In a world where we can feel a victim of the unrelenting routine, pressured by the demands of a complicated 21^st century lifestyle, meditation is a way to escape to your own inner sanctuary and become more of a creator on your life path. 

Many believe finding some stillness and reflection and clarity in each day sounds attractive but unachievable. It remains true that looking for the true you, amongst a day filled with activities that are unquestionably at times quite a crazy pressure is the aspiration of many and that illusive thing called calm and peace is a constant search for most.

So, do you:-eat while you scan your emails? Answer the mobile or, shock horror -text while you’re driving? Do you watch the news on TV whilst phoning a friend, and at the same time think of the shopping list for the week? We fool ourselves into thinking this is time efficient to multi task but, then when it comes to finding your keys to drive to work the next morning, your mind has been so busy when you put them down last night that it takes you half an hour to find them. Sound familiar?

We are only human and although it is 99.9% unlikely there is a lion chasing us in the modern world, we create an alien monster of stress if we cannot find sanctuary or escape from the demands of a world that is bombarding us with inner and outer noise. By continuing on this road we usually don’t notice how far out of balance we are until physical symptoms pull us up and make us notice when we are not sleeping, and anxiety and stress related illnesses confront us.

To quote a writer that I was blessed to be exposed to in my early twenties –Herman Hesse –“True stillness is only possible when we find our true self”. Meditation affords the ability to access your true inner self. Meditation, for those who find it a necessary daily practice, know they have found the ideal stress management in today’s ‘too busy’ world. In Meditation we find a place where it is safe to just be you, listen to you, and switch off the pressure. Mostly you only need 15-20 minutes with practice and you know deep meditation is reputedly 4 times more restful than sleep.

Maybe you will need to learn how to switch off the jangle of inner noise to be able to meditate. However, remember that children find it easy and most people get good results in their first experience of meditation. I feel Meditation skills are possibly the best way to remain healthy and calm right now.