Meditation....Clearing the Mind and Caring for the Soul

I was reminded this weekend by a dear friend of meditation and how little effort it takes but what a tremendous impact it can have on my overall well being. It's a simple thing to do, and truly can take as little as 10 minutes or as long as I have available to sit with my self, but those 10 minutes can mean the difference between life well lived and simple survival from one day to the next.

Meditation is one small way in which I can care for my soul and bring piece to my life. Balance and calm, when all that seems to lie ahead are unknown stormy seas. There are days my anxiety levels are so high it takes every ounce of effort I have to focus on the most simple tasks. I am so overwhelmed by the tightness in my chest and the shortness of my breath, that fear becomes crippling. I put on a brave smile, but inside I am trembling and my imagination is running wild with catastrophic visions of a dark future in which I lose the greatest battle of my life. Without meditation or some other resource, I become my worst enemy and my mind will fulfill its own prophecy through fear.

Meditation can help me to clear my mind of those dark thoughts, to visualize my lungs and my heart as clear and beautiful fully functioning organs, sustaining life. Meditation can help to cast off my daily weariness of work, or family struggles. Insecurities with myself or my relationships with those I love. Meditation, can help me to remember that I am just one person, with one life, breathing in and out, existing at this time and this place, fulfilling my purpose, and that life is a journey.

Meditation has no religious affiliation, it is spiritual in the sense that you are in touch with your inner being and the powers of the universe and mind that surrounds us all, but it doesn't require that a practitioner subscribe to a particular religious sect or doctrine to participate. Meditation is simply a practice of clearing the mind of all the daily muck, getting rid of the toxic garbage that weighs it down, and accepting that the journey is one step at a time. It's like a colonic for the brain without so much discomfort. :)

I am currently reading a book called Care of the Soul, and in its introduction it states unequivocally that:

"No one can tell you how to live your life.  No one know the secret of the heart sufficiently to tell others about them authoritatively"

It's a simple truth. But as much wisdom as we each gain throughout our lives, it's our wisdom. We can share it, surely. We can use it as a guidepost for others, of course. But our wisdom, is based on our personal journey, and therefore, applicable only to us.

Meditation,   even in ten minute intervals, can help me to center, to see myself in a better place, to free my soul of its anchors of pain and fear, and to move more lightly with hope and joy appreciating each moment for what it is.  A chance.