WAKING UP HAPPY: Let It Be

In study after study, meditation has been shown to enhance the brain functions needed for deep thought, innovation, wise decision-making, and concentration. It lowers blood pressure, enhances the immune system, and reduces stress.

I’m in need of all those things, so I have tried meditation many times. My heart was in the right place, but I always found myself too restless. My mind would fill with all the things I had to do. At the yoga classes I took, I would leave before the five minutes of meditation at the end, already looking forward to what was next in my day.

Even in the yoga class I taught, my mind wasn’t at rest when I led the group in guided meditation. I was figuring out how best to relax those in my class, not myself.

Then I was forced into it. Ever since college, I have always enjoyed taking part in research studies, and I signed up for one at the University of Wisconsin that aimed to see whether people who meditate have fewer colds. I qualified for the study because I always had at least one cold every year.

I must admit when I signed up I thought I would be in the control group so I wouldn’t have to meditate! But when I found that I was in the group that would be attending meditation class, I had a sneaking feeling that this was what I had really wanted all along. I had no more excuses.

I had to go to the meditation class once a week for three hours. And there were several hours a day of homework – material to read, CDs to listen to, and then the actual meditation itself.

I loved every minute of it. My friends who had told me, “You will love it. It’s not at all what you think” were so right. I liked the fact that the teacher always gave us something to reflect on while we meditated – an idea, a poem, a question –  and afterward we would break into groups and talk about our experiences and insights during the meditation time.

It has been over a year since I started taking the meditation class, and, for what it’s worth, I have not had a single cold. Now, I’m skeptical by nature, and I don’t know what the results of the study will turn out to be, so I’m not saying that taking the meditation class has cured me of colds. All I can say for sure is that I have found it worthwhile to add regular meditation and mindfulness to my life.

I have “graduated” from the class, but there is a drop-in meditation session that I sometimes attend. At a recent session, the touch-phrase of the evening was “Let It Be.” Each time we closed our eyes and let ourselves be still, we returned to that phrase. We let our bodies just be. We let our minds just be. We let our feelings be, without trying to change or judge or worry about anything.

For years, my go-to mantra has been “Let it go.” When I am stressing over something, I tell myself, “Let it go, let it go,” and sometimes I make the actual movement of holding the stressful thing in my clenched fists and then opening up my hands, flinging out my arms, and  throwing it away. It always calms me.

But in meditation class the other evening, I suddenly realized that “Let it be,” unlike “Let it go,” requires no exertion whatsoever. All that’s needed is to do nothing.

When you have a loved one who’s addicted to drugs, it’s natural to want to fix the situation, help your loved one change, make everything better. But the secret is to do the opposite – not try to fix, to change, to judge, to alter the situation – instead, to accept that what is, is. To stop fighting and, simply, to let it be. That’s what meditation can teach you.

The Keys

1.         Meditation can be as simple as doing absolutely nothing.

2.         Sometimes you need to let go of things that are holding you back. But sometimes, instead of making the effort to let things go, you can simply decide to let things be.

3.         No matter how busy or distracted you are, there’s always time for bliss.

Actions to Practice

Meditation for Multitaskers highlights the fact that you can gain the many benefits of meditation without sitting for hours on a mat murmuring mantras. You can train your brain to be more flexible, creative, reflective, and serene by adding just a few mindful exercises to your day.

Some ideas:

1.         Go outside, and take in your surroundings. Engage all your senses and accept them without labeling them pleasant or unpleasant. Slow down your internal monologue, be still for a few minutes, and merge with your environment.

2.         Punctuate your day with intentional do-nothing breaks.

3.         Practice deep breathing whenever you have a spare minute. Remember that the word “inspiration” comes from the Latin root “spirare,” breathing in. Your creativity is linked to an awareness of your breath.

4.         Get a bath pillow, some bath toys, and a jar of soap bubbles, and play in your tub. It’s as good as a spa visit.

5.         Contemplate these words by Rainer Maria Rilke:

You need not do anything

Remain sitting at your table and listen

Just wait

And you need not even wait, just become quiet and still and solitary

And the world will offer itself to you to be unmasked

It has no choice

It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

For more exercises, take a look at WAKING UP HAPPY, www.WakingUpHappyBook.com.

Please contact me with your own stories, strategies, insights, and any questions you may have, as well as an answer to this question, if you’d like to reflect on it and send me your answer: What one thing could you add to your day to relax, calm, and center you?