What is Meditation?

You may think that meditation is sitting cross legged in a quiet place and shutting off your thoughts. Or maybe an exotic practice that is out of your reach.


Fortunately it is neither. Meditation is simply a conscious decision to focus your mind on something. It can be practiced in innumerable ways so that it can be the most benefit for the person who is practicing it. When you focus your mind you are meditating. For instance, reading a good book, searching for the best fruit to buy at the grocery store, even watching a movie can be a form of focus. Since we are meditating every day the question is, ‘what are you choosing to meditate on?’


Your mind is in constant motion, you are always thinking. So the benefit of meditation is to help you choose what thoughts are in your mind and to train your mind to be a more positive lens for you to view your world. Meditation is used to learn how your mind and emotions work and to develop positive habits of mind, body and spirit. It helps you to develop your potential as a human being.


This week, set aside 5 minutes every day to focus your mind on something external – a candle, a picture of Christ, a statue of the Buddha, a flower, etc. The purpose of this technique is to bring one-pointedness to your vision and therefore to your mind. It will help you to quite your mind of its constant chatter and attain a quite sense of peace. Focusing on an external object helps to calm and center yourself and stabilize the mind.


Please note, that meditation is a practice. You will not calm and quite the mind on your first attempt. It will be difficult to stop the thoughts that are constantly flowing. In this movement however, you will observe the patterns in your thinking and your emotions, which help you to learn more about yourself. Focusing during meditation helps you focus on whatever you want in the rest of your life. Focus is the starting place for other forms of meditation.


I always like to say, “If you don’t control you mind, no one else will.” Meditation is a useful tool to create positive and impactful change in your world.


By Mindy Arbuckle, E-RYT, Owner of Green Mountain Yoga

Tagged as: focus, Meditation