Meditation Matters

Meditation is key to reducing stress in all areas of life. In my opinion, maybe the most critical step for reducing stress and increasing gentle daily connection to peace. According to WebMD "The relaxation response [from meditation] helps decrease metabolism, lowers blood pressure, and improves heart rate, breathing, and brain waves." These days even, science supports the benefits of meditation. Eastern philosophy has known this for millennia.

These days there’s no shortage in tools for meditation. If you’re one of those people who says, “Meditation does not work for me.” I’d bet that’s because you’ve got a preconceived notion of what meditation is. The practice of meditation is just about paying attention to what is showing up, right here, right now. You don’t need a cushion. You don't need close your eyes. You don’t even need a quiet place. If time is your obstacle then start with 1 minute at a time. You can do it right now as you are reading this. Read-each-word-slowly. Breath-in-and-exhale-slowly-with-each-word. Watch-what-is-happening-in-your-body. Notice-the-thoughts-showing-up-in-your-mind. Let-the-thoughts-pass-by-like-cars-on-the-street-or-clouds-in-the-sky.

Just that simple exercise once or twice a day can start to pave a new pathway in the brain and make meditation more of a natural habit. If you’re looking for more meditation opportunities then I highly recommend Headspace or if you’re feeling adventurous, here’s a meditation I join personally 3 times a week. This link will take you to the podcast recordings, but you can also join live (for free) here @7:30 a.m. ET, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; through zoom.