Meditation comes to us from an ancient past, yet it is valuable today to give us time to center ourselves in preparation for meeting the challenges of modern-day stress. Meditate for Calm Awareness is a simple concentration exercise designed to introduce the benefits that so many individuals today are experiencing. It helps to keep the mind in the moment as it encourages a calm and fulfilling inner peace.

Setting aside time each morning and evening for your practice is best. It is wise to proceed slowly, but you may practice the mental exercise as many times a day as you wish. The more you meditate the more you will progress on the spiritual path toward an enlightened state of being.

An important directive at the core of this guided meditation presents a method of training the mind to meet difficulties in daily life with calm awareness. By repeating a positive phrase as a reminder to refrain from reacting emotionally to stress or provocation, the thoughts of resentment and anger will no longer have a hold on our minds. The stresses and strains of our daily lives will lessen when applying this technique, as it introduces a patient response to life’s challenging moments. The positive idea of refraining from reacting emotionally to stress is the answer to life’s problems.

Although the meditation technique is simple its results are complex in that many goals can be achieved by consistent daily practice. In the days that follow, you will find that you will be mentally alert and aware of the subtleties and undercurrents of the circumstances in which you find yourself.

Meditation will open your mind to an intuition that until now has only been partially awakened. It will enhance the chemical structure of your brain and the nervous system will function more smoothly. A calm awareness will be the result of dedicated practice.

Humanity has evolved over a long period of time, and human instincts have taken their cue from the animal kingdom in that when we are presented with environmental stress we respond similarly as an animal that runs from danger or fights back.  However, there is a superior way to face our daily challenges.  We need to learn to stand unmoved emotionally by the tides of changing circumstances. The meditation includes the very important directive to observe stress without reacting emotionally to any provocation. With this approach, we no longer need to run from stress or danger or fight back in anger, which does not solve the problem. With calmness, we will no longer feel we must answer every demand made upon us. We can live out the dictates of our hearts and at the same time present our surroundings with newfound patience and calm understanding.

The non-emotional response is an ancient principle. Many religions and philosophies suggest that by refraining from becoming upset or being thrown off center, we will find ourselves in better control over the circumstances in our lives.

Again, we must remember to remain centered and calm when confronted with stressful situations like unfairness, harsh judgment, or violence coming from others. By modifying our emotional response to circumstances that are beyond our control, such as losing work or money or a loved one, we can find untapped strength to handle transitions that would have normally thrown us off balance emotionally.

Meditation will bring objectivity and an even temperament into play in daily experience. It is achieved by repeating in your conscious mind, often during the day, the idea of remaining calm in the face of any difficult threat to our well-being. Patience is a virtue that comes to us gradually, and we begin to realize the need to acquire the ability to wait or sit with composure by first becoming aware of our impatience.

One of the feelings we experience when embarking upon the path of meditation is the recognition of how difficult it is to sit without the urgency to do something else. We may say to ourselves that meditation is not for us because we are immediately aware of how anxious we become when we sit.

It is important at this point to take another approach. We should view our inability to sit quietly as a sign that meditation will help to reveal to our conscious awareness the content of our unrecognized shortcomings. In time and with dedicated practice, one by one, we can tackle life’s challenging moments with our unmoved patient understanding.