I think I may have found the missing link: Meditation | Jessica Adamson

I always thought meditation was for people with too much time on their hands. In fact it’s the opposite, writes Jessica Adamson.

I think I may have found the missing link.

Let me ask you what your first thought is when you think about meditation.

Something for hippies? A waste of energy? Where would I find the time?

They were my thoughts when former high-flying Adelaide Crows forward Brett Burton reached out to me late last year.

Of course we also know Brett from the long running Collective Minds saga that ultimately cost him his job as Head of Football. But that’s old news.

Back then, Brett was introducing meditation to the men’s playing group, with some success.

Conscious of the demands on elite athletes, particularly with the advent of social media, he believed many in the AFL needed something extra to stay present.

“The players ability to perform on game day has always been there but their ability to stay focused during the week when they’re reading all this stuff on social media was starting to have an impact,” he says.

The father of 5 learnt meditation 10 years ago. He practices for 20 minutes, twice a day.

“We all deal with the stresses of life and everything that’s going on in our worlds but it’s the sense of calmness you get that’s the biggest thing,” he says.

Former Crows forward and head of football Brett Burton. Picture: Matt Loxton

“I come out and I feel like I’ve emptied the stress bucket for the day.

“You’re a better person to be around for your family, your friends and your colleagues.”

These days Brett runs a wellness business with his great mate, Adelaide boy and former Western Bulldogs star, Luke Darcy.

Their team at Aleda is passionate about teaching others, including children, to develop lifetime habits to care for their mental wellbeing.

And that’s where I come in.

Aleda’s Wellbeing and Meditation facilitator Sam Healy invited me and four others to take part in a group meditation course earlier this year, free of charge.

The group includes two leading local winemakers, a young sparky running his own electrical business and my friend Mark “Soda” Soderstrom.

We all lead hectic lives with young children and high energy jobs.

For most of us, it was our first time practising meditation.

Soda started meditating 3 years ago with the aim of “living in the moment, rather than spending too much time reflecting on the past or worrying about the future.”

Every weekday morning at 4.50am, you’ll find him meditating in his car, in SAFM’s carpark before going on air.

“It takes time to get into the groove but with some persistence and practice, it started to click in beautifully after a few months,” he says.

Over the last three months, this little group has come a long way. We’ve grown from being perfect strangers, to like-minded friends with a common goal of living our best lives.

We’ve shared photos of our favourite spots to meditate, our successes and often, our challenges in finding the time each day to build the habit.

It might sound odd, but I feel a sense of calm, peace and balance when I meditate. It’s a warm hug and a rare stillness that I’m drawn to like a drug.

There are so many different methods to choose from – I learnt the Being technique where you silently repeat one word over and over in your mind for 20 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong, each time I practice I’m also thinking about the washing, the kids’ missing footy socks, grandparents’ day, the next event I’m hosting and whether anyone has walked the dog – but with practice, those thoughts are disappearing, just for 20 minutes.

It’s often said that the goal of meditation isn’t to control your thoughts, it’s to stop letting them control you.

Adelaide media presenter Mark Soderstrom. Picture: Matt Loxton

Jess Adamson at her home. Picture: Tom Huntley

My mind is clear and I feel energised afterwards. Over the last two decades scientists have proved the many benefits of meditation, so why has it taken me so long to get on-board?

Because meditation has a PR problem and I always thought it was for people with too much time on their hands. In fact, it’s the opposite.

Some of the world’s most successful people swear by the practice – LeBron James, Katy Perry, Richard Branson, Arriana Huffington, Dustin Martin and Hugh Jackman to name a few.

“It’s not just finding quiet, it’s finding bliss,” Hugh Jackman says.

I’ve learnt that there’s no right or wrong way to practice meditation, there’s no judgment and that it takes commitment to prioritise finding the time.

Just like I eat lunch or clean my teeth, my challenge now is to make it a lifelong daily habit.

All you need is you. It doesn’t even matter where you are.

Running early for a meeting, Brett Burton and his colleague Sam once meditated in the window seats of a busy city cafe. They would have turned some heads but were blissfully unaware.

The pace of the world we’re living in has us in a heightened state of awareness 24/7. There’s no escaping the constant texts, calls and demands on us and we’re just not built for that.

Meditation has been practised for thousands of years but the greatest need for it, to create a healthy and sustainable community, is now.

Respected local barrister Anne Barnett, has recently made a life-changing decision.

Burnout in the legal fraternity is common and she wasn’t immune.

“I was just doing way too much in terms of work, home life and I was operating at a level where I wasn’t even aware how stressed I was. It wasn’t sustainable in the long term,” she says.

“I was looking for something that I could feel was missing.”

She’s studied many different styles of meditation including Yoga Nidra, a form of meditation that allows you to be in a deep state of resting consciousness, somewhere between waking and sleeping. Dr Andrew Huberman, a neuroscience professor at Stanford University, has more recently coined the term Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) for this ancient practice and regularly speaks of its benefits.

“The more I practised Yoga Nidra the more I realised how beneficial it was to me, and I wanted to understand why,” she says.

“The more I delved into it the more I looked around and realised how many people needed it.

“Everyone carries a load of stress that we’re completely unaware we’re carrying and so many of us are not getting enough quality sleep. Among its many benefits, Yoga Nidra activates the “rest and digest” response and allows the body and mind to deeply rest. It’s simple, yet very powerful.”

“Meditation isn’t about switching off our thoughts, it’s about how we can step back off the highway of our thoughts and be present.”

Anne’s still practising law at Jeffcott Chambers but she’s also teaching meditation and other life skills from a purpose built studio at her Adelaide Hills home.

Next on her list, our children. She believes mediation skills should be taught in all of our schools by qualified instructors.

“It’s the same as being active, it’s the same as healthy food, if you can teach a child how to do this at a young age it’s a skill they’ll have for the rest of their lives,” she says.

“They’re living in a world which is so foreign to our childhood and they’re going to need these skills even more.”

We’ve handed our children phones, iPads and laptops but not the tools they need for a healthy and balanced future.

Many schools run wellbeing programs but we can do so much more.

Meditation could easily become a daily ritual, much like flag raising was when I was a child. A gift that gives our children the very best chance to reset, amid the demands of life.

So from now on, when I struggle to find my 20 minute window, I’ll think of Hugh Jackman.

If Hugh can meditate twice daily, including the day he presented the Oscars, then so can you and I.

There’s on old Zen quote that brings it home for me.

“You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day. Unless you’re too busy then you should sit for an hour.”