After trying numerous ways to fix a long-term problem of insomnia and anxiety, I crossed paths with yoga and meditation. After practicing over a year, there is no turning back. Being a business owner and handling two businesses simultaneously with an underlining health issue of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), my health and lifestyle took a downfall accompanied by anxiety, constant stress and sleep deprived nights resulting to a turbulence in my work-life balance.
The first two months of practicing meditation were very challenging for me due to lack of concentration and constant thoughts that kept bothering me. Even a five minutes meditation felt like an hour, and at times I got very frustrated that I couldn’t concentrate, but after constant trial-and-error I realized the easiest way to concentrate is to calm your mind and have awareness of your mind-body connection. There is no rule book to how we can calm our mind but having high awareness of your body and surrounding worked for me. Starting from the tip of your toes to the scalp, shifting your awareness from one part of the body to another brings a lot of calmness in your mind and increases the intensity of your focus. I started noticing the changes in myself from the fifth month of practicing yoga and meditation. I grew from being an anxious and short-tempered person to a calm and composed one.
Not limiting myself to just the awareness of body I moved to “omkara” chanting. Coming from a Hindu religion, the word “OM” is a word that was used during rituals to the deities, but after the exposure to the world of meditation I realized how strong the word is and is actually divided into three syllables, pronounced “AUM.” Each of the syllables “A,” “U,” and “M” should be clearly pronounced, with a progressive change from one to the other. A is pronounced as in “palm,” U is spoken as “ooo,” and M is pronounced with the lips pursed to make the sound “mmmmmmm.” ‘A’ should begin at the navel, ‘U’ from the chest, and ‘M’ from the brain (head) creating a vibration all over the body. This process of chanting 108 of Omkara has been my most appreciated and easiest way of meditation.
Whenever I find myself in a middle of chaos and filled with anxiety, I take some time and proceed with the meditation. There is still a long way to go for me to master the art of meditation, but it is not something that is achieved in just a few days. Over the past year I have seen a new version of myself, a lot calmer, a lot more sensible and emotionally stable. The best part is that it has not just transformed my body but my soul as a whole as well.