There is not one of us who does not enjoy looking good, feeling beautiful, and well put together. I suppose it’s the ingrained ego in us, but something puts a little more spring in our step when we are able to look in the mirror and give a little wink. As my 57th birthday approaches, I realize there are going to be some wins and some losses in this department. However, I muse about the octogenarians or septuagenarians who have caught my eye with a remarkable glow. Something about them was vibrant and alive and yes resoundingly beautiful. When I run across such an individual, aging ceases to be a fearful thing and becomes more of a wonderful challenge to be met and held hands with. You see, I intend to be one of these individuals. And I will be swinging for the fence, as they say, on this one.

So as I look at the big picture here and size up what my biggest tools are in this department I come across a really BIG GUN. And I love big guns. This one has the capacity to affect just about every single area of value in our lives. Ready for what is probably a partial list at best? It heals, improves, and enhances: sleep, immune system (how often you get sick and what you get sick with), your relationships with other people AND yourself, It decreases visits to the doctor by 90%, creativity, kindness, workout effectiveness, productivity at work, physical appearance, what you are able to accomplish in your life, and changes the current state of your being as well as unlocks hidden stored stresses from the past. These are all well-documented science-based outcomes that are measurable. Nothing imaginary about it.

Meditation. It’s not mindfulness (an awareness that comes through being extremely present to the current moment without judgment) but instead is its own separate category. Meditation is a practice of devoting a set amount of time to stop and rest the mind by becoming clear, relaxed, and inwardly focused. The meditator becomes the silent, unresisting Watcher of the inner state.

The most important thing I can tell you is that the mind is created to think thoughts like the heart is created to beat. You cannot stop your thoughts and thus have not failed if you find a lot of thoughts happening during this time. The key is to just watch them and realize they are not you. I like to imagine I am watching a calm beautiful vast river and boats that come and try to drop anchor on my shore are my thoughts. I gently send them off downstream all the while observing and becoming aware of the traffic on the river. Some boats keep coming back over and over. No worry. I send them back off. Others chose the imagery of the open sky and thoughts are clouds that blow or drift in. In the same way, they can be ushered gently and repeatedly downwind.

No matter what you personally feel about meditation, IF you are a person that pursues the best health and wellness for yourself, there is no denying the efficacy of this practice. So what if you’ve tried and haven’t felt “good at it”. Try again. Find a teacher or some guidelines that work for you. Spending a few minutes a day is a way of giving the body and brain a rest, a reprieve that is actually five times deeper than sleep!! It cures insomnia and can reverse aging anywhere between 8-15 years the research shows. My friends, the most abundant source of healing is right inside of you and accessible through meditation. How does it (meditation) do this? Well, the enormity of its scope is still a mystery to me but I believe it has to do with the ravaging effects of stress on our bodies. Stress is the ‘Black Plague of the 21st century” and meditation affects stress like no other modality.

I’m certainly no meditation teacher nor expert but there are some good ones out there. I’m here to point you to a fountain of youth or health that is accessible to all of us. A teacher I have loved and appreciated is Emily Fletcher of zivameditation.com, and her new book: Stress Less, Accomplish More. Be gentle and give yourself time to practice but also realize that “it’s working” immediately – even if you cannot yet see it. Peace.