We just carve out a few minutes of our day to take long, deep, fluid inhalations and long, deep, fluid exhalations -- taking our bodies out of "fight or flight" mode -- and if we notice thoughts arising to consciousness we simply guide our attention back to our breaths. This is basic meditation.

Cheers to America's new push-up for the brain! With all the scientific evidence coming in over the years, meditation is now becoming a practice that anyone from any walk of life can embrace.

My greatest failure ended up becoming the best thing that ever happened to me. About one year into my time in the brig, I started learning about mindfulness meditation and immediately noticed an increase in happiness.

With the stream of scientific and anecdotal evidence showing us the benefits of meditation, it’s no wonder that it’s touted as the tool for a happ...

You've got to make time for yourself -- preferably every day -- to do something that refreshes you, centers you, and keeps you grounded. For me that something is meditation. It might be something else for you.

If you're reading this first thing in the morning, allow this meditation to set the tone for your day. If it's later in the day and you're feeling frazzled, use these three minutes to recalibrate your day (it's never too late in the day to restart).

With the stream of scientific and anecdotal evidence showing us the benefits of meditation, it’s no wonder that it’s touted as the tool for a happ...

I think the millions of Americans who exercise should be meditating before and after they jump on the treadmill. Why is this not possible? They adopted an iPod into their workout.

With the stream of scientific and anecdotal evidence showing us the benefits of meditation, it’s no wonder that it’s touted as the tool for a happ...

Training the mind, meditating, being mindful, or whatever else we choose to call it only works if we actively engage with it. More than that, it only works if we practice it regularly, preferably on a daily basis with a considered, gentle discipline.

You don't have to listen to hippie music or burn incense. You don't need a meditation space. Make the world your meditation space. Make your desk, the free throw line, the jog out in the park your meditation space.

With the stream of scientific and anecdotal evidence showing us the benefits of meditation, it’s no wonder that it’s touted as the tool for a happ...

There is a message here about impermanence. While I've heard it many times before, somehow every time an unexpected event happens or I receive unwelcome news, I have to learn the lesson all over again. We are not in control of so many things.

The amazing reality is that most people do not have a proactive daily practice of stillness and silence. If this sounds familiar to you, don't fret! In minutes, you will understand why and how you can get back on that meditation horse and ride into the sunset.

With the stream of scientific and anecdotal evidence showing us the benefits of meditation, it’s no wonder that it’s touted as the tool for a happ...

The brain and the mind are two separate parts, as are the spirit and the soul. In order for them to work synergistically, they must be studied separately, understood individually and then, connected together.

Realistically, we should know ourselves better than knowing anyone else, but more often than not we tend to dislike ourselves, are constantly finding fault, and so reject what we find. Then we look for love anywhere other than with ourselves.

With the stream of scientific and anecdotal evidence showing us the benefits of meditation, it’s no wonder that it’s touted as the tool for a happ...

America is one of the greatest countries in the world because we take what works the best and disregard the rest. I think we should take a few minutes a day to pause, reflect and do some meditation in our office chair.

As time passed, we felt increasingly blessed to have this time together each day, and we began to realize what we were doing was downright revolutionary. Whoever heard of an entire family stopping to do absolutely nothing together?

In meditation, we go from seeing our essentially selfish and ego-bound nature to recognizing that we are an integral part of a far greater whole, and as the heart opens we can bring compassion to our fallibility and humanness.

With the stream of scientific and anecdotal evidence showing us the benefits of meditation, it’s no wonder that it’s touted as the tool for a happ...

Even if you are an experienced seated meditator, you may find value in enlarging your repertoire with a walking practice. You may discover that uniting three rhythms -- stepping, breathing and mental counting -- is the most effective way to calm and redirect a chattering mind.

Like most things, learning to calm your mind takes some practice and effort. Keep with it though, and you'll discover a wonderful tool that you can use to protect yourself when you experience a thorny situation in life.

A simple daily habit of taking quiet time allows us to find our path away from the quicksand of life and into moments of insight. It is those flashes of brilliance that separate the successful from the want-to-be.