Time is a resource scarcity that often makes us anxious. We can’t just wave the magic wand to squeeze over 24 hours into a day. Our to-do lists do possess the supernatural power of the dragon in Greek mythology – chop off one task and two more spring up the very moment. Enter side-stage meditation.
When I first learned Transcendental Meditation I was quite worried about how on earth I could fit the practice – twice a day for 20 minutes – into my schedule. Did I really have 40 minutes to spare each day? No way! I could hardly manage everything – my job, childcare and housework – before collapsing into bed.
Just a few weeks after I began my Transcendental Meditation practice, my husband noted one evening: “Wow, I have never seen you up and running so efficiently THIS late at night!” A couple of more weeks from there and I even had a lot of time left over in the evenings just to relax and do things I liked.
I guess everyone’s experience is different, but this is what Transcendental Meditation practice has done for me – saved time. I had to “give up” 40 minutes of my day to relax, rest and recover my energy in order to be so much more efficient at what I did. The 2 x 20 minutes of meditation paid off.
Much research has been done on meditation to show how it increases the coherence of the brain and develops our mind-body integration. It’s not surprising that we can organize our daily lives more effectively when we practice meditation. This is because, in part, we can focus on the things that matter and have the greatest impact on our lives.
At a deeper level, meditation allows us to connect with our inner source in pure consciousness. This consciousness is the basis of the entire manifest world. When we plug into this, we deeply connect with the inner nature of life and our thoughts, desires, and actions are more in tune with our own higher inner intelligence. We move in this river of life and the output is greater success and achievement. Time becomes timeless and we are drifting into an eternity of nowness where nature moves to support our desires and lifestyle. There is an infinite peace in this experience, so the pressure is off, the anxiety is off and life moves naturally, following its own course. This is the best way to manage time in our favour.