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business woman practicing meditation and yoga with office icons on the background
Whenever I’ve tried meditating in the past—typically under the influence of a self-described “life coach” on social media that says if I can just quiet my brain for 10 minutes, it will solve all my problems—it’s gone something like this: I go into a dark, quiet room and light a candle, I grab a couple pillows to make myself comfy, and I try to clear my mind. That lasts maybe 30 seconds before I’m flooded with thoughts and to-do lists: What ingredients do we need for dinner? My toddler needs to bring his “Disguise a Turkey” project to daycare tomorrow. Did I remember to schedule that doctor's appointment for my 5-month-old? Oh, I can’t forget about that work deadline next week.
What should be a time to relax turns into a game of memory recall that leaves me more stressed than when I first sat down. I give up, resigned to the fact that I’m simply not the meditation “type.”
I was happy to hear this is a common experience for the wannabe-enlightened, and that I was far from alone in my perceived meditative failure when I spoke with Northwestern Health Sciences University’s Charlie Noel, the executive director for the newly formed Institute for Integrative Care, and co-teacher of its virtual yoga teacher training program. “Wandering is normal. That’s what your mind does. Don’t judge it—allow it to wander, then bring it back to whatever the purpose of your meditation is,” says Noel. “Meditation is really a mental exercise that trains our attention, focus, and awareness.”
Train is the operative word. Being able to effectively meditate doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes practice to establish a, well, practice, but the payoff is worth the patience: In addition to calming the chaos in your brain, meditation is also attributed to reducing negative emotions, increasing creativity, lowering heart rate and blood pressure, improving sleep quality, and managing stressful situations—a crucial skill to have in the world we live in today.
“Right now, we’re in a constant state of change and uncertainty. We have to find these times to be able to recenter ourselves and refocus, and I think meditation can help,” says Noel. He offers six tips to get even the most easily distracted among us to find our own version of nirvana.
- Find the time. Meditation doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out process. Noel encourages people to start by scheduling five minutes of meditation into their day. “It doesn’t have to be this rigid, ‘I have to sit down on my meditative pillow every single day.’ You don’t have to be on the side of a mountain for a day. It can be five minutes in your car before you walk into work,” he says.
- Develop your Northern Star. Ask yourself: What’s your mission and purpose for meditating? This is your Northern Star that keeps you focused. “It could be values, it could be family, it could be God,” explains Noel. “Your Northern Star should be intrinsically valuable to you, and something that speaks to you and guides your life.”
- Accept that your mind will wander. It’s normal for your mind to wander while meditating. This doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Bring your attention back to your practice by focusing on your Northern Star.
- Experiment with different guided practices. If you find yourself struggling to quiet your mind, download apps like Calm and Headspace, or search meditation videos on YouTube that lead you through a meditation session. Test out different instructors until you find one with a tone of voice and pace that works for you.
- Take mindful moments throughout your day. Think about your Northern Star for a minute before walking into a stressful work meeting; take a few deep breaths while stuck in traffic; or even schedule “mindful moments” on your calendar. These meditation breaks can help you recenter and face the day with a more positive outlook.
- Focus on the practice, not on results. Let’s say you get to work and you’re tasked with pulling together a last-minute presentation. You’re overwhelmed, leading you to believe your morning meditation practice failed. But in reality, those five minutes of meditation may have prepared you to more calmly and effectively tackle the task at hand, even if you don’t realize it. “The more you don’t expect results, the more results will follow,” says Noel.
Meditation will be at the forefront of the institute's virtual yoga teacher training program, which kicks off in January. Led by Army veteran Dr. Stephen Graham, participants will learn the foundations of Hatha yoga while working toward becoming a certified yoga instructor at the 200-hour level. Says Noel of the course, “We are really trying to move more into the integrative space and expand our whole-person health offerings.”
Located in Bloomington, Northwestern Health Sciences University is a premier integrative health institution that prepares the next generation of healthcare professionals deliver and advance healthcare, offering 11 areas of study. Its clinics and TruNorth Wellness Hub are open to the public to support healthier, better lives for all, including Bloomington Clinic, Sweere Clinic and the Human Performance Center.
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