Personal Growth through Meditation
I’ve been talking about what alignment feels like, how to expand what you want in your life, and really living your purpose which makes you a happy person overall. But how do you get there? I didn’t just wake up one day and know everything I know now. I did a lot of work to get here. My old self would say I took the long way, the scenic route, lots of detours, and took a long time to get here. Today, this version of me says I did it in my own divine timing and everything happened the way it was supposed to in my favor. So I want to cover some of the ways I have grown exponentially over the years. It’s not just me, these are tried and true.
For this post, I’ll talk about meditation. How I hated that word. It used to bring up feelings of a difficult practice, sitting cross-legged and back straight (very uncomfortable for me), and just all the performative meditators and “spiritual gurus” who say this is how you must do it. By the way, it’s a red flag anytime you hear someone say this is the only way to do it when it comes to personal growth and spirituality. If you’re someone who doesn’t like the idea of meditating, I can tell you that I was you. I didn’t grow up with it and the closest thing I was exposed to was Catholic prayer.
For a moment, throw out everything you know about meditation.
The purpose of meditation is to grow by learning how to be mindful of your existence. What do I mean by “be mindful of your existence?” Of course you know you exist and you know when you’re hungry and tired and cranky and excited. Sure, but that’s lizard brain stuff. That’s bare minimum. I’m talking about a deeper mindfulness where watching how your thoughts (which are stories and not evidence) are influencing your emotions (which is just information and not facts) and your emotions motivate your behaviors which all create your external reality. There’s a part of you that watches all this happen. That part doesn’t react or judge, it’s just aware. The Watcher, the Soul, the Divine Spark, whatever you want to call it, this is the part you want to connect with in meditation. When connecting with this innermost self, you become more aware and attuned to what benefits your highest good and what does not. You suddenly lose interest in things that weren’t bringing you peace, you start loving things you perhaps didn’t notice before that do bring peace. It’s actually quite magical. It seems so magical and surreal because we’ve globally gotten so wrapped up in the importance of the day-to-day and consuming more and more, quick fixes, and next best thing. Getting more attuned to that higher self through meditation leads us to more and more practices, thirst for knowledge and higher purpose.
What I want to get across more than anything else is to do what works best for you at a pace appropriate to you. You have your own path to walk to meet your higher self. That of course means no comparing your journey to someone else. When you open yourself up to the idea of meditating, something will find its way to you via social media, out in the wild, or someone talking about it. There are so many different ways to go about it. If you have a busy mind, and who doesn’t, sitting in stillness might be quite a difficult and challenging way to begin a meditation practice. You want to challenge yourself, but not make it so hard that you’re struggling. Maybe start with guided meditations instead. In guided meditation, you will listen to someone giving you instruction on how to regulate and calm your nervous system, putting you in a more receptive state, and taking you on a little journey (whatever the theme of the meditation might be). I’ve done many of these through apps like Insight Timer or YouTube. I’ve gone on journeys to meet my guardian angel, spirit guides, ancestors, healing limiting beliefs, reclaiming power, and the list goes on. Now I’m at a point where I love to write my own meditations and do brief meditation work in coaching sessions.
If you prefer movement, you can do a walking meditation. Check your area for walking meditations spaces like labyrinths or just take a walk in a quiet park. On this walk you can repeat mantras or just notice what you see: pebbles, grass, trees, flowers, animals. Notice also what comes up for you in your body. Be an explorer, taking your time, and just be a curious witness to everything happening around you as if this was your first day on the planet.
Another type of meditation you can try is similar to prayer. You focus on a specific spiritual entity to engage in conversation. It could be a god(dess), prophet, saint, ancestor, spirit animal, multidimensional being, or whatever friendly entity you feel connected to. The purpose is not to beg or plead for help or intercession. You can certainly ask for assistance AND be open to receiving a message. Some of these messages are huge and profound and some are simple yet powerful in how much peace they bring. Some of the most powerful messages I’ve gotten are as simple as, “you are okay.”
Think of meditating like exercise for a spiritual/intuitive muscle. The more you practice, the more easily it will come and the more that strength plays out in your daily life. You will start trusting your intuition, you’ll feel something happen in your energy when you meet someone new: a feeling of pushing this person away while outwardly still remaining polite, a feeling of immediate connection like you’ve known this person for years, red and green flags, synchronicities and opportunities popping up again and again.
Wow, this is all so wonderful, why doesn’t everyone do it? Well, that’s quite a long answer. To touch on a few things, it’s more accepted now but was categorized as an eastern thing, a foreign thing, not the civilized and developed country way to do things. Just listen to your doctor, they know best. Meditation leads you to Satan, listen to your church. Just work harder and you’ll get everything you want. What a load of shit. See that for what it is: divide and conquer, control the narrative, make people obedient to a belief and not encourage them to think for themselves, therefore they’re easier to control.
Any kind of personal growth is also not without risk. In growth there can also be grief. As we walk further down our path, our values and interests change, and as much as we try, we don’t connect with some people in our life anymore. They may even accept the path we’re on but just not understand it. We may love them but still it’s hard to connect with them the way we used to. However, we are so grateful for them and everything they’ve provided in our lives. We also want to be humble and remember not to force them down the same path of growth. We’re healers now, but true healers know we can’t force healing on someone else. They are on their own path and divine timing.
Are you ready to give meditation a shot? I’m doing a 7 day free chakra meditation challenge 8/1/26-8/7/26. You don’t have to join anything at any specific time, just join my newsletter below and you’ll receive an invitation to enroll. During this time period you’ll receive a link to the web page that will have audio files to download each day. They are simple, 10min meditations that will leave you calm, more healed, and more present-focused by the end.
