Does Meditation Make a Difference? Perspective from 35 Days

Thirty-five days ago, inspired by the Deepak/Oprah 21 Day Meditation, I catapulted into a 15 to 20-minute-a-day commitment to pause. I didn’t expect much. As described in my last blog, I’ve tried to meditate before with results that never stuck. Five days in to my new habit I realized I hadn’t even accessed the online meditations correctly. One of my running buddies mentioned the soothing quality of Deepak’s voice, to which I responded “What! There’s a recording?” I did two-a-day Deepak meditations to catch up. My longer self-made meditations reduced to a commitment to Deepak’s voice through my IPhone – a consistent 15 minutes. Once through the challenge period, I started another meditation challenge through the Chopra Center that was initially offered in 2011. New voices, but similar positive results. Is meditation worth the time investment? My short answer is YES.

What have I gained? Emotional insulation. Calm. Perspective. Less Negative Self-Talk. Enough positive results to transform a challenge into a habit. In the past, one friend dubbed me a Catcher. A Catcher absorbs the energy in a room in an instant, positive or negative. I felt pretty smug about this label, patting my own shoulder on my supreme sensitivity. Unfortunately a Catcher soars high or low depending on who’s in the room. Because of my openness about my own struggle with depression, I encounter more than my fair share of seriously depressed people. My Catcher nature often leaves others relieved, but me feeling like Swiss cheese.

Meditation creates a buffer. I can listen and pause, rather than be sucked into emotional turmoil. I find I’m better about directing people toward their own solutions with detachment instead of fixing the problem. Detachment felt like a cold word in the past. Now the word signals empowerment. Help, but let others find the right solution for them. I don’t get stuck in the righteousness of my own right answer.

Why did the meditations work this time instead of other attempts? Being a creative type, I always like to design my own program. This works well when I have time to create the program, but my reality is often I don’t have the time. Having a simple, prepackaged 15-minute meditation ensures I will actually do the meditation. If I have more time and can come up with my own, great. But having a fall back routine ensures I stay in the routine. Another friend also recommended Dharma Seed – which is a free application. These meditations are good, but do tend to be a bit longer (30 to 60 minutes) and requires some time to search for an instructor who sparks interest. My guess is I will graduate to Dharma Seed (or something like it) as I progress in my meditation practice.

Unbeknownst to most of my friends I also made a commitment to stop drinking during the 21 days. I don’t drink much, but the intellectual argument of “perhaps a person who has a brain prone to depression should abstain from alcohol” has bantered in my head on more than one occasion. The label on my antidepressant sports a circle with a slash through a martini glass. In the past, I took that as encouragement to drink buttery chards. Now, seven weeks without alcohol, I see an absence of the negative speak that exploded in my head for a dependable 2-3 days a month. I love to drink, but the lack of that harping negativity might be enough to give up the pleasant dopamine burst that comes with my favorite chardonnay. In the long run, for me, the downside of even moderate drinking outweighs the short-lived upside of a glass of wine.

Will I stop drinking permanently? I doubt it. I want the freedom to have a glass of wine with friends or to complete an exceptional meal. But strangely I think meditation is providing the same insulation my mind sought from alcohol. The ability to train my brain to relax on command when at a cocktail party and meeting new people, in a crowd, when I’m fed up, bored, tired or when I’m ticked off at a family member is a valuable skill. Besides a well-timed deep breath is more portable, costs nothing, doesn’t go bad, have an age limit and never leads to a hangover.

Hmmmm. Or should I say Ommmm? Might be worth a nonalcoholic shot. Namaste and have a great weekend.

For more information about Julie K. Hersh check out the Struck by Living website: www.struckbyliving.com.