Suze Yalof Schwartz - Unplug: A Simple Guide to Meditation for Busy Skeptics and Modern Soul Seekers

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.

ANNE LAMOTT

T he minute I learned to unplug, my whole life changed.

Little did I know that nearly five years later I would be on a mission to convince you to join me. But when you discover a life hack this good, you want to share it with as many people as you can! By learning to unplug, I stepped off the crazy roller coaster of stress and into a life in which Im calm and in control (well, most of the time). Im getting more done and doing it so much better because Im focused and clear, and enjoying it a million times more because Im present. I wrote this book to teach you how to unplug and meditate so you, too, can experience and enjoy your life as its actually happening instead of missing out on the good stuff because of worry, anxiety, and busyness. Theres no reason to walk around with stress when getting rid of it is so simple.

Every day, I have people asking me to help them learn how to meditate. There are so many confusing resources out there, so I created the highly curated, give-it-to-me-straight, definitive guide I wish Id had when I first started out. Having taken hundreds of hours of classes, tried every form of meditation, and launched the first drop-in meditation studio, I can say I totally get the art of meditation. The good news for you is that there isnt much to getits not complicated! I wrote this for all of you who want to learn to meditate but think its too complicated, too weird, that you dont have the time, or that you couldnt possibly sit still for even a few minutes a day. Believe me, I get itI was the least likely person to become a meditator! But as one of my high school classmates said at our thirty-year reunion, If Yalof can meditate, anyone can. So even if you think it will be impossible for me to get you to do it, Im ready to take the challenge and make it unchallenging for you.

Before I started my journey, I would have laughed if youd told me that the key to being effective, productive, happier, and more successful isnt to go faster, do more, try harder, but to slow down and get present. I was a classic type A personality and overachiever: insanely busy, impatient, and racing through my life at two hundred miles an hour. I thrived on the fast pace and demands of my busy life, and I attacked every opportunity that came my way with enthusiasm. Pausing to breathe and ask myself whether I should or shouldnt do so wasnt even on my radar, and no wasnt in my vocabulary. If something wasnt going right, I would still find a way to make it work. Or, more accurately, I would make my assistants find a way to make it work, which would stress them out and sometimes make them cry. Its no surprise that when the New York Times published an article about my meditation studio, Unplug, I saw a comment on my former assistants Facebook feed that said, I wish she was meditating when we worked for her (Sorry, Lexa!).

The thought of sitting still seemed not only impossible and like torture, but a total waste of time. How could I possibly think about unplugging for even a few minutes a day when there was so much to do and so much I needed to accomplish?

But now I know I could have gotten to the top much quicker and loved the whole process a lot more if Id learned how to slow down and unplug. Ironic, right? Do less, accomplish more. Get calm to get ahead. All we have to do is sit still for a few minutes a day to find the holy grail of peace, happiness, and high-level life success were chasing.

Thats not just my opiniontheres serious science to back me up here. Studies have proven that meditation is the secret sauce to being healthier, happier, and way more effective. It physically rewires your brain to make you smarter and more focused, productive, and positive. It reduces anxiety, stress, panic attacks, anger, depression, overeating, and pain. It improves your memory, helps you make better and faster decisions, increases compassion, and gives you a serious edge on handling the challenges life throws your way. It helps clear away the clutter and chaos in your brain that lead to the clutter and chaos in your life, so everything just flows better.

I know this sounds like a lot of big promises, but I have seen it work on thousands of peoplemany of them skeptics at first. Theres a reason why thirty million Americans are meditating daily! Make that number thirty million and one if you start right now. It is the one practice that actually works for anyone willing to commit to it. After five years of doing it almost daily I still cant believe that stopping to do nothing is so huge.

Thats why I want you to discover this life-changing secret. It changes your whole existence for the better. Not only does it make you calmer, healthier, and more productive, it also helps you answer the bigger, deeper questions like What makes me happy? and What do I want? And sometimes, as it did for me, unplugging and getting present leads you to the life you were meant to be living.

I spent two decades racing to the top of the ladder in the world of fashion. I worked at Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, and, eventually, at Glamour magazine, where I styled photo shoots, covered the famous Dos and Donts section and became known (according to the New York Times, at least) as The Fairy Godmother of Makeovers. I traveled the country doing makeovers for The Oprah Winfrey Show, the Today show, Good Morning America, and many others. I also covered the red carpet during awards shows and the fashion shows in New York, Paris, Milan, and London, both front and backstage. It was hectic and I loved it!

There were some pretty crazy moments, but I never thought about stress management, because, honestly, I was too excited by what I was doing to think about whether I was stressed. I loved my life, pressure and all. So what if decompressing meant circling the office schmoozing as a cover to casually reach into peoples candy jars?

I tore through my daily to-do lists, scattered and crazed. Even though I always prided myself on being a positive and happy person, I still had the tendency to rush everyone around me, lose focus easily, obsess over silly things, blow up at my kids and husband from time to time, and get ber-stressed on deadlines. Not attractive! I compensated by moving faster and faster and sheepishly apologizing later.

I had a glamorous job, a terrific husband, and three great kids. But what I didnt have was the ability to appreciate the present moment. In my hurry to get to the next thing, I sped through each one, hardly ever landing in the one I was in. I was having all these major moments between my job and my family life, but missing out on most of them because I was on to the next one immediately upon arrival. I zipped through my life in such high gear that I didnt get how much was passing me by, all the richness I was missing out on. You dont realize youre just skating on the surface when your life is just a series of checklists.