Our mind wanders from one thing to another like a river of consciousness flowing down stream. It can feel like something you cannot control but can only cope with. You may notice that when you don’t try to do anything about it, you default to following your mind’s agenda, which may not necessarily be in your best interest or meet your needs. Our mind can go from one task to another task without thinking or feeling. The goal of the mind is simply to accomplish those tasks as soon as it can. When something else distracts you, you may get on a tangent and add on more tasks. Very soon, you will start to feel tired and stressed. This is a common pattern that most people share.

To prevent stress and to promote healthy way of being, meditation can be a most helpful tool. And it is a simple process. Start by stretching your body for a few minutes before you sit down for meditation. Before you begin, it is best to set a timer so you can be free of worrying about time. Try taking five to ten minutes. With or without your eyes closed, begin by paying attention to how you are breathing. Try to be gentle with yourself, breathing into the area of your body with the most tension, breathing out to soften your muscles or release the weight of your stressful thoughts. You may soon experience the ease of detachment from your thought stream, calmness, and a less urgent feeling towards the list of tasks. Some may even experience that mind space as creative, inspiring, restful, and less impulsive. Priorities may shift as your energy shifts. This is the control you can experience, to give yourself a restart, a new conscious space, and a way to regulate your emotions.  

Begin your practice by committing a time and space daily for 5-10 minutes of meditation, like taking a dose of vitamins for your mind. Remember, in some ways your brain is like just another muscle, which can easily form habits; both poor and good thinking patterns are reinforced the same way. Meditation is a tool to help you make that choice.