Meditation.

In this episode of The High Vibes Experience, we explore the ancient roots of meditation, the science-backed benefits for your brain and nervous system, and simple practices anyone can start today—even if you only have a few minutes.

If you've ever thought “I can't meditate” or “I don't have time,” this episode will change the way you think about stillness.

You'll learn:

• The real purpose of meditation
• Why humans have practiced it for thousands of years
• How meditation regulates your nervous system
• Simple beginner practices you can start today

Sometimes the most powerful shift begins with just one breath.

https://www.highvibesmethod.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Most people think meditation requires silence, hours of time, or a perfectly calm mind. But what if just two minutes a day could literally change your brain, your stress levels, and your life? This is Megan, I'm your host, and welcome to the High Vibes Experience. I don't have time, it makes me uncomfortable. But what is meditation, really? Meditation is basically just training your attention and your awareness. It's not about stopping thoughts, it's about observing without reacting. And it also helps regulate the nervous system. So most people think meditation means turning off your brain, but the truth is, meditation is simply the practice of paying attention. It's noticing your breath, it's noticing your body, it's noticing your thoughts without getting carried away with them. And this is why meditation is such a powerful tool for regulating your nervous system and raising your energetic baseline. Meditation isn't some trendy wellness practice that just showed up on Instagram one day. Humans have been practicing forms of meditation for over 5,000 years. It began in India and it spread through spiritual traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism. But the fascinating thing is almost every single culture has some form of contemplative practice. Even Christianity, forms of prayer. That's a form of meditation in a way. And the cool thing is, today's science is finally catching up with what ancient traditions already knew. So why should you meditate? Well, here are some of the benefits. It reduces stress and cortisol, it improves emotional regulation so that you can actually focus and find clarity. It improves sleep, it regulates the nervous system, and it raises your baseline energy. Just a few minutes of meditation a day has been shown to physically change the brain. It strengthens areas responsible for emotional regulation and reduces activity in the part of the brain that's associated with stress. So when your system is unregulated, you might react to things emotionally or irrationally. When your nervous system is regulated, your energy changes. And then when your energy changes, your reality begins to change with it. And even if you think you've never meditated a day in your life, you probably have. Massive, massive difference in your day. Or some people will say, Well, what if you have to sit cross-legged and be quote unquote spiritual? Well, you don't have to do that at all. Of course, it's lovely if you do, but you don't have to. You can meditate walking, you can let meditate lying down, you can meditate washing the dishes, you can meditate walking your dog, you can meditate sitting at your computer, just close your eyes for a couple minutes. There are so many simple ways to meditate. Even driving. My mom's a great example. My mom is uh she's got high energy, and she often will calm herself down driving. So she prefers to drive with no music. Although, if you're in the car with her, she will talk. But if she's alone, she sits in silence, and that's her form of meditation. That's why she loves road trips so much. And I guarantee most of the time on a road trip, she is just not listening to anything. She is contemplative thought, you know? And for me, like I just go sit outside in the sun for a few moments. Last night I had kind of a rough day yesterday. I was feeling really discouraged. Mercury uh retrograde is really hitting me like a ton of bricks this month. And uh just a lot of things that are kind of going on. And so I was like, I know what to do. I know how to take care of myself, and I know what I'm supposed to practice in order to regulate my nervous system. And so I let the dogs out. I went outside and sat in the sun. It was like 89 degrees yesterday. It felt amazing. I took my feet off, or mean my shoes off. I um put my feet on the grass and just closed my eyes, and I imagined where I wanted to be, and I felt where I wanted to be. And all of a sudden, I kind of imagined waves crashing rather than the freeway noise going behind me. And like, you can do that. That's allowed. You're allowed to like be imaginative while you're meditating. It's not about shutting off your brain or shutting off your thoughts, it's really just allowing your body to catch up with your nervous system and vice versa. So honestly, like you can do it anywhere. You can do it anytime, anywhere. Um, all it really takes is just a couple of minutes a day. Okay, so I'm gonna go over a couple of simple meditation practices that you can start if you're a beginner, or if you just need a gentle reminder, or maybe you've meditated all the time and you just need a couple of minutes a day. These are perfect for you. They're easy, it doesn't take anything, you don't need to go find a yoga mat, you don't need anything, okay? These are all simple, simple practices that you can implement into your life. All you need is a couple of moments and yourself. Now, I will say, I am a person who loves my own company, so this is not hard for me. It did, I was not always like that. I think I became this way when I became single. I was in a relationship for such a long time that I was always with this other person and like our friends and like always together. And then I became single for like a really long time. And now I prefer my own company. Now I know a lot of people in my life, almost everyone that I know, with the exception of a few people, really cannot sit by themselves and really cannot be in their own company. And if that's you, it's okay. But I challenge you to sit with yourself with no distractions, don't call someone, don't listen to anything, don't worry. You know, I this is for you because learning how to sit in your own company at peace is euphoric. It is life-changing, it can completely open up the world to so many beautiful experiences, and your body, mind, and spirit will change because of it. And like it reduces stress, it removes the chaos noise around you, also, you won't worry about what other people are thinking about you. You become more at peace when you learn to sit with yourself for a moment, even if it's just a moment. So here are a couple of really simple meditation practices that you can do, whether you're a beginner, whether you've been meditating your entire life and you just don't have time, or you just need a reminder, right? We're all we're all human, we're all experiencing this little thing called life together. And like that's the point of this is to create a more peaceful life for ourselves. And then because of that, we all become more harmonious. That's the whole point of all of this. Okay, so this is the breath reset. Super easy. All you do is pause for a moment. Take in a slow breath in through your nose, hold for a second, and then exhale through your mouth. You repeat that three times. Take a slow breath in through your nose, hold for a second, and slowly exhale through your mouth. One more time, take a slow breath in through your nose, hold for a second, and slowly exhale through your mouth. You are only focusing on breathing, that's all. I mean, this is life-changing stuff, you guys. It it seems so silly and so simple and so small, but you really can completely change the way your body reacts to stress. Uh, this instantly signals safety to your nervous system, and that's what you want to create by meditating. Okay, here's another one. This is just a one-minute awareness practice. All you do is you set a timer for one minute on your phone. I like to do do not disturb or airplane mode, just so that like nothing, nothing can interrupt this one moment. And all you're doing is closing your eyes and simply noticing your breath. That's it for one minute. Just sit with your eyes closed and notice how you're breathing. When your mind wanders, which it will, gently bring your attention back to your breath. You hear this in yoga all the time. It there's a reason for it. It just focuses on the breathing. And so that does the exact same thing. It just tells your nervous system that you are safe. Uh, another thing you can do while you're breathing is you can inhale while you're thinking, receive, exhale, negative, limiting beliefs. You know, you can do that if you want to. But if you're just starting off, you've never meditated a day in your life, just focus on the breathing. That's it. Okay, here's another one. I love this one. I do this every single day, you guys. Okay, so when I go running, this is so silly, and I gotta give TikTok a shout out because I learned this from TikTok. Apparently, Ring My Bell by Anita Ward, the song, is a high-frequency song that um automatically sends a little signal of abundance. Okay, so it's a high frequency song, and so I always start off my run with that song, which is so lame, it's so funny. You know that song, ring my bell, ring my bell, my bell. That song. Don't I'm not a singer. I'm not a singer, but anyway, so I start off my run with that song, and then when I'm done, I always, every single time I go running, I stop running and then I walk the rest of the way home. So I'll I always at least walk a quarter of a mile. Usually it's somewhere between a quarter of a mile to a half a mile after I'm done running to cool down and meditate and just really like focus on being grateful that I'm allowed to run and that I'm able, my body is able, I listen to the birds, I notice things around me. This is what completely starts my day and shifts my energy. I do this every single time I go running. If I'm not running that day, because I don't run every single day. I will always go for a walk. Every single day I will find a way to do this. This is great for people who don't like sitting still. Um, if you are one of those people that cannot sit still, or maybe you do sit still and you work remotely or you're at a computer for however long, I mean, you don't have to be a smoker to take a smoke break. You can go take a little five-minute walk. I like to make sure that I'm walking slow and focus on the sensation of your feet touching the ground. So you go for a slow walk. In my case, I will finish running. I'm walking very, very slow. I'm enjoying the scenery, I'm watching the birds where I live. There's little lizards, there's like little, there's so much wildlife around, there's cranes and like blue herons. It's so amazing. So I just am aware of my surroundings and focusing on sensation. How does the wind feel when it's hitting my ears? You know, all of these little things are just making your body in tune with what's happening around you. We are so lucky to be alive in this time. And sure, you can spend your entire day listening to the news and thinking about everything terrible that's going on. That is a choice that you have. But you can also take a moment for yourself to look around and be so incredibly grateful for that little robin that just flew in front of you, or the leaves blowing in the wind, or a sound of a bird, or the way that the grass crunches underneath your toes. I mean, this is the level of awareness that changes your life. So walking meditation is super, super beneficial. Highly, highly recommend. It's like it can be kind of euphoric too. It's really beautiful. Do this while you're alone, not when you're with someone. Um, like I said, it only takes a couple minutes. It doesn't have to be a half a half a mile, it doesn't have to be a quarter of a mile. It could be a walk around the block, it could be a walk around your backyard, uh, but you go for a slow walk and you focus only on the sensation of your feet touching the ground. You step and then you breathe. And then you step and then you breathe. It's it's so cool. And then do that for a couple moments. You will notice so many things happening around you in the universe. It's so cool. That's why I really love a labyrinth. Um, if you have a park near you that has a labyrinth, you might be able to find one. It's really nice and kind of cool to go experience the labyrinth. Usually they have instructions, it's a circular kind of walkway that you do in a meditation practice. And you could probably Google wherever you live in your city or your town, you can Google labyrinth in the area, and you might be able to find one. Not every city has one, but a lot of them do. Okay, so this next practice is perfect for stress. All it is is a body scan. You're just gonna simply close your eyes, slowly bring awareness to your body from head to toe. Notice where you are holding tension, and then send energy to those areas to soften those areas. That's uh pretty much all there is to it. And I I personally think this is one of the more challenging practices. It is it takes attention to where you are carrying stress. If if you are carrying a lot of stress, it can seem really overwhelming. If that's the case, start with one of the first ones that I mentioned, and I will outline these in my show notes so that you can refer back to them, okay? And I kind of want to say too, like this is something that I also have to work on all the time. It's not something that I've mastered. I, of course, do these practices like daily, but even I will find myself in a stress spiral ball. Like, and I have to remind myself, no, Megan, it's time to do something for you. And it is just that awareness after practicing these things over and over and over again on learning how to regulate my nervous system and learning how to become more at peace with myself. It takes work, it takes practice. And even for me, like I also have to work on it every day. So it's just something that once you begin working on, when you do become stressed or when you do become overwhelmed, or something triggers you, you learn to respond quicker. So instead of having a day full of stress or full of being overwhelmed or triggered or emotional or whatever, and all of those things are okay to feel and have, right? It's a part of healing. But I respond quicker now, and I'm able to talk to myself and be like, no, Megan, you need to go to yoga today, or no, Megan, you need to go for a run today because this is good for your mental health and this is good for your mind, body, and spirit. And when my mind, body, and spirit is clear and at peace, then the entire universe aligns to me. And I think that's where people get it wrong. People make it so complicated with like manifestation and having the life that you want and creating your the life that you dream of. It's not about attaining things from the outside, it's about aligning yourself and then everything outside of you, all of the physical realities, bend to what is your frequency. So we have it all wrong. Like, I always thought for so many years, many, many, many years, if I just write affirmations, if I dream it, I will have it. If I say these things in a mirror every day, if I do all these things, then everything will change and I will have exactly what I want. And those things do help. Vision boards. I used to do vision board clinics, all of those things do help, right? But internally, I was not where I needed to be, and internally my body was not aligned with where my spirit needed to hold space. So when my mind, body, and spirit is centered, that is when I am my true authentic self living my purpose. That is when I get ideas for this podcast, for my book, for my business. That is when I receive emails like, guess what? You got this many downloads for the podcast last month. That is when I receive emails saying you got into this marathon. Lucky you. That is when I get Job opportunities, that is when you are aligned. When your mind, body, and spirit are centered. So when I talk about regulating your nervous system, that's all we're doing is we're teaching your mind, body, and spirit to become aligned with itself so that you can be the best person, best possible version of you, so that you can do everything that you are called to do so that you can live your life's purpose. If you don't know what your life's purpose is, that's when you find it. That's when you get ideas, when you are centered. And sometimes being centered reminds you that you need to rest. You know, that's one thing with marathon training that I wish I knew sooner because recovery and rest and sleep is probably the most important thing for my body being a 46-year-old marathoner. Um, out of anything else, probably more important than the actual running. So sometimes you are called to rest when you are centered. Maybe you've been in fight or flight for decades. Maybe you've been feeling overwhelmed or dissatisfied or just unhappy. You know, if you've if you don't feel like you are living a purposeful life, I call you to try some of these meditation tips. Try some of these practices and just see what happens. You only need a couple of minutes a day. And even if it's not every day, try it once. Try it for two minutes, see how you feel. At the very least, you will feel lighter, you will feel more at peace, you will know in your heart that right now is beautiful and you are okay and happy and loved, you are supported. We all need to feel those things, but too many of us look to the outside to feel those things, whether it's a new purse or a relationship or a vacation or a job promotion. Those are things that are going to make you happy right now. And then it wears off. And you're still longing for more. You're still thinking you're not good enough. You're still wondering, I wonder if this person actually loves me. Um, you're thinking about the next vacation as soon as you get home. You have the bag for one week and you're already kind of tired of it, and you're just like, oh, that was fun. Or a new car makes you feel great for a few moments, but it doesn't actually fulfill your heart and your soul and your purpose. And so when you become aligned, those opportunities and experiences that are meant for you become more clear and visible, and you learn how to receive them. It's instant gratification versus delayed gratification, right? So instant gratification is you get the purse, the car, the job, the vacation. All of those things are great for just a few moments, but then it wears off and it's over. And then you want more and you're unsatisfied. Delayed gratification is crossing the finish line of a marathon after you've been training for nine months, running in the snow, running in the rain, running in 90 degree weather, crying through your runs, feeling euphoria while you're running, running when you're sad, lonely, tired, running when you're injured. Nobody sees that part. But that's the work that we're doing with our soul here. Because when you feel at peace, aligned, there it's indescribable the feeling. And just like crossing a marathon finish line, it's indescribable. It feels better than nothing I've ever felt in my life. And it doesn't matter the pace, it doesn't matter how or why, because it's a journey that you have been on of growth with yourself. You are learning to grow every single day, you are learning to evolve and become more aligned every single day. These are practices that take work and it just takes intention, but it really only takes a couple minutes a day to meditate. And then you become aligned and everything becomes so beautiful and so much more meaningful than a purse, a car, a vacation. Don't get me wrong, I love a vacation. But it's so much more meaningful when you have gone on this vacation after practicing meditation, and you can actually experience the waves in the moment instead of that's pretty. You know, it's it is a different feeling. So I invite you to try these little practices. Um, you know, meditation is amazing. It it's something that like I've been doing for such a long time, but I I'm just now like learning that I can do it everywhere. Um, even just a few minutes of stillness can shift your nervous system, your energy, and the way that you move through the world. And it can uplift people around you. It can just change the frequency of everyone that you talk to throughout the day. It really can change humanity. And like I said, it doesn't matter what religion, what background um you participate in, because even prayer with Christianity is a form of meditation in a way. So um let that go if if that's been holding you back. Um, but try some of these practices even for just one moment. I promise you, it will change your life for the better. I promise. So before I finish today's episode, I want to guide you through a very, very short meditation. You can do anytime. Uh, if you're driving, just listen. Otherwise, close your eyes. Take a slow breath in through your nose and gently exhale through your mouth. Again, breathe in slowly and let it go. Now simply notice the rhythm of your breath. You don't need to change anything, just observe. If your mind wanders, that's totally normal. Just bring your attention back to your breath, and for the next few moments, just be here. That's pretty much it, you guys. Meditation is not about escaping life, it is really just about becoming more aligned, more conscious. And sometimes the most powerful shift in your energy starts with something simple, like taking a couple of breaths. So, thank you so much for listening. I am your host, Megan, and this is the High Vibes Experience.