Everyone has a story. And here is the story behind My Meditation Home.
It starts with my father-in-law, John:
“For me, the change happened so quickly. May 2011 and I was an active, healthy hard-working 55 year-old who had never even heard of tinnitus. Yet by early June I was hearing a chorus of locusts in both ears; becoming introspective, irrationally anxious and alarmed each evening as the day quietened; as well as waking throughout the night due to the noise. All I wanted was to hear nothing. In my personal ‘dark night of the soul’ I started to pray for the first time in many years as I could not contemplate living long term with the never-ending noise. I had wonderful support – but was still so isolated and afraid. It was a vicious circle with my increasing anxiety raising the volume in my ears, thereby making me ever more anxious.
Within a short period of time my doctor had referred me to an ear, nose & throat specialist and tinnitus was the verdict. To learn there was no cure seemed akin to a life-sentence and so the depression kicked in. Outwardly I smiled and could speak logically about tinnitus, inwardly I realised how fragile I’d become.
By the end of June I was prescribed a course of Valium as a short term fix to quieten my negative mind as my body gradually adjusted to a more powerful anti-depressant that would be my partner for life.
The breakthrough for me came in an ironic and unexpected way. While no definitive cause for the tinnitus was identified, it seemed a course of strong anti-inflammatory drugs for a damaged knee had triggered it – my doctor discovered tinnitus was one side-effect of the drug for a tiny percentage of the population. So I was quickly back to see him when the increasing dosages of the anti-depressant also seemed to increase my noise levels. Unbelievably it seemed that, again, a very small percentage of people taking that anti-depressant get tinnitus!
So, as well as changing my prescription, the doctor recommended a psychiatrist who introduced me to meditation. Within four to five weeks I had discontinued all medication and had grown to accept my condition, which meant I no longer feared night-time and once again saw a future. Within 3 months my outlook had changed and in the years since my business has boomed and I’ve never felt better – my doctor told me recently that I was “in exceptionally good health”.
I’m not a meditation expert but I am a meditation convert, with a belief that there is no one best type of meditation. My routine of 2011 is no longer my practise and what suits one person might not work for another. The key is to experiment and simply try it – whether you put aside 2 or 20 minutes, some time is better than none.
In the space of 3 months I went from living a privileged life and not recognising how much I was taking for granted; to having a shake-up and reaching a point where I felt isolated and uncertain how I could navigate another day; to coming out the other side with a new perspective that has touched so many aspects of my life – financial, personal, spiritual and health/well-being.
I’ve still got the exact same tinnitus but what I judged initially as a curse I now regard as a blessing – I really do – and while there are many factors to this positive outcome, certainly my daily meditation is at the core of the change.”
And me, well I had meditated on and off over the years, but it never became a habit. When I did meditate, I was just sitting there in a quiet room trying to calm my mind and relax without any guidance. I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. My mind would wander and I’d lose concentration at times. And even though I would still generally feel calm and relaxed afterwards, all these questions made it easy for me just to put it in the too hard basket.
After seeing and hearing John’s experience I started a meditation practice once again and took the advice to use guided meditations to help get back into it. This began around the time that I finished up my last accounting contract to pursue new businesses ventures. And I haven’t looked back since. I can only imagine how the stress levels of my accounting career could have been quite different had I been able to consistently meditate during that time!
I now meditate daily and credit this practice with improving all the areas in my life that we have discussed in our earlier posts on happiness, health, brain function and productivity.
But it has especially helped me in dealing with the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial journey. Of which there are plenty! When things aren’t working and frustration starts to kick in, I still have a sense of calm in my mind to deal with whatever obstacles are thrown in front of me. And I really don’t think I would have achieved as much as I have in such a short space of time if it wasn’t for my meditation practise.
So out of our shared passion for the trans-formative impact that meditation has had on our lives, My Meditation Home was born to share our experience with the world.
It has led us to create a Facebook page (sharing meditation insights, thoughts, articles and the lighter side of meditation), this blog, and our own guided meditation program to help people who are looking for relief from stress and anxiety, as John was. Or just needing somewhere to start with extra guidance and ideas as I did.
So feel free to join our Facebook community by liking our page, or try our guided meditations for free by entering your name and email in the form at the top right of the page (or there is a bit more information here). You’ll get 3 meditations over the next week to try out. Give them a go and let us know what you think.
Craig
My Meditation Home
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