Meditation Off the Mat – Moxie On Monday

“Stress is our best teacher, our best opportunity to shift the negative force into a positive energy, to mentally transform the stress into a peaceful attitude inside us and around us. Meditation is a Martial Art, we use the opposite force to become a spiritual warrior.” – Michel Pascal

When you think of meditation, do you envision a group of peaceful yogis chanting to the proverbial sound of “OM?” Do you conjure up images of Buddhist monks, meditating together in a space of stillness and harmony?

With a little practice, anyone can meditate on a yoga mat or in a peaceful meditation studio. But could you meditate in Times Square or at a Vanderbilt football game with the ‘Dores holding dearly to a 2 point lead? Could you learn to meditate when you are actually under stress?

Meditation is a life changing tool. Meditation on the mat is the easy part. Meditation as a way of life becomes far more challenging. But it’s not as hard as you might think!

The key to changing our lives exists well beyond the mat and into the stresses of our daily lives. 

When meditation becomes a moment by moment practice, finely woven into the fiber and fabric of our daily lives, it has the ability to empower us and transform our lives. 

It has the power to ignite Moxie!

The magic happens when we combine friction with meditation to cultivate the power of the mind and to help us find peace and stillness during our greatest challenges. 

We may feel as if we live in the world. We don’t. Most of the time, we live in our minds. We live in the past. We live in worry. We live in regret. We live in fear of the future, dragging the heavy baggage of the past along with us.

As Jon Kabat Zinn said in his well known book of the same title, “Wherever you go, there you are.” We can’t escape ourselves so we might as well find a way to make peace with ourselves. 

We may not be able to escape ourselves but we can transform ourselves. 

Our minds, particularly our subconscious minds, control our lives. 

Meditation allows us to be in the driver’s seat of our minds. Meditation off the mat, and out into the world is like meditation on steroids! It gives us the opportunity to practice around the clock.

To master ourselves takes practice. To master our minds, takes moving our meditation off the mat and out into the world. 

It’s when we practice under significant stress, that we have the greatest opportunity for transformation, evolution and self mastery.

The gift of meditation is the gift of awareness. Through regular practice along with the frictions and obstacles of our daily lives, we gain a new, profound awareness. We begin to see ourselves and the world in a whole new way. 

When we change our thoughts and reprogram our subconscious mind, we begin to “Rewire.”

Rewiring is the key to transformation. 

As Dr. Joe Dispenza shares in his latest book, “Becoming Supernatural,” each of us has the ability to become supernatural. We are multidimensional beings. In other words, we are far more than the eye can see. We are made up of energy.  His work is centered around helping people break the habit or pattern of being themselves. Meditation is the vehicle to break the habit, to put an end to every morning becoming another “Groundhog Day.” Dr. Joe talks about using meditation throughout our day as a way of reprogramming our subconscious mind or rewiring.

It’s when we take our morning meditation out into the world and practice connecting with our breath and calming our mind during the day when faced with challenges, that our neural patterns, pathways and our subconscious mind begin to change as we transform from within.

Moxie means “Force of Character.” A prerequisite for developing character is force. 

Friction is a force. Friction is the ideal opportunity to ignite the Moxie from within.

When we rewire our minds with new thoughts, we rewire our brains and we begin to send a powerful signal to the universe to help us create a new reality, one that’s reflective of our new inner state of being. 

Moxie can’t be found in a monastery. Moxie can’t be found on a yoga mat. Moxie can’t be found in a refuge of any kind.

Moxie is found in you!

The next time you want to escape the stresses of your daily life, I invite you to stop. I invite you to take a breath and say “Bring it on!”  

Why? Because you’re woman with Moxie!

Need more Moxie? You can find all my Moxie On Monday Posts here!

***If you’re looking for some resources to help get your tush off the meditation cushion and out into the world, I highly recommend connecting with my friend, Michel Pascal. Michel left the refuge of the Buddhist Monastery to practice meditation in the midst of stress, including Times Square. Check out his latest book, “Meditation for Daily Stress,” or his Mind Dive App, the first free meditation app in the world!