Slow Down to Speed Up

I was lucky enough have spent most of last week at Canyon Ranch in Lenox Mass. What an amazing place.

The term “spa” doesn’t do it justice. It’s much more than that. Yes it has great spa services (best hot stone massage of my life..Yan I love you) but it offers so much more. In addition to exercise and dance classes, there are terrific  lectures on topics ranging from the science of diet and weight loss to communicating better with your partner.

There’s so much to choose from you can spend all day flitting from a Pilate’s class to a massage to a lecture then back to a dance class an on to outdoor hiking and watercolor painting finsihing the day with an evening cooking demonstration..

Wow! I know it can sound exhausting. But I actually found it quite energizing.

And surprisingly, the thing I found the most energizing was sitting still…literally…in my first ever mediation class.

Now I know I am a little late to the game here, but I always thought meditation was something a bit too “out there” for me.  The thought of sitting still and trying not to think of anything automatically made me terribly antsy and instantly brought more noise (not less) to my already over-active brain.

And not the good kind of noise…more the “did I remember to turn the coffee pot off?” kind of  noise.

But one of the great things about Canyon Ranch is it creates such an open, easy environment to try new things. So I did.

I tried Morning Meditation my second day there and I was hooked.

After just 25 minutes every morning I felt so much more relaxed and focused that I got much more out of my days. Instead of being overwhelmed and daunted by what was ahead, I felt focused and energized.

I know a lot of you out there probably already know these benefits of meditation.

But on the off chance that you are like me…a bit skeptical…Yoga? Yes. Meditation? No.

Too incense and love beads…and not quite  a “real” activity…

I urge you to give it a try.

You might just find that slowing things down for a few minutes gives you the fuel to speed up the rest of the day.

That’s my point of view. What’s your twist?

Has meditation worked for you?