Episode 580: 5 Steps to Meditating for Better Sleep + Less Anxiety (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT580 – 5 Steps to Meditating for Better Sleep + Less Anxiety

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

Sponsor (Mika Kinney) 00:34

Are you a food blogger who is constantly trying to get new posts out update old ones and more? Let me help you. My name is Mika and I’m a fellow food blogger and experience freelancer, I can right format and upload high-quality helpful posts, articles and roundups to WordPress for you to publish. Each post is completely customized to your audience and your voice so there’s no skipping a beat with your readers. Plus the first project is always offered at 50% off just to make sure it’s the absolute best fit. For writing samples and more. Shoot me an email at [email protected] or you can find me at www.joytothefood.com. Look forward to chatting.

Megan Porta  01:16

Food bloggers. What is up? How is your day going? How’s your week going? I’m so glad you’re here. Welcome to this mindset and self care focused episode of Eat Blog Talk. So happy to have you here. In today’s episode, we are going to talk through five steps to successful meditation. I promised in a recent episode that I would create an episode about this topic. This is a powerhouse topic, and I feel very, very passionately about it, because it has worked so well for me. It has literally changed my life. I had dabbled in meditation over the years, but I’d never fully committed to it until this year in 2024.

Megan Porta  01:58

You know those times in your life when you just really need something, whatever it is, and you keep getting reminders about it, like little signs just keep popping up, which all end up being a big, blinking neon sign pointing you to doing something or putting something in your life or taking something out of your life, you just keep getting those reminders leading up to 2024 I kept reading books where the author would talk about the power of meditation, and these were books that had nothing to do with meditation. It just happened to be a side note within the book, or I was listening to podcasts where people were talking about it meditation just kept popping up in kind of random areas. Right around that time, I had a session with my business coach. He was telling me about his meditation routine and how his consistency with this practice had changed his life. So I was like, okay, I’m finally getting the hint. I need to commit to trying meditation, like really trying it something that was greater than me. Knew I needed it and kept bringing it to my attention. Up until that point, I’d gotten really good at overthinking meditation, which is kind of funny and ironic when you think about it. I had to do it just perfectly, right. If a thought came into my mind while I was attempting meditation, I considered the entire session a fail. I had it in my mind that I just wasn’t good at it. I’d never be able to make it work. My brain was way too anxious and squirrely. I felt like I had no hope. 

Megan Porta  03:30

Prior to 2024 I gave meditation a very half hearted effort. I would sit for five minutes, usually before starting a call or starting work of some sort for the day, I would do this feeling frustrated the entire time. So when I started my call, I was even worse off than I was before I started meditating. I explained this to my business coach once, and he said, panic meditation sounds amazing. He was right. I was attempting to squeeze in a quick five minutes just to prove to myself or someone I don’t know that I had tried it, but would end up freaking out during the entire thing, leaving me feeling just awful. My business coach is so inspiring. He lives this awesome life of peace and gratitude. I’ve always loved his enthusiasm for life and the way that he brings peace and calm to every encounter I’ve ever had with him. I also love the things he prioritizes in his life. It’s just such a great example for me. So I figured it would be worthwhile to ask how he was meditating. I wanted what he had and what he shared with me was so simple, I remember thinking it was too good to be true. Could it really possibly be that easy? First, he educated me on the different brain wave states, so beta, alpha, theta, delta, etc. This is so interesting, by the way, if you don’t know about the brainwave states, definitely educate yourself on it. It’ll hopefully help you to understand what is going on in your brain. When you’re in your awake state, when you’re anxious, when you’re in an awake state, when you’re feeling calm, when you’re meditating, when you’re sleeping. It’s just so valuable to know this. Then he told me that he just simply turns on theta waves music that he just grabs from YouTube, and he just sits for like 30 minutes. I was like, really? That’s it, no perfect guided meditation required or anything like that. And, yeah, that’s literally all he does. So in this episode, I will talk through what I’ve taken from his guidance and what has been working for me. Please alter accordingly, based on what works for you and what doesn’t work for you. This process is going to require tweaking and patience, so be ready for that, but know that the outcome is 100% worth it. Just a few days, literally, a few days after implementing the method I’m going to talk through, I was sleeping so much better, and I was so much less anxious. In recent years, I have acquired a handful of anxieties, especially as my businesses have grown and sleep has not always come easily for me, this meditation method immediately had me sleeping through the night without waking up at my classic 3am to ruminate about work. So annoying, but I swear I did this almost every night for like, five years. That, in itself, is a miracle, and I didn’t change anything else. So I know it’s the meditation that’s helping

Megan Porta  06:32

I really hope this helps you to ditch some anxiety and for you to sleep better. And by the way, there are so many more benefits to meditation that I didn’t mention. Just Google it and you’ll see a huge list of all kinds of positive things you’ll invite into your life by committing to meditating. Also, there are different types of meditation, so if this version doesn’t work, don’t give up. There’s something called walking meditation that I’ve dabbled in that’s pretty cool. There’s also guided meditation, if you find a really good one that you resonate with that can work really well. And there are other types too. So just dig into different types and explore this whole world of meditation. This process really is so simple, nothing is required outside of the few simple things we’re going to talk about in this episode. 

Megan Porta  07:19

Let’s talk through five steps to successful meditation. Number one, play theta waves music before you get settled into your meditation, you’re going to want to set the tone for your session by playing music that will put you in a nice, relaxing theta brain waves state. The easiest way to do this is to simply search theta waves meditation, I’m going to put my favorite track in the show notes. The show notes can be found at eatblogtalk.com/meditation. You might want to experiment with different tracks to see what works for you. My track might not work for you, and that’s fine. There’s tons of options out there for you. Listening to Theta Waves has been shown to increase creativity and clarity and connect you with your intuition. And as I mentioned earlier, it has helped me, personally, to massively diminish anxiety and improve sleep. 

Megan Porta  07:20

Number two, find a quiet place to sit for 15 to 30 minutes. This part is really important, because you don’t want to give your mind any reason to worry about what’s going on around you. Find a space in your home where you know you’ll be able to sit quietly and uninterrupted for 30 minutes, communicate with family members about what you’re doing so they know not to bother you if you need to lock the door. Do that. I go into the guest room in our basement, I lock the door and I have a sign on it that says meditation and progress. I also usually tell everyone what I’m doing so they don’t even try to come in. Everyone at my house respects this. I think they know I’m just a better mom and wife and human if I can do this every day, maybe a good location for you would be your bedroom or even a bathroom or a closet, you’ll also want to make sure that you’re sitting upright. I know people who meditate lying down, but for me, that leads to sleep and that kind of defeats the purpose you want to have a wakeful meditative experience. Set a timer if you have things to get to depending on the day. I meditate for anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes, sometimes more. If I don’t have anything pressing that I know I need to get to, it’s important to get into a deep meditative state while your mind is awake, tapping into those theta brainwaves. It might take you a few minutes to get comfortable. I usually experience some like body repositioning and kind of like itches and weird feelings for a bit, until I’ve found just the right position. You can sit with your feet on the ground, or sit cross legged. I like to sit cross legged with my hands my lap. Now close your eyes. 

Megan Porta  07:24

Number three, establish your anchor. Your mind is going to wander. That is a given. We all think all day long, our minds rarely get a break, and that is the point of doing this. That’s the point of meditation, to create space for your mind to just be for once. With that said, know that thoughts will come and go, especially at first, having an anchor will give you something to return to as kind of a reset. When thoughts arise, I use breathing as my anchor. Most of the time, my mind will start running on that hamster wheel that it gets on. Often, once I notice it, I’ll take a big, refreshing breath that sends the thought away. Sometimes I envision myself just gently placing the thought on a cloud or a shelf or something and allowing it to float away. An important thing to remember is to not allow yourself to get frustrated with the thoughts that enter your mind, like I did during my panic sessions. Remember that thoughts are going to enter, this is a given. So when they do enter, just observe them, place them on a cloud or a balloon or just into the air, and gently push them away. My five minute panic meditation sessions that I referenced earlier, there was nothing gentle about those so be gentle and be very patient with yourself throughout this process. If you get to the end of your session and realize that your mind wandered during the entire thing, that’s totally fine. You are training your mind to be clear of thoughts. This is going to take some practice and patience, so much patience, so much patience, over and over if you need to return to that anchor that you’ve established. Other anchors outside of breathing could be wiggling your shoulders or your face muscles if they get tightened. Or just be mindful of any sounds that you hear, so focusing on the lawnmower you hear outside and just resetting with that. Or maybe you have a mantra you repeat as your anchor, like I am abundant, or I am grateful, or I am loved. Just go back to that simple statement anytime you need a reset. Or just use a single word if you want as an anchor, like love or reset. Sometimes I use the word change just because I want to change from thinking state to no thinking state. Or you could just wiggle your toes or fingers or touch your knees or whatever, just find that anchor and know what it is going into your session 

Megan Porta  12:30

Number four, just be. The goal with this is to clear as much space as possible for your mind to just be. I like to pretend I’m in a big empty room, sitting on a floor, I look out into the expansive room just observing nothingness. This works for me. If there’s nothing in the room to see or focus on or distract me, I don’t have a problem just sitting with a clear mind most of the time and just allowing myself to be I sit and allow my mind to have a break while being in this imaginary room, I’ve tried different things for a while. I was envisioning myself sitting outside with a kind of like clothesline type thing hanging in front of me, and anytime a thought popped into my head, I would calmly walk the thought over to the clothesline and hang it up, and then I’d return to my spot and continue. So experiment with this. The big empty room might not work for you. You might find something that just works perfectly and that you can get into really quickly. It might be something completely different. I’ll throw this point in here too. Once you start meditating, try to be as consistent with it as possible. If you miss a day, totally fine. Don’t beat yourself up about that, but do your best to not miss a day, and you will start training your brain to chill much more quickly. 

Megan Porta  13:49

Number five, continue mindfulness throughout the day. You’ve done your meditation session. That’s great, especially when you do it consistently. But there are some things you can do outside of your 15 to 30 minutes of meditating that are a little like additional exercises, helping you to get into the habit of just giving your brain a break. If you have any anxious things you do, such as clenching your fists or clenching your jaw, or maybe you’re like me and your shoulders are always really tight. Maybe it’s twirling your hair, playing with your hair, or scrunching your forehead muscles or your face muscles. Get into the habit of noticing when, first of all, what these things are, and then notice when they’re happening and just start releasing them, let them go as much as possible throughout the day, tight shoulders are definitely my thing. So when I’m sitting on a zoom call, for example, I’ll make it a point to just check in with myself. I’ll just say, yep, there they are. They’re tight, they’re tense, and then I give them a little wiggle to loosen them. I do this over and over, just to get into the habit of noticing it. It and correcting it. I call these anxious things static, and I believe that static can get in the way of our peace. The more static you can clear, the better you’re going to be able to meditate, and the more clarity and peace you’re going to find, as well as all of those other great benefits, meditation brings something else I like to do out in the wild, outside of meditating, that is, is to have mindful stretches. If I’m hanging out with one of my boys or my husband and I notice that my mind is running wild with work thoughts or whatever, I just make a point to notice that and just stop and I commit to being really mindful about my time for the next 20 or 30 minutes. 

Megan Porta  15:43

This is good for me because it helps to clear my head, but it’s also good for whoever I am giving my time to. Another mindfulness tactic is to make a point to pay attention to your senses a few times a day. Again, if your mind is running wild with anxious thinking, just notice that and stop notice what’s happening in the world around you. What do you smell right now? What do you see? What do you feel with your hands or under your feet? What do you taste? What do you hear? Running through this senses exercise a handful of times, helps me to ditch the constant strength of anxious thinking. The more static you can attend to throughout the day, the better off you’re going to be, the more progress you’re going to make with being able to give your mind a break. Okay, that’s it. It might sound really simple, but it really is so simple. 

Megan Porta  16:34

So let’s run through these five steps to meditating for better sleep and less anxiety and so many other awesome things. Number one, play theta waves, music. Two, find a quiet place to sit for 15 to 30 minutes. Three, establish your anchor. Four, just be and five, continue mindfulness throughout the day. Meditation is a life changer. There’s a reason the nudge to do it kept popping up in my life. I can’t believe I put it off for so long and that I was so intimidated by it. It really is so simple. And again, if it feels frustrating at first, know that that is part of the process. That’s part of growing through it. So stick with it, and you will see some awesome results. I know you will if you try it. Please let me know how this goes for you, or if you have anything additionally that you do that works for you, I’d love to hear that. Thank you for listening food bloggers. I will see you next week. 

Outro  17:34

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self-care episode here on eat blog talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service for other food bloggers, and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk in 2024. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.