Finding The Silence

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Wild Irises and River Song — pic snapped on a run two weeks ago.

One of the best moves I’ve made in this life so far is picking up a meditation practice. I think I first got serious about meditation in my early twenties when I suffered a horrific knee injury and was having trouble regaining range of motion post-surgery. Somewhere I heard that you could aid healing with visualization and, determined to reclaim my athletic pursuits, I started experimenting with visualizing the leg healing, the scar tissue receding, etc.

Being an impatient type, the prolonged down-time of a major injury was difficult and I liked feeling that the visualization meditation was at least an action I could take. More importantly I enjoyed the by-product of greater relaxation, both physical and mental.

My knee healed and the interest in meditation stuck. Over the years I’ve studied and practiced a number of different forms of meditation including visualization, drumming, body relaxation processes, etc. Most mornings for many years now, I start the day with at least a few minutes of meditative time. This practice has been most beneficial when facing challenges and as I wrote in my book, When Life Blows Up, I credit having a long-standing meditation practice as one of the things that helped keep me alive when I was at the darkest point in my life.

Over the past couple of years my understanding and utilization of meditation has shifted becoming less about a specific routine and more moment-to-moment. The goal is what I call The Silence. To me The Silence is a state of consciousness in which my mind is still and in the present moment. I’m not reviewing past events or memories and I’m not thinking forward about something that may happen in the future. This is the quickest way I’ve found to regain peace when unsettled and release fear when worrying.