Taking a Minute for Meditation

When the Body + Soul team and I discussed my whole-living makeover, the thought of starting meditation terrified me. How on earth would I find time to meditate? I'd been working 12-hour days since starting my job here; just maintaining my exercise routine has been a struggle. Believe it or not, they said, taking time to meditate can actually make you more efficient—not to mention mindful, centered, and less stressed.

To kick off my practice, I met with Tracy Gaudet, M.D., director of the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. She was warm and encouraging and made me feel instantly comfortable. I left Duke with an arsenal of meditation CDs and breathing techniques to use as "minimeditations."

For the next two weeks, though, every time I sat down to meditate, I couldn't seem to clear my head of thoughts—the business calls I didn't get to, what I should cover on my next radio show, you name it. Within a few minutes I'd lose focus and give up.

The next week, however, I was stuck in a tortuously slow-moving line at the Los Angeles airport. I grew increasingly frustrated as my flight time neared but thought about the breathing techniques I'd learned at Duke. I closed my eyes, took several deep breaths, and when I opened them, the stress seemed to have evaporated. I was relaxed as I boarded the plane.

The following week I took a two-hour seminar with Sharon Salzberg, a renowned meditation teacher. No matter how long you've been practicing, she said, thoughts will come and go; you just need to accept them, let them go, and start over. This was a revelation for me. I'd been focusing on the goal of meditation—clearing the mind—not the process.

"I wish I could meditate lying down," I told Sharon during a one-on-one session a few days later. There are several ways to meditate, she said: sitting, standing, lying down, or even walking. This got us talking about my experience as a competitive swimmer. Every week, the coach would guide the team through a visualization exercise. After having us lie down on a towel, he would take us slowly through all our muscles, head to toe, and then have us see the upcoming race in our mind's eye.

"In a way," I told her, "we were doing a kind of meditation." She nodded and said we were doing a "body sweep"—a technique that makes you aware of the sensations your body is feeling during meditation.

That night I did a few minutes of meditation, focusing on my breath. Thoughts entered my mind, but I cleared my mind and started over. Then I did a body sweep, starting with my head and ending with my toes. I fell into one of the best night's sleep I'd had in months.

I'll certainly never be a meditation master, but I now realize that even a few minutes here and there can help me clear my head. When it feels like nothing is happening, I remind myself that at least I'm practicing mindfulness. Did that just come out of my mouth—"mindfulness"? I must be learning something.

Pilates: Perseverance Pays Off

For me, exercise has always been about intensity. I’ve thrived on pushing myself beyond what I thought was possible. I love the sweat, the elevated heart rate, and the feeling of accomplishment after a hard workout. So when the editors of Body+Soul suggested starting a “mindful fitness” routine, I was skeptical.

Despite being given several good reasons to try Pilates, my excitement dwindled minutes into my first session. The machines—the Reformer, the Cadillac, the Wunda Chair—looked a little like medieval torture devices. And I could not get the hang of exercises like the Stork, in which you stand on the Reformer, raise one foot off the ground, and bring your knee to your chest. Even with my trainer, Taylor Phillips, guiding me through each of the exercises, I felt uncoordinated.

Given the choice, my first class would have been my last. But I was warned that it would take several sessions before I would feel comfortable doing the exercises. Plus, I promised Howard Sichel, chiropractor and founder of New York City’s Power Pilates, that I would complete at least two months’ worth of classes, and I’m a woman of my word.

The next three or four sessions brought more of the same awkwardness. “This is my grandmother’s workout, not mine,” I thought. I began to dread going.

And then I went to session six. I can’t pinpoint exactly when or why, but something “clicked” in my body, and I started enjoying myself. I also started to use my core rather than the other stronger muscle groups—one of the fundamental principles of Pilates. And I noticed small changes in my body— more flexibility, more definition in my abdominals, better posture.

It wasn’t a fluke. By the seventh session, I felt fully present, and I thoroughly enjoyed the class. I now look forward to going and feel rejuvenated and more centered when I leave. I notice that I sit straighter and stand taller. And I focus more on being present in the moment—something that only Pilates has been able to teach me.

If you want to learn more about Pilates, here are some links:
Pilates with Christina Gallo [marthastewart.com]
The History of Pilates [pilates.com]
Find a Pilates instructor [pilatesmethodalliance.org]