What's your meditation?💖

Let me start off by asking you a simple question. What's the first thing that comes into your mind when you hear the word meditation? I'm sure, for most of you, if not all, the first thing that you picture is someone with way too much free time and infinite patience sitting cross-legged in a quiet room, surrounded by exotic plants and lemongrass-smelling candles, right? I wouldn't blame you.

Since meditation came in vogue, this picture that comes to our mind has been the accepted standard definition for meditation. But what if it's not? What if I tell you that this is just a form of meditation and we are missing the whole point of it? Meditation is not an activity, it is a concept. It's different for different people, who attach different meanings to it.

What is meditation? And what's the big deal?

Meditation is any activity that helps you to block or shut off anything or anyone that messes with your mind. Whether that be work stress, excessive homework, exam pressure, social pressure, toxic friends, or even hormones - meditation is essentially a form of momentary escapism from all of it. It's much like unfollowing that toxic friend on Instagram who just wouldn't stop posting her vacation photos from the Maldives when you're sitting here learning about electric flux and wondering why the word "fluxes" sounds so damn hilarious (basically you have lost it). Being overwhelmed and getting frustrated or bored by your everyday work is normal and it happens to the best of the best. Slogging around or "grinding" as it is called nowadays won't help you much. Either you will end up in a bad mood due to lack of sleep or you will end up in a bad mood due to your lack of energy and while coffee helps, there comes a point when it doesn't. That's where your meditation - your one go-to activity to escape from this upside-down universe which seems to be plotting against you - comes in. And you need a proper dose of it everyday in order to function.

Wait then, how do I find my meditation?

The first and foremost thing to remember is that your meditation is not your passion. You explore your passion by trying out a billion different things and then stick to the one you like or excel at. You consider a billion factors such as career aspects and whatnot but when it comes to meditation - the whole point is, that you don't think. And believe me, for overthinkers like me it is our only golden hope to make it through the day. Your meditation is something you do every day, knowingly or unknowingly, it's the one thing you can't live without! Whether it be going to the gym or showering for forty minutes or reading questionable fanfiction...it all depends on what you like and enjoy.

For me, my meditation is running. The sound of music blaring into my ears and the gravel crunching beneath my feet after a long and tiring day is pure ecstasy. It's something that I can't live without. I know that if I don't run for a day or two then I'm most likely to be annoyed for the better part of the day. If I'm being quite frank, then running was something I initially hated. I just didn't understand the point of torturing my beloved legs every morning! But as I gradually started doing it more and more, I realized that without it everything feels wrong. And since then, running has become my meditation. And to be honest, I'm not very good at it. My stamina is at sub-zero and I can take anywhere from thirty to fifty minutes to comeplete my 5k. But I need to complete it - that's the whole point.

I could write a whole rant on how mental health is treated in our society - but I won't because every teenager out there knows about it from personal experience. Just like Rome wasn't build in a day, our somewhat conservative mindsets about mental health won't change in a day. But they are changing day by day, step by step. Until then, your meditation is the one thing you can depend on. Don't pressurize yourself too much to find an activity that you enjoy. Just think about it for a moment. As I mentioned before, it can literally be anything. So just calm down, take a deep breath, and keep going. As rightly said, “Brilliant things happen in calm minds. Be calm. You're brilliant."