“Meditation is a naturally occurring rest state; it is resting in yourself while remaining awake and alert. Meditation is innate, and your body already knows how to do it. The human body has an instinctive ability to shift into profound rest states to heal, energize, integrate, tune itself up, and assimilate learning.” – Excerpt from Meditation Made Easy by Lorin Roche, one of my favorite teachers.

The goal of meditation is to come back into presence, into the now, into the body. By connecting to our breath, we can begin to feel present in the body, in the now, allowing the mind to rest and thus creating space where we can perhaps perceive clarity, inspiration, and healing.

Meditation can be done by becoming quiet in our mind and intentionally breathing, allowing the thoughts to continue moving through without focusing on them, simply allowing them to come and go. Eventually, the “monkey mind” becomes quiet.

This can be done in many different ways, exercising, walking the dog, doing the dishes, sitting outside in nature, and lying down with eyes open or closed. There is no wrong way of meditating; we can use guided meditation, chant a mantra, listen to music, pet a beloved animal, or simply sit quietly.