Newbie!!!

hmedina05 · March 22nd, 2009, 23:46

Hello. My name is Heather and I'm new completely to meditation. I have two little ones, a two yr old little girl and a one yr old little girl. I'm also married, so I believe I can benefit from meditation. How I'm going to find the time since I'm a stay at home mother is beyond me, but I'm sure I'll manage. Lovely to meet you all.

filly33 · March 24th, 2009, 19:15

Welcome, hmedina. Glad your taking this journey with so many others here.

A time will come when you realize that meditation is spending time with yourself and allowing things to be as they are. In that context, and time you spend meditating, be it 10 minutes or an hour, will be very helpful towards your health.

It seems difficult to see meditation that way, since so many people have the false idea that meditation is all relaxation. Just remember the two polarities of positive and negative feelings and emotions, and all the ones that fall in between, are all important in their own way and none should be pushed away.

Also, there is a technology called Lifeflow that can be played at any part of the day and you don't have to be meditating to enjoy the benefits.

Always feel free to ask questions here. The people on this forum are generous and will always lend a hand if you ask. Hope you enjoy meditation.

Mitch

Edwin · March 24th, 2009, 19:19

Welcome !

At the beginning, finding time for meditation might seem challenging, but in time you will find out that meditation will help you create time !
May sound strange, I know.

For now, try to think of it this way: If you can't even allow yourself to sit for a minimum of 30 minutes in your entire day... Is that really how you want to live ?

You are worth it, you deserve that little time for yourself !

WeeHoo · March 24th, 2009, 21:11

Oh, Edwin, I love you dearly and bow before your gentle expertise and experience in all things meditation, but Heather has two kids under the age of three! It they're like my kids, time alone is just plain missing most days. Heather, do they nap at the same time? Does your husband ever take them out? Do you wake up before they do, or are they your alarm clock? Speaking as one who is a few years out of that very-young-kids stage, I'd say that if you can find ten, fifteen minutes a day to yourself, you're doing really well. Stick with it...the benefits are terrific for you, and thus terrific for your kids.

WeeHoo · March 24th, 2009, 21:15

Heather, I just thought of something else...when my kids were really young, sometimes I could get them to play quietly near me while I was meditating. But it didn't work very often! They weren't all that happy to have me sitting there with my eyes closed. And it wasn't all that relaxing for me; I was always waiting for the next, "Mama? Mama?" However, I have heard from other people who've made this work as a regular practice. While Mom sits in meditation, the kids sit, too. Each family is different, of course, and you'll find what works for you.

Edwin · March 26th, 2009, 18:53

Hehe WeeHoo, thanks for your adjustment ( and with a lovely compliment too

) and you are right of course, having 2 kids under 3 is challenging. Mine are now 4 and 7, so I can relate a little bit.

And I totally agree that 15 minutes a day is always better than no meditation at all

Another idea that Michael offers is to give up one hour of your nights rest, by setting your alarm clock one hour earlyer to start your day with a meditation. Again, I can totally see how after a challenging night getting up alone is hard enough, let alone getting up one hour earlyer, but the general idea is that people will usually need less sleep when meditating.

I think that in time you will see that it does become easyer to fit in the time for yourself. Your kids will grow older too

so time fixes everything.