Oh no…..not another snake!'

At the weekend I was sat on the floor in the living room playing a board game of snakes and ladders with my 4-year-old niece and I was struck by how much my life was so much like the rules of this game. Striving towards a goal, climbing yet another ladder in an attempt to take a short cut, only to find myself tumbling down yet another snake. Not only that, but then tumbling down to a lower ground than where I’d started! Anyone else ever been through this, or is going through this? If you’re out there, just know you are not alone. There is actually not one single being on the planet that is not taking part. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, have a great job or you’re unemployed, whether you have a loving relationship or you’re going through a break up, all of us have ladders to climb and yes, we all have snakes ahead of us too so brace yourself!

And yet we have a tendency to look at others and see them as doing, having, being so much more than us. We see someone driving an expensive car, wearing nice clothes, laughing with the person sitting next to them, we see them as having it all. If only my life was like that, no problems, no financial concerns, happy, healthy and feeling good. Wow, some people are so fortunate, I’m so unlucky. And yet is that ever the true picture? Every one of us have a variety of concerns, including relationship issues, financial concerns, limiting beliefs, addictions of some kind, low self-worth, anxiety, stress, guilt, shame, fear and an endless array of ongoing health issues. The one thing most of us adults do have in common is the ability to hide all of our emotions, traumatic experiences and feelings behind a variety of role-playing masks we’ve been practicing for the last 20-30 years. In fact, we’ve been role playing a particular identity for so long, most of us don’t actually know who we really are. All we do know is that we’re on this roller coaster of life that is sometimes thrilling and yet other times fearful, painful or disappointing so much so that we reach out for external distractions without hesitation including junk food, alcohol, over spending, shopping, drowning ourselves in social media or an array of tv series in an attempt to escape ourselves, our life, our issues if only for a short while..

If you are in the middle of a game of snakes and ladders in your life right now, I suggest not throwing the dice for a while. Take time out and sit in the space you find yourself in, notice it, get present in it, become aware and simply breath, nothing else. No judgments, no opinions. No effort, no climbing ladders, just sitting and noticing the space inside of you and all around you. This advice I give comes from my own 30 years of throwing that dice like an obsessed athlete and falling down every conceivable type of snake. It wasn’t until I started meditating that my life started falling into place. In fact, it still stops me in my tracks, leaves me in wonder, in awe at how something can be so powerful, so life changing and yet so incredibly simple.

Most of us grow up learning and being taught that anything worth having, you have to work your butt off to achieve it! However, when we start to search deep within ourselves, we sit in silence and start becoming aware of our own thoughts, feelings, choices, behaviours, actions, we start to realise there is so much to learn in stillness, that there is so much beauty, intelligence and wisdom that comes out of a peaceful, serene state of mind. I have always been an incredibly hard worker, always striving to make a difference, always studying, pushing myself to learn new things, taking more courses to expand my thinking mind and learning new skills and yet only through meditation have I learnt to transcend my mind into a field of such divine consciousness. I’ve become far more creative and intuitive, which are qualities I always forced and pushed myself to come up with before.

The idea of becoming still for a while is so unfathomable by so many of us, so foreign, so not part of what we have become accustomed to believe, most just never go there. It is probably the most difficult thing I have ever done. What about my ‘to do’ list? What about all those things I have to get done? All the ‘priorities’ we have, all the important things we ‘have to do’ are the ones we have chosen. In my experience, once I’d been practicing meditation for several weeks, without even realising it, my priorities had completely shifted. It was like I was moving slower and yet getting more done. I was more aware, more present, I was noticing so much more and as challenges came and left, I felt this inner peace never leave me. I had read in so many books that there is a silent, place within us but until I meditated every day, it was just a nice theory that was for ‘those relaxed types people.’

Regular meditation, time out in silence every day is the key to connecting with our inner peace, our creativity, unbounded love, compassion, joy and serenity. If you’re presently stressed, anxious, worried, in pain, emotional or physical, put down the dice and sit quietly with your eyes closed and simply breath taking your focus within. Learn meditation and make it a part of your life. I practice and teach Primordial Sound Meditation here in Dubai, which is from the same school as Transcendental Meditation and the difference it makes to so many beautiful lives is awesome.

~Namaste~