M from grandmothers who whispered in their baby girl in two fathers on dimly lit street corners, instructing young soldiers to always keep their eyes open. You be queen, you were fired. You will pass through centuries on the hands of your daughters. They called you wisdom. Proverbs on the backs of diamond eyed school children who growing into hymnals recited by amethyst holding urban philosophers who recited neighborhood commandments out of the windows of restored ALCHEMYO cheriots to keep the warmth of their blood. Be wise, be smart, being black, opal brown courts, bloodstone and prayer. Be every form of jim se King told scribe, scribe, told son, son, told wife, wife told her daughter, and daughter told the ass This is the ancestis told me that you would come to give wisdom of thousands. They said you would come. Dropping Roping Gym. Welcome to the Dropping Gym's podcast. I'm your host, DeBie Brown Gosh. I sat and listened to of the intro song today and y'all, it hits like every like ten shows or so. I just have to always say, huge, huge, huge, huge thank you to my friend Namdi okafor who wrote that opening poem that is our show intro into my friend day One, who produced the track. I think I've shared this story before, but my inspiration was when I connected a day One, I was like, can you produce a song for me for my podcast? I wanted to sound like g funk meets elevator music. And for those that are from the West Coast, you know just what I mean by g funk, but it's the a very specific music style to l a mixed with like you know, the subtleness, the melody, the mood of an elevator music. And then my boy Namdijs wrote such a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful piece of poetry to share. So I just felt super grateful for that. All right, what's up, y'all. Great to be back with you, Thank you for joining the show. Thank you so much everyone that has taken the time to leave a review. That really means a lot. Um and y'all go in like, it's not just like, hey, I like this show, Um, you're really sharing with me such deep insights and deep connections to the ways that you may connect with one of the guests on this show or some of the things that were shared, and it means a lot, and I really thank you for that. So if you have a chance and you haven't yet and you enjoyed this show, go ahead and give it that thank five stars, and uh leave a review. Thank you. All right, let's get into today's show. So we are at a very interesting time of year right now. It is, uh we are shortly before going into in a completely new year. And something that I really like to do more so starting in November is really start wrapping my mind around are there new ways of being that I want to invite in. I don't do resolutions, and my astrologers shared with me shout out to Darryll that, uh, the new year is actually not even the best time to set intentions because there's no planetary energy behind it versus some other times of the years, especially the starts of different seasons or at solstice. But November December really this time of the years that I like to get really reflective. I like to take stock and then I like to reimagine, um, what is my spiritual practice, need, desire, what does it want to grow into. Sometimes I add things that the new year, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I remove things sometimes I don't, But I really just check in with myself and I check in with my body and check in with my heart, and I see what are my needs and how can I meet them? And so that is some of what I've just been thinking about this time of year. And I think I'm going to record an entirely different episode for next week related to really being able to set some powerful intentions for this new energy that is coming in UM. But something that I really wanted to do, which is what today's episode is going to be, as I wanted to connect and find out, you know, what are what are some needs the collective has, what are some questions that are coming up for us all? And so I decided to start going live once a week for the most part on my Instagram channel I do for those that connect with me on I GM at Debbie Brown on there, and for the past really year and a half, I've been doing a lot of lives with Chopra, done lives UM with some of our educators, with Deepak, with some of the really beautiful work that we do over at Chopra. But then I decided I want to go live on my page too, and I really want to start UM diving into with a little more room, more specific questions about the spiritual journey, and what I say when I I'm speaking specifically about the spiritual journey. It's not just like, oh, how do I meditate? I can't meditate, though that is a valid question that a lot of people have, but it is a question that I speak to quite a bit. I wanted to dive into more of the UM, more of the grooves, more of the cracks, more of the crevices of how we experience ourselves and how we experience our journeys, and answer questions that are deeply related to that. So that is what I do now once a week on Live for the most part, once a week UM. And the very first time that I did that, I received questions that really really blew me away UM and I got a chance to connect with so many friends UM who joined me for that Live. So that is what I wanted to share with you today. There are questions that I am diving into and I'm packing that relate to how to create UM a spiritual container for yourself, how to create your spiritual practice. I have questions on how to navigate depression and how to navigate UM. Some of the more shadowy aspects of what being on a wellness journey is and so let's dive into all of that now. Let's go. So I want to talk about meditation today, and I'm kind of flirting with the idea of doing some lives once a week and just kind of calling an office hours and any questions that you have as you're on your journey, just kind of taking a second to explore them. So I go live on Chokra a lot, but I wanted to also make sure that for those that don't follow that account, UM, we get a chance to connect and talk and all the things. So my idea today was and I'm just flirting with this, so I'll probably be on for about fifteen minutes. I wanted to talk about meditation UM. Meditation is something that I've been doing for the last ten years, and as I share quite a bit everywhere UM, definitely on my podcast. It changed. Meditation truly changed absolutely everything about my life and the way that I experienced myself in the ways that I experience and relate to other people. And so I've recognized when I first learned meditation, even though I was in a completely different life path at the time, working in a completely different world, I knew it was a divine calling on my life to share meditation with my community and share especially UM, the access to our own self love and self acceptance, the access to our internal process. UM. So I would love to deep dive in meditation here. And I think maybe next time I go live, maybe later this week, we can do Okay, so I see my first question. We can do meditation. I can lead you on a meditation here. UM. I also lead daily meditation on the app. It's called Chopra and it's available in the iOS store, and I have daily meditations that are really approachable because I just want to say the number one thing that every single human being says is that, um, Daniel, what up that every single human being says? Is I think too much? There's no way, or oh I have too many thoughts in my day, or oh I'm too busy, and you know, it's kind of like, well, welcome to the human experience. Every person that has ever meditated ever in life has thought and said that same thing. And I think the latest staff from scientists is somewhere around the lines of as humans, we think thirty thou thoughts a day, um, just naturally about any and everything and so that part of it comes with the territory, and that's why we develop practice. So if you have any questions about your meditation practice, especially specific ones, whatever it is, there's no question that's too big or too small. UM, nothing is silly. Let this be a safe space and ask me anything as it relates to your meditation or spiritual practice journey. UM. One of the questions that I saw Dan Yelle, the Queen of Content, one of the questions that I saw come up was along the lines of my apartment is too small? How do I meditate? That's so silly. We can meditate. And this is why I think it's so, so so important to talk about meditation, and I really want to push myself to do it more and just make it um so demystified. Right, Like I think that there's this deep misconception that to meditate or to be a meditator, it means that you've also joined in oshroom and your full vegan and you know you're always your highest self and all those things, and that's just not true. Like, meditation is a companion for the journey. Meditation is um. It's your internal GPS system. It is your way to learn your own enoughness is your way to learn how to be with one another. That is so funny, it's the real Why would your apartment need to be bigger to meditate? Please enlighten me? Oh good? Okay, So I see a question from Diana, which is what is the best time to meditate? Morning or night? I recommend both. Um. You know, I think there there was a very consistent kind of stream of thought that everyone should start their day with it, and I do agree with that. I think setting an intention for the beginning of your day, which you kind of naturally do through meditation or you become a little more connected to changes everything about how that day will be experienced and felt by you. Um. But something that I, as like a busy toddler single mom, have discovered is that that's not always feasible. But I still need my nourishment and I still need a way to just fully be with myself. And so I've actually created a really expansive evening meditation practice for myself. Now I might get in about, you know, maybe fifteen minutes in the morning, but my evening, after I put my son down to bed, I probably meditate for about an hour at night. And that has been really really powerful for me. I've really been enjoying that. So the great thing about your practice, I think, to get started, create some consistency for yourself. So choosing one time of day that you're really going to try on this new way of being every single day, UM, it helps you lock you into being able to actually feel and see the differences and create this system where you're able to show really confidently in your practice. But then after that, the beauty about having a spiritual practice, it's all about the creativity. It's all about creating YEA, what works for you. And meditation allows you to get to know yourself really well, so you can actually answer that question very fully UM in a way that creates um deep nourishment for you. UM. That really creates a service to you. So morning is ideal to get started. The recommended UM kind of uh recipe of meditation UM would be meditating two times a day for twenty minutes. UM. So think morning when you wake up, and then think like maybe early evening, like around a four PM. When I first started meditating and I was still working in radio, what I used to do is I would finish my shift and then I would go sit in my car for twenty minutes and meditated my car right at four pm and then go back inside and then go home. So you find ways to do it, and it doesn't have to be so precious your meditation practice. It doesn't have to always be like right, But I'm sitting perfectly, and I have my mudras and you know, I have my my backjack behind me and all of those things that can. Like I've meditated standing in line before being in a long line. I'm also the kind of person that will go deep inside real fast, so I'll just be like da And that's just my way of being. But it can be done anywhere, literally anywhere. And so that's why I was laughing when Into the Real said my apartment is too small. You know, with wellness being so on trend, it's really been about the luxury of wellness. But meditation is free. It is free, It is simple. It is something you can do everywhere on any corner of the earth, regardless of your background, regardless regardless of your culture, regardless of how much money you have. Is something that is truly just a dialogue between you and the divine happening inside of yourself. Um, so there's always opportunity to do that. Sometimes it helps to get all the trinkets though. Right the backjacks or this is my meditation space that we're in, it's painted orange for the sacral chakra. UM. It can feel really serving to have those extra adornments and makes it more of an experience. UM. It makes it delightful for you. It makes it your own. But it's not necessary. Actually, okay, let me let me look for some more questions. As a beginner, would you suggest guided or using some form of sounds? Thank you for that question to get started. I do recommend guided. UM. I don't use guided for myself now, but for probably the first two years of my practice. For the first year, for sure, I used guided every day, and then I would kind of supplement and I would do one guided, one not guided, until I got really comfortable with my own silence. There is no timetable on that. It just depends to who you are, how you live, and what your journey is. I needed the guided to get started, and it was very powerful shifting for me to have it. UM. I guess kind of shameless plug, but also just a resource. I lead daily meditations, I guide them on the show. Brack Um, So if you resonate with my voice at all, that might be a nice place to start. Um. But guided can be really good, Um, Gentle nature sounds can be really powerful in a meditation. But then you get into a space where you will crave true silence, So follow your own lead there. Um. Now, being in my own silence is like delicious, like it is such, it's such a gift. It unlocks so much in me to just kind of hear the sounds of my own breath, hear the sounds of my heartbeat. Um. But go go gently, but go in whatever way feels best to you. There's no wrong way to do it. And again, you can always change it. So if you start with guided, and then you decide I'm ready to try a more advanced practice, go to silence, stretch it practice with time. Um. The longest session I have ever meditated for straight without interruption is two hours. I last year did a really deep meditation for the very first time, UM, and I meditated actually on a boat in the ocean for six hours straight. I don't know how often I could do that, but it it blew the top off of my life when I did. So I'll be trying that again. All right, let me look for more questions. Yeah, oh, Danielle, thank you for that question. I hope I touched on a little bit. Are you able to meditate throughout the day without having it be a whole setup or those just prayers? Absolutely, meditation the setup is like the glitz and glam, it's the accessories of it. It's whatever feels good for you. I'm a very adorned person. I like I love design, I love style, I love color, I love texture. But also I meditate, as I shared earlier standing in line. Sometimes, Um, I've stopped and meditated at dinner while other people were talking. You can do it anywhere, and when you get kind of into that more confident, comfortable swing with your practice, you just go into meditation as we did. Rock. Another question that I have, I have about three minutes left then I go get my baby from preschool. Um, what do you say to people who say meditation is too hard for them? I'd say it does feel really hard to start. It's very challenging. So many of us have been taught and raised to just constantly keep conversation going, like not even be able to be in silence with each other. Um, and we've been taught, you know, to really prize our thinking, our own analytical ability. So a lot of the challenge and meditation it's really just laying off all the behaviors that we've taken on that no longer serve us. And that's kind of the gifted meditation. It's being able to meet yourself in the challenge. UM, in the restlessness. I meditate every day, but there are sometimes that I get, depending on what is happening in my life, I'll get irritated by it. You just get restless. You're sitting there and then you're just like, can you to move? I'm gonna do something, you know. Um. And one of the beauty is about how you practice meditation and come into this new way of being is that you get to rub up against that challenge in real time and instead of judging yourself for it, um, which could sound like I can never focus, God, I can never stop thinking meditation isn't for me, you know, rushing into this judgment, it becomes more for me in my practice. Hmm, what's going on today? Why is this feeling so challenging? What me? What need do I need to meet within myself? Um? What's the thought that I can let go of. So you start to get really gentle, really curious, and really inquisitive with yourself and with your process. So if it feels too hard for you, follow that breadcrumb trail and just ask yourself questions in real time, like why is this feeling so hard? But do it with that tone that I just did not why is this so hard? God? This is so frustrating. It's bringing in that gentleness for self is part of the practice, so it's just wow, maybe I'm really tired today, or gosh, I am under a lot of stress. Okay, just take a breath, Okay, you know, and treating yourself in that way that is also part of what the spiritual practice is moving into grace with you as you try on these new tools. Um do you offer teacher instructor trainings? So I work at shop a Global and we have the leading meditation program in the country. In my opinion, UM, I went through that program many years ago. It is best in class. You get such deep knowledge, specifically of the Vedic lineage and primorial sound meditation, which deepoc created with Dr David Simon, and it's a really powerful program. I highly recommend it. And there's so much support around it. Um, it's just it feels like poetry. It's so beautiful. So I recommend that program so funny. It feels I don't I don't go live like this really, so I gotta say it feels weird to read questions in front of people if they're watching you. It is an important to meditate in a sitting position. Yeah. Ideally you want to be really comfortable. UM. That is really the leading feeling of it. You want you want enough comfort in your body to surrender um. And so that can feel really good sitting down. I think once you have an active practice, there's other ways to do it. There's walking meditations, there's meditations with your eyes open, like if you were in um, if you were in like a stone labyrinth, which you guys may have seen, which is like the stones on the ground in a circular pattern. Um, if you were in a stone labyrinth, you keep your eyes open. Or you can do like a low gaze meditation, which is just kind of barely peeking out in your eyes when you're outside and just noticing your senses a little bit more. Um. But to get started, yeah, start sitting, then kind of play with it. Like I said, I'll I'll close my eyes in a second anywhere and just start meditating. Um. How has the practice of meditation evolved for you since you've started? I think I spoke to this, but it has definitely It's changed everything. And I think my spiritual practice became the most serving for me and the most healing for me that has ever been when I allowed myself to get creative with it. I used to be very structured and I'd be like, Okay, meditate, then I'm gonna do yoga. Then I'm gonna do this, then I'm gonna journal. Um, And now I just create a can tainer for myself. So I'll say, you know what, I have about an hour to self care. That's my container. What I do with that hour is my business. And I just follow the lead of my soul and my body and need its needs within that hour. So you kind of get to be the deeper you go. You have um more access to your freedom and to your creativity. You see. Um, I try to meditate to a guided meditation every morning, but I can't keep trying and just ask yourself questions when it feels hard, what's coming up? Why can't you you know, what is it? What do you feel your sacrificing or what may you be um, perhaps avoiding in that moment without judgment something. So, uh, it's okay, I'm gonna read that because I think that's really powerful and relatable for so many of us. Shoot, I don't have enough time. How do I go to school? I feel like I've been praying for something since March, but I haven't found the answers. I know the answers and stillness, but I'm still not seeing or hearing God's sign. How do I get still enough? What a beautiful question, and I think we all have had times that we can relate to that. Are you ready get more still? Get more quiet? You know? Right now, really try to disconnect from into any intellectualizing or any control. When you're in the quiet, you're there for as long as needed. There is no timetable on when God can, will, and should speak to you, and so just continue to honor yourself by speaking the silence, but speak it without expert expectation so that God can surprise you with the answer. Um, keep going, keep leaning into that, keep leaning into that silence, into that stillness, and it will click. Yes, let me try to scroll through the things. How do I how do I start practicing on a daily basis? Start practicing on a daily basis? Do it every day, especially on the days that you don't want to mm hmm. Do you have any tips for dealing with uncomfortable thoughts or feelings while meditating? Yeah, allow allow yourself to not have to find a solution in the moment that that thought coeps in. So, especially if you have a pressing need right now, or if there's like a piece of your spiritual curriculum you're really working with, just give yourself grace and give yourself the opportunity to just notice that you're having that thought, but not have to stay committed to the thought, not have to follow the thought down another trail, and I'd have to investigate the thought and not have to find a solution for the thought or the circumstance. Um, you can't just notice it, and you can also in that moment say like, gosh, this is really stressful for me, this is really difficult for me to think about this, and then maybe even saying a word that feels nurturing for you. Um, when I use for myself is just grace, Grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. It really brings me into the place of being a deeper acceptance of yourself and of your life. Nice. When I meditate, I see a blue ball in my third eye area. When I focus on it, I go into a swirl or spiral feeling. Any comments on what it is or if you've experienced that, Oh yes, my friend, I experienced that. I say, have fun with it. Keep leaning into it, keep meditating and focusing on that color that's revealing itself to you and your third eye chekra right there, um, and just see where it takes you, and don't judge it. You don't have to understand it, follow it. It will leads yourself. We're good. How does someone tune into that deep self? When I try, I tend to get emotional. That's why you do it, get emotional. There's nothing wrong with experiencing your emotions. And what I'm getting from reading that is that your emotions would really like to be deeply felt by you, and they deserve to. And so let yourself feel what you're feeling in real time and then see where that leads you. How many times do you meditate a day? It is recommended to do with twice the day morning and evening practice. Um right now, I've been really more so leaning into my evening practice, just the way my current life flow is. Danielle, I love this comment that you shared. Dang, I really gotta go. I'd be feeling uh pause, I'd be feeling restless a lot in living, not just meditating. Relatable. My friends followed that restless feeling. We have to meet our feelings and we have to let ourselves feel them before we can actually release them. So if the thought is how do I get rid of this feeling, You're going to be finding that pattern repeat until you stop and you investigate the feeling and you let yourself feel it and see what it wants you to know or what it wants you to release. Alright, So that was a little Q and A from me, and I'm gonna be doing that once a week for the most part on my Instagram as often as I can. Uh. And we'll be back next week. So please send this show to a friend, drop a review. Really grateful for all the five stars and those that have taken the time within Apple Apple Podcast to type up something really appreciate you. And if you share this on actually tag me big love and I'm astay. Hey. Find me on social Let's connect at Debbie Brown. That's Twitter and Instagram, or go to my website Debbie Brown dot com. And if you're listening to the show on Apple Podcasts, please please please don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe and send this episode to a friend. Dropping Jams is the production of I Heart Radio and The Black Effect Network. It's produced by Jack Quease and me Debbie Brown. For more podcasts from My heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

M from grandmothers who whispered in their baby girl in two fathers on dimly lit street corners, instructing young soldiers to always keep their eyes open. You be queen, you were fired. You will pass through centuries on the hands of your daughters. They called you wisdom. Proverbs on the backs of diamond eyed school children who growing into hymnals recited by amethyst holding urban philosophers who recited neighborhood commandments out of the windows of restored ALCHEMYO cheriots to keep the warmth of their blood. Be wise, be smart, being black, opal brown courts, bloodstone and prayer. Be every form of jim se King told scribe, scribe, told son, son, told wife, wife told her daughter, and daughter told the ass This is the ancestis told me that you would come to give wisdom of thousands. They said you would come. Dropping Roping Gym. Welcome to the Dropping Gym's podcast. I'm your host, DeBie Brown Gosh. I sat and listened to of the intro song today and y'all, it hits like every like ten shows or so. I just have to always say, huge, huge, huge, huge thank you to my friend Namdi okafor who wrote that opening poem that is our show intro into my friend day One, who produced the track. I think I've shared this story before, but my inspiration was when I connected a day One, I was like, can you produce a song for me for my podcast? I wanted to sound like g funk meets elevator music. And for those that are from the West Coast, you know just what I mean by g funk, but it's the a very specific music style to l a mixed with like you know, the subtleness, the melody, the mood of an elevator music. And then my boy Namdijs wrote such a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful piece of poetry to share. So I just felt super grateful for that. All right, what's up, y'all. Great to be back with you, Thank you for joining the show. Thank you so much everyone that has taken the time to leave a review. That really means a lot. Um and y'all go in like, it's not just like, hey, I like this show, Um, you're really sharing with me such deep insights and deep connections to the ways that you may connect with one of the guests on this show or some of the things that were shared, and it means a lot, and I really thank you for that. So if you have a chance and you haven't yet and you enjoyed this show, go ahead and give it that thank five stars, and uh leave a review. Thank you. All right, let's get into today's show. So we are at a very interesting time of year right now. It is, uh we are shortly before going into in a completely new year. And something that I really like to do more so starting in November is really start wrapping my mind around are there new ways of being that I want to invite in. I don't do resolutions, and my astrologers shared with me shout out to Darryll that, uh, the new year is actually not even the best time to set intentions because there's no planetary energy behind it versus some other times of the years, especially the starts of different seasons or at solstice. But November December really this time of the years that I like to get really reflective. I like to take stock and then I like to reimagine, um, what is my spiritual practice, need, desire, what does it want to grow into. Sometimes I add things that the new year, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I remove things sometimes I don't, But I really just check in with myself and I check in with my body and check in with my heart, and I see what are my needs and how can I meet them? And so that is some of what I've just been thinking about this time of year. And I think I'm going to record an entirely different episode for next week related to really being able to set some powerful intentions for this new energy that is coming in UM. But something that I really wanted to do, which is what today's episode is going to be, as I wanted to connect and find out, you know, what are what are some needs the collective has, what are some questions that are coming up for us all? And so I decided to start going live once a week for the most part on my Instagram channel I do for those that connect with me on I GM at Debbie Brown on there, and for the past really year and a half, I've been doing a lot of lives with Chopra, done lives UM with some of our educators, with Deepak, with some of the really beautiful work that we do over at Chopra. But then I decided I want to go live on my page too, and I really want to start UM diving into with a little more room, more specific questions about the spiritual journey, and what I say when I I'm speaking specifically about the spiritual journey. It's not just like, oh, how do I meditate? I can't meditate, though that is a valid question that a lot of people have, but it is a question that I speak to quite a bit. I wanted to dive into more of the UM, more of the grooves, more of the cracks, more of the crevices of how we experience ourselves and how we experience our journeys, and answer questions that are deeply related to that. So that is what I do now once a week on Live for the most part, once a week UM. And the very first time that I did that, I received questions that really really blew me away UM and I got a chance to connect with so many friends UM who joined me for that Live. So that is what I wanted to share with you today. There are questions that I am diving into and I'm packing that relate to how to create UM a spiritual container for yourself, how to create your spiritual practice. I have questions on how to navigate depression and how to navigate UM. Some of the more shadowy aspects of what being on a wellness journey is and so let's dive into all of that now. Let's go. So I want to talk about meditation today, and I'm kind of flirting with the idea of doing some lives once a week and just kind of calling an office hours and any questions that you have as you're on your journey, just kind of taking a second to explore them. So I go live on Chokra a lot, but I wanted to also make sure that for those that don't follow that account, UM, we get a chance to connect and talk and all the things. So my idea today was and I'm just flirting with this, so I'll probably be on for about fifteen minutes. I wanted to talk about meditation UM. Meditation is something that I've been doing for the last ten years, and as I share quite a bit everywhere UM, definitely on my podcast. It changed. Meditation truly changed absolutely everything about my life and the way that I experienced myself in the ways that I experience and relate to other people. And so I've recognized when I first learned meditation, even though I was in a completely different life path at the time, working in a completely different world, I knew it was a divine calling on my life to share meditation with my community and share especially UM, the access to our own self love and self acceptance, the access to our internal process. UM. So I would love to deep dive in meditation here. And I think maybe next time I go live, maybe later this week, we can do Okay, so I see my first question. We can do meditation. I can lead you on a meditation here. UM. I also lead daily meditation on the app. It's called Chopra and it's available in the iOS store, and I have daily meditations that are really approachable because I just want to say the number one thing that every single human being says is that, um, Daniel, what up that every single human being says? Is I think too much? There's no way, or oh I have too many thoughts in my day, or oh I'm too busy, and you know, it's kind of like, well, welcome to the human experience. Every person that has ever meditated ever in life has thought and said that same thing. And I think the latest staff from scientists is somewhere around the lines of as humans, we think thirty thou thoughts a day, um, just naturally about any and everything and so that part of it comes with the territory, and that's why we develop practice. So if you have any questions about your meditation practice, especially specific ones, whatever it is, there's no question that's too big or too small. UM, nothing is silly. Let this be a safe space and ask me anything as it relates to your meditation or spiritual practice journey. UM. One of the questions that I saw Dan Yelle, the Queen of Content, one of the questions that I saw come up was along the lines of my apartment is too small? How do I meditate? That's so silly. We can meditate. And this is why I think it's so, so so important to talk about meditation, and I really want to push myself to do it more and just make it um so demystified. Right, Like I think that there's this deep misconception that to meditate or to be a meditator, it means that you've also joined in oshroom and your full vegan and you know you're always your highest self and all those things, and that's just not true. Like, meditation is a companion for the journey. Meditation is um. It's your internal GPS system. It is your way to learn your own enoughness is your way to learn how to be with one another. That is so funny, it's the real Why would your apartment need to be bigger to meditate? Please enlighten me? Oh good? Okay, So I see a question from Diana, which is what is the best time to meditate? Morning or night? I recommend both. Um. You know, I think there there was a very consistent kind of stream of thought that everyone should start their day with it, and I do agree with that. I think setting an intention for the beginning of your day, which you kind of naturally do through meditation or you become a little more connected to changes everything about how that day will be experienced and felt by you. Um. But something that I, as like a busy toddler single mom, have discovered is that that's not always feasible. But I still need my nourishment and I still need a way to just fully be with myself. And so I've actually created a really expansive evening meditation practice for myself. Now I might get in about, you know, maybe fifteen minutes in the morning, but my evening, after I put my son down to bed, I probably meditate for about an hour at night. And that has been really really powerful for me. I've really been enjoying that. So the great thing about your practice, I think, to get started, create some consistency for yourself. So choosing one time of day that you're really going to try on this new way of being every single day, UM, it helps you lock you into being able to actually feel and see the differences and create this system where you're able to show really confidently in your practice. But then after that, the beauty about having a spiritual practice, it's all about the creativity. It's all about creating YEA, what works for you. And meditation allows you to get to know yourself really well, so you can actually answer that question very fully UM in a way that creates um deep nourishment for you. UM. That really creates a service to you. So morning is ideal to get started. The recommended UM kind of uh recipe of meditation UM would be meditating two times a day for twenty minutes. UM. So think morning when you wake up, and then think like maybe early evening, like around a four PM. When I first started meditating and I was still working in radio, what I used to do is I would finish my shift and then I would go sit in my car for twenty minutes and meditated my car right at four pm and then go back inside and then go home. So you find ways to do it, and it doesn't have to be so precious your meditation practice. It doesn't have to always be like right, But I'm sitting perfectly, and I have my mudras and you know, I have my my backjack behind me and all of those things that can. Like I've meditated standing in line before being in a long line. I'm also the kind of person that will go deep inside real fast, so I'll just be like da And that's just my way of being. But it can be done anywhere, literally anywhere. And so that's why I was laughing when Into the Real said my apartment is too small. You know, with wellness being so on trend, it's really been about the luxury of wellness. But meditation is free. It is free, It is simple. It is something you can do everywhere on any corner of the earth, regardless of your background, regardless regardless of your culture, regardless of how much money you have. Is something that is truly just a dialogue between you and the divine happening inside of yourself. Um, so there's always opportunity to do that. Sometimes it helps to get all the trinkets though. Right the backjacks or this is my meditation space that we're in, it's painted orange for the sacral chakra. UM. It can feel really serving to have those extra adornments and makes it more of an experience. UM. It makes it delightful for you. It makes it your own. But it's not necessary. Actually, okay, let me let me look for some more questions. As a beginner, would you suggest guided or using some form of sounds? Thank you for that question to get started. I do recommend guided. UM. I don't use guided for myself now, but for probably the first two years of my practice. For the first year, for sure, I used guided every day, and then I would kind of supplement and I would do one guided, one not guided, until I got really comfortable with my own silence. There is no timetable on that. It just depends to who you are, how you live, and what your journey is. I needed the guided to get started, and it was very powerful shifting for me to have it. UM. I guess kind of shameless plug, but also just a resource. I lead daily meditations, I guide them on the show. Brack Um, So if you resonate with my voice at all, that might be a nice place to start. Um. But guided can be really good, Um, Gentle nature sounds can be really powerful in a meditation. But then you get into a space where you will crave true silence, So follow your own lead there. Um. Now, being in my own silence is like delicious, like it is such, it's such a gift. It unlocks so much in me to just kind of hear the sounds of my own breath, hear the sounds of my heartbeat. Um. But go go gently, but go in whatever way feels best to you. There's no wrong way to do it. And again, you can always change it. So if you start with guided, and then you decide I'm ready to try a more advanced practice, go to silence, stretch it practice with time. Um. The longest session I have ever meditated for straight without interruption is two hours. I last year did a really deep meditation for the very first time, UM, and I meditated actually on a boat in the ocean for six hours straight. I don't know how often I could do that, but it it blew the top off of my life when I did. So I'll be trying that again. All right, let me look for more questions. Yeah, oh, Danielle, thank you for that question. I hope I touched on a little bit. Are you able to meditate throughout the day without having it be a whole setup or those just prayers? Absolutely, meditation the setup is like the glitz and glam, it's the accessories of it. It's whatever feels good for you. I'm a very adorned person. I like I love design, I love style, I love color, I love texture. But also I meditate, as I shared earlier standing in line. Sometimes, Um, I've stopped and meditated at dinner while other people were talking. You can do it anywhere, and when you get kind of into that more confident, comfortable swing with your practice, you just go into meditation as we did. Rock. Another question that I have, I have about three minutes left then I go get my baby from preschool. Um, what do you say to people who say meditation is too hard for them? I'd say it does feel really hard to start. It's very challenging. So many of us have been taught and raised to just constantly keep conversation going, like not even be able to be in silence with each other. Um, and we've been taught, you know, to really prize our thinking, our own analytical ability. So a lot of the challenge and meditation it's really just laying off all the behaviors that we've taken on that no longer serve us. And that's kind of the gifted meditation. It's being able to meet yourself in the challenge. UM, in the restlessness. I meditate every day, but there are sometimes that I get, depending on what is happening in my life, I'll get irritated by it. You just get restless. You're sitting there and then you're just like, can you to move? I'm gonna do something, you know. Um. And one of the beauty is about how you practice meditation and come into this new way of being is that you get to rub up against that challenge in real time and instead of judging yourself for it, um, which could sound like I can never focus, God, I can never stop thinking meditation isn't for me, you know, rushing into this judgment, it becomes more for me in my practice. Hmm, what's going on today? Why is this feeling so challenging? What me? What need do I need to meet within myself? Um? What's the thought that I can let go of. So you start to get really gentle, really curious, and really inquisitive with yourself and with your process. So if it feels too hard for you, follow that breadcrumb trail and just ask yourself questions in real time, like why is this feeling so hard? But do it with that tone that I just did not why is this so hard? God? This is so frustrating. It's bringing in that gentleness for self is part of the practice, so it's just wow, maybe I'm really tired today, or gosh, I am under a lot of stress. Okay, just take a breath, Okay, you know, and treating yourself in that way that is also part of what the spiritual practice is moving into grace with you as you try on these new tools. Um do you offer teacher instructor trainings? So I work at shop a Global and we have the leading meditation program in the country. In my opinion, UM, I went through that program many years ago. It is best in class. You get such deep knowledge, specifically of the Vedic lineage and primorial sound meditation, which deepoc created with Dr David Simon, and it's a really powerful program. I highly recommend it. And there's so much support around it. Um, it's just it feels like poetry. It's so beautiful. So I recommend that program so funny. It feels I don't I don't go live like this really, so I gotta say it feels weird to read questions in front of people if they're watching you. It is an important to meditate in a sitting position. Yeah. Ideally you want to be really comfortable. UM. That is really the leading feeling of it. You want you want enough comfort in your body to surrender um. And so that can feel really good sitting down. I think once you have an active practice, there's other ways to do it. There's walking meditations, there's meditations with your eyes open, like if you were in um, if you were in like a stone labyrinth, which you guys may have seen, which is like the stones on the ground in a circular pattern. Um, if you were in a stone labyrinth, you keep your eyes open. Or you can do like a low gaze meditation, which is just kind of barely peeking out in your eyes when you're outside and just noticing your senses a little bit more. Um. But to get started, yeah, start sitting, then kind of play with it. Like I said, I'll I'll close my eyes in a second anywhere and just start meditating. Um. How has the practice of meditation evolved for you since you've started? I think I spoke to this, but it has definitely It's changed everything. And I think my spiritual practice became the most serving for me and the most healing for me that has ever been when I allowed myself to get creative with it. I used to be very structured and I'd be like, Okay, meditate, then I'm gonna do yoga. Then I'm gonna do this, then I'm gonna journal. Um, And now I just create a can tainer for myself. So I'll say, you know what, I have about an hour to self care. That's my container. What I do with that hour is my business. And I just follow the lead of my soul and my body and need its needs within that hour. So you kind of get to be the deeper you go. You have um more access to your freedom and to your creativity. You see. Um, I try to meditate to a guided meditation every morning, but I can't keep trying and just ask yourself questions when it feels hard, what's coming up? Why can't you you know, what is it? What do you feel your sacrificing or what may you be um, perhaps avoiding in that moment without judgment something. So, uh, it's okay, I'm gonna read that because I think that's really powerful and relatable for so many of us. Shoot, I don't have enough time. How do I go to school? I feel like I've been praying for something since March, but I haven't found the answers. I know the answers and stillness, but I'm still not seeing or hearing God's sign. How do I get still enough? What a beautiful question, and I think we all have had times that we can relate to that. Are you ready get more still? Get more quiet? You know? Right now, really try to disconnect from into any intellectualizing or any control. When you're in the quiet, you're there for as long as needed. There is no timetable on when God can, will, and should speak to you, and so just continue to honor yourself by speaking the silence, but speak it without expert expectation so that God can surprise you with the answer. Um, keep going, keep leaning into that, keep leaning into that silence, into that stillness, and it will click. Yes, let me try to scroll through the things. How do I how do I start practicing on a daily basis? Start practicing on a daily basis? Do it every day, especially on the days that you don't want to mm hmm. Do you have any tips for dealing with uncomfortable thoughts or feelings while meditating? Yeah, allow allow yourself to not have to find a solution in the moment that that thought coeps in. So, especially if you have a pressing need right now, or if there's like a piece of your spiritual curriculum you're really working with, just give yourself grace and give yourself the opportunity to just notice that you're having that thought, but not have to stay committed to the thought, not have to follow the thought down another trail, and I'd have to investigate the thought and not have to find a solution for the thought or the circumstance. Um, you can't just notice it, and you can also in that moment say like, gosh, this is really stressful for me, this is really difficult for me to think about this, and then maybe even saying a word that feels nurturing for you. Um, when I use for myself is just grace, Grace, grace, grace, grace, grace. It really brings me into the place of being a deeper acceptance of yourself and of your life. Nice. When I meditate, I see a blue ball in my third eye area. When I focus on it, I go into a swirl or spiral feeling. Any comments on what it is or if you've experienced that, Oh yes, my friend, I experienced that. I say, have fun with it. Keep leaning into it, keep meditating and focusing on that color that's revealing itself to you and your third eye chekra right there, um, and just see where it takes you, and don't judge it. You don't have to understand it, follow it. It will leads yourself. We're good. How does someone tune into that deep self? When I try, I tend to get emotional. That's why you do it, get emotional. There's nothing wrong with experiencing your emotions. And what I'm getting from reading that is that your emotions would really like to be deeply felt by you, and they deserve to. And so let yourself feel what you're feeling in real time and then see where that leads you. How many times do you meditate a day? It is recommended to do with twice the day morning and evening practice. Um right now, I've been really more so leaning into my evening practice, just the way my current life flow is. Danielle, I love this comment that you shared. Dang, I really gotta go. I'd be feeling uh pause, I'd be feeling restless a lot in living, not just meditating. Relatable. My friends followed that restless feeling. We have to meet our feelings and we have to let ourselves feel them before we can actually release them. So if the thought is how do I get rid of this feeling, You're going to be finding that pattern repeat until you stop and you investigate the feeling and you let yourself feel it and see what it wants you to know or what it wants you to release. Alright, So that was a little Q and A from me, and I'm gonna be doing that once a week for the most part on my Instagram as often as I can. Uh. And we'll be back next week. So please send this show to a friend, drop a review. Really grateful for all the five stars and those that have taken the time within Apple Apple Podcast to type up something really appreciate you. And if you share this on actually tag me big love and I'm astay. Hey. Find me on social Let's connect at Debbie Brown. That's Twitter and Instagram, or go to my website Debbie Brown dot com. And if you're listening to the show on Apple Podcasts, please please please don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe and send this episode to a friend. Dropping Jams is the production of I Heart Radio and The Black Effect Network. It's produced by Jack Quease and me Debbie Brown. For more podcasts from My heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.