As many of you already know, meditation provides us with a deeper connection with the Divine Source, with Infinite Possibilities, with a more relaxed and connected attitude toward life. Use meditation as an avenue for reducing stress and promoting health and well-being. Meditation is one of those in-born gifts that many of us have a tendency to ignore or forget about. We even convince ourselves that we are unable to do meditation or that we just don’t have enough time to meditate.

Among the top 10 list of reasons for not taking advantage of this God-given tool for peace, health, and knowing are the following: “I don’t have enough time.” “I can’t find a quiet place to meditate.” “ I can’t stop the incessant chatter of my mind.” “I don’t know how to meditate.” Ha! All of these are truly just excuses. We can move our consciousness into a much greater connection with All That Is through meditation.

Many great teachers, monks, and masters have taught that meditating 5 minutes a day has immeasurable benefits. Just start by taking 5 minutes to breathe, contemplate, and relax your mind. When we give ourselves those 5 minutes, we finally realize that our day is much smoother, connected, flowing, and happier. This eliminates reason number one: “I don’t have enough time.”

We also have a misconception that we must be someplace quiet to meditate and that we must meditate at the same time and the same place everyday. I have found that I meditate when I can, wherever I am. We can start using all the time that we wait on lines or in waiting rooms for appointments. Or simply sit down each morning for 5 minutes and just observe yourself sitting there breathing. It is that simple. OK, that rules out, “I can’t find a quiet place to meditate.”

Then we have the incessant chatter of our minds to resolve. Are we constantly thinking and chattering in our own minds? Are we even aware that we are? By contemplating both of these questions, we start on the path of quieting our minds. It is good to start by observing our thoughts and becoming aware of what we are thinking. In this self-observation, we have an opportunity to look at that thought and then tell it to be quiet for 5 minutes. We can tell ourselves to observe the thought, tell the thought we will come back to thinking about it later, if necessary, and then watch or realize the thought floating away. Send the thought off on a cloud or inside a balloon and watch it float off. Voila, the release of “I can’t stop the incessant chatter of my mind.”

Our beliefs create our reality. This is a proven fact that somehow we haven’t been able to integrate. If we believe we don’t know how to meditate, for example, then we don’t do it or aren’t courageous enough to at least try! I am here to tell you that everyone knows how to meditate. Do you know how to breathe? Can you become aware that you are breathing? OK, then you know how to meditate! Of course, I have oversimplified it here. Yet, I believe that doing a little of something is better than not doing it at all, especially when it is of benefit for yourselves and the Planet!

Become still. Stop doing. Become aware of your breath. Put your awareness on the inhalation and the exhalation. Realize how your body feels when you bring air in and when you exhale air out. Make the intention to relax your mind. Imagine your mind relaxing and keep your awareness on your breathing. If a thought arises, observe the thought, then watch it float away. If the thought doesn’t leave, then tell it that you are busy meditating right now and put it on hold like you would do to someone on the phone, and tell the thought you will be back to it in 5 minutes. Return your attention to your breath and become aware that there is a place between your inbreath and your outbreath. Then become aware that there is a place between your outbreath and your inbreath. Perhaps a thought has crept back in. Observe the thought. Make note of it in your mind, know that you will attend to it later, and allow it to dissipate. Return your focus to your breathing. Observe how your body has become more relaxed. Put your attention on each limb, muscle, cell, bone, and organ, and imagine that with every breath that you take you are breathing Love, and that with every exhalation you are releasing stress, tension, and negativity. With every inbreath, replace what you released by intending those spaces to be refilled with Love and Well-Being.

That is it! I believe we can all do that for 5 minutes, yes? And that resolves the last reason why we can’t meditate, which is, “I don’t know how to meditate.”

I have found it most useful to meditate when I am trying to resolve a question in my life. We can use it to obtain answers directly from the Source, to heal ourselves, to manifest a happier, healthier reality, and to make a difference on the Planet by becoming a more loving person. There are many people who are meditating on Love and Peace at this exact moment. Join in on meditating on Love to change the vibration of our world.

Each and every one of us makes a difference on this Planet. So, please, I implore you to start today.

May we all have the courage to be all that we can be. May we all find peace, health, harmony, and Love. May there be enough of us focusing on a positive reality and positive outcomes to change the world. May we realize that we must change our personal reality before we can change the greater reality.

Blessings and Love,

Margaret Ann Lembo