What Is Meditation? Living in the Now

Meditation has been around for almost as long as human history. At its core,
meditation is a technique that helps us quiet our minds. I’m sure you’ve noticed, throughout the day, all the repetitive thoughts that tend to course through your mind. I call it mind chatter. It’s sort of like a commentary on life. Sometimes we ignore it, while other times we pay attention to these commentaries. We stop, reflect, and focus on them. We think about the past or we think about what might be in the future. All this thinking, all this noise in our minds, keeps us from being silent and present with what is in the moment. We miss so much of what’s going on in the world because we constantly have this mind chatter, spoiling our appreciation for what’s happening in the now.

What meditation can do is bring us to the silence, to the present. Meditation is a technique for quieting the mind, shutting down the mind chatter so that we can be still and one-hundred-percent present with the now. The hope is that as you learn to meditate you can transfer the gift of meditation, of being totally present to what is, to your daily life. If you can implement this, you will find you’ll have a much more blissful, peaceful, and happier life.

What we do in meditation is focus on one thing. Often it’s our breathing, a mantra, or a prayer word. You will find that your mind becomes quiet, because you are focusing on just one thing. As you focus, your mind will become more and more still until you reach a point where it’s basically silent. Thoughts may gently arise, but they will go away quickly, because you are learning to be totally in touch with the present.

That is the beauty of meditation, to bring us completely into the moment. In time it helps us grow a silent mind. In practicing the skills of meditation, we gradually transform into a whole, happy individual. Meditation is incredibly beneficial for both the physical and spiritual aspects of our being. It helps us become a happier, more peaceful person who no longer misses out on what’s happening around us. Without the overshadowing mind chatter, the peace and happiness that are our essential nature emerge.

Consider making meditation a daily activity. Embrace the art of meditation to become a healthier, happier individual. Allow meditation to bring you into the moment and experience the now.