Meditate Your Way to Peace

From the Outer to the Inner

How Meditation Can Help You Change Your Focus: From Outer Distractions Toward Inner Peace

Entering the world of the spirit—your personal self, your inner world—is not always an easy task to accomplish. The external world—our jobs, our friends, our kids, our appointments and obligations—demands our attention, and more often than not, it gets it. But traveling to your inner world, where you are most connected to the pulse of life and the universe as a whole, is a worthwhile trip.

Through meditation, we take a well-deserved break from the buzz of the external world and nourish our inner lives, our spiritual selves. As with anything, the more attention you give it, the bigger it grows, and conversely, the less attention you give something, the smaller and more neglected it becomes. We don’t set out to malnourish our spirits, but we all know how easy it is to get caught up in the everyday and forget about our inner selves. Maintaining a healthy balance between our internal and external worlds can help both grow positively.

Traditional methods of relieving stress—exercise, rest, or even a chocolate bar or a beer—may only be helping on a topical level. But meditation can help you go deeper, to heal past hurts and move forward in new, more productive ways. Take a moment as often as you can on a regular basis ground yourself, and feel your connection to the Greater Whole and the Divine Power. You will find that, on the whole, you are a bit more relaxed and centered.

There are numerous ways to meditate. Meditation classes and CDs abound, and both are very useful in helping us to meditate on a regular basis. If you lack the time, or want to try something on your own first, simply creating a specific period during the week, or each day, to enjoy some quality time in a quiet space can be quite beneficial. Our minds need cleansing just as our bodies do. Listen to your breath as you relax, and think about releasing any negative thoughts that may have built up during the day. Imagine them as balloons floating away in the sky. Get in touch with your true self, your spirit, the thoughts and ideas that make you, you. Enjoy this time with your inner self, and emerge from it refreshed, and renewed!

Born and brought up in Scotland, Puja Thomson is founder and director of Roots & Wings in New Paltz. She's a holistic health care professional, educator, workshop leader and minister of healing. You will find more about meditation in her book AFTER SHOCK: FROM CANCER DIAGNOSIS TO HEALING, which was awarded FINALIST in the "Best Books" Awards and "National Indie Excellence." Another important tool for meditation is her CD (with calming music by Richard Shulman) and Workbook, Roots & Wings: For Strength and Freedom (Revised 2008). Go to www.rootsnwings.com for info, excerpts, reviews, how to purchase.