The Smallest Amount of Meditation Matters

Every time I've taken the small, but significant step to stop and breathe mindfully, I wonder why I'm not doing this every day

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Life moves fast. We jump out of bed, go through our morning routine, make coffee, perhaps eat a bite if we're motivated, and head out the door for a day of work.

Our busy lives make us believe we don't have a second to stop and simply breathe. The rat-race economy convinces us that stopping to sit and let go of our endless mental chatter is a waste of time, energy which would be better spent being productive.

Though mainstream culture is shifting towards a more open approach, with certain forward-thinking companies embracing mindfulness as an effective way to reduce employee stress and improve productivity, the vast majority of the workforce is still in lockstep with the endless busyness model.

Pausing for presence

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It's easy to excuse ourselves from practicing meditation or mindfulness, as our mind is an expert at convincing us of the importance of endless thinking. Stopping the flow of thought to simply exist in our bodies is inherently uncomfortable in an intellectual stimulation-obsessed world.

We'd much rather endlessly philosophize our day/week/life than to dare halt the commentary and be present to our world. It's absurd how often we ignore practicing mindfulness for even the most miniscule amount of time. There are 24 hours in the day, yet we rarely find ten minutes to stop and not think. Being present is initially uncomfortable, for the mere fact that most humans aren't used to living in our physical bodies.

I've been meaning to consistently meditate for at least 15 minutes a day, something which I often skip out on for the typical reason that it's not worth the effort. Again, it's the mind giving you the convenient escape from being in the moment, as its ability to run your life is slightly diminished when you take a moment to leave its grasp.

Today, I overcame the mental trap of staying in my mind

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I took the step to stay in the moment, following my breath, intermittently escaping the relentless thought-stream that constantly dominates my life. The session was only 10 minutes long, certainly not transcendental or impressive by any metric, but it made an impact.

Every moment you stop the tape or, at least, observe the tape being played, you make a dent in your mind, imprinting an idea that life is more than our neverending commentary about it. The worst kind of suffering is almost never the act of suffering itself but instead, the thoughts that follow and persist long after the moment has passed.

Even 5 intentional minutes of presence/mindfulness/meditation makes an impact. A micro-mindfulness session may seem pointless, but the point is this: meditation matters, no matter how long we practice it.

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All uncredited pictures from pixabay.com or my personal account

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