MEG BOURDETTE PHOTOGRAPHY
WHENEVER,
WHEREVER
portant thing is to approach it
not as something intimidating
and exotic, but as an accessible,
flexible practice that can fit into
even the busiest life.
“People tend to have such a
strong tendency to punish themselves, and think, ‘Oh, I’m not
doing this right, because I’m
not sitting here in bliss every
single moment’ ... or ‘I failed at
this, because I couldn’t stop any
thinking from happening.’ It’s
those unrealistic expectations
that really thwart us.”
One of the strongest arguments
for meditation is that it doesn’t
need to be time-consuming. Bernstein, for example, believes just 60
seconds of focused stillness a day
can produce profound changes in
women’s lives — breathing in for
five seconds, holding their breath
for five seconds, and exhaling for
five seconds. Salzberg recommends
beginners meditate three times a
week for five to 15 minutes, and
work up to 20 minutes daily if possible, but she believes that what
matters most is consistency.
That’s a lesson Jillian Amodio,
23, a prolific freelance writer
and stay-at-home mother with a
2-year-old daughter, took some
time to learn. At 19, she was
HUFFINGTON
10.20.13
“What is the purpose of this meditation?
It’s not to get an hour in. It’s to get
relaxed, and to re-center myself.”
diagnosed with endometriosis
— a painful condition that occurs when the tissue that lines a
woman’s uterus grows elsewhere
in her body. Amodio went so far
as to have menopause temporarily induced, which relieved her
pain for more than a year before
it returned, at which point she
began researching “alternative
Jillian Amodio
meditates
daily after
putting her
daughter
down for her
afternoon nap.