Get the Balance Right

 Fall is an excellent time to restore balance, before the busyness of the holiday season sets in. I have meditated off and on since high school, but only recently have been meditating on a more regular basis. I have seen amazing health benefits and seen my stress level decrease considerably. Its even helping me lose weight (no joke!), which I think has more to do with my stress level decreasing and less than any sort of transcendental magic.

 I have decided to set up a corner in my bedroom that is my sacred space, but the beauty of meditation is it can be done anywhere (even if you’re walking). I have committed to meditate every day from the fall equinox to the winter solstice, as a chance to make a huge change in my life. I have realized that what I am currently doing is not working out so well, and I need to shake things up. Meditation is a big part of yoga practice-the savasana at the end of most classes-but my mind and body requires a lot more. I am that person when I go for a massage, I am told that I am the most tense person they have ever encountered.

I tend to hold my stress and tension in my upper back and neck. It feels like I am Atlas, literally with the weight of the world on me. I struggle with it, because I don’t know how to lay my burden down, but meditation has started to give me a tool box. By spending time outside of my ever increasing to do list, walking away from my calendar and finding my own little Zen, I have found that the tension in my back has decreased and the pain level diminished. There are a variety of ways to learn to meditate, and a variety of methods. My personal choice is through chanting (the stereotypical “om”). Sometimes I pray the rosary, other times I use other prayer beads. I chant in Sanskrit sometimes, om mani padme om. Other times, I use Pandora to play Tibetan chant or ambient music. There are dozens and dozens of guided meditation videos on you tube as well as apps for both the droid and iphone.