The Power of One Minute Meditations

When talking about meditation, it's easy to think that you have to sit there in silence for a super long period of time.

There's not much difference 60 seconds can make…is there?

An all or nothing approach can sometimes hinder our capacity for growth. From one perfectionist to another, I get it. Food for thought: when you don’t feel like working out, how much easier is it to whip out your laptop and do a simple 10 minute pilates class on YouTube. Feels a lot more attainable than an hour-long session, am I right?

The smaller you start, the easier it is to build consistency. It's the biggest segway into a committed relationship with [insert any healthy habit of your choice].

So yes, I do believe that, as far as meditation goes, even 1 minute has the power to make a difference.

Here, let me tell you a story.

I was speaking to a friend who was navigating grief.

As low as she was, she was desperate to turn it around. Desperate to escape the heaviness she felt. She decided to take up meditation. She didn’t put any big expectations on herself. She simply declared “1 minute. That’s how long I’m going to meditate every day”.

She did this unguided. Just her and the sound of her breath. Every morning when she woke up, she would go to her designated meditation cushion and press play on her timer. 

Nothing fancy (and in the end, highly effective) it was a do-able way to show up for herself. All in the hopes that it would gradually heal something within her, changing her mental state. 

She stuck to that one minute. Dedicated to the practice.

At first, she cried while she sat. For days on end, it continued this way. Yet still, she sat.

Through the discomfort. Through the unfairness of it all. Through disbelief. 

The tears eventually ran dry and she was left with a fatigued sort of calm. The kind you feel when you realize you’re coming back to yourself after a long period of struggle.

Because of this she found herself wanting to stay for longer in meditation.

1 minute became 2 minutes, which became 3, and so forth.

Her constant was consistency. And through that consistency she started to feel joy.

It wasn't loud or obnoxious or ungenuine. 

It didn't come rushing in at all once. 

It was quiet. A steady sort of rhythm.

A new foundation had been built. 

Her practice was a way of easing back into a loving relationship with life. Slowly starting to trust it again, after feeling for so long that it had betrayed her by taking someone she loved. 

So, can 60 seconds of meditation really change anything?

It’s the stepping stone towards the calm you want to feel in your life.

You don’t have to be grieving to experience this. It doesn’t have to be at your rock bottom. It can be today, tomorrow, or whenever you feel the call. 

Start with 1 minute. That’s where it all begins.

Allow it to build from there. Making the act a little easier. Instead of holding yourself to a degree of perfection that you cannot maintain. 

In the end, it’s the smallest actions that create the greatest longevity. 

With warmth,

Jewels xx

P.S. I love hearing from you! Let me know if you resonate with this method in the comment section below.