She came for a massage, years ago, when I was running a home massage clinic in my rickety little hippie-cottage by the beach, while studying naturopathy.

She had something about her I noticed immediately, a felt-sense of peace and clarity that shone through her blues eyes and seemed to radiate from her very core. She was the most spiritually calm and grounded person I’d ever come across.

As I kneaded her back with lavender-scented oil, I shared what I noticed about her and asked what her deal was… did she have some sort of special spiritual practice or something?

….Ah…yeah she did!…

20 years of getting up at 4.30 every morning and meditating for 3 hours!

To say I was impressed was an understatement.

I asked her what it gave her to make her so incredibly dedicated – aside from her calm glow…

And she opened up and shared a tragic story with me…about her youngest daughter being diagnosed with luekaemia and passing over – something that could destroy a mother and a family irreparably.

Her meditation became a literal lifeline during her darkest times.

In those hours of stillness, she let herself surrender.

She surrendered to her pain and she embraced her grief fully, riding the waves of her deep emotions until her consciousness was able to drop even deeper, to that still, silent place within that is ever-present but often obscured by the constant chaos of thoughts and feelings that consistently cloud our minds. She became the ocean, rather than the wave.

Those three hours a day became a path to healing. They kept her sane, and they kept her strong for the rest of the family. Of course, a mother will always experience profound loss and sadness after losing her precious daughter, so please don’t think I’m implying that meditation takes away emotional pain or helps us escape our problems. It doesn’t. But it does help us to get in contact with that calm, still place within that’s there regardless.

Even as a young 23 year old who still spent her spare time drawing fairies and reading fantasy novels, I recognised the wisdom in this. I already felt what Buddhists had been teaching for centuries, that life contains inevitable suffering as well as joy. I too wanted to learn how to live from this calm and solid place within so I wasn’t thrown around so easily during the rough times and so I could enjoy more fully the sweeter times.

And so began my own meditation practice.

There’s 2 reasons I wanted to share this story with you today.

1. Because if you suffer from anxiety, developing the skill to “become the ocean” rather than stay caught in the choppy waves of intrusive thoughts, worries and physical anxiety symptoms provides immense relief……and
2. Because it’s May! And May is the month of mindfulness…(apparently!)

I share a lot about diet/herbs/supplements for anxiety on my blog and socials, but I’m also a mindfulness instructor and consider this a CRUCIAL piece of the puzzle for healing anxiety (In fact, my anxiety clients also get access to my 8 week mindfulness program The Calmer Mind Course because I believe it’s SO important.)

So for this month, I thought I’d write each week about mindfulness meditation, and perhaps it will inspire you to start meditating too!

I’d love to know, what are your burning questions about meditation? What would you like to know? Have you tried it? Found it challenging?

Let me know in the comments below and I’ll answer them over the coming weeks🙂

In the meantime, I also thought I’d share a short, guided meditation with you each week if you’d like to try it, this one is called Letting Go Of Thoughts and Worries

Enjoy!