So what is meditation anyway?

If you look it up in the dictionary, meditation is defined as reflecting upon, pondering, or contemplating. Across history and cultures, meditation has taken many forms. In yoga philosophy, meditation or Dhyana is the seventh limb of Patanjali’s Eightfold Path and refers to a state of sustained awareness and pure consciousness.

That all sounds beautiful. Also a little intimidating.

So let’s step out of the textbooks for a moment.

What does meditation actually mean for us, here, now, living regular lives with responsibilities, distractions, notifications, and full calendars?

In the Western world, more people are searching for tools to support mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Meditation often gets offered as the answer to everything; a better life, a better nervous system, an elevated sense of je ne sais quoi. And while it can absolutely support nervous system regulation, focus, emotional awareness, blood pressure, sleep, and overall wellbeing, it is not a one-size-fits-all practice and humans are also not one-size-fits-all type of humans.

When people hear the word meditation, they often picture a blissed-out person sitting perfectly still in lotus pose, hands in mudra, eyes closed, mind completely quiet. That is one way meditation can look. It is not the only way though...

Meditation does not require a perfect nook, a cushion, incense, or a soundtrack. Those things can be supportive, but they are not prerequisites. Meditation is not about escaping life. It is about learning how to be with it.

Meditation can be as simple as spending a few minutes focusing on your breath. It can look like repeating a mantra or affirmation. It can be practiced while walking, washing dishes, sitting in your car before heading into work, or lying on the floor doing absolutely nothing else.

At its core, meditation is a practice of attention. Training the mind to notice. To return. To pause before reacting.

Especially in a world that has been living through collective stress, uncertainty, and overwhelm, meditation becomes less about achieving calm and more about creating space. Space to feel. Space to breathe. Space to respond with a little more compassion, hell empathy even.

If you are new to meditation, start smaller than you think you should. One minute counts. One breath counts. One moment of awareness counts.

The goal is relationships. A relationship with yourself hat welcomes you back, again and again.

Optional Resources to Explore:

5-minute meditation you can do anywhere
1 minute mindfulness exercises
PREORDER - Meditation Guide for Wild Humans