Imagine that you have just been magically granted 10 minutes to drop everything and do whatever you like. Whether you were at the library studying for a midterm, at a campus job or cleaning up your dorm room, you have now been given the chance to step away and simply do as you please. You may initially think that 10 minutes isn’t all the time in the world — it’s not enough time to get your favorite sandwich at Hamilton Eatery or get in an extensive workout at Trudy Fitness Center. For those who didn’t get enough sleep the night before, taking a 10-minute nap is probably not going to do the trick, even for the most formidable of the “power napping” breed.
Many of us, myself included, have become hardwired to pan toward our devices to fill these small pockets of time. You may choose to see if there’s a new Instagram reel (or, very well, a monsoon of them) your friend sent you to check out or try to get a high score in Subway Surfers. These short moments can be so easily spent in our outlets of instant gratification, particularly those of a digital nature. Without the time constraint, 10 minutes quickly turns into 20, 45, even an hour and beyond. I’d like to broach an alternative means to spend those 10 minutes with an age-old practice that so many struggle with: meditation.
I first began meditating roughly five years ago when a family member got me a Headspace subscription. When starting, I gravitated toward the guided meditation modules on the app. I remember the beige couch cushion that I’d put at the foot of my bed to sit down on. The feeling of discomfort I had when sitting cross-legged with my back straight remains vivid. Most of all, as I was starting, I had always questioned whether meditating was for me. There would always be a million things running through my mind, and even after being fairly consistent for a month or two, it seemed like my ability to enter a “flow state” had amounted to little progression.
But I kept going. I had read online and heard from many people that meditation was a one-of-a-kind experience, so I was eager to feel the awe that so many others had been harping about. Almost every day, I would place my pillow down on the floor, close my eyes, and begin the box-breathing sequence. As I stayed consistent, I gradually improved in my ability to honor my distractions. It had taken me some time to realize that countering my external disturbances through breathing wasn’t an easy feat, and the path toward mastery was through showing up each day.
There are numerous benefits of meditation. Whenever I meditate before doing my schoolwork, I’m far more proactive and able to channel a focused energy in completing each assignment. Before an intense moment, such as a theatre performance or a sports game, I’m able to eliminate the clutter within my mind and execute what others and I have been working so hard to showcase through meditation. The feeling after opening your eyes to the outside world after reaching the flow state in meditation is one that is truly unmatched. I am able to appreciate how deep breathing, something that seems so simple, has allowed me to transcend reality for a short period of time.
Throughout my years of meditating, what I’ve come to appreciate most about the practice is it is not a “one-size-fits-all” kind of deal. The more consistent that I’ve been with taking time to pause, the more I’ve been able to experiment with meditating in different settings, times of day and environments. That experimentation ties directly to what meditation is all about: setting yourself up to be as comfortable as you can. Over time, I’ve moved away from listening to guided meditations and have found that I’ve enjoyed listening to different soundscapes. Some personal favorites include anything from the Skyrim video game soundtrack, outer space ambience and simply some white noise works wonders. Whenever I meditate before going to sleep, I find myself much less worried about all the academic or personal concerns I had been considering throughout my day. Through being consistent with meditation, I’ve been able to make the practice my own, establishing a feeling of placement and familiarity from the very first breath.
The biggest challenge for me while meditating, as well as for so many others, is maintaining focus for a set period of time without getting caught up in life’s distractions. There’s no amount of frequency or consistency that can make the distractions go away. What’s most important is treating each single distraction that arises while meditating as all part of the process. The next time that you’re looking to occupy 10 minutes of your time, I encourage you to step away from the distractions and see what sitting with a few deep breaths can do. There might just be a beautiful and transcendent experience waiting for you on the other side.
