The Mindfulness Blog

Depending on the demands of your day-- depending on other conflicts, and your own circumstances-- depending on your level of commitment, or personal inclination-- any one of the three meditations detailed in last month's postings, are available to us. Any time, and any place-- for as long (or short) as we may choose.

Any moment of meditation is better than no moment of meditation, at all. Whether it be one or more Meditative Moments, a Led Meditation in-person or via an app, or a Self-Guided Meditation of our own choosing, the choice to meditate is a choice that is available to all of us, in a way that is both flexible and practical.

Secular meditation (a pillar of self-care, and an important component of any balanced wellbeing initiative) is not a tree-hugging, incense-burning, kum-ba-ya kind of thing that "normal" people don't do. It is, however, a lot like Dr. Pepper soda was, back in the 1970's when it was first rolled out, nationally: "So misunderstood" (you should search some of the advertisements-- they're a hoot).

To those more traditional folks who may prefer meditation cloaked in ceremony and strict observance, I tip my hat and wish them nothing but respect. For the rest of us, I wish nothing but commitment and consistency, because just like any workout regimen we may follow to maintain our physical fitness, the same is true of any effort we make to hone our mental fitness-- we get out of it, what we put into it.

I know that for some, the above advice may not be particularly palatable-- it might even be considered downright heresy. If certain readers consider me to be a heretic, I'm sorry to offend you. But for anyone else, I'm excited to share a new and different perspective-- especially if it gets more people thinking more positively about the practice of meditation.

Secular meditation is a 21st century twist on an ancient practice that has been around (and successfully adopted many iterations), for a very long time. We can't all meditate like a monk, but we can all learn to meditate-- Secular meditation can help us make that a reality!