Andrea Paris is an attorney who has implemented a daily meditation practice into her life. She discusses with Tara what led to her adopting this practice, including the role that the pandemic played. Andrea describes how mediation is a practice of letting go rather than of achieving emptiness in your mind. She gives us tips for getting started and covers the benefits of mediation . At the end of the conversation, Andrea shares her plans for attending a 10-day silent retreat.
Andrea’s background and why she started practicing meditation
Andrea grew up in Thailand and discusses the disparities and events she witnessed and how those led to her to practicing law. She tells us about the stress that can come with litigation and how meditation can serve as a tool to help deal with work life and how meditation has made her both a happier lawyer and a happier person.
Changing your perception of meditation
When thinking of mediation, many people may have the preconception that the goal of mediation is to get to a point of emptiness in one’s mind. However, Andrea encourages us to reframe it as a practice of letting go. Andrea describes the mind as a house, with repetitive thoughts gathering like dust, and mediation is the practice of clearing it out.
How to start
Getting started with mediation takes just one breath. First, you can practice giving yourself space and you can try to create a habit – it can be when waiting for your coffee to brew in the morning or anytime you have a moment to yourself. Andrea talks us through taking one intentional breath and recognizes how such a small thing can make a big difference. She suggests the technique of heart-centered breathing and describes the practice of loving kindness. Meditation can either be guided or self-guided, and there are several apps that you can use including Headspace and Calm.
The benefits of mediation
Our brains are wired to notice the negative more than the positive, and as such, it is important to take time to acknowledge and soak in moments of positivity – this can have a snowball effect. Andrea says mediation is like a mental muscle, and the more you work at it, the easier it gets and the faster you can get to the place of not getting distracted by your own thoughts. For Andrea, mediation has altered her emotional baseline; she is calmer and it takes more to phase her.
The 10-day silent mediation retreat
Andrea will be attending a 10-day silent meditation retreat at the end of the year. At the retreat, there is no writing, reading, nor talking for the duration of the retreat, and mediation is practiced in one- to two-hour blocks throughout each day. Andrea anticipates the biggest challenge will be making past the hump or wall as it is unnatural to spend so much time with yourself and your own thoughts.
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