“My meditation is loud, so my life can be quiet” – Silvia Mordini

If you met me you’d guess I’m an extrovert. In fact on the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator, I test out as an ESTJ (extroverted, sensing, thinking, judging). But really I’m an introvert. I like quiet time. I need it and always have. I don’t like loud malls or huge groups of loud people. I enjoy nature. And truth be told I need a good amount of solitude which fortunately has been part of my life whether I wanted it to be or not.

The test isn’t wrong. I simply test almost in the middle barely to the “Extroverted” side so introversion is part of my nature too.

I also have a inbred appreciation for the “art of doing nothing” as my Italian heritage has gifted me. I can sit at a cafe for hours without any hesitation. I love walking, making sidewalk conversation and lose track of time easily. I am a nester. And my strongest Chakra is my Root Chakra.

Meditation should have been second nature.

But what is Meditation?

Wikipedia says, “The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices (much like the term sports), which range from techniques designed to promote relaxation, contacting spiritual guides, building internal energy (chi, ki, prana, etc.), receiving psychic visions, getting closer to God, seeing past lives, taking astral journeys, and so forth, to more technical exercises targeted at developing compassion,[3] love, patience, generosity, forgiveness and more far-reaching goals such as effortlessly sustained single-pointed concentration,[4] single-pointed analysis,[5] and anindestructible sense of well-being while engaging in any and all of life’s activities. Thus, it is essential to be specific about the type of meditation practice under investigation.”

With the definition of Meditation so broad it means to me it can look a lot of different ways. We actually ALL have our own forms and ways of meditation.

Meditation is a mysterious method of self-restoration. It involves “shutting” out the outside world, and by that means sensing the universal “presence” which is, incidentally, absolute perfect peace. It is basically an existential “time-out”—a way to “come up for a breath of air” out of the noisy clutter of the world. But don’t be afraid, there is nothing arcane or supernatural or creepy about the notion of taking a time-out. Ball players do it. Kids do it, when prompted by their parents. Heck, even your computer does it (and sometimes not when you want it to).

So, why not you?

“A meditation can be as simple as taking a series of easy breaths, and slowly, gently counting to ten in your mind.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

I can only describe what meditation is like for me.

For a long time I thought meditation would bring increasing quiet while I was doing it, but even now most of the time when I meditate it’s like watching tv in my mind: maybe not as many channels as years back or picture in picture but for certain still the stories. Now I just watch them while meditating and as a result in my conscious life the dramas have lessened.

And the quiet I was looking for inside still meditation moments has actually happened for me as quiet in my regular life. I guess what I’m saying is that I’m loud in my meditation and quiet in my life.

My best advice to you is this: give yourself space to define meditation for you and allow yourself to have all sorts of forms of meditation day to day, week to week. And as long as the still time is improving your awake time with loved ones then you know it’s working.

Love yourself, love your day, love your life!

Silvia