What is Meditation?
Meditation is about a commitment to yourself and to the power of your understanding to sit still for a period to quiet the mind and focus on the breath. A time to reflect, seek guidance and listen for the intuitive thought.
On the journey of recovery, this tool becomes a daily discipline that is essential to long-term recovery. A practice that if done consistently can bring a new level of awareness and enlightenment. It becomes a habit, a new healthy habit.
What is the benefit of Meditation?
In Recovery the benefits of meditation are endless. In the start, the accomplishment of sitting still on its own was a huge victory. It allowed me to slow down my mind and my body to be still and remember that I don’t always need to be right in the middle of life.
I began to develop a practice utilizing the time to deepen my relationship with my creator. Beginning to listen for the answers to my prayers for guidance on life. I started to take action on the intuition. I thought to myself one day I should start investing energy in these thoughts if I am going to continue to sit here and do this.
The results spoke for them self when a shift of my reliance went into trusting this power.
Other Benefits!
- Meditation reduces stress.
- It improves concentration.
- It encourages a healthy lifestyle.
- The practice increases self-awareness.
- It increases happiness.
- Meditation increases acceptance.
- It slows aging.
- The practice benefits cardiovascular and immune health.
How to Meditate?
The Old saying different strokes for different folks comes into this conversation a lot. There is no monopoly on meditation. Find what works best for you and do it. The only wrong way is not to do it all. Most find it beneficial to start the day off with meditation. Leaning into this power before venturing off into the busy world allows us to continue to come at life differently.
Get your incense, and your favorite explosion in the sky album and you’re on your way to meditating. A lot of times we tend to complicate the process of meditation forgetting why we meditate in the first place. It took me a little to realize that I didn’t need to do all that to bring God into the room. My only job was to sit quietly.
When to Meditate?
Most find it beneficial to start the day off with meditation. Getting quiet and centered in the morning before leaving the house gives me time to reflect upon yesterday, to ask for new guidance to be a better man than I was yesterday, for clarity around what might be disturbing me.
When I start my day and consider the hours ahead on what I need to accomplish its like there is this magic that happens where my day just seems to be easier, I’m not stepping on the toes of my fellows; I am happier, and overall I can go through the day gracefully.
When ending the day, it is always a good idea to sit quiet and reflect, review your day and get centered before getting into bed. If anything it will make for a better night sleep.
I am a firm believer that its always a good time to meditate.
We implement the practice of meditation in all of our Recovery Homes as well as at the Any Length Retreat. Since we have been open, it has been one of the most important pieces of the puzzle that we have our men experience while they’re with us.