Episode 39 - Power of meditation
Transcript
00:00:04 Alison
Welcome to mental wealth, the podcast to invest in your mind. Here I will help you make sense of your mind and behaviours, giving you the tools to have your best life. There is so much to share, so let's get into this episode and explore another great topic. Welcome to episode.
00:00:24 Alison
39 and in this episode, we're going to take a deeper dive into.
00:00:30 Alison
Meditation and mindfulness and justice. Taking that time out, so important for us to talk about it and.
00:00:37 Alison
I have brought.
00:00:38 Alison
A very special guest in to help me with this episode, and I'd like to welcome Claire Morton to the show.
00:00:44 Claire
Hello, how are you?
00:00:46 Alison
I'm good. It's brilliant to have you here.
00:00:48 Claire
Thanks for having me.
00:00:49 Alison
Claire, tell everyone a little bit about you and what you are.
00:00:53 Alison
As expert at.
00:00:55 Claire
OK. Oh, a great question. So my name is Claire Morton. I am a life and business strategist. That title changes every week, but I basically help people with their life, their life purpose, their well-being to.
00:01:11 Claire
Then be able.
00:01:11 Claire
To help them in their business and career and.
00:01:15 Claire
And obviously, what part of that is helping them to really connect to who they are and part of how I I do that and how I teach is through yoga and meditation.
00:01:26 Claire
Because I've I've been doing this work for.
00:01:30 Claire
21 years.
00:01:31 Claire
When I discovered personal development in when work was working in the corporate world and I love teaching the concept, so you know the emotional intelligence and self-awareness and great leadership. And I'm always fascinated.
00:01:45 Claire
By the differences of.
00:01:47 Claire
People. And then I did a qualification as a Myers Briggs practitioner many years ago about 18.
00:01:54 Claire
Years ago and.
00:01:54 Claire
That for me really, really opened my eyes up to say wow. I'm so there's so many of us were so different and people think differently, feel differently. So I.
00:02:04 Claire
Was like wow.
00:02:05 Claire
That that really gave me an insight into me.
00:02:08 Claire
And then ten about 10 years ago, I went through some personal trouble and a friend asked me to go to a yoga class. So I went to the show the class and did some meditation, did some yoga postures and stretches. And I just kept crying.
00:02:24 Claire
Through the through the class.
00:02:27 Claire
I'm not doing this again.
00:02:28 Claire
I keep crying and she was like you need to cry. Stop trying to be say that everything's OK. I'll allow your body to just release and from then on, I fell in love.
00:02:41 Claire
Meditation and yoga, because we live in such a busy world of what we always do and one thing, then we move on to the next. There's always something to be done or someone to serve or look after, and it really helped me to slow down and reconnect to me.
00:02:57 Claire
And what I wanted and then that's what led me then to leaving the corporate world a few years after. That's. Yeah. So in 2017, just start my own training business.
00:03:08 Claire
Then meditation and yoga became part of my journey and to be able to teach that with all the other modalities has been amazing. So I I absolutely love talking about meditation and the science of meditation, of how it actually physically helps the body. So I was made up when you asked me to come out and talk about it.
00:03:28 Alison
Brilliant. Yeah. Let's talk about that.
00:03:30 Alison
Because I think.
00:03:30 Alison
This, you know, we all know that.
00:03:33 Alison
It's a thing.
00:03:34 Alison
We all know that it's available to.
00:03:36 Alison
Do, but I think some people I often hear say they don't really know what it is and they think it's about emptying their head and having no thoughts, which we know. And I'm sure you're going to put some more information on that. It's not possible. That's not.
00:03:50 Alison
The goal? Yeah, and I.
00:03:51 Alison
Think to me it is just breaking down almost.
00:03:55 Alison
The myths or the the missed messages that are out there so that people can start to think, OK, well, maybe it is right for me.
00:04:03 Alison
And I think that's something that we can definitely do in this episode.
00:04:07 Claire
Yeah. And again, I I use the term, we don't get, we don't meditate to get good at meditation. You meditate to get good at life. So if you and I know that it's not for everyone. I know my husband is like, I don't need to find this out, I don't need.
00:04:28 Claire
I'm just gonna do this and I don't need to find myself there. I already know who I am, but I know for him he's a very calm person anyway and he is quite he's quite pleasant and his meditation is just sitting and having a cup of.
00:04:41 Claire
Tea watching the football.
00:04:43 Claire
Or going for walking the dogs. And that's what my.
00:04:47 Claire
My aim is is for.
00:04:48 Claire
Us too, and that goes into the life on this piece of if you have a daily meditation fact.
00:04:53 Claire
That's and there's so.
00:04:55 Claire
Many different types of meditation that you can do.
00:04:57 Claire
And I have my.
00:04:58 Claire
Own technique that I teach and.
00:05:02 Claire
And there are loads of.
00:05:03 Claire
Apps out there with like, you know, like you can lie down, sit up. You can do it while you walking and so.
00:05:09 Claire
For me, I'll.
00:05:10 Claire
Just go back to basics and say OK meditation.
00:05:14 Claire
You don't need to do.
00:05:14 Claire
Any more than 15 minutes a day.
00:05:17 Claire
And if you there's a the meditation that I teach just like.
00:05:21 Claire
If you do it in the morning.
00:05:23 Claire
It then puts your body into rest and digest. It takes you into that, that beautiful place of stillness. It takes the body and its chemical makeup into, and that it it brings on the dopamine it brings on all of those endorphins and then lovely chemicals instead of the body being imported on adrenaline.
00:05:42 Claire
All the time because so first of all, if you start the day off within 60 seconds, if you're doing some breathing to go in, the body's gone into that nice piece of balance.
00:05:49 Alison
OK.
00:05:53 Claire
And then we'll be doing mantra meditation where we literally take the mind and we focus on a mantra for 10 minutes of that meditation. And then we finish with gratitude that type of meditation gives you focus and energy for the rest of the day. And if you did that meditation each morning, it also helps you sleep at night.
00:06:13 Claire
You don't have to do a sleep meditation before you go to bed. It really gets you into that practise. And the one thing I'll say to people as well is what you said it you cannot clear your mind.
00:06:25 Claire
That, and that's why, if you're a perfectionist.
00:06:27 Claire
Or if you.
00:06:28 Claire
You've meditated maybe once or twice before, and the first time that you meditate. Typically people go Oh my God, that was amazing. I want that again. I want that that feeling. I sort of went somewhere for a little bit and then I and then I came back and that's called blissfield. That's what I call it. And people tried to get that.
00:06:45 Claire
And like that might.
00:06:46 Claire
Because you're trying to get something again.
00:06:48 Claire
And just go back to the breath or come back to your mantra or focus on one thing, but also know that in that 1015 minute meditation, your mind will go off.
00:06:59 Claire
Into thought and you might think about what's for tea tonight, or you might think that.
00:07:03 Claire
You go check your phone.
00:07:05 Claire
You'll just sit with it, come back to that mantra, come back to the breath, stay at the present moment, focus, and then you can come out and go about your day. And then if you have that practise each day, then you'll be more mindful in the day.
00:07:20 Claire
So that's when the meditation works. Because you are so present with the people that you're with, you literally with them. You're in the conversation. You know where else?
00:07:28 Claire
But you're with.
00:07:29 Claire
Them or you're present with yourself or you're present.
00:07:32 Claire
You know, on a walk and you.
00:07:33 Claire
Notice in the sky and the floor and the leaves and.
00:07:36 Claire
The flowers, you know, we all have it.
00:07:39 Claire
Just very few and far between, and that's when we just connect to the heart and we come out the head and into the body.
00:07:46 Claire
And a lot.
00:07:47 Claire
Of people are living in their heads, we're worrying about one thing. You know, getting to work, dropping the kids off, creating the report, being in traffic jams, going to the gym. What's for tea tonight? Worrying about parents.
00:08:00 Claire
So we're constantly in that narrow focus of just getting through the day, whereas if you have that practise, it just allows you to flow through the day and be present and actually stop and ask yourself, does that need to be done today, that thing that's on my list, does it really, I'm feeling that today. No, let me do that.
00:08:20 Claire
Tomorrow. Or, let me do that next week when I feel the energy coming to do that thing, because if we just force stuff all the time.
00:08:28 Claire
It's like trudging through water and
00:08:31 Claire
It it doesn't work, it doesn't help anyone.
00:08:34 Alison
No, I love that.
00:08:36 Claire
Yeah, we come to the conversation or the OR the party.
00:08:40 Claire
Or the the gathering with the wrong energy.
00:08:44 Claire
And people feel that.
00:08:46 Claire
So you feel more mindful of the things that you're choosing to do, even like being more mindful of you. You know, if you open the fridge again because we're just, we come in. I used to come in, open the fridge, bottle of wine, pour a glass while making dinner.
00:09:01 Claire
Where it is now it's like, I'm going to the fridge. Do I actually want this glass of wine? No I don't. It's just a habit to just get you to be more mindful of your habits and to make better choices as well.
00:09:12 Alison
Choices. Yeah. I mean, I think choices is such a powerful.
00:09:16 Alison
Word that we almost it is a superpower almost and we don't use it as we should to actually choosing to not do something, choosing to do something. But I think something that I hear people saying and you've touched on it so, so beautifully Claire.
00:09:32 Alison
Is that people do have a go at meditation.
00:09:37 Alison
Find it hard to do because their minds keep going off and then they think they can't do it.
00:09:42 Alison
So then they say, oh, it's not for me.
00:09:46 Claire
Yeah. Or people think it's all woo woo and it's very spiritual. Well, the fact that we are human beings in the body with.
00:09:55 Claire
A spirit inside or a soul.
00:09:58 Claire
We are. That's that's what we are. And the sooner we we learn this the better because this body is taken. We need to look after the body but we also need to look after the soul and connect to the heart. And that's exactly what I teach is around.
00:10:14 Claire
Everyone's meditation practise is different. We've all got our own things going on in our head, but the more that's why it's called a practise so that you could, you could wake up one morning and have a practise and they thought that was really good. Today I stayed focused and.
00:10:29 Claire
Feel nice and chilled and I can go about my day and I.
00:10:31 Claire
Can serve and I can.
00:10:32 Claire
Be present for everyone, other days.
00:10:34 Claire
You've got other.
00:10:35 Claire
Stuff going on in your life your head's busier. It can take you a long.
00:10:38 Claire
Time to.
00:10:39 Claire
To to slow down and get.
00:10:41 Claire
Into that but.
00:10:42 Claire
Just by you doing having that time, that practise will still allow the body to pump out a fight or flight.
00:10:49 Claire
And into rest, even though you might think ohh that was a busy my head was too busy. You still took that time out and I would say to stop trying and stop. Don't try to meditate cause.
00:11:02 Claire
The more you like you go.
00:11:04 Claire
The more you'll get a headache. So it's like you just sit with your thoughts. You sit with that mantra or the breath or the guide.
00:11:12 Claire
That you're listening to.
00:11:13 Claire
And every time you float off into thought and then you realise, then just gently come back.
00:11:19 Claire
And then you'll just, you'll just keep and then the more that you practise, the more that you find focus will come because in Sanskrit.
00:11:28 Claire
And the it's.
00:11:28 Claire
A limb of yoga, it's called ajana, and that means one flow of perception. So you're training the mind to just focus on.
00:11:39 Claire
That is all that means and and the more that you practise that the the more it will become a little bit easier and it because it brings the two hemispheres of the brain together. And This is why I love the science part of it. You've got your left and right hemispheres of the brain and they and then you've got the corpus close and in the middle of the brain.
00:11:59 Claire
So when you meditate, that grows thicker.
00:12:02 Claire
So then, because that happens, it means that you've got more access to both sides of the brain when you're hitting some problems or challenges in daily life. So rather than you reacting in the moment with anger, or you know that energy, that's not gonna help. You will be more mindful than well, can you go straight into instinct?
00:12:23 Claire
And react you've got that time in the moment to access and go. How am I gonna get through this traffic jam? Or that person has just said something to me and instead of reacting, you'll you've got access to both parts of the brain in the moment and then no, I'm not gonna react.
00:12:40 Claire
Breathe and will respond as opposed to the act, and it honestly people when they start meditating and people who have done my courses. I've I've got voice notes and said I've just been on school and someone just cut me off and I just feel through.
00:12:57 Claire
And and I'm not angry.
00:12:58 Claire
When I got to work.
00:13:00 Claire
It's like yeah, because you've got the choice now to say, you know what, send that person who's just give you.
00:13:07 Claire
The the V sign.
00:13:08 Claire
Some love and compassion because they might be on their way to work and they've they've been stressed out or they've got rushed to the hospital and you just crack on about your day and and you don't need to respond. Don't take on that energy and it's hard to do. It is hard to do that. But if you have a practise where you where you do start to slow down.
00:13:28 Claire
And you can see things more clear and feel them. Do sit then say if you breathe, I'm just gonna crack on. I'm not responding today. Maybe tomorrow or later on. Yeah. It's it's so magical.
00:13:43 Alison
I think that's something that's really interesting, maybe for people who haven't tried it before and have kind of thought, oh, it's not for me. Maybe, you know as.
00:13:50 Alison
You say, a bit woo woo.
00:13:51 Alison
We'll actually if you focus on it being a mechanism or a vehicle to be able to deal with stressful situations better, that might be a different way of focusing on it and making it maybe more important in your day because.
00:14:07 Alison
Again, I often hear people and I'm sure you do. Claire.
00:14:10 Alison
I haven't got time. That's the most ridiculous statement when it when we're looking for something that's actually going to help our bodies, our minds, our spirits, etcetera.
00:14:20 Alison
But I think.
00:14:20 Alison
That might be a great way for a few people listening in who haven't prioritised it yet and and yet they are still.
00:14:28 Alison
Getting angry about things, getting frustrated quite quickly, wouldn't it be brilliant if they could see after a few sessions?
00:14:37 Claire
Literally, after a couple of sessions. You literally see the world differently because you're connecting to.
00:14:45 Claire
Who you really are.
00:14:47 Claire
And a lot of us don't know who we are because we're too busy putting up on our face as the rest of society. And I and again I I know I've been there, I'm still working on myself. Whenever the finished off, as you know and and but I'm really happy with who I am right now because I am truly, being me. And if you don't like.
00:15:06 Claire
Me. That's OK.
00:15:07 Claire
And if you do, then that's also OK, but I want to go through like being who I.
00:15:13 Claire
Was born to be.
00:15:14 Claire
And not being something else for someone else, because that's not. That's when you were attracting wrong.
00:15:23 Claire
Life to yourself because you're not actually putting yourself 1st and then some people think that's that's it.
00:15:28 Claire
That's that's selfish.
00:15:30 Claire
But if you're not.
00:15:31 Claire
Well, and you're busy and you're all getting sick.
00:15:35 Claire
Then you can't serve anyone else that way and.
00:15:40 Claire
There's so many people living in that fight.
00:15:42 Claire
Or flight response.
00:15:43 Claire
70% of doctors visits are down to stress.
00:15:47 Claire
And we don't have to be stressed and and again. As I say, there's there's good stress and there's bad stress. Good stress, obviously is we wanna keep ourselves safe. We wanna make sure that, you know, if we cross on the road and the cars coming, you're obviously gonna run across the road. But you don't wanna get or you know there's there's there is.
00:16:07 Claire
Stress is that good.
00:16:09 Claire
Stress that keeps us going and it keeps.
00:16:10 Claire
Us alive, you.
00:16:11 Claire
Know and sometimes that nervousness of speaking on stage or creating.
00:16:15 Claire
A new training.
00:16:15 Claire
Programme or learning a new skill. We do feel a little bit stressful and we go into the high beta sometimes.
00:16:23 Claire
That that beta brain wave we'll take if we're constantly there. Sure, we, we we can't be we can't perform. We can't be ourselves because we're constantly living in survival and we're living in that energy. The body is literally just trying to keep us alive. So we want to come out of that fight or flight and.
00:16:43 Claire
Into rest and it it massively does it.
00:16:46 Claire
And then you know, the top athletes in the world, top people, most of them meditate because they, they it helps their performance, whether you're an athlete, whether you're a mother or father who's looking out at the kids, which is a huge job, a business owner, a hairdresser, a florist, if you.
00:17:05 Claire
Can do take that 15 minutes out for yourself each day you will perform better in life.
00:17:11 Claire
Just the life becomes easy and you're ready for life challenges because none of us are getting out of life of life without.
00:17:19 Claire
Any heartbreak or challenges?
00:17:22 Claire
But it allows you to ride that.
00:17:24 Claire
Wave a little.
00:17:25 Claire
Bit better and to also sit with the pain. A lot of those are distracted.
00:17:32 Claire
You know, drink out drinking alcohol, drugs, gambling our phones are an addiction. Now there's so many things that we're using to distract ourselves from.
00:17:43 Claire
Really sitting with ourselves and I I I know that because I'm still working through that myself to be able to just sit and be and do absolutely nothing.
00:17:52 Claire
Even like, Oh my God.
00:17:54 Claire
Would be so bored.
00:17:56 Claire
And it's like, but just try it and people avoiding stuff while they're numbing themselves that are. And so when you first start meditating, some people are.
00:18:05 Claire
I've said to me.
00:18:06 Claire
Claire I cried. Is that normal? Is like absolutely.
00:18:10 Claire
Just like mine.
00:18:12 Claire
You're sitting with yourself. You're sitting with your thoughts, just sitting with how you feel.
00:18:15 Claire
To make you.
00:18:16 Claire
Feel and it's like it's like a sadness.
00:18:19 Claire
But it's like a ohh.
00:18:21 Claire
Ohh it's it's.
00:18:22 Claire
Actually there I am.
00:18:24 Alison
But you are honouring, aren't you? You're honouring who you are, and if there is sadness trapped in there, there, if there is.
00:18:30 Alison
Something else sit.
00:18:31 Alison
With it and I.
00:18:32 Alison
Love that sort of thought of just.
00:18:35 Alison
Pushing yourself to sit with things? I mean, I'm often saying just sit with that uncomfortable feeling. Something amazing will come out.
00:18:43 Alison
But you're right.
00:18:44 Claire
You you allow it to pass through and the energy can break that energy leaves the body. That stress can lead.
00:18:51 Claire
But it can be quite.
00:18:54 Alison
Wait, I I think we have.
00:18:56 Alison
To say it will be.
00:18:57 Claire
100% But then and then this is like there's there's no, there's no growth. There's still without challenge.
00:19:03 Claire
And and we are here.
00:19:05 Claire
To grow and we changing.
00:19:06 Claire
All of the time.
00:19:08 Claire
But a lot of people and and and especially in our society go let's go out and have a drink. Let's go out. Let's have a but it's associated with doing something or we even, you know, you'll get the same. The clients come to you. And I just wanna keep busy. I wanna keep busy.
00:19:23 Claire
Because if I don't.
00:19:24 Claire
I need to keep yourself distracted and it's like, OK, well, well, what? Are you distracting yourself from?
00:19:29 Claire
Let's look at that and then and then you sit with them and then allow them.
00:19:34 Claire
To give them.
00:19:35 Claire
That time to sit. And that's what meditation.
00:19:37 Claire
Can do that for you for free.
00:19:40 Claire
Or you can go to a meditation class. You can take up yoga because meditation is a living yoga. So when you're practising meditation, you're actually practising yoga. And I think loads of people associate yoga with going to a class and getting hot and sweaty and.
00:19:54 Claire
Stretching and posture.
00:19:55 Claire
What meditation is part of.
00:19:57 Claire
A yoga practise. So you are actually.
00:19:59 Claire
After some yoga and when you meditate and a lot of people as well think, meditate and lying down, that's relaxation. Meditation needs to be done sitting up.
00:20:11 Claire
Because the spine and and the head and the brain wave state that you go into, you're typically going to fall asleep.
00:20:17 Claire
If you lie down.
00:20:18 Claire
So that's why I say for 15 minutes, sit up straight to find. Be comfortable on a chair if you want, or on the floor. Whatever's comfortable for you, but allowing yourself to stay awake because it's the it's the different brain wave state. It'll take you into.
00:20:32 Claire
And then it'll bring you back down.
00:20:34 Claire
And the rest that it gives you body people.
00:20:37 Claire
I just love it when.
00:20:38 Claire
People start getting into meditation and then they.
00:20:40 Claire
Message you to.
00:20:41 Claire
Say ohh everything just feel a little bit lighter.
00:20:45 Claire
Love it, I love.
00:20:46 Alison
It well, hopefully some people listening in today who may not have tried it before or maybe tried it before but didn't quite get it going. Hopefully they feel inspired to get going for themselves and I think something few little tips that you've said along the way hopefully can help people remembering that it is their practise and it doesn't have to be the same as everybody else's.
00:21:07 Alison
They also.
00:21:09 Alison
Has to keep working at the practise. That is the point, and I think that's the biggest takeaway for a lot of people is just to remember all you're doing is keep bringing your attention back, keep bringing it back, keep bringing it back.
00:21:22 Alison
Cause it will.
00:21:22 Alison
Go off into different things in our day.
00:21:26 Claire
We have 60 to 70,000 thoughts a day.
00:21:30 Claire
So you're not going to clear your.
00:21:32 Claire
Minds. Absolutely not. You know, we're not monks sitting.
00:21:35 Claire
In the middle of the.
00:21:36 Claire
Monastery on top.
00:21:37 Claire
Of a mountain. We are people in a busy modern world, but it allows you to just have, like, human experience in a better way. But I I've got a free meditation master class. There I talked about all that. So I can share that in the show notes with you.
00:21:50 Alison
That would be brilliant. Thank you, Claire.
00:21:51 Claire
And that that explains the science and the guided meditation at the end.
00:21:56 Alison
That would be amazing. Thank you for that. Thank you so much for coming and sharing your expertise and your knowledge on this topic.
00:21:59
00:22:06 Claire
Thank you so much for having me.
00:22:07 Alison
Ah, it's been brilliant and hopefully like I say, there might be some few people out there who just think, do you know what? I'm gonna give that.
00:22:14 Alison
A go, so I hope they do.
00:22:19 Alison
Thank you.
00:22:20 Alison
Listening and sharing in this episode of Mental Wealth. Remember, you can subscribe wherever you get your podcast. My last question to you is what is the one small thing that you can take action on from this episode? Message me.
00:22:37 Alison
On Instagram or through our website with questions you'd like.
00:22:40 Alison
Me to explore.
00:22:41 Alison
You'll find the links in the show.
00:22:43 Alison
Hopes I'll be back with more tools and.
00:22:45 Alison
Tips to make sense of your mind in the next episode.
00:22:49 Alison
In the meantime.
00:22:50 Alison
Be kind to yourself. Bye for now.