Meditation: Marie’s Personal Practice

Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business and a life that you love.

And today it’s Q&A Tuesday and today’s question comes from Sei and she writes: “Hi Marie. In one of your videos, which I really like because they’re upbeat and make a lot of sense, you touched on the topic of meditation. You referred to it as cleansing your vessel. That term triggered my interest and I would like to ask if you can talk us through your routine. Many thanks in advance, Sei.”

Oh, Sei. Meditation is one of my most important power tools. It’s kind of like a buzz saw and a power drill and a weed whacker all rolled into one, but for your mind. Now, you’ve probably heard of all kinds of high level people swearing by it like Jerry Seinfeld and Lena Dunham and Russell Simmons and Madonna and Oprah and Lady Gaga and Martin Scorsese, and so many more.

Now, I’ve talked about meditation many times on the show, but I’ve never actually done a tutorial about my personal practice, which we will do today. But first, the reason I am such a huge fan of meditation is pretty simple: it works. When I meditate I am a better listener, I have more patience, I am so much more creative, and I’m kinder to myself and other people. I have more energy and I feel less stress.

Now, of course, I dive into that stress pool now and again just like everybody else, but thanks to meditation it’s usually just like a quick dip instead of feeling like I’m drowning in anxiety. Now, I first learned to meditate when I was 17 and in the past few years I’ve been way more consistent than I’ve ever been before. On the rare occasion that I don’t meditate first thing in the morning, I feel like I am just chasing my day and I always know I’m not at my best. Creatively, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. But you don’t have to take my word for it.

Meditation is scientifically proven to help you become happier and healthier and more productive. And there’s links to research below. Bottom line, meditation determines your daily power and presence. It removes complications and limitations and helps you become the person you are meant to be. Maybe one of the biggest things I get out of meditation is a clear connection to myself, because whether you realize it or not you have an inner teacher that is full of wisdom and guidance for you, and the more that you meditate and listen, you will be told everything you need to know to move your life in the right direction.

Now, there are so many different styles of meditation. Some have your eyes open, some closed, some with a mantra, some without a mantra. There’s TM, there’s zen meditation, metta, Buddhist, Kundalini meditation, and a ton others. I practice what’s known as a simple mantra meditation. So in Sanskrit, mantra means instrument or tool of the mind. And since I have a very active mind, having a mantra gives me a point of focus during meditation and something that I can come back to.

So if you wanna give my version a try, here are 5 easy steps to follow. And step one is spin my tunes. So once I’ve woken up and I’ve had some tea, I often put on music, and specifically Pandora’s calm meditation radio, and we’ll put a link to that below. Now, why do I do that? Because I love music. A lot of people prefer silence, and sometimes I do too, but, again, this is completely up to you.

Step number two, sit up straight. So I prefer to sit in a cross legged position and I do my very best to sit up and lift up and have a straight spine. Now, if sitting cross legged is uncomfortable to you, you can sit in a chair, whatever seated position really just allows you to have your shoulders relaxed and down and a tall lifted spine.

Step number three is I set my timer. So I just set the little timer on my iPhone, most days I set it for 10 minutes. But sometimes I feel like I need, like, 15 or 20. Now, if you’re one of those people who says, “Mm, I don’t have time to meditate,” to you I would say this. If you have time to shower, you have time to meditate. Just start small, like, even with 3 minutes. Because the truth is, there are 1440 minutes each and every day and if you can’t find 3 minutes for something that is free and scientifically proven to make you happier and healthier and smarter, then, I’ve gotta tell you, you need to stop watching MarieTV right now because there ain’t no hope for you.

Step number four set my mudra. So I put my hands like this, which is called a mudra. And after doing a little research I learned that the position of touching your thumb and your index finger helps open up your root chakra, and that supports greater focus and concentration, which is good for me. But if you’re not comfortable with that you can simply lay your hands on your knees or hold them in another position like this.

Step number five, I say my mantra. So I take a deep breath, I close my eyes, and I start silently saying my mantra. Now, if you have a personal mantra, you can use that. And if not, you can use the one that I use, “So hum namah.” And a loose interpretation of that means “turning back to my true self.” Now, once my eyes are closed my only job for the next 10 or 15 minutes is to be fully present, to notice my thoughts, my feelings, and my emotions. And as often as I can remember, I come back to silently repeating my mantra because it gives my monkey mind something to focus on.

Some days my mind constantly just flitters off and it starts making to do lists of things I have to do or coming up with ideas or conversations that I have, and the moment that I catch myself thinking I just gently allow those thoughts to pass by, almost like watching clouds pass across the sky. And then I come back to repeating my mantra. And that’s it. When 10 or 15 minutes is up my timer goes off, I take a nice deep breath, and then I move on with my day.

Now, if I have to catch a super early flight or for whatever reason I don’t meditate before I leave the house, I can easily do this on the plane or in a taxi or even in the subway. Before we wrap up there’s one important thing I want to share. If you’ve already tried meditation and said, “Blah, I hate it,” please do not give up on it too soon. There are so many different methods and traditions out there. Please keep trying different techniques and different approaches until you find one that’s right for you.

That was my A to your Q, Sei, I really hope it helps. Let’s wrap up with this Tweetable. “There are 1,440 minutes in a day. They’ll all go better if you take 10 of them to meditate.”

Now I would love to hear from you. Do you meditate on the regular? If not, why not? And if so, what specific difference has it made in your life? Now, if you’re new to meditation I’ve got a challenge for you. I want you to commit to some kind of meditation practice just for the next 7 days. See how it feels in your body and notice how it quiets your mind and see what difference it makes in your life.

And to make this even easier, I created a guided meditation that you can download below. That way we can practice together.

Now, as always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com, so go there and leave a comment now. Did you like this video? If so, subscribe to our channel and, of course, I would be so grateful if you shared this with your friends. And if you want even more resources to create a business and life that you love, plus some personal insights from me that I only talk about in email, come on over to MarieForleo.com and sign up for email updates.

Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time on MarieTV.