Meditation is something that I have been practicing on and off for over a decade now. I was first introduced to the idea of mediation in a small yoga studio in Regina, Saskatchewan. I was 24 and I had recently moved to Regina for work. I had moved to a city where I didn’t know a single person and I truthfully was a bit lonely in the first few weeks of being there. I decided to try any new thing that came my way. My colleague that lived in Saskatoon suggested I try a yoga class. I googled the closest studio to where I lived….I think it was the only studio in that city truth be told. I showed up to the class and that is where my journey of self-discovery, yoga and meditation began. Only a few years later after taking that class I’d find myself in a yoga teacher training in Costa Rica. But I'll leave that for another blog post!
I had heard of meditation before that first yoga class but that was the first time I had ever tried it. I’d like to say that I was instantly hooked, but the truth is I’ve had a love/hate relationship with meditation ever since. I know that my body and my mind need a regular mediation practice, I also know how good it is for my soul. The issue is I often feel inadequate during most of my mediation. I have to try so hard to quiet my mind. I mean all I am focusing on is letting the incessant thoughts go and some day’s my mediation practice is frustrating! I have found something that seems to help me the most when it comes to meditation and that is guided mediation. I do still try to sit in silence, but those times that I feel like I just can’t stop fidgeting, I turn to my meditation teachers and guides.
There are so many meditation apps now that you can easily access but my favourite still remains the free version of Insight Timer. I have been using this app for many years now and I love it! It has over 30,000 meditations and so many incredible teachers. There are two features of the app I love. The first is the map that shows you who in the world is meditating with you at that very moment and the second is the feature that allows you to send a quick message of thanks to the users that are meditation at same time as you. This allows such a great feeling of connection with total strangers.
I have two meditation teachers that I want to share with you below and you can find them both on Insight Timer.
Jennifer is my go to for trying to get to sleep quicker. She specializes in sleep mediation or better known as Yoga Nidra, click here to learn more about it. The mediation that I often go to is entitled Yoga Nidra for Sleep and it has nearly 10 million plays! I highly recommend her if you have trouble falling asleep.
Sarah is truly one of my favourite mediation guides. She somehow always has the exact words to express how I'm feeling. Her meditations are like poetry, that's the best way I can describe them. Chauncey got her recently released book for me for my birthday. I am only a few chapters in, but I already love it so much. With the book you can access to mediations that accompany the chapters. Please do yourself a favor and pick up her book Heart Minded, you won't regret it!
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