Since Meghan Markle married into the royal family in 2018 and became the Duchess of Sussex, she has navigated a number of life’s highs and lows.
Through each of these life-changing moments, including her and Prince Harry’s decision to step back from their roles as royals, their move to California, and the births of the couple’s two children, Meghan has appeared unruffled -- a feat that may have something to do with her dedication to meditation.
Prior to becoming a duchess, Meghan ran the popular lifestyle blog, The Tig, where she described her favourite foods, travel destinations, and, as it turns out, the key to her happiness.
In a post written in 2015, Meghan revealed that she was a practitioner of Vedic meditation. She said she’d learned it from a man called “Light” and that practising had made her “just happier.”
According to the former actress, she’d met Light Watkins while having dinner with a friend in Santa Monica, California.
“Yes, his name is Light,” she’d written. “This is LA after all.”
Watkins turned out to be a Vedic meditation coach, and, after initially questioning how beneficial daily meditation could really be, the 41 year old decided to give it a shot. It soon became the “quietude that rocked my world,” she writes.
Although the duchess admitted she’d found meditation “endlessly daunting at first (the thoughts, the distractions, the boredom of it),” after a year she realised: “I am just happier. And meditation has much to do with it.”
Meghan’s old post also included advice from Watkins on how to try Vedic meditation, a non-religious meditation centred on a silent mantra that will “help you find your inner quiet”.
According to Watkins, while meditating you should “let the act of meditating become synonymous with both noticing your breathing and getting lost in your thoughts”.
“Let all of the thoughts come and go - as you forget and become aware that you are meditating, it’s best not to resist any thoughts, including ideas, songs, conversations, images, feelings or sensations,” he advised.
While meditation may not be for everyone, the royal concluded her post by encouraging everyone to try it at least once.
“The worst thing that can happen is that you gave yourself 10 minutes of quiet in an endlessly loud world,” she’d written.
