Learning to Meditate: My New Drug of Choice

If someone had told me that meditation was a miracle drug, I would have laughed out loud. Yes, I know it helps one to relax, maybe even lowers blood pressure, and definitely promotes mindfulness. But I decided to make a serious attempt at it to find relief from some new aches and pains and for the past three days the results have been nothing short of amazing.

Illustration by Arthur Rackham

You see, I was experiencing some lower back pain, and... no, let me go further back... This year, I've been dealing with a new dis-ease, severe psoriasis, and I thought perhaps it had developed into psoriatic arthritis. In addition to switching to a more anti-inflammatory diet, I rationalized, I'd better also pay attention to my posture; and maybe my bed was too soft, or too hard; and I probably needed to wear shoes with more arch support... 

But then, it went from bad to worse, and now the pain was starting from my rump and going down my left leg to my ankle, and it was excruciating, crippling, debilitating - there were actually times when I could barely walk or bend over. So, I reasoned, my sciatic nerve must be inflamed or pinched or something. But what to do about it? I couldn't see myself resorting to pain pills or surgery... Hot and cold packs? Acupuncture? Yoga? 

So I decided to talk to my body. (This already worked once before, when my knees were giving me trouble.) And the best way to do that was to sit quietly, with a quartz crystal in my hand (this particular one is a Herkimer diamond quartz cluster), and meditate while calling upon the Reiki symbols to help seal the deal. The first day, I sat on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor, spine aligned and closed my eyes. Breathing slowly and deeply, I began by clearing my mind and then I said, "I'm really sorry. I love you."

After a few minutes of breathing and thinking only of how much I loved my body and everything it had ever done for me, I felt the pain slowly leave.  The rest of the day, I felt no more pain. It came back, of course, but not as intense. The second day, I did the same thing, with the same result: No more pain.

And today, after I said "I love you, I'm sorry," I thanked every part of my body I could think of: skin, brain, bones, kidneys, liver, spleen, lungs, heart, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, blood, bladder, pancreas, muscles, tendons... and my eyes filled with tears... And, once again, no pain. I even thanked the pain, for teaching me about self-love and gratitude and making amends.

Later, driving in my car, listening to a CD and singing along, bobbing my head to the beat, I felt joy, I felt happy, I felt good. Why? Because I felt like me again. I am intense. I am strong. And I am probably the most optimistic pessimist you'll ever meet. 

As we age, we still have lessons to learn, and we're never too old to learn them. Today I learned to tap into my inner resources, go within to go without, express myself without fear, love my life.

Self-love. Healing. Meditation. I highly recommend them.