"I know what is good for me but that doesn’t mean I do it."
Ouch! Sometimes the truth stings.
How many areas of our lives can we say this to; our nutrition, our rest, our social time, our exercise, our meditation practice?
In many areas of our lives we don’t live up to our potential and it is mostly because we don’t set ourselves up for success.
Of all of these areas mentioned above, our meditation practice probably get’s pushed back the most, yet it can be a foundational pillar to support all the other areas of self-care we know we should be doing but struggle to do so.
First off, Why Meditate?
Meditation can help regulate our emotions better. Perhaps we get triggered by those who are closest to us; our partner, our parents, our siblings, being able to respond versus react is a huge benefit of meditation. Ever heard of emotional eating? Meditation alone will support better eating choices which in it's self can affect many areas of our overall health and well-being.
Meditation can also generate greater clarity & awareness of how we are actually feeling about various situations in our lives; our relationships, our work, our health, and help prioritize things and/or make decisions that will help serve these areas.
Managing stress is one of the most powerful ways in which meditation can support us. chronic stress is related to many forms of disease, impaired immune function, and reduced cognitive abilities just to name a few.
It is extremely empowering to not rely on that glass of wine, that episode of Game of Thrones or that puff of the ganja (or all three!) to manage our stress. Knowing you can simply pause, be still and meditate to bring your mind-body into a calmer coherence is a very empowering skill to develop.
Meditation can be a revealer in many ways which may help us reach our potential in so many areas of our lives yet...
We fall off the wagon over and over again.
Why does meditation have such a giant drop-off rate?
It is very easy NOT to do. The excuses are endless:
“I don’t have time!”
“I get drowsy."
“I can’t sit still."
“It’s uncomfortable."
“I can’t tell if I'm doing it right?"
How can floating become a hyper-efficient & effective way to bring meditation into ones life?
(If you don’t know the details of what floating is take a short pause and watch THIS.)
1) IT’S A MEDITATION HACK
The environment of maximal sensory reduction and flotation launches us into deeper states of meditation very quickly with minimal experience. In the beginning of exploring a float practice with just 2-3 sessions done within 3-4 weeks deep levels of meditation will be experienced, it’s a guarantee.
With floating it is much more comfortable than sitting, we are physically fully supported by a super-saturated Epsom salt solution that contours and holds every square millimetre of your body. Every postural and stabilizing muscle can “let go” and with our mind-body continuums (the fact that our minds affect our bodies and our bodies affect our minds) our mind can "let go" much more easily as well.
It teaches what deeper states of meditation actually feel like and takes the guess work out of it.
2) IT CREATES ACCOUNTABILITY AND AN EASIER COMMITMENT
By investing some $ into this practice dramatically increases accountability to it. You work hard for your money and you can leverage this to support yourself ($40/month is 1 "nice" dinner out).
Schedule it in advance. By booking your float into your schedule (at the end of a busy week, on a Sunday before the next week begins, or mid-week as a boost) you are much more likely to make this time of extreme mindfulness happen. (1-2 x / month is much more sustainable than 3-5 x / week).
3) MORE EFFICIENT & AMPLIFIED BENEFITS
With the ease of the practice and unique nature of the environment we can sustain a longer meditative experience in a far deeper state. This results in a greater quality of meditation for a longer time and amplifies the benefits we’re trying to get out of a meditation practice.
It is arguable that a single 90-minute float session / week can deliver greater benefits than 5 x 20 minute sits. By increasing the quality of our meditation experience we can reduce the quantity and thus increasing the likelihood of sustaining the practice.
Written by: Mike Zaremba
