From Fidgety Kid to Mindfulness Mentor: My Journey to Calm and How You Can Achieve It Too
My first-grade teacher couldn’t handle me.
I was so completely unable to sit still during class that my parents had to seek professional help.
What followed was an ADHD diagnosis and years of different attempts at calming my hyperactive energy.
It seemed that sitting still was just not for me.
And yet, as I write this, I have regularly practiced seated meditation for almost 20 years.
I’ve even made sharing stillness my career and have helped thousands of students master their inner calm.
So what changed?
It certainly wasn’t my condition; I still have many of the symptoms of adult ADHD.
What shifted was my approach.
Instead of starting by trying to sit still for long periods, I mastered micro-doses of stillness within the physical practice of Yin Yoga.
This indirect approach allowed me to dip my toe in the water before I took a dive in the pool.
Today, I’d like to explain the power of this physical practice and why it might be the secret to finding stillness in this increasingly distracted age.
Common Struggles
If you’ve struggled with seated meditation, you’re not alone.
So many students give up after a few sessions, and the reasons they give are often the same:
Too many wandering thoughts.
Too much physical discomfort.
Too much restlessness.
These are understandable.
We live in a world of endless distractions where stillness seems non-existent.
This is where Yin Yoga can become the secret sauce for breaking through these initial barriers.
Why Yin Yoga Works
While being still in a seated posture for 30 minutes might sound impossible, holding a relaxed pose for 3 minutes is much more accessible.
This is the exact methodology of Yin Yoga.
Each pose becomes, in essence, a mini-meditation.
Once you’re in the pose, you can focus on the physical sensations.
The ever-evolving experience will give you more than enough to remain interested. You will become increasingly attuned to the sheer variety of things that will show up for you.
You are, in essence, mastering mindfulness of the body.
You are also creating micro-doses of stillness.
While you should not hold yourself rigidly, you should do your best not to move more than is necessary.
With practice, fidgeting will become a thing of the past.
Moderate discomfort will show up, but this is a blessing in disguise.
You will master relaxing through discomfort instead of getting stuck in it.
Furthermore, the physical releases that the poses bring will allow you to feel far more comfortable with your seated practice.
The deeper, longer-held poses allow for an opening that is much more than a simple stretch. You are working with the deepest and dense tissues on a fundamental level.
This will unlock your seated practice, making it far more comfortable.
You Can Do It Too
Even just a single Yin Yoga session will do wonders for preparing you for longer seated meditation.
A regular practice, over time, will make sitting still a breeze.
In my journey, twice-weekly Yin Yoga practices allowed me to move into longer, more consistent seated meditations.
The more profound calm I found there also fed into my Yin Yoga practices.
It became a positive feedback loop that served me well over the years.
If I can master stillness, so can you.
I’ve evolved from a hyperactive child into an adult who doesn’t think twice about sitting still.
And Yin Yoga was the practice that brought me there.
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If you want to start your Yin Yoga journey right now, please try one of the many practice videos on my YouTube Channel.
If you want custom instruction on Yoga, Mindfulness, Fitness, and Lifestyle, I have a few spots left for private coaching. Please send me a message here, and we’ll set a time for our first meeting.
