I first practiced meditation during WesThrive, a program I participated in as a freshman that focused on student-friendly strategies for practicing resilience.
WesThrive was sponsored by groups such as WesWell (an office on campus dedicated to health education and self-care), Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)—an office dedicated to mental health—and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL), which focuses on spiritual and religious well-being. The program met every Monday for five weeks from late October to late November 2018.
Every week, someone from each sponsor group came in to discus resilience from the perspective of their department. During the second week of WesThrive, we learned about mindfulness from Rabbi David, the director of the ORSL.
We formed a circle with our chairs at the start of the session, then completed a series of meditation exercises for an hour. For every exercise, students closed their eyes before Rabbi David tapped on a Tibetan singing bowl; after a few minutes, we opened our eyes and described how we felt.
Every time I closed my eyes and listened to the bowl’s vibrations, I imagined a small boat floating gently down a stream, ripples reaching the surface as it drifted into a midnight sky. It was light, peaceful, and put me at ease.
Since Rabbi David’s WesThrive session, mindfulness has become my go-to strategy for relaxation.
The central goal of meditation is to remain focused on your breath while acknowledging your thoughts, a skill that requires practice and perseverance.
While meditating, you cannot judge your thoughts as either “positive” or “negative”.
Recognize their presence, then let them pass.
One thing I love about meditation is how you can remain centered while trying different types of meditation. My favorites include:
- Gratitude meditation: Think of someone or something in your life that you cherish a lot and send them mental messages of appreciation while meditating.
- Visualization meditation: Think of a goal you have at the moment and construct an image of you having already achieved it. The idea is, the more you focus your thoughts on the goal, the sooner you’ll achieve it.
- Body scan: Stand, sit or lie still and mentally “scan” your body for physical sensations. Start at the top of your head, then move slowly downward until you reach your feet.
- Journaling meditation: As the name implies, grab a journal and record your present thoughts as they come and go.
After WesThrive, I began incorporating mindfulness into my daily life and regular habits through meditation and journaling.
As I left Rabbi David’s session, I downloaded Oak, an app with tools for meditation, breathing, and sleeping that I use whenever I need to ease my mind.
In September 2019, I joined WesMeditation—Wesleyan’s student group that hosts weekly meditations—and in February 2020, I joined a meditation group for Wesleyan students of color.
Every night, I write down five things I am grateful for in my journal; they can either be specific (e.g., a delicious dinner) or broad (living to see another day).
Mindfulness is like an anchor.
When I meditate or journal, I stay rooted in the present, looking on as my worries float away into obscurity like a boat into the nighttime.
(featured image credit: @nofilter_noglory via unsplash.)
