My preference would be to call meditation relaxation – conscious relaxation, chosen relaxation. These are words that are more universally understood, more comfortable. Constantly working toward the goal of discovering my own ability to reach a state of serenity, I have learned to meditate.

Meditating is actually easier than you might imagine. Most of us have dabbled in meditation by participating in conscious relaxation. It can be used during stress, an exercise class or to manage pain, especially when visiting the dentist or having an anxiety before an exam. We start by paying attention to our breathing. The practical effort is to focus completely on our breathing that takes our minds away from the “mind clutter” that constantly tries to invade our mind and eliminate feelings that will lead to a time of calmness. With repeated effort the goal of clearing your mind is to think of nothing, which occurs during the process of meditation which takes on its own energy. The result is, and I guarantee this, peacefulness, serenity, calmness, eventually opening yourself to new insights.

Too much stress, stress reduction, chill out, let it go, detachment that are familiar phrases to all of us. Our world is fast, fun and exciting. It is also challenging, when trying, demanding and frightening. These two sides of our lives produce stress, emotional reactions, anxiety, worries and anticipations.

Our bodies and minds can tolerate only so much of any of these. But after a while, each of us reaches a saturation point and the results become uncomfortable at best; for some it may be unbearable, even unendurable.

No magic pill is available to eliminate these feelings. The reality is, as the wise old man said, the answer is inside all of us.  To manage these universal concerns we must go inside ourselves. Among the steps we can take is the learning and practicing meditation.