Making the commitment to daily meditation

Just as I have a cup of tea to start every morning, my meditation practice always comes next. Recently I completed a 21-day commitment to mantra recitation and the habit of beginning the day in meditation is establishing in my life. Each morning I find a quiet spot and recite my mantra, making at least 3 rounds on my wrist mala. This practice has provided me with a center of calm with which to begin my days. Now I am working with new mantras and coming back to the first mantra whenever I feel the need.

The most difficult thing in the world may be to do or think absolutely nothing. This is not our human nature, but our true, divine nature is at home no matter what we are (or are not) doing. People who experience frequent anxiety and chronic stress may find it difficult at first to engage in a practice that requires us to tune out of the clamoring demands of daily life. Yet because their sense of stress and overload urges them to keep going at all costs, meditation is especially helpful, if not life-saving for people who feel this way.

Meditation is a truly holistic practice in that it provides benefits for body, mind and spirit. Clinical research indicates meditation can influence positive health outcomes such as lowering blood pressure and easing stress, tension and anxiety. Meditation keeps the mind sharp and focused by allowing the clutter of worry, preoccupation and negative thinking to fall away as we are centered in our selves, the source of generosity, love and compassion. Our spirits also thrive when we practice meditation daily. With consistent practice we clear out the pipeline to our true nature, much like healthful foods can clear clogged arteries, and soon this access to the divine, or our intuition is available all of the time.