Welcome to Simone’s #MeMeditating report —  part of our #MeMeditating series, where students share their real-life stories of how Vedic Meditation affects their lives.

New York based meditator Simone came to meditation searching for relief — she had suffered with insomnia her whole life, felt anxious a lot of the time, and wanted to feel calmer. She’d tried using meditation apps and mindfulness courses but found “they didn’t stick”.

I’m Simone.

Had you tried meditation before you learned Vedic Meditation?

I had done a mindfulness meditation course, tried all the apps and I did a 30 day mindfulness meditation challenge where we were sent a different meditation each day for a month. For whatever reason though, the meditation didn’t stick.

Why did you learn to meditate?

I wanted less anxiety, less stress, better sleep, a feeling of calm.

What changes and benefits have you experienced since learning?

• No more insomnia. I used to take prescription sleeping pills at least 3 days a week, now I don’t take anything. I’ve had insomnia my whole life, so this is a big deal!
• No anxiety. If I do feel anxious it’s fleeting and brief. I used to feel stressed about many aspects of my day (job, relationships, etc). I used to feel anxious if I sat down without my phone with nothing to “do”. Now I will comfortably sit and just daydream, or do nothing.
• I somehow manage to get everything done and have a lot more spare time than I used to. Even though I’m in the same job and ostensibly doing the same activities (work, cooking, groceries, exercise, busy social life), I often find I get to the bottom of my to-do list and have extra time to just do nothing. This never used to happen, I would constantly feel harried, over-committed or over-burdened with this feeling of never having enough time to do everything I wanted to. I remember saying to my housemate once “it feels like I have created more time in my day, while still doing the exact same things”
• Emotionally and mentally I am much more resilient, patient, calm, forgiving and generous. I find myself being able to empathise more deeply than before and am able to see other people’s perspectives much more readily.
• My mind makes connections and sees patterns in things more often than before. Both at work and in my personal life I feel like my mind is quicker than before and able to hold and retain more information.