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Why?  Well, the natural state of our souls is to be one with the Divine. It is peace, love, infinite compassion, slow to anger, peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, self-control, etc. our natural state is all of those “fruits of the spirit” that you learned about in church. And when you allow your soul to take the lead instead of your ego, you will naturally begin exhibiting those characteristics and living in a more peaceful state.

Meditation is a tool that helps to make that happen.  I like to use an analogy of a glass of water.  Imagine that you have a glass of water sitting on the table and you dump a cup full of dirt into it.  It is now all sooty, filthy, and dirty.

Now, tell me the easiest way to get that water clear again.  You could try fancy filters and whatnot, but the easiest way to get that water clear again is to simply let it sit still.  As the water sits still, all of that dirt that was stirring around will stop and settle to the bottom, leaving the water clear.

It is the same with your mind and your thoughts.  When you are stressed, have a racing mind…whatever the situation may be…giving yourself time and space to simply sit still will clear your mind and quiet all of those noisy, clanky parts of your personality down.  It allows you a space of clarity and a peaceful perspective.

In addition to the emotional benefits, meditation gives plenty of physical benefits…

In addition to helping your mood, those benefits spill over onto your health. Meditation has been proven to help with the following…

• stress reduction

• lowered levels of the stress hormone cortisol (which means lower inflammation)

• better sleep

• lower anxiety

• improved mood and a more positive outlook on life

• lower blood pressure

• improved heart and respiratory rates

• lengthened attention span

• increased grey matter in your brain

• decrease in age-related memory loss

• better pain control

• improved cognitive and intellectual abilities (you become smarter)

• increased creativity

• increased problem solving

• a longer life expectancy

• improved immune system

• and an improved sense of well-being.

When should I meditate?

Meditation is a practice. It builds on itself. If you meditate a few times per week you will still see some benefit from it, but you will see the real benefits when you are meditating for at least 15 minutes every day.

Where should I meditate?

Anywhere you can think of! But ideally somewhere quiet and comfortable where you won’t be disturbed.

How do I meditate?

It is as simple as sitting quietly with your feet flat on the ground, or cross legged on the floor. Rest your hands in your lap and gently close your eyes. You can choose to listen to meditation music or a video.  Or you cam simply sit in the quiet and focus on your breathing.

Breathe in slowly to the count of five, and breathe out slowly to the count of seven. Repeat over and over…breathe in, breathe out. Let your out-breath be slightly longer than your in-breath.

Eventually you will notice that your breathing will settle into a slightly more shallow, even rhythm as your mind quiets down. The goal is to sit quietly without judging what is happening. Your only job is to show up and make the effort to be still.

And the honest truth is that when you first start, you will probably have what is affectionately called, “monkey brain” for a while.  This is when your thoughts are jumping all over the place like a playful monkey.  As you continue your practice this will improve.

It is impossible to do meditation wrong.  I’ve heard some people say this.  They say, “I’ve tried meditating but I can’t do it.  It doesn’t work for me.  I do it wrong.”  There is no such thing as doing it wrong.  Just keep going.  If you are making the effort and setting the intention to show up, sit still, and attempt to have a peaceful mind, then it will eventually happen.

If it is taking you a while to get going, then have some compassion for yourself because that means you must have had a REALLY busy mind.  There was a lot going on in there.  And then be proud of yourself for changing things so that your mind will have an easier time of it.

Another analogy I like to use is that of a train station.  Imagine you are sitting on a bench in a busy train station.  You are watching the trains come and go, but you never get on any of them.  You simply sit peacefully and observe.  This is the same with your mind during meditation.  Your thoughts are the trains.

Your job is to sit peacefully on the bench and simply allow.  It is none of your business how many thoughts come and go and it is not your place to control it.  Your only job is to not get on the train.  You allow the thoughts to roll in and then allow them to roll out, all without grabbing on.  If you notice that you have grabbed onto a thought and have begun thinking about the thought, merely let it go.  Just like a balloon with helium…simply open your hand and let it float away without another thought.

I will try to give a very quick, nutshell version of my meditation story.  About four years ago, I was not in a very good place physically or emotionally.  I had been dealing with more than one chronic illness and I had been dealing with the effects of PTSD.  I was on a mile-long list of medications and was on chemo once per month to try to get my lupus under control. Besides the lupus, I was dealing with fibromyalgia, osteoporosis (from all of the steroids I was on and had already had three fractures before the age of 40), congestive heart failure, chronic/recurrent pericarditis, severe migraines with stroke-like symptoms as my aura, asthma and severe allergies (to everything), and I had just been put on synthroid because apparently I had a brand-new hypothyroid issue.  I was heavy on ambien because of the severe insomnia and the horrible nightmares I would have when I did eventually fall asleep (hello PTSD).