After having brunch with this amazing woman two weeks ago (you can read that article here: PERSPECTIVE), I decided to do some research and meditate for the next seven days. Due to the fact that two weeks have gone by, it is evident that I didn’t meditate for seven days in a row, I didn’t meditate for seven days over the past two weeks, period.

With everything that’s been going on, I was caught up in my own life and all of the insignificant drama that comes with it. Although I did not spend time meditating, I did begin running and am now in the process of training for a marathon. While this is not the path I intended to travel down two weeks ago, I have found that running is my current escape. Perhaps it’s too soon to tell what running will ultimately do for me, but for now it is the best place for me to forget about everything else and just be for a while. It’s a fast paced world – do whatever you need to do to live it.

Meditation: a practice of concentrated focus upon a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, or attention itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and enhance personal and spiritual growth.

This is another way to find some peace and quiet in this crazy world. It is especially beneficial if you often find yourself rather stressed, ready to call it quits and crawl back into bed with no intention of getting up anytime soon.

According to the Mayo Health Clinic, meditation has been practiced for thousands of years. Although there are many reason to practice meditation, the most common use for meditation today is for relaxation and stress reduction.

There are many different types of meditation, from Guided Meditation to Mantra Meditation to Yoga. Each of these varieties has a different end goal and ultimately an end result. In general, meditation forces you to focus your attention on a specific thing, be it your breathing or a scenario you are envisioning in your head. It is also recommended that you are in a quiet space and in a comfortable position.

The beauty of mediation is that you can do this in the comfort of your own home – you don’t have to go to a yoga studio or a special meditation class. It has also been suggested that engaging in prayer can be as relaxing as meditating. Find what works for you.

Research has shown that those who mediate are able to resist their urges. By having this ability, it is suggested that your relationships will be stronger, and that you will make better decisions in all aspects of life. Learning how to do this is a difficult process. You have to make the conscious decision to meditate every day. When you start to meditate it will be incredibly difficult to sit still and you may not be able to clear your mind. This is expected – the important thing is that you continue to meditate every day, until it becomes a habit.

From what I understand, meditation is like exercising. There are a thousand ways you can talk yourself out of it, but when you suck it up and go for a run or complete that really hard set you feel better, accomplished. You only need a few minutes a day – on your lunch break, after you wake up, when you get home from work or right before bed. Perhaps it is important to take a step back from your dramas and be less self-absorbed – even momentarily, just to truly appreciate what you have. At the end of the day, these are the cards you were dealt. Play the best hand possible and live the life you are proud of.

Interested in learning more about Meditation? Check out these links:

http://blogs.hbr.org/bregman/2012/10/if-youre-too-busy-to-meditate.html

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/8-ways-to-make-meditation-easy-and-fun/