The art of meditation has existed for thousands of years. This ancient practice has helped individuals of all cultures and races find peace, balance, serenity and even clarity in their lives. Traditional meditation was designed to suit the lifestyle of the people who first practiced it, in other words, a less noisy environment and a slower way of life. Accordingly, meditation sessions were also longer.

Meditation is a way to change our relationship with life. Through practice we train acceptance of reality and gradually become more relaxed. When our mind is calm, we see things as they really are. Although this sounds simple, it is harder than it seems. A mind clouded by daily worries distorts reality, and everything we do with a scattered mind will lack focus and therefore real power. We could say that meditation is the path to wisdom, and wisdom is meditation in action.

In modern society, meditation is studied as a practice that can support calming, body awareness, attention regulation and a better relationship with stress. Some studies show possible benefits for stress, sleep, mood and quality of life.

Breathing is a phenomenon common to all living beings. It is a non-conceptual process of the present moment that can be experienced directly without the need for thinking. In addition, it is a very alive and dynamic process: an aspect of life that is constantly changing. Breathing moves in cycles of inhalation and exhalation, a miniature model of life itself. Attention on the breath, that is, awareness of the present moment, frees us from the automatism and monotony of everyday life.

There is clearly a close connection between the way we breathe and the mind, since we can easily observe that the first affects the second. When we breathe irregularly and shallowly, our mind is restless and irritable. By focusing on pleasant thoughts and moments, breathing becomes increasingly regular and deeper. The process of breathing is intertwined with the autonomic nervous system and responds to changes in how we feel. Mood, thoughts and feelings influence and change our breathing. In practice, we therefore use the breath as a gentle reminder to calm the rhythm, release unnecessary tension and return attention to the present moment. Breathing exercises are used as part of a safe and gradual practice of awareness.

Concentration and distraction run side by side. The difference is that the flow of concentration is stronger, heavier and fuller than distraction. It is not that the mind no longer becomes scattered, but that the object of concentration remains in your mind longer than the disturbing factors. As our concentration improves, we can maintain attention on the object without interruption for a longer period of time. Our uninterrupted concentration now becomes powerful like a laser beam, and we see only the bare qualities of the object, beyond categorization and discriminatory thinking. At this level the mind becomes distanced from the influence of disturbing emotions and is temporarily freed from craving, clinging and resistance. We could say that the mind is completely separated from conflicts. ✌

Concentration, or focus, is a muscle strengthened by meditation and is a form of mental training. As with physical training, in meditation we also learn gradualness, regularity and patience. Proper concentration is the kind that unites heart and mind. This means that when maintaining concentration we use steady and calm effort toward attention. Returning to awareness of the breath or body develops the ability to begin again and again, and leads to stability of the mind. Focusing on breathing helps us increase the capacity for perception. Thus, when learning attention through meditation, we are focused on all thoughts and emotions, but what matters above all is recognizing and accepting them without evaluation.

As Albert Einstein said: “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Power is not in the thing itself, but in the power of the mind that believes in the power of the thing. The mind is the source of all human difficulties, but it is also the source of all solutions. It is a hidden treasure we walk over day after day without being aware of its value. The point is simply to take hold of it and master it, so that everything we do, we do consciously and with focus instead of scattered and automatically.