We all have lousy days––days where nothing seems to go our way. How is it that some people manage to come out unharmed, while others fall prey to anger, frustration, and anxiety? In this article, we’ll explore a stereotypical “awful day” and see how one might deal with it in the “normal way,” as well as, the “meditation way.”

7:48 AM: You wake up late––alarm didn’t go off.
Normal way-Your heart rate suddenly jumps up as you realize you’re late and panic sets in. You leap out of bed, feeling a great deal of anxiety.
Meditation way-You realize what’s done is done and there is no reason to panic––that will not get you to work any faster. You take a deep breath and get out of bed. You calmly plan what you’ll need to do to get yourself to work as quickly as possible. Incidentally, you could have woken up on time if you had told yourself you wanted to wake up at a certain time during meditation the night before. You can program your mind to wake you up automatically.

8:45 AM: You left the house late and find yourself in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway.
Normal way-You begin to get angrier with each passing minute as you stop and go in traffic. Your heart rate is higher than normal and you notice you’re clenching the steering wheel.
Meditation way-You realize there is nothing you can do about the traffic. You take a few deep breaths with your eyes wide open and you become keenly aware of everything around you. In this heightened state of awareness, you focus all of your attention on the act of driving, thus, forgetting about the fact that you’re late. Your heart rate is normal and you feel good.

9:30 AM: At work you find that the meeting you were rushing to get to was cancelled.
Normal way-Your anger levels continue to increase as you recall the trouble you went through to get to work and how bad this day has already been. You spend the next few minutes talking to coworkers about how upset you are about this cancellation and end up getting yourself even more worked up.
Meditation way-You are happy because this means you did not miss the meeting and you now have more time to prepare for it. You excuse yourself and go to your office, where you take a minute to collect yourself. You simply close your eyes, take three deep breaths and focus on your breathing for the next 30-60 seconds. You feel great and are ready to tackle the rest of your day.

1:50 PM: The stress builds up during the day as you have one meeting after another and interact with coworkers you don’t get along with. You have about 10 minutes before your next meeting.
Normal way-You spend that time having a cup of coffee and thinking about your day, you feel more stressed and you begin to feel a slight pain in your stomach and chest.
Meditation way-You find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted and spend the next 5 minutes meditating. You decide to use the “Focus on Heartbeat” meditation listed at end of article. Your heart rate is lowered and your stress is effectively reduced. After your meditation, you have a refreshing glass of water and feel energized to continue with your meetings.

4:30 PM: You get a call from you wife that your daughter has a serious fever and she has been taken to the emergency room. You leave early and rush to the hospital. You and your wife sit in the waiting room as doctors work with your daughter.
Normal way-You are in a state of panic. You pace back and forth as your mind races with worse case scenarios. Seeing your state of mind, your wife’s anxiety rises even further. You both feel utterly helpless.
Meditation way-You hold your wife’s hand and assure her everything will be all right. You close your eyes together and focus all of your attention on your daughter. You conjure up an image of your daughter in your mind and imagine a burst of white healing light surrounding her. Both of you affirm that she will be all right. You ask the universe to provide whatever is for your daughter’s highest good. You both feel better, knowing you are doing something to help her as you wait.

8:36 PM: You bring your daughter home from the hospital and she is doing just fine. You make some quick dinner and sit down to eat. As you try to have your meal, you receive calls from four different telemarketers trying to sell you their services.
Normal way-You get extremely angry and scream at the telemarketers. You have a hard time masking your anger, making everyone feel tense around the dinner table.
Meditation way-You realize that, even though the telemarketers can be annoying, they are people who are just doing their jobs. They don’t deserve to be yelled at. You calmly tell them you’re not interested and get back to dinner with your family. You even decide to turn off the ringer on your phone while you eat.

10:45 PM: As you are about to go to sleep, your mind is filled with thousands of thoughts and feelings about the day’s events and things you need to do tomorrow.
Normal way-You go right to bed and end up tossing and turning for hours. You finally fall asleep, but wake up feeling awful the next day.
Meditation way-You spend fifteen minutes meditating. This time you choose to start with the Progressive Relaxation meditation, followed by the Inner Calmness meditation listed at end of this article. Before you end your meditation, program your mind to wake up at 7 AM by telling yourself you will wake up at that time. As soon as you’re done, you go to bed and instantly fall asleep. With a great night’s rest you wake up refreshed.
I hope you’ll be able to relate to some of the things in this “awful day” and see how you might change your behavior and thinking when such situations arise. With a lot of practice, you’ll find with the meditation way, even the worst days end up being okay. Have a great day!

SIDE NOTE: A few hours after I wrote this article, I got into a four car pile up on the freeway. No one was injured, but I had an opportunity to practice what I’ve been discussing in this article. After the first few seconds of shock and frustration, I quickly calmed myself by doing some deep breathing. I actually ended up finding the whole incident to be humorous because of the irony of the situation.

When you change your attitude towards the problem you’re facing, it becomes much easier to remove feelings of anger and frustration.

Meditations
• Beginning for each mediation... Find a comfortable spot to sit or lie down. Close your eyes and relax. Take a deep breath through your nose, making sure your stomach rises as you inhale. Exhale through your mouth and repeat two times. Breathe normally as you allow your body and mind to relax.

Focus on Heartbeat
• Breathe normally through your nose and focus your attention on your heart. Focus on each heartbeat. Any time a thought enters your mind, simply notice it, then release it by finding your heartbeat again and focusing on it. Continue to focus on your heartbeat. End this meditation by taking a deep breath and opening your eyes.

Passive Progressive Relaxation
• Focus all of your attention on your toes. As you focus on each toe, imagine it relaxing completely. Just imagine that it is relaxing and it will do so automatically. Move your focus completely to your feet now and simply allow them to relax. Move your focus up to your ankles as you allow them to relax. Move your focus to your knees which are completely relaxing now. Move your focus to your thighs and waist, which are relaxing. Move your focus to your lower back and just feel all of the tension draining away. You are feeling wonderful as you move your focus to your spine and abdomen, watching them relax. Move your focus to your chest and shoulders as tension melts away and you relax your body completely. Move your focus down, to your upper arms. Your elbows. Your wrists are totally relaxing as you now focus on your fingers, relaxing each one completely. Moving your focus up to your neck. Let any tension in your neck drain away and out of your body. Moving your focus now to your head. Imagine your ears and eyebrows relaxing. Your scalp and even your hair feels relaxed. Focus on your jaws and release any tension there. You are now completely relaxed from head to toe. Spend a moment to bask in this wonderful feeling of relaxation. End this meditation by taking a deep breath and resting your eyes for a moment.

Virtually Meditating #16 I'd love to hear your feedback.
e-mail me personally at: ali@sagewithin.com
Ali Sharifi , The Sage Within http://sagewithin.com