My Meditation Journey

Sometimes, a more sustainable lifestyle forays into health and wellness. Taking care of yourself is important for many aspects of your life, and self-care effects often cross over into other arenas, like your job(s), volunteer efforts, and family.

I've written before about my love of/obsession with yoga (here and here), but over the past few months, I've dived into the world of guided meditation. And it's been pretty amazing so far.

What I love about yoga is how natural it is, while being incredibly effective. When I started taking hot power yoga classes, I noticed the physical results, but I also noticed health ones - like being able to fall asleep easier and not catching colds as often. I loved not having to take medicine.


As I've gotten into a meditation routine, I've seen how it helps both on its own and in conjunction with my yoga practice.

After deciding I wanted to try something new to work on my stress and anxiety, I researched different meditation apps before downloading Headspace and Calm. Within a few days, I fell into the rhythm of Headspace and have stuck with using it every day. I love that I can use the mobile app or the website to complete my daily exercises.

I also look forward to the little "mindful moments" I get as push notifications on my phone twice a day. Sometimes, they're exactly what you need to hear that day!

What I've noticed is that I truly look forward to the 3 or 10 minutes each day I can put my phone on mute, close the door to whatever room I'm in, and sit back, breathe and listen to that day's exercise. I've found that it helps lower my stress level, hits my reset button, and leaves me feeling calmer.

I've noticed that my breathing is a bit deeper more often now, which helps control your stress levels. Breath is one of the most important parts of yoga, and since I began regularly meditating, I feel like my breath is more controlled in tough yoga poses. "Breathe through the tension," my teacher always says.

Meditation has quickly become a natural way to help myself adjust to outside stressors and guide myself into breathing through tension. I typically take a short break in the afternoon for an exercise, and I also love turning on a session during a relaxing bath to help unwind at night.

My self-care routine has greatly benefited from meditating, yoga and bike rides (and sometimes wine, but I'm getting away from it!) Having a natural/eco-friendly practice also helps, knowing that I'm doing something good for both my health and the environment.

And now that autumn weather has FINALLY arrived in Louisiana, I can get to more refreshing bike rides around the neighborhood...before I meditate of course.


This post is NOT sponsored by Headspace! :D