The first slow, deep intake of breath is usually the quickest of the session. The body takes a moment to slow itself down. The brain, depending on the day, takes a little longer. But by the second inhalation and exhalation, as my eyes close out what the daylight illuminates, a new light and expanse spreads itself out before me. A universe unfurls from within my mind, pushing out the mundane worries and concerns, leaving no space for discontentment or restlessness.
This might seem like some sort of magic or New Age hokey-pokey, but it’s actually an ancient practice, something humans have been doing for centuries, and the ones who practice it religiously are usually the ones who are most at peace with their lives. I’m nowhere near that total sense of peace and calm, but I’m a little closer than I was just a few short months ago, and that is largely due to meditation. After starting out at just five minutes a day, I’m up to 23. Not a lot, and that’s ok. It’s enough. For 23 minutes of each day, I sit calmly and quietly in the lotus position, close my eyes, and gradually push away the worries of the world. When the time is done, my mind is clear, and it’s a clarity that lasts a little longer with each passing day. It’s also a clarity which I can sometimes summon when I need a moment of calm. A few deep breaths and I return to the space of calm and quiet.
It’s not magic, though it sometimes feels like it. It’s the simple act of meditation. Moments of mindfulness.
While there’s a certain element of sacrilege to invoking the fall this early in the summer, my plan is to reach 25 minutes a day by the time the seasons change, and then the long trudge to and through winter, when I’ll hopefully see what half-an-hour of meditation can do.
