The Art of Sitting Still

Growing a business, although a rewarding adventure, is uncertain and often uncomfortable, just like life itself. The single most effective tool I’ve found to navigate that territory is meditation, which I feel has helped create a solid foundation from which to address all the surprises, all the emotions, all the mental chatter that inevitably comes up. If you read our last post, you already know we at SunLife are strong proponents of morning routines. Aside from gratitude lists, mediation is at the top of our recommendations to start your day with.

If the commonly mentioned benefits of meditation sound too abstract for you, here’s a couple fun facts from the Huffington Post: studies have shown that sustained meditation leads to neuroplasticity (i.e. the brain’s ability to change, structurally and functionally, which many scientists used to believe stopped after adulthood) and it increases gray matter in the brain (this may sound scary, but actually means your brain ages at a slower rate). And if you listen to podcasts like Tim Ferris’, you’ll notice it’s a recurring theme in many of today’s most brilliant and successful (in every sense of the word) men and women.

But where to begin? If you have trouble doing this on your own (or even if you’re a pro), we strongly recommend the Headspace app. It’s a guided meditation series that, along with basic timed meditations, includes different categories you can choose from (like Change, Anxiety, and Appreciation) and explores several different techniques so you can see what resonates with you. I can’t speak highly enough about this invention and personally use it every day. A lot of people seem to get overwhelmed by the concept of meditation because they think of the goal is having no thoughts. The advice given in this app really helps re-frame the end goal, which is to change the relationship you have to your thoughts and emotions, not stop them. As they say in Headspace, it’s similar to the difference of being out in a rainstorm versus observing the storm from inside the house.

I swear, Headspace isn’t paying us to say this and hopefully it doesn’t come across as an ad because the intention is simply to share with others something that so many of us at SunLife have fallen in love with and received such profound benefit from. So go on…sit back, relax and observe.

Hayley Gorcey
Owner- SunLife Organics