any of these things in your life, it may be a good time to start adding these restorative moments into your life. I know sleep is my number one focus now. What’s yours?
It’s true, when we find ourselves living in the past or in the future, or when we allow our emotions (anger, anxiety, grudges, worry, self blame, etc.) to pull us out of the here and now, we miss out on life. We miss out on beauty around us, that smile, that look, or that feeling of love, appreciation and gratitude. And what kind of life is that?
So in today’s meditation, Deepak Chopra says that anytime we find ourselves drifting from the present, that we bring back our awareness by taking a few deep breathes, and listening to our breathe and heart beat, tuning out outside distractions. Doing this, along with meditation is what will help us acknowledge that all we have is the here and now, and all we need is inside ourselves. ?
Day’s 7 meditation reminds us that living in the moment is what allows us to embrace love, inspiration, creativity, joy, etc. Spending our time worrying about what might go wrong, does not. Deepak adds that worry dwells on the fantasy of change, vs creating actual change.
According to Oprah, living in the present allows us to bring awareness to the fact that we are not our thoughts, rather we’re the observer of our thoughts. Once we’re able to turn down the volume on those thoughts, Deepak says we’re able to drop anxiety, self judgement, etc. stripping away old conditioning and making way for transformation, which is what it’s all about. So if we really want to change and break out of old habits, we have to allow ourselves quiet moment through out the day to bring us back to the here and now. It’s definitely something that requires constant awareness, but it’s definitely worth it.
How will you be using time to work for you, instead of against you?
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Your message helped me stop today, breath and think. Thank you for the encouraing words and uplifting story.
My pleasure, lord knows I need reminders all the time, but pausing to take a breath always brings me back. Cheers to more moments of quiet and clarity in our future ?