Guest Post

Seattle may not have as many green juice bars or compost parties as Portland. However, we are catching up with modern times in rediscovering the ancient tradition of meditation. If you are thinking to practice meditation in Seattle, Washington, read on. 

It’s certainly an odd thing to see, an ancient and transformative spiritual practice, becoming hip and trendy. But if you look at the benefits of meditation—patience, focus and concentration, better sleep, more energy, lower blood pressure, less stress and chronic pain, and lasting peace and joy, it makes all sense. We live in modernized technology and a fast-paced chaotic world.  Hence, there’s never been a more important time to meditate in the history of humanity.

While the ancient tradition of meditation may seem on the surface as an out-of-date mumbo jumbo ritual based on superstitions that have no relevance to our lives (trust me, I’ve heard it all before), the fact of the matter is, there have now been hundreds if not thousands of rigorous scientific studies performed, all demonstrating the almost magical benefits that just a few minutes of meditation a day can do for literally anyone.

In this blog, I’m going to talk about how meditation is spreading in Seattle, Washington, what meditation is and why it matters.

Why Does Meditation Matter? 

Everything we do, every problem we have, and even nearly every physical ailment we have, stems from our minds. It is our most important tool, yet we never train it to be more joyful, more present, and more mindful of its thoughts and actions. 

When we behave unmindfully, we make decisions that make us less healthy, whether it’s eating unhealthy food or not dealing with stress, or not exercising properly. Just as the placebo effect means that our mindset can cure us if we believe a treatment will work, so too can our mindset cause disease in the first place. 

Rather than living as a victim of an uncontrolled mind, meditation helps us create the circumstances in our minds to generate health, happiness, love, gratitude, and compassion. 

We Are Our Own Gurus…
We are each our own gurus. No one is more divine than anyone else or has a better antenna to God than anyone else. There is no perfect master to follow except your own heart. There is never any need to short-circuit your own intuition and gut instincts in search of some divine insight. Retain your power, strengthen it, and there is never a need to give it over to anyone else.

Where is Meditation Going?

We know now about the transformative power of meditation. Now, we can only hope that we teach it to every child in every school.

There are places where it has been taught in schools. Here, grades go up, behavioral problems go down, and once-filled detention halls suddenly become empty. Sounds amazing right? It’s tried and tested.

When I was a kid, I rarely sat still. There was a punishment called “time out”. That was the only time I ever sat quiet and alone. And that was the only time I was with my thoughts in meditation. I used to wonder why I was being made to do this. However, now I understand that was needed so much. No wonder so many adults today find it difficult to meditate!

You know, learning to meditate as a child is so important? It can set your child up for a lifetime of emotional intelligence and a mastery of his/her thoughts and emotions. Don’t think it’s not important for you. Meditation is equally beneficial for adults. 

One can only hope that every office building and factory will have a meditation room with meditation instructors coming in regularly. 

For companies that have done this, workplace mistakes go down. Moreover, productivity goes up, job satisfaction increases, sick days are reduced, employee retention increases, and profits skyrocket. 

Just imagine a future where everyone creates a little bit more space in their lives, more peace, and more inner joy radiating from them and affecting everything else they do. The world will become less addicted, more compassionate, more patient, more thoughtful, and more peaceful.