I’ve Done This Every Day For 3 Years And I Hate It
“Slow down. I think a lot of the mistakes of my youth were mistakes of ambition, not mistakes of sloth. So just slowing down, whether that’s meditating, whether that’s taking time for yourself away from screen, whether that’s really focusing in on who you’re talking to or who you’re with.”
Full Story
I hate it. It’s boring and even scary at times. Most days, I have no less than one hundred other activities I’d rather be doing.
It feels so unproductive that I’m often sure that I’m completely wasting my time. After all, I’ve spent ten minutes a day, every day, doing it. Over three years, the accumulation of those ten minute chunks amount to over 45 hours. That’s a significant chunk of time to waste on something I hate.
It’s not all bad. It’s also the most important ten minutes of my day. It’s influenced my approach to health and fitness, altered my worldview, and drastically increased the compassion I’m able to feel for others.
Without daily meditation, my life would not be the same.
Key Takeaways
*After the “Full Story" today, because I didn’t want to spoil the intro.
Meditation has influenced my approach to health and fitness, altered my worldview, and drastically increased the compassion I’m able to feel for others.
The top three reasons meditation improves your health:
Meditation is a potent stress reliever and chronic stress is the most insidious health risk in the U.S.
Mindfulness is a key to more intense workouts and effective recovery
By observing your mind, you’ll better understand your biology
Whether you take it too easy or push it to the extremes, meditation will help you get the most out of your fitness routine.
Meditation helps us quiet reactions to the mind and develop a dissociation from the steady stream of worries, and planning.
If you begin to take a few minutes every day to observe your mind, I guarantee that you will notice a positive change in your life.
How Meditation Makes You Healthier
I know you’re wondering “What in tarnation? Why is John writing about meditation on the best fitness website in the world?”
(Okay, maybe that’s not word for word what you were thinking. I digress.)
The point is, you read the best fitness website in the world because you want to get healthier, not because you want to transcend human form and become one with the universe.
The top three reasons meditation improves your health:
Meditation is a potent stress reliever and chronic stress is the most insidious health risk in the U.S.
Mindfulness is a key to more intense workouts and effective recovery
By observing your mind, you’ll better understand your biology
Not too much of a stretch, right? Let’s explore each point.
But First...Woo-woo? Woo!
I understand that this topic and level of depth is not for everyone.
If you’re not feeling it or really feeling it, here are some other options to explore the topic in more or less detail:
Too woo-woo for you? I don’t blame you. You might find this 1 minute video interesting - it’s about how meditation can change your perspective.
Too little woo-woo? Check out this lecture or read this book by Dr. Bruce Lipton about how your thoughts impact your genes on a cellular level (1, 2).
Just woo-woo enough? Enjoy the rest of the article.
1. Meditation is a potent stress reliever and chronic stress is the most insidious health risk in the U.S.
Heart racing, stomach flipping and turning, sweating in places you didn’t even know you could sweat - it may not feel like it, but stress is a good thing. I’m serious! The stress response is a powerful, life saving mechanism - in the right amount. With stress, the dose really does make the poison.
When left unchecked, chronic stress can manifest in a wide array of health problems including:
High blood pressure
Cardiovascular disease including heart problems and stroke
High blood sugar levels and diabetes
Mental health disorders
Ulcers
Acne
Headaches
Digestive issues
Weight gain
Weight loss
...and many, many more. Chronic stress worsens nearly every sickness or ailment (3).
The antidote? Mindfulness. Meditation has been shown to reduce levels of cortisol - aka the “stress hormone” (4-8).
If you:
Wake up to a stressful alarm
Drive a stressful commute
Work a stressful job
Drive to the gym for a stressful workout
Have stressful interactions with your stressful family
Go to bed as one giant ball of stress, stressed about having to do it all over again the next day
...your mood, health, and overall wellbeing will benefit from slowing down and setting aside 5 or 10 minutes to meditate each day.
2. Mindfulness is the key to more intense workouts and effective recovery
“Your mind will quit a thousand times before your body will. Feel the fear and do it anyway.”
I’m not sure about an entire thousand times, but there is truth in the concept that the mind fails before the body. More often than not in the gym, we quit because of pain or discomfort, not because of involuntary muscle failure or pushing so hard that you lose consciousness (if you do, you’re more hardcore than I).
An effective workout does not require all-out, nose-bleed inducing mayhem, but you do need to push past the internal chatter and work hard. Don’t stop because it’s difficult, take it as a sign that you’re challenging your body in the right way. Meditation can help with that.
If you’re like me, though, you already work too hard and need to listen more closely to your body’s signals. Instead of working out every single day and blowing up your instagram followers with “#nodaysoff” and “#noexcuses,” make time for rest and recovery. Meditation can help with that, too.
It’s true, nobody knows your body better than you. Being mindful will help you become attuned to internal signals and connect with your body. Whether you take it too easy or push it to the extremes, meditation is an effective tool to bring you back to center and help you get the most out of your fitness routine.
3. By observing your mind, you’ll better understand your biology
Biology doesn’t give a flying duck about happiness or health. It only cares that:
You have enough food and water
You have enough sleep
You’re not at risk of immediate death or danger
You’re in good standing in the social hierarchy
You have the ability to find mates and pass on your genes
Basic drives to survive, socialize, and procreate are not inherently harmful. However, these evolutionary signals do more harm than good when they override our ability to enjoy life. It’s okay to be a little hungry, thirsty, or tired. And i’s okay to go crazy and dance like a fool.
There’s no need to freak out - what’s the worst that could happen? Though it may not feel like it, moments of discomfort or temporary biological urges are no reason to sound the stress alarm. If they were, you would be stressed out all day, every day and have a difficult time being in a good mood or making the best decisions for your health. Through meditation, you recognize biological signals for what they are - just noise.
Listen to your thoughts, but understand that you are not your thoughts. Observe them and let them pass. Meditation helps us quiet reactions to the mind and develop a dissociation from the steady stream of worries and planning.
Taking a few minutes every day just to observe the unhinged biological ramblings of your mind will do wonders for your health and wellbeing.
Wrap Up - Don’t Try Meditation
If you don’t want to mediate, I’m not going to try to convince you otherwise. As I said, it’s boring, scary, and difficult.
However, if you would like to start listening to your mind more closely, understand that:
Less is more. Start with just a few minutes a day until it becomes a habit. Trust me - if you start with 30 minutes or 1 hour, you will not stick with it over the long run.
You’re not doing it wrong. Just sit (or stand, or walk) in silence or find a guided meditation you enjoy (I’ve listened to Sam Harris for the past few years) (10). That’s all there is to it.
That’s how it’s supposed to feel. If you feel distracted, lose focus, or even forget that you’re meditating, that’s normal.
Don’t try too hard. Try to relax and clear your mind. Notice how quickly your mind becomes unclear. Feel the frustration. Start over and repeat.
It is working. If your experience is anything like mine, it won’t be profound and you won’t suddenly achieve zen-like bliss. Signs of success include becoming slightly more aware of sensations in your body and starting to notice, and being able to interrupt, common mental patterns.
Mindfulness is not my area of expertise and, unlike fitness, I do not understand the topic inside and out. That being said, meditation is an effective way to reduce stress and improve your health. It’s another tool in our kit. If you begin to take a few minutes every day to observe your mind, I guarantee that you will notice a positive change in your life.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82ShSNuru6c&ab_channel=vekmehelofkirr
https://www.amazon.com/Biology-Belief-10th-Anniversary-Consciousness/dp/140195247X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9H9qTdserM&ab_channel=BeckmanInstitute
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/003193849190543W
https://giphy.com/gifs/siliconvalleyhbo-hbo-silicon-valley-U71QMWpmMyVraeA63C
GIF Sources: Barney Seth Meyers Pass Out Creed Patrick
(giphy.com)
