When You Don't Have Time

I remember reading a few years ago that the people who “don’t have time to meditate” are the people who most need to meditate. That struck a chord with me because I was definitely falling under that category at the time.

For the TL;DR version, skip the next few paragraphs.

I’d heard about meditation and tried it, but sitting still was never really of interest to me, and I didn’t have time to meditate. My friend Whitney is who I credit with actually helping me to get the habit to stick.

It was 2014: I was a new mom and in my second year of owning my practice. Whitney was working as a photographer at the time and she’d photographed Oprah (yes, that Oprah), who was raving about meditation and the challenges she’d set up with Deepak Chopra.

Whitney conveyed the benefits to me and I signed up for the next 21-day meditation challenge that Oprah and Deepak used to offer. I committed to it and struggled for the first several days as I thought of dozens of other things that could occupy my time instead.

But after the first few sessions, I began to actually look forward to meditating and also began to realize how much more calm I was overall as a result of participating.

I’ve since kept meditation as a staple practice. I by no means meditate daily, but finding moments of stillness has been a regular routine for me since 2014. (Thanks, Whit.) The reality is: I didn’t have time to meditate until I made the time to meditate.

TL;DR version

We’re the ones saying “yes” to what we allow to occupy our time. Maybe you “don’t have time” to meditate, to go to a chiropractic appointment, to get acupuncture, to workout, to hop in the plunge, to heal your core and pelvic floor after giving birth.

But if you don’t make time to do those things, your time can easily be occupied by plenty of other activities.

If your schedule keeps your health on the back burner, that’s where health will stay. Whether it’s your mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual health, it requires dedicated time and attention. And your health deserves that kind of attention.

Lindsay Mumma, DC, DNSP