The practice of meditation

We often seek and adopt new lifestyles only when circumstances get worse or life feels as if it is spiraling out of control. Too many of our daily habits and patterns are only challenged when something seems to go wrong. So many stresses and anxieties flood our lives and that’s usually the time when people look for change.

Meditation should not be treated as a practice limited to challenging times but adopted as a part of life to reach heights of clarity, acceptance, and peace. The little time we invest in meditation is easily recaptured as we are able to operate more efficiently as meditation helps declutter and organize thoughts in our head.

An integral part of meditation is discovering how to be still. Silencing the wandering thoughts, pressures of life, and constant busy state of the racing mind is crucial in reaching clarity. As a foundation, one needs to learn how to focus on the dynamics of their breath to reach unity within the mind and body. Through practice, once you are able to focus on one thing, it lays out a landing pad for other floating thoughts to settle one-by-one too.

As mindfulness is reached, the next phase of processing and filtering becomes present and available. One can learn to accept circumstances that they have control of, and build habits of letting go of issues that they are not in control of. Clarity and acceptance ushers in the ability for one to dwell in peace.

Through a healthy mind, harmony flows through the union to the other parts of the body as well. As we focus on taking care of our physical bodies through exercise and diet, to reach wholeness we must also pay close attention to the lifestyle we live and the health of our mental well-being.

Try spending a few minutes per day when you wake up, go to bed, and throughout the day, to pause everything, own your thoughts and emotions, and just breathe.