Meditation is as simple as a breath.

I think there’s been a lot of confusion lately about what meditation is. About the right way you have to sit. The right way you have to breathe. The right length of time. The right time of day. The right statues and art.

I don’t think any of that is important.

Time keeps moving faster. More things get piled into each day. More things are on the horizon than ever. Technology has us continuously connected.

All your body and mind and I’ll go out on a limb and say Soul are looking for is a pause.

A moment away from the phone. Away from social media. Away from all of the planning and thinking and regretting.

And that’s where the gift of meditation comes in.

I like to think of it as a reset.

Sometimes I have longer and sometimes I have shorter but what I always have is a breath.

One long slow inhale that fills my entire being. A pause. And one long exhale to release everything. Followed by a slight pause before I begin again.

That’s a meditation.

That cleans the palate. That slows your heart rate. That clears your mind. Even if only for a breath.

Everyone is talking about mindfulness. You will never stop thinking until you’re dead. Mind that.

You will also never stop breathing until you’re dead.

So meditation is the merging of these two things you are lucky enough to do because you are still alive. You sit. You think. You breathe. And you learn to un-entangle yourself from your thoughts.

That’s it.

It sounds easy until you realize how attached you are to your thoughts. How important it is not to remember that you need to get toothpaste at the grocery store. How much you need to remember to email this person about that thing. How you need to remember the change in your daughters soccer schedule.

These thoughts won’t go away. Ever. But they don’t have to take up prime realty in the very front of your brain. They can just flow through. Like a river. And you can learn to re-focus on your breath and how it flows in and out of your body.

This is not easy.

We have never been told that our thoughts shouldn’t have control over everything in our life. And these thoughts are not happy about playing second fiddle to breath.

But all you have to do is show up. Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. Breathe. And learn how to let your thoughts fly by without attaching to them.

You do not need a special room. You do not need special clothes. You do not need special jewelry. You do not need special statues. You do not need fancy cushions.

It’s just you. Your breath. Being comfortable. And watching your thoughts go by.

And if you don’t have time and you’re feeling the crunch of thoughts, the anxiety, the restlessness, the crushing fear of what’s coming next. Close your eyes. Take a very large inhale through your whole body. Pause. Slowly exhale all of that. And see how you feel. And feel free to do it again.

And that, my friend, is meditation. Make it yours and see how it shifts you in your life.