{"id":6900,"date":"2019-07-31T15:54:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T07:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/how-meditation-makes-tough-times-easier\/"},"modified":"2022-06-24T11:01:10","modified_gmt":"2022-06-24T03:01:10","slug":"when-the-going-gets-tough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/","title":{"rendered":"How Meditation Makes Tough Times Easier"},"content":{"rendered":"

Curveballs will come<\/h3>\n

Life throws you curveballs. You will feel scared or stressed or sad at some point. That\u2019s inevitable. Life is inherently stormy. Loved ones will get sick. Mistakes will be made. Tires will go flat. Jobs will be lost. Relationships will dissolve. Unexpected bills will pop up. Shit happens, as they say.<\/p>\n

But how you relate to the shit is up to you. And the way you relate to these experiences is a reflection of your resilience and inner stability.<\/p>\n

Resilience and stability let you dance with the weather of life.<\/h3>\n

Resilience and stability don\u2019t mean being stoic and emotionless.<\/p>\n

Stability<\/em> arises out of the understanding that challenging circumstances are just storms passing through – changeable, temporary.<\/p>\n

Resilience<\/em> is the ability to rebound. To be so internally buoyant that you bounce back, no matter how hard the hits. It means that you have the flexibility and steadiness to dance with the weather of your life.<\/p>\n

How steady is your ship?<\/h3>\n

So ask yourself\u2026how steady is your ship when storms come? If you tend to capsize when shit gets stormy, that\u2019s okay. The good news is that you can steady yourself. You can cultivate stability and resiliency. And meditation is the best way I know to do that.<\/p>\n

Meditation is training for life<\/h3>\n

Meditation bolsters our reserves of resiliency and turns down the dial on reactivity by training us in the art of staying. Sitting still and noticing the changing landscape of emotions and thoughts in meditation helps us to practice staying<\/em> (rather than pulling a runner) and witnessing (without self-shaming or getting wrapped up on the circumstances). This deepens our self-awareness, amps up our emotional intelligence and schools us in non-attachment.<\/p>\n

Together, this toolkit makes responding wisely to challenging emotions or difficult experiences a heck<\/em> of a lot easier.<\/p>\n

Plus, when we commit to meditating regularly, we build resilience. As Zen priest Steve Hagen put it, \u201cif you can get past resistance to meditation, nothing else in life will be an obstacle.\u201d True that.<\/p>\n

Meditation isn’t just for tough times<\/h3>\n

A regular meditation practice undoubtedly gifts us with the resilience and stability to steady ourselves when life gets choppy. And though I tend to meditate more<\/em>\u00a0when I\u2019m feeling challenged, let me be clear – meditation isn\u2019t just for tough times.<\/p>\n

What I mean is, don\u2019t just meditate when shit hits the fan. You don\u2019t do 100 situps the day you go on vacation to make sure you have a 6 pack for the pool, right? You don\u2019t go run 20 miles the day of a marathon to get ready, do you? If you\u2019re keen to be fit, you work on your fitness on the regular. You train your muscles repeatedly and consistently, so when the big day or the holiday comes, you\u2019re prepared. Meditation is no different.<\/p>\n

Flex your medi-muscles on the regular<\/h3>\n

Meditate ALL the time so that when the going gets tough, you have a reserve of resilience and the foundation of inner stability to call upon. Think of it as a bank account of inner buoyancy.<\/p>\n

Meditate on the regular so you’re\u00a0able to be more\u00a0steady and\u00a0bounce back, no matter what life throws your way.\u00a0The content of your life is always changing. Storms come. But how you experience them is up to you.<\/p>\n

You feel me? Go get your ‘tush on the cush’ and flex those medi-muscles on the regular, boo. If you need a hand getting your practice started, I got you. Check out the Heavily Meditated app here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not sure how much you need to meditate? Watch this<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Build a bank account of inner buoyancy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCaitlin Cady |<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Caitlin Cady |\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Build a bank account of inner buoyancy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Caitlin Cady\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/caitcady\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-31T07:54:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-24T03:01:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1756\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Caitlin Cady\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Caitlin Cady\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Caitlin Cady\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/person\/26e0eda3487b9f055b8b2b6988d53881\"},\"headline\":\"How Meditation Makes Tough Times Easier\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-31T07:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-24T03:01:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/\"},\"wordCount\":615,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/\",\"name\":\"Caitlin Cady |\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-31T07:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-24T03:01:10+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1756},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/\",\"name\":\"Caitlin Cady\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Caitlin Cady\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/CC-PrimaryLogo-Charcoal.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/CC-PrimaryLogo-Charcoal.svg\",\"width\":632,\"height\":41,\"caption\":\"Caitlin Cady\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/caitcady\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/caitlincady\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/person\/26e0eda3487b9f055b8b2b6988d53881\",\"name\":\"Caitlin Cady\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3242feabeefffd3bc61dae0868eb6d2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3242feabeefffd3bc61dae0868eb6d2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Caitlin Cady\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/author\/caitlincaitlincady-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Caitlin Cady |","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Caitlin Cady |","og_description":"Build a bank account of inner buoyancy.","og_url":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/","og_site_name":"Caitlin Cady","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/caitcady","article_published_time":"2019-07-31T07:54:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-06-24T03:01:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1756,"url":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Caitlin Cady","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Caitlin Cady","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/"},"author":{"name":"Caitlin Cady","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/person\/26e0eda3487b9f055b8b2b6988d53881"},"headline":"How Meditation Makes Tough Times Easier","datePublished":"2019-07-31T07:54:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-24T03:01:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/"},"wordCount":615,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/","url":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/","name":"Caitlin Cady |","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-31T07:54:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-24T03:01:10+00:00","inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/when-the-going-gets-tough\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/going_gets_tough_4-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1756},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/","name":"Caitlin Cady","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#organization","name":"Caitlin Cady","url":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/CC-PrimaryLogo-Charcoal.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/CC-PrimaryLogo-Charcoal.svg","width":632,"height":41,"caption":"Caitlin Cady"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/caitcady","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/caitlincady\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/person\/26e0eda3487b9f055b8b2b6988d53881","name":"Caitlin Cady","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3242feabeefffd3bc61dae0868eb6d2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3242feabeefffd3bc61dae0868eb6d2d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Caitlin Cady"},"url":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/author\/caitlincaitlincady-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6900"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6900"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9982,"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6900\/revisions\/9982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caitlincady.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}