Finding Calm in a World That Never Stops: My Journey with Meditation

Over the past few years, I’ve found something that has quietly transformed my life—meditation. It’s a simple practice on the surface, but one of the most important tools in my “support bag.” Techniques like box breathing have been lifelines for me, especially during overwhelming times. Little by little, they’ve helped me step out of survival mode and reconnect with myself.

In a former version of my life, I had a job that required a lot of driving, bouncing from meeting to meeting, and managing clients across the country. If you’ve ever worked in a role where you’re constantly “on,” you’ll understand—long hours, relentless schedules, and a flood of messages, calls, and notifications. Then came Microsoft Teams, with its endless updates, and it felt like there was no “off” button. I was available at all times, which eventually became exhausting.

That constant demand started to take a toll on me. I’d tell myself that this was just how life worked. Same, same, but different, right? We all face these pressures, but the tolls they take on us vary. For me, the endless “being on” started to wear down my nervous system. I developed a constant sense of anxiety, feeling tense and exhausted from always reacting, always being available. Around this time, I was also beginning to explore my natural sensitivity through studying with Hazel Devine, and that process deepened my awareness of just how sensitive I was to my environment and workload. My responses were so heightened that I found myself caught between feeling every emotion intensely and, at other times, feeling completely numb.

Something had to give, but at the time, changing jobs wasn’t an option. I started looking for ways to find calm amidst the storm, and that’s when I turned to meditation—not with any sweeping plan to “fix” everything, but just to take small steps to give myself a break.

Box breathing was my introduction to mindfulness, and it was something I could do anywhere. When I remembered and allowed myself the time—which was never perfect, by the way—I would take a few moments to just breathe. The irony around this is I smoked cigarettes for years, and had replaced my body needing to take a breath with nicotine. Once I quit the habit, I replaced it with taking a connected breath. Sometimes you might see me at a red light, closing my eyes for a moment, breathing in for four, holding for four, breathing out for four, and holding again for four. Repeating this a few times helped me feel my nervous system start to calm, a bit more connected to myself. Those small steps really made a difference, even in a hectic day.

Each moment of stillness reminded me that change doesn’t have to be grand or instant. It’s just steps. Each small step matters just as much as the bigger ones. Slowly, these moments of calm became something I could rely on, and I started to find comfort in the process of simply showing up for myself.

These days, I’ve built on that foundation. I now take time daily for some kind of meditative practice. Some days it’s just a grounding exercise in the morning or a quick pause during the day to re-center myself. Other days I can spend a bit longer meditating, and it’s made a world of difference in how I respond to the world around me. I’m learning to listen to my body, to feel the signals it’s giving me, and to let that guide how I show up in any space.

If you’re reading this and recognising the feeling of being stretched too thin, I want to say our journeys are the same, same, but different. We each have our own challenges, our own ways of dealing with the pressures of life, but they often lead us to that same sense of overwhelm. You’re not alone in that.

Meditation hasn’t erased my stress, but it has taught me that even the smallest steps can have a ripple effect. A few mindful breaths can create moments of peace that remind me I can make space within the chaos.

If you’re feeling that same tug toward change, maybe start small—try box breathing, even if it feels too basic at first. Trust me, these little steps are powerful. They build on each other. Over time, they might just bring you closer to a place of calm and connection, even in a world that never seems to slow down.