The stress and strains of our always-connected lives can sometimes take us off course. GPS For The Soul can help you find your way back to balance.
GPS Guides are our way of showing you what works for others in the hopes that you can find out what works for yourself. Whether it's photos that relax you or make you smile, songs that bring you back to your heart, quotes or poems that balance you or meditative exercises that help de-stress you, we all have tricks that we use when we get bent out of shape. We encourage you to look at the GPS Guide below, visit our other GPS Guides here, and share with us your own personal tips for finding peace, balance and harmony.
To me, meditation is simply silencing or focusing the mind. Practices tend to focus on using visualization and/or thought repetition to focus and quite the mind. Some say, just be still and think of nothing else but imagining a recurring image (e.g. a bubble rising slowly from the depths to the surface of a blue ocean). Others don't imagine any visuals, just say a word, phrase or mantra to themselves over and over again (e.g. "ohm," a purpose statement, or a singular word). Others say by golly, do both, and add some incense, music, and body movement.
Frankly, no one is right and there isn't one "way" that is better than another for everyone. Meditation is a very individual process and what works for me may not work for you.
With that in mind, here is my personal practice:
Every day at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. I try to find 20 minutes to meditate.
- My practice includes a visual element (imagining a bubble rising to the surface) and a verbal element (I repeat a series of words in my mind that are meaningful to me).
- A time to meditate each day.
- A practice to focus my mind combining visual and verbal patterns.
- An effort to be present and not think of other things.
- A musical component that inspires me.
I hope that helps you on your own journey. Meditation is a lifelong process. Give it a try. As you get deeper and more disciplined into the process, you'll get deeper and more disciplined in your mind and life.
To Meditate On
For more by Brendon Burchard, click here.
For more on meditation, click here.