Written by Edgar Luna

Have you ever been curious of what “Meditation” is, what it does? Why so many people say that it’s a great habit or practice? What are the benefits?

These are some of many questions that you might have regarding meditation, but after lots of research and practice this is how I interpret what meditation is.

Think about it this way:

Imagine your space where you spend your life in, could be a house, office any place where you spend most of your days in. Then imagine you getting something and placing it in your space, then maybe someone gifts you something maybe useful or maybe not and it ends up in your space. You feel hungry and bring something to eat you leave dishes or silverware in your space, eventually your space starts getting cluttered and full of things.

Now think about when you don’t organize or clean your space, how does it make you feel?

Cluttered, disorganized, where it’s hard to find things, maybe frustration sets in, maybe several feelings of holding on to stuff and not wanting to let go.

Now think about when you organize your things and start cleaning up your space, removing all the unwanted or unnecessary items, throwing the trash away and making sure that things are organized. Placing the things that are useful in their place and making sure they have easy access when needed.

OK , now that you visualized all of this physically, now think of your mind, how much is in there.

How many attachments to feelings or thoughts are in there?

Thoughts, worries, plans, everything that is in your mind every second of the day. Even in your sleep you are constantly thinking and  dreaming and maybe worrying about the past or future.

Meditation is a “conscious” practice that is focused on your  breathing and allowing the mind to rest for a few moments by observing thoughts, sensations and letting go, allowing your mind to not attach to thoughts and just focusing in the moment.

The reason why it’s a practice, it’s because it takes time and a “conscious effort” to sit down, be still and focus on your breathing and letting things go. 

Is it easy?

Depends on how much clutter is in your space, but like anything that you do effectively it takes being consistent and practicing a little every day. The more time you invest in practicing meditation, you will start seeing your space less cluttered and you will feel much better.

So are you constantly bombarded by the worries of the world, bills, news, school, work, traffic, health and many more things that bog you down?

Take a few moments and comfortably sit down or lay down :

1. Close your eyes and relax.
2. Start focusing only on your breath.
3. Inhale through your nose and maybe count to 3, count 1, 2, 3 and feel how the air comes softly into your lungs.
4. Exhale through your nose, keep it balanced, and count to 3, count 1 , 2 , 3 and feel how the air softly leaves your lungs.
5. Repeat a few more times, maybe do it for 30 seconds one day, then 1 minute another day then 5 minutes another day , doesn’t matter how long it is, just take a few moments to allow your mind to rest and not think about all the clutter.
6. There will be thoughts and maybe physical sensations, observe them and let them go, come back to your breath. However unpleasant those thoughts are, they are only thoughts, learn to let them go and place your attention on your breath.
7. You might feel that you can’t find that peaceful state right away, but the more you practice you will find those tiny moments of peace that make a difference.

And like any practice, the more you do it, the better you get at it, so do not get discouraged, be consistent.

There are many benefits that I will not go into in this introduction, but I recommend  that you try it everyday and start removing all the clutter from your space, after all, that’s the space where we will spend the rest of our life in.

Have great day and take care of yourselves.

E.Luna