Why meditate?
Meditation is taking time to create stillness in your daily life. It helps us to be in the present moment.
If we are not in the present moment we are focused on the past or the future. We are often thinking repetitive thoughts that we are not even in our awareness. Meditation helps us to hear what repetitive thoughts we are letting run through our mind all day. Are they good thoughts or negative thoughts.
The main reason I meditate is to connect to God, our source. It is different than praying because it is allows us to set aside time to hear rather than praying for the same thing over and over. It creates a space in our day to connect with our source.
Meditation slows heart rate, focuses on slow relaxed breathing, lowers blood pressure and creates a sense of calm
If you are an stress junkie like I was, you may find that when you meditate, your mind is wandering, thinking about all that you have to do. Then you think that you do not really like to meditate because you want to focus on the thoughts and feel stressed by all you have to do. When you do relax, it may make you feel tired. And then you have to wind yourself up to get going.
Do not give up. A relaxed body and mind is better for your health. You can still get everything done but with a calmer more focused approach. Practice carrying the calm state into your life. When you are at the store focus on your breathing as you shop. Smile at everyone you see. Be greatfull for all the choices we have on the shelves. Be thankful for the people who provide all these things for us, the store manager who orders the food, the stock people that put it on the shelves, the checkers who take our money, the truckers who brought it in to the store, the food producers who grew it, ect….
This is just an example of how to change our thinking.
There are many ways to meditate.
I learned by focusing on my breath. Find a quiet place where you can sit or lie down.
Turn off the phone and the t.v. Get into a comfortable position and adjust any body parts that are not comfortable. Start by breathing in for the count of four, hold for four, then exhale for four. Focus on your breath. If you feel comfortable increase the in count to 5,6,7,8,9, or 10. Hold for the same time that you breath in then exhale for the same count.
As you focus on your breath you may be aware of thoughts. Do not focus on the thoughts but let them float by. Think of your mind as a spot on the river bank. The thoughts are in the river. Let them pass. Sometimes I will get uncomfortable with a sore spot in my back. If it is really distracting I try and shift position. If that does not help I will focus my breath on that area.
Start by meditating for 5 minutes. You can meditate longer if you like. When I first started to meditate, I felt like I had been meditating for 20 minutes and it was only 4 minutes. Now I can start to meditate and it feels very short and 30 minutes has passed.

Another way to meditate is to do a walking meditation. Take a walk outside and while you are walking focus on your breathing. Bring your attention to your breathing. Let the thoughts roll on past. Do not focus on your thoughts, but focus on your walking and your breathing. Walking meditation may be helpful if you have suffered abuse or are having relationship difficulties that may make sitting meditation stressful. Sometimes we do not want to be present, to be open to our pain. If this is true for you, it may be helpful to find a counselor.
It is hard to think about forgiveness but it is a needed step. You do not have to condone another’s behavior but you can forgive them. You need to know that non forgiveness hurts you as well as the person who has hurt you. That is where Radical Forgiveness can help, or Dr. John DiMartini’s ” Break Through Experience” or Byron Katie’s “The Work” can help.
This is just the tip of the iceberg on meditation. There are many ways to meditate and music to help . More on that later.
Have a great day. Blessings.