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Imagine you’re chatting to your friend.
They want to get in better shape.
You, as you might, recommend some changes to their eating and some exercise.
“I tried exercising once and I wasn’t fit after” they reply.
Or “I dieted for a day and hadn’t lost weight”.
I’m sure you know what you’d say.
“You need to give it longer”.
“Results come over time – once won’t do much, but they all add up”.
But it’s easy to make the same mistake with other things we might try.
We try meditating once.
Aren’t instantly in a zen like state of completely calm, and give up on it.
Get frustrated that our brain isn’t instantly ’empty’ even though it’s been running at 100 miles per hour for years or decades.
Same thing.
It’s a cumulative process.
Start rubbish at it and practice yourself through pretty bad to mediocre to okayish.
I know, because I’ve tried in the past and given up
But have since got into a regular practice of it.
And seen the results add up.
Started bad.
With too high an expectation.
That I should have ‘no thoughts’.
Then got annoyed that I’m thinking about having no thoughts.
Then got annoyed that I’m getting annoyed.
But, meditation isn’t an emptying of the brain.
When I realised this, the game changed.
It’s creating that little bit of ‘space’.
That little bit of slowing down.
Creating that ‘gap’ between impulse and response.
Freeing, maybe 2 or 3% of our focus and concentration to start.
Becoming ever so slightly less frazzled.
Just a period of time (maybe just a minute or two to start) with an intention of dropping that 100mph down a little.
Maybe to just 99 to start.
But, over time, to, maybe, 90 then 80 then 70.
Same as exercising and eating better, it doesn’t happen overnight.
Start bad and practice yourself better.
And accept each one for what little it is.
Yet how much it adds up over time.
Much love,
Jon ’10 minutes a day’ Hall and Matt ‘Shady’ Nicholson
P.S. You know the score. If you, or a friend, want to find out more about an approach that is about actually helping you to make the changes that will give you the result you desire (rather than just giving you the same list of things to do that you already knew), then this is the next step –> myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting.
RISE Macclesfield – myrise.co.uk
High fives and changing lives
Enter your details at myrise.co.uk for more information about what we do and how we’ve helped hundreds of people in Macclesfield who didn’t get in with gyms, skimming clubs and diets, make big and lasting changes to their health and fitness.
Or check out our monthly find-out-more meeting if you want to learn more about what we do and our free ’20lbs weight loss in 8 weeks’ and ‘Beach Body’ challenges –> myrise.co.uk/briefing-meeting
