Aug 05

I Can’t Meditate

By Mind, Spirit

I Can't Meditate

As humans we are wired for mastery and generally don’t like to fail. For some, when they have tried something new and have limited success they often give up and move on to something else. Meditation frequently falls into this category.

At least every other day someone tells me, “I can’t meditate! I want to and I’ve tried but I‘m just no good at it!” What I have discovered is that there is frequently a misunderstanding of what mediation is, accompanied by a belief that the only way to meditate is to sit in an incredibly uncomfortable cross-legged position, be really quiet and still then clear your mind. Meditation is not about clearing your mind; it is about being in charge of it. It is learning how to control and manage the incessant mindless chatter that goes on all day long.

During a workshop I taught a few years ago I had a room full of people who believed they couldn’t meditate. I had to be creatively instructive to get them to recognize that they could easily meditate if they chose to so I deceived them into meditating by first discussing that as we age we loose the acuity of our hearing especially in the low and high registers. Then I asked if they wanted to try an experiment to help improve their hearing and all readily agreed.

I asked everyone in the room to raise one hand and instructed them to put their hand down only when they could no longer hear the sound I was going to make. I then struck a metal meditation bowl with a wood dowel. As the pleasant ringing sound emanated forth each participant listened with intense focus and one by one after about 1 1/2 minutes all the hands were down. I looked at my non-meditators and asked, “How was that meditation?”. The surprised looks of confusion were priceless. “Yes”, that is a form of meditation. By focusing on the sound they were controlling their mind and their ability to stay present. Try meditating yourself by listening to the hum of your refrigerator, a clock ticking or simply the breath going in and out of your lungs. As your mind wanders gently bring your focus back to the present.

Getting better at meditation just takes practice. There are many ways to meditate and I suggest you explore different methods to discover what works best for you. One thing you can count on is your mind will wander especially initially. This doesn’t mean you can’t do it. It is normal for this to occur. When you find you have drifted a little, don’t judge it. Just bring yourself back to the present and start over.

Begin with smaller amounts of time initially. Trying to meditate for a half hour or more with no experience is a sure way to defeat yourself before you even get started. Try 5-10 minutes at first then gradually increase your time. Practice anywhere you have a few minutes. Car pool lines, waiting for the coffee to brew, waiting for an appointment or waiting for friends to arrive are just a few that come to mind.

If you have a brain you can meditate. Give it a try. The benefits are numerous and controlling your mind……priceless.

Jun 23

Got Water?

By Body

Got Water?

Summer is upon us and with that an increased need for hydration. It may surprise you that many people drink virtually no water at all and believe they get a sufficient amount in their coffee or tea. Aside from water, coffee and tea each contain caffeine which actually contributes to dehydration instead of resolving it.

This occurs simply by loosing more water than you take in. Each day we diminish our water by evaporating it through our skin, breathing as we exhale, urinating and through fecal material in our stool.

This loss of water can be caused by many things such as:

  1. Heat exposure especially during exercise
  2. Diarrhea and/or vomiting
  3. Burns
  4. Urinary tract infections
  5. Limited water and/or drinking dehydrating beverages such as coffee, tea etc
  6. Fever

Dehydration leads to a variety of symptoms ranging from mild to severe. Being thirsty or having a dry mouth is obvious but some symptoms are not so apparent and often go unrecognized. Headache, rapid heart rate, dizziness, rapid breathing, irritabilty and/or confusion, listlessness, muscle cramping, delerium and in a severe state loss of consciousness can all be caused by dehydration. Urine color is also a tell tale sign. Urine color should be pale yellow to clear. Darker urine is indicative of dehydration, but be aware that taking Vitamin B can also create a darker urine color even when you are well hydrated.

While prevention is obviously the best choice, remedying dehydration is fairly simple. Drink plenty of water or drinks with electolytes. Stay away from soda, caffeine and sugar laden energy or sport drinks. While Gatorade is a good hydration source its cousin, G2 contains half the carbs and calories but has the same electolytes for hydration making it a much better choice.

The amount of water we need depends on our weight and the eight glasses/day that you may have heard is not true for everyone. Larger people need more water. Sixty Four to 100 ounces a day is a good rule of thumb for most average weights with increasing amounts during times of exessive perspration, workouts, sickness or burns. If you allow yourself to get dehydrated know that it can take a day or so of consistent hydrating to get back to a proper level of hydration. Alcohol will also dehydrate you. If you are drinking alcohol make sure you drink additonal water. Not only will it keep you hydrated you will drink less alcohol and consume fewer empty calories.

Lastly, let’s not forget our pets. They get dehydrated just as easily so keep their bowls full of fresh water especially if they spend time outside. Fortunately they aren’t nearly as resistant as some of us are and will drink when they are thirsty. As long as the water is available they will generally self regulate well.

If I haven’t convinced you yet that drinking water is critical to virtually every aspect of maintaining a healthy body consider that drinking the proper amount of water water will keep your skin moist, plumped and younger looking. So, please be mindful, good to yourself, drink enough water and stay healthy.

Oct 25

Offense or Defense

By Mind

Sports minded or not, most can discern the difference between offense and defense in the sports arena. However, the offense and defense I am referring to is more about how you run your life than how you play on the field. Consider the day-to-day interactions that you have with the people in your life. Ask yourself, are you someone who is prepared for the day or consistently trying to keep up? When having a conversation with someone, are you present and in the moment, or do you find yourself drifting, half listening, half thinking what you will respond with or what they might say next? When there is a problem, is your first response to figure out where the problem is, or to worry, hope and create that it’s not your fault? The answers to these questions can reveal a good bit about how you are running your life.

A while ago my coach had me fill out a questionnaire designed to help me assess how I was running my life. Aside from the intended outcome, that simple exercise revealed much more than I could have imagined. She gave me 8-10 provocative questions, most of which I answered fairly easily but the first, which theoretically should have been pretty easy, was the most significant. She asked me to name 10 things that I had wanted to do in the past year but hadn’t done. Initially, this stumped me because for the most part I pretty much do the things that I want to do, but wanting to be a good student I thought about it for days. Then, I walked into my office at home to get something, looked around and it dawned on me now here is something I have wanted to do for at least five years and haven’t…organize my office. Then I got on a roll answering the question…organize my home office, organize my office at work, clean the garage, go through the old clothes that no longer fit my daughter, organize my closet, etc. I am guessing this may be a common list for many of us.

Later she asked what I felt was the significance of this organizational issue was and after a few excuses I explained that every morning I thought about what absolutely had to be done and if I completed those tasks, I counted the day as a success. So, what kind of energy do you think that generates, she gently prodded. Then I got it! When you run your life by the seat of your pants, you are saying to the universe I am full with all I can handle. Don’t give me one more thing to deal with. Now for some, that may be fine but if you are someone who is trying to create your dreams, living your life on the defense leaves no room for creating what you want. You end up pedaling as fast as you can just to keep up. I was living my life on the defense and totally unaware of it. So, I went on an organizational binge- mostly on trust. The effects were so unusual that if I weren’t experiencing them, you would have had a hard time convincing me that they were happening. My life went from consistently worrying about what I was forgetting to having time to create, spend more time with my family and friends, and feeling a whole lot more peaceful despite the same hectic schedule that I have always had. It was like magic. Then something even better began to happen. I seemed that my whole world was on my team. I went on vacation and when I came back one of the women on my staff greeted me with having cleaned and organized the entire x-ray storage room (also one of those projects that was 5+ years overdue). The thing that was significant about that was that my staff had absolutely no idea that I was doing this “organize my life” project.

So, if it feels appropriate I would ask you to take some time and evaluate what side of the field you are on. Are you playing offense and at ease or defensively stressed? The rewards have been incredible for me and it has afforded me the time to write articles like this and a whole lot more.