I remember the first time I sat in meditation at the Chopra Center in Carlsbad, California. I had just been given my mantra, ( a sacred word that you repeat over and over in your mind). I was so excited!  I was about to begin my training! So, heart pumping, I opened the door to the mediation room. And there, a group of about six men and women sat on woven rugs and pillows on the floor in a circle. The light of the warm California sun shined in through the window. A long rope attached to a bell hung from the ceiling. I found a spot on the floor, folded myself cross legged, and eager to begin my meditation journey, closed my eyes.

Nothing happened.

I expected a great communal hum, a chanting, a shock of lightening. Nothing. It was just me and six other people sitting quietly in a room, all alone. I tucked my disappointment into my pocket, and trudged on. Quietly. Sitting. Repeating my mantra. What I soon realized is that meditation is not about communing with others. It’s about communing with yourself. That’s not to say that a room full of experienced meditators can’t levitate or shift the earth’s energy at it’s axis. That probably can happen when enough people are concentrated on sending energy out into the same space.

But for an inexperience meditator, one who has considered meditation and not yet tried it, or has dabbled but not yet dedicated oneself, meditation can be daunting. Sitting quietly for a half hour with nothing to do but listen to your own breath takes practice. The joy comes later, once you achieve comfort. Some days are buoyant. Other days are bogged down. Every meditation session is different because the version of you that you bring to that mediation is different.

Believe me, though, it is worth the effort. Medical libraries are full of data and statistics to support the health benefits of meditation. All I know for sure is my own personal experience. And what I know is that when I’m not meditating, my thoughts are scattered. I can become frenetic in action and in mind.I can get downright grumpy. But when I’m meditating, I carry with me, as my meditation teacher Davidji says, “a thimble full” of silence. And it’s enough.

So, for all of you out there who’d like to begin a practice, or to begin a practice again, I’ve created this short 6-minute video instruction based on my new book, How to Live Your Passion & Fulfill Your Dreams, to give you an easy understanding of meditation. Please let me know if you try it and how it works for you. Namaste.

Stacie Zinn Roberts

Stacie Zinn Roberts is a nationally recognized, award-winning writer and marketing expert with more than 25 years of experience. She has won more than 40 national awards for her work including the United Nations Environmental Program for retail environmental marketing, as well as from organizations such at the Public Relations Society of America and the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association. She’s written for industry publications such as Golf Course Management, Sports Turf, Golfdom and PR Daily. She spent eight years as the president and director of marketing for Environmental Turf, where she developed the branding for SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum, the grass that eventually became the greens grass for the Rio Olympic Golf Course. Stacie served for six years on the Board of Directors of the Florida Turfgrass Association as Chair of the Research & Scholarship Committee where she worked closely with the scientists from the University of Florida’s turfgrass breeding program. Stacie founded What’s Your Avocado? Marketing & Public Relations in 2012.