Mini-Meditations

Rosanne Bostonian

· meditation,Rosanne Bostonian,Steven Covey
Woman meditating

The whole notion of “meditating” can be intimidating. We have images of Eastern folks sitting in ashrams with chanting monks in the background. They seem transfixed and unfamiliar to the Western eye. The imagery seems exclusive and in our rushed lives, impossible to implement. And why would we “waste the time” when we’re only going to be sitting there thinking of what productive thing we could be doing instead!?

Steven Covey, in his book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” offers the practice of sharpening the saw. He states that we can hack away at a tree with a dull saw, thinking we’re working hard and accomplishing something, or we can take the time to sharpen the saw and operate efficiently and effortlessly.

Maybe we don’t have to create a daunting ceremony to accomplish this and simply can take a moment here and there to close our eyes and breathe. Maybe we can stop the mad rush and feel our own presence. I call that a “mini-meditation.”

There are types of breathing that realign our scattered nervous systems. One type is “4-6-8 breathing.” Inhale to the count of 4, hold your breath to the count of 6, exhale to the count of 8. Your nervous system will thank you! Just noticing your scatter is a huge step rather than running on adrenal hormones to the point of burnout.

Quality of effort is more efficient that quantity of effort. And it leaves time to read a blog from your friend Rosanne!