As part of my personal goal of taking my life from chaos to calm, I am kicking off a weekly series called “Meditation Mondays”. In this series I will share some of the ways that I am trying to slow down and enjoy the moment. Currently, I am working my way through Five Good Minutes: 100 Morning Practices To Help You Stay Calm & Focused All Day Long (Amazon Affiliate Link – That means if you click the link and purchase the book, Amakua Market gets a commission AND as always 10% of our profits are donated to social causes and charities). This book offers 100 morning meditations that are geared to help you stay calm and focused all day. Let me know in the comments section what you think about this series.

Practice 1 is a meditation designed to help you wish yourself safety. We are off to a good start because I have to tell you, with everything that is going on with Bradyn, safe is the last thing I feel at the moment. I feel anxious and frightened and overwhelmed and angry but safe… Not so much….

In all seriousness, I spend an unhealthy amount of my days and nights thinking about all of the horrible things that could potentially happen and developing an action plan in the case of each. I can give you process map quality flows of exactly how I would handle any number of disasters. The house is on fire? We have a break in? No worries, I’m going to throw that foot stool through Bradyn’s bedroom window, get B out of his bed, climb out the window with him, pick up the foot stool, carry it to the back fence and use it to get myself and B into the neighbors yard, at that point we will bang on their back door until they come help us. We are on the Golden Gate Bridge and it falls apart? Got it covered. I have already instructed Kyle to kick off his shoes and save himself, I will climb in the back, get B out of his car seat and swim the both of us to safety. (I didn’t appreciate Kyle interjecting logic regarding water temp and sharks when we were stuck in traffic on the bridge as I developed this plan) All these scenarios are thought out to the point that I know when I would call 911 and when I would be able to call my mom and let her know were are okay. To a certain point it is good to be prepared. Plans are important and knowing what to do in an emergency can save your life. I am a planner and I believe in solid well constructed plans. But, it is also important to be able to relax. To know everything is okay. To not worry about what could happen and enjoy life. I am looking for the balance between the two extreems.

The book guides you through series of activities that help you affirm to yourself that you are safe and everything is going to be okay. I practiced this meditation for a week. It’s been helpful. I am feeling less anxious (most of the time). And when that anxious feeling starts, when it crawls into my chest, when my muscles constrict and I start feeling panicky. Morning or not, I have been closing my eyes, taking a deep breath and telling myself “everything is going to be okay, you are doing everything you know to do to keep him safe, it will be okay”. Some how, just saying the words to myself is like magic. It makes me feel calm. Its even helping at night. Don’t get me wrong. I am still planning, I make sure my phone is within arms reach, Bradyn’s meds are accessible and I still listen to him and wake up every time he rolls over. But when the fear starts to take over, this exercise has been helping me put it back in it’s box.

What do you do to keep your fears in their box?

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