One reason I decided to become a life coach is that I really love talking about sweet spot living. The sweet spot is what I call that feeling of calm centered connection. The feeling of right place/right time. The feeling of flow and ease. The feeling of knowing that I am cared for and tended to by something bigger than me no matter what my circumstances feel like at the time.
This feeling of the sweet spot is similair to the feeling when you find your groove as you swing a golf club with that effortless feeling of freedom. The sweet spot is the same feeling of being swept away by the fun of a concert when the artist plays your favorite song. The sweet spot can feel safe and secure like at the end of a lazy day sitting on the porch with your dog knowing that there is no where you would rather be.
There are many ways to describe the sweet spot but they all fall short because it is a feeling. A feeling that no matter how many words I use it will never be enough. The sweet spot has to be felt. It is an experience. We all know it when we are there and we know it when we aren’t there. What most people don’t realize is that the sweet spot is available all the time and you can get there deliberately.
This brings me to my series called Sweet Spot Tips. I want to share with you what I have found that works for me. These tips may work for you too. Please feel free to try them on for size, see what fits, keep what feels good to you and throw out what doesn’t. When it comes to sweet spot living one size does not fit all. The fun is tailoring the processes to what works for you.
As I began to think about what has worked for me, all sorts of suggestions and thoughtful hints began to bubble up in my head, but one thought kept nudging its way forward to the front of my mind. This tip may sound foreign to some of you, may sound kooky or downright weird, but it is the one practice that helps me remember who I am…Meditation.
Meditation is the practice of quieting your mind. It is simple, but not easy. It is the act of sitting with yourself and allowing you to just be. Be with your thoughts, be with your emotions, be with your body, be with the present in whatever form it shows up. Allowing whatever comes to be okay. Letting go of the need to change, justify or deny. Allowing all of you to show up.
Every morning before my household begins to stir I sit in my pajamas, in my favorite chair, legs criss crossed, back straight, hands gently resting on my knees, eyes closed while tuning into my breath. Typically I sit for 30 minutes in the morning. Gently allowing thoughts to come and then allowing thoughts to go. Trying not to become involved in the story of my thoughts. After a while of watching my mind I find the deep abyss of nothingness that we all have the ability to sense.
I read some place (forgive me I can’t remember where) that meditation is like becoming aware that our life is a deep clear lake. For most of us, during our daily lives we only pay attention to the surface of the lake–the ripples, the tides and the turbulence. But our life is way more than just the surface. It is deep and stable and vast. It is bigger and more expansive than what we typically notice. We are really more like the body of the lake below the surface. Bigger than the eye can see. Meditation helps us to tap into that deep awareness. That sense of more. That feeling of steadiness. Limitlessness. It has the capability to calm, to heal, to love, and to allow.
For me mediation feels like prayer in reverse. When I am praying I am usually asking for myself or for someone else. When I meditate I am listening for the answer. A deep listening, a tapping into something bigger than just me. A feeling of finding my place in all that is.
Sound inciting? If so, here is a simple way to get started with a meditation practice.
- Find a quiet place to sit.
- Wear something comfortable.
- Close your eyes.
- Relax into the sound of your breath.
- When your mind starts to wander (and it will) gently bring it back to your breath.
- Repeat step 5. Over and over again with the same patience and encouragement you would give a child learning to walk.
Try this for 5 minutes every morning. When you feel your focus muscle getting stronger go for 10 minutes. Meditation is called a practice because there is no getting it right or wrong. You can’t do it wrong. Just allow yourself to sit with you in whatever form you show up.