1 Last Way to Destress | Meditation and the Value of It

My heart was racing as I sped down the 495. I could tell my eyes were wide in my face as I chewed the inside of my lip and pressed down on the gas a little bit more. I had recently started listening to the podcast Ologies with Alie Ward and the day’s topic was Cosmology (THE UNIVERSE). As I listened on the drive to work, the cause of my building anxiety attack was many things at once and hard to pin down; the small blue dot, spaghettification, my own musings (how did the universe really start? are we a universe within a universe?? where do black holes go???). I was experiencing a mild form of cosmophobia, an unofficial name for the disorientation and panic one feels when considering the vastness of the universe. As I wove between the other cars on the road, I became distracted by my own thoughts and started rewinding every so often to hear what I had missed. I moved my hand to scratch my head, leaving a moist print on the wheel.

Ironically, the theory of inflation, a sudden expansion of the universe that wipes all living life out, ended up being what calmed me down. It hadn’t been the inconsequentiality of it all that bugged me, nor the question of what or who started it all. It was the lack of control it meant we had in our own lives; that was what made my brain itch. Somehow, the idea of a sudden wipe out took hold of me and all I found was peace. As I switched to the exit lane and brought my speed down, I visualized the moments before it happened and then the immediate aftermath. The silence, the opportunity and potential for new life, a clean slate. At the red light, I imagined that the universe was an etch-n-sketch just shake and restart the process of building something even more impressive.

I was at a full stop. A car honked behind me and I realized the light had turned green. I laughed nervously and drove. I felt lightweight all of a sudden, hardly carefree, but definitely detached. I had just successfully entered and exited a meditative state. In reaction to my anxiety my brain activated it’s first line of defense by helping me imagine realize I was safe and that the things out of my control were just that, out of my control. The expectation of responsibility effectively erased, I was able to calm down. My heart rate slowed, my hands were no longer clammy, and my behavior less erratic. Visualization is just one of many ways to meditate and meditation in all of its forms is a sure-fire way to reset your brain. (Contributor: Ayana Best)

Meditate (Feat. Y.O.U.)

Meditation is the practice of intentionally spending time with our mind. It is the focusing of your mind for religious, spiritual, or relaxation purposes. The best thing about it is that it can be done anywhere and at anytime. In the example above, I meditated while driving to calm my nervous system. Things that don’t matter, ambience, aesthetics, noise level, reason, outcome. Things that do matter, that you’re doing it and finding acceptance of your present moment. Overall, you want to get comfortable with your meditation practice and reap the rewards of awareness. According to Neda Gould, Ph.D., head of a mindfulness program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, meditation should be thought of as a muscle that you are exercising and “Like any other muscle, it takes time and practice to build,”.

In addition to overall wellness, meditation has been shown to help lower production of the stress hormone cortisol improve depression, anxiety, and pain symptoms. Some meditation techniques like the body scan can also help with sleep, insomnia, and fatigue by evoking the relaxation response (a deep physiological shift in the body that’s the opposite of the stress response). Instead of focusing on the past or possible future, you are focusing on your present moment and how you are experiencing it, ultimately calming the mind.

Getting Started

Preparing for Meditation

Consistency - schedule mediation sessions in your calendar the same way you would an appointment, or tack it onto a pre-existing routine, like brushing your teeth.
Preparation - go into your meditation practice expecting noises and distractions to happen. You don’t need silence to meditate successfully.
Get Comfortable - as long as your back is straight and shoulders are relaxed you can sit and dress however you would like.
Make it Easy - start off with 5-20 minutes of meditation a day. Try using a guided audio like Headspace and using the breath and senses as “anchors” to focus on.
Humility - enter your practice with humility. It is normal to make mistakes and feel like you didn’t make much headway. The trick is to keep practicing each day. The more you do it the more simple it becomes.