The blessing of a jackhammer (and what that has to do with creating work you love)

Did last week’s Total Solar Eclipse knock you off center? It did for a lot of people. Maybe you were feeling run down, maybe you felt you needed some time to yourself, or maybe you just felt off.

After an eclipse last week and with spring just around the corner, change is in the air. And during times of change it’s so important to find moments of stillness and mindfulness to ground ourselves.

During our last Bliss retreat our fearless leader, Sarah Hutchison, lead us through morning meditations. Meditation is growing in popularity amongst world leaders, CEOs and athletes alike, and the science has caught up to the ageless wisdom of monks and yogis who have been meditating for thousands of years. The benefits of a daily practice of meditation are clear, not only for our minds, but also our bodies, work and relationships.

On a physical level, meditation lowers high blood pressure, decreases pain associated to stress and tension, improves our immune system and provides our bodies with more energy. For our mental health meditation reduces anxiety, improves our emotional stability, increases our creativity happiness and intuition, our thoughts become clearer, problems become smaller and our mind becomes sharper. Meditation makes us aware that our inner attitude determines our happiness.

As little as 20 minutes of meditation each day will help increase the quality of your life. Try making it a habit. Schedule meditation into your life. Really – schedule it into your calendar! At the scheduled time, find a quiet spot away from distractions. Set an alarm for twenty minutes (so you don’t always have to check the time). Sit with a straight back, either on a chair with your feet planted on the ground, or on a cushion on the floor with your legs crossed. There are several ways to meditate, here are a few:

Guided meditations: This is sometimes the easiest way to meditate for beginners. Here, you get into position and listen to a recording or person guide you through the meditation. There are several youtube videos of guided meditations, or you can try this great app on your phone: .

Follow your breath: Once you get into position, try to clear your mind of all thoughts. Become present. Pay attention to your breath as you breathe in slowly and out slowly. Breathe in. Breathe out. You will inevitably have thoughts creep into your mind – this is normal. Simply thank them for appearing, and go back to focusing on your breath.

Mantra meditations: This style of meditation is similar to breathing mediations, but instead of following your breath, you simply repeat in your head a specific mantra. Each Sanskrit mantra means something different, so it’s important to know what your intention is with each mantra before beginning. Here are you might want to try.

This post is inspired by the Guided Meditations of Sarah Hutchison at Bliss B4 Laundry Retreats. Sarah is the Founder of Bliss B4 Laundry. You can connect with Sarah at our retreats or on Twitter/Instagram: @rootb4branch   or by email: sarah@rootsb4branches.org