How Has Meditation Changed Your Life? Arjun’s Journey of Finding Peace and Calmness
Meditation is the key that opens doors of peace and calmness.
Holistic Living has a mission- To spread the message of a healthy and happy life. Every single one of us has tasted the many colors of life. We all have been through days that are painted with shades of happiness, sadness, excitement, helplessness, love, and loss. When all of us have a story to tell, then who is there to listen? That is why we aim to tell the extraordinary stories of ordinary people- Humans just like you and me. Stories that we all can relate, to and stories that inspire us.
Here is one such story. I met Arjun in Auroville. Lazing around casually in on an oversized hammock, I noticed that he was reading my favorite book. Having an inbuilt lust for meaningful conversations, I approached him to talk about my favorite parts of the book. We ended up sharing our inner thoughts and a story that I found worth writing. It is a sweet story of love, inspiration, and how the daily practice of meditation helped Arjun find the peace he so long yearned for.
Here you go..
An anxious heart and an overthinking mind are a disastrous combination. I have spent countless nights tossing and turning in my bed unable to get even a minute of peaceful sleep. For the major part of my life, I believed that this was my fate. There was nothing I could do to relieve myself from the anxiety and the endless loop of negative thoughts. My parents shared the same misery and so did most of my friends.
And then entered my hope and my light- Layla. She is the love of my life and I am a lucky man to call her my wife. The first time I met Layla I was inspired by her calm aura and focused speech. The way she talked made me realize that she is one of the exceptional breeds who has found the key to peace and happiness in life. I lacked the courage to ask her to unravel the secret behind her pleasant state of mind, but I will give myself the credit for carrying on the conversation despite the hundred voices in my head calculating all the wrong things that I could say.
The 3 months of persuading her and courting her were the most exciting period of my life. Her liveliness and in general enthusiasm towards life was highly contagious. One early morning as we were sitting on the rooftop of my house, I asked her- What makes you see life in such a way? Have you never suffered pain? Don’t you ever feel hopeless about the world?
She gently smiled at me and said, ‘a human heart can never be spared from pain and suffering. What makes you think I can be the exception? In fact, I am grateful for all the heartbreaks I have endured because they guided me to create a happier life for myself’
She taught me many things, but one practice that has helped me the most is practicing daily meditation. I thoroughly enjoy the early morning sessions where we simply sit in silence and let our mind wander wherever it wants to wander.
There is a common myth about meditation, that it requires you to have no thoughts at all. Although with rigorous practice one can reach that state, initially it is not humanly possible to stop thinking altogether. Layla is a meditation coach and coming from a place of great expertise and experience she very well knew that for an overthinker it is massively difficult to sit quietly and not think.
She encouraged me to meditate for 2 minutes and we gradually moved up to 15 minutes and now I am proud to say that I can meditate for whole 45minutes! At first, I felt agitated and frustrated. She assured me that it was completely normal and I am feeling the frustration only because I have never allowed myself to sit with my emotions.
She taught me how to be a mere observer of thoughts. Imagine them as fleeting clouds. They will keep coming and going, but the real trick is to not attach any meaning or emotions to them. Being an observer of your thoughts helps you to understand the irrationality and insignificance of all of them.
Another thing that stuck with me was the question she asked- Tell me Arjun, when your true desire is to feel happy and content, then why do you make choices that bring you sadness and pain? It is only a matter of shifting your focus from what is not to what is there. You overthink because you don’t know what the future will bring, but what you do know is the present moment. Make the most of your present because only then you will be able to shape the future you desire.
Ah, my beautiful wife. She does make sense, doesn’t she?
And honestly, her words were merely words until I started practicing meditation and calmed the storm that stirred inside me every single day. In the calmness, I understood the meaning of her words. That is how meditation changed my life. It opened up my mind to the beauty of life and gave me the inner strength to choose happiness and peace
Conversations open a treasure trove of valuable lessons, exciting stories and a cherished bond. Arjun’s story may not make it to the big magazines, or he may not appear on the Ted Talks platform, but it found a place in my heart and mind, and now the pages of LinkedIn.
Share Your Story & Inspire!
