“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” – Stephen McCranie
Throughout my life, I have attempted and “failed” at meditation. Beginning in high school, I tried many times (or at least for a teenager, it seemed endless times) to still my mind in meditation. I gave up, more frustrated than when I began.
Then in college, I was introduced to a technique called progressive muscle relaxation. I found that when my mind was tense that my body followed suit. Progressive Muscle Relaxation can be a great way to calm the body while focusing the mind. By giving the mind a task, once can more easily begin the journey within. We spend so much time on external stimuli, that getting in touch with how our bodies feel can be a meditation on its own.
Even with a task to perform, know that the mind will most likely continue its chatter, which may distract you. Just keep redirecting yourself back to the audio instructions. Recognize that thinking is the mind’s job. Just as the lungs exchange air and the heart pumps blood, the mind’s job is to think.
This is a guided progressive muscle relaxation that I tell the vast majority of my patients about. It is hosted by The Cleveland Clinic. I hope you find it helpful in your journey within. If you do not like the narrator or the instructions, for any reason, I am sure you can do a Google search and find many other options (hint, hint). Just as we test drive several cars before deciding which one to buy, meditation can take several test drives before we find the right vehicle.
The beginning of understanding is knowledge.
Mastery is earned through understanding.
Between the two, there is much practice.
– tiffanybeingfree
Namaste.
Photo by dan at freedigitalphotos.net
unfiltered from the heart 
This is a practice I have failed at too. Although, I do feel like I am able to find a quiet space…just not as systematic or frequent as I would like. I would like to have reach the importance of say having the morning coffee or getting a workout in. Thanks for keeping this top of mind!
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Running is my personal moving meditation… Returning after an injury now, not running forced me to sit in meditation more. As a tri-athlete, I’m sure you’re getting more meditation in than you think.
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Ah, another runner. 🙂 Miles on the run can be very therapeutic for sure.
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Heya excellent website! Does running a blog like this require a massive amount work?
I have virtually no understanding of programming but
I was hoping to start my own blog in the near future.
Anyway, if you have any recommendations or techniques for new blog owners please share.
I know this is off subject but I simply wanted to ask.
Thank you!
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Hi! Thank you for writing.
Writing is my passion, so it is easy for me to create many posts in a relatively short period of time.
I use images primarily from freedigitalphotos.net, and higher quality photos can be purchased through sites such as dreamstime.com
To build your base, like and follow other bloggers. You can also do searches for similar tags to your work to find bloggers with the same and similar interests. I like it because I can blog on my time.
Good luck & namaste!
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