Meditation is a gentle pathway to calm, cool, and collected when practiced consistently. It helps to slow the mind and calm the nervous system. However, when we are in the midst of a crisis, things can get turned upside down and leave us scrambling for tools to get rebalanced.  Those who keep meditation as a coping tool see improvements in mood, outlook, environmental attraction, trauma-based triggers and responses, stress, sleeping patterns, motivation, and physical health. Medication can provide this relief on a daily basis as well as during times of great loss, stress, transition, growth, and need. Meditation is hands down one of the most effective self-help tools available to us and can be as minimal as you want it to be, including more than sitting in silence to achieve a calm mind. When used consistently, it can work efficiently and quickly to change your life in any direction you want it to go, and even in this bustling world, meditation does not have to be a time-consuming burden. Meditation doesn't even need to be tightly defined for it to help us manifest our dreams and improve our state of mind. It is fluid and progressive, and if you listen closely enough to your instincts, you will feel your daily routine of meditation begin to change as you change. Meditation is not meant to be solid and identical every day. It is a natural process that is created by and shapes your thinking patterns. Therefore, an ever-changing and growing meditation is not only ideal for our changing lives but very much an inevitability.

     Affirmation work is an important tool to be used when both manifesting our goals as well as when coping with the day-to-day endeavors of our busy lives. Affirmation work is one of the most valuable self-help tools, as it aids us in the actual shaping of our cognition and meta-cognition. Further, affirmations can be tailored to our specific needs and are available at our fingertips throughout the day, regardless of where we are, who we are with, and what we are engaged in. A great way to use an affirmation is to post it EVERYWHERE! Put on paper and pin it up around your house, write it on cards to keep in your car and in your wallet, and post it on the side of your computer for easy access when you are working. When doing affirmation work, you find the subtle changes taking effect and see your progress when you are ready to change your affirmation statement up to focus on a new situation or goal.

     Grounding is a great way to prepare for the day, exercise, your morning meetings, or even when preparing for bedtime. Grounding can give you an instant sense of peace and help you recover your calm when in the face of unsavory situations, as well as aid you in helping to calm those around you. Grounding is a simple process that can be done anywhere with a minimal amount of time invested. Two typical methods of grounding include going outside and visualization.

​

     When working with clients on meditation practices, routines are built around the person and the life they currently live. I have found that this creates a more successful pattern for lasting results and change. I choose to work with my clients on a single meditation for a whole month, with the option of weekly check-ins to see if there is a benefit to tweaking the wording of the original, or if there is a need for adjusting how it fits into the client's daily routines.

​

     Effective and reliable meditation is a key part of mental and physical health because it changes the brain, which changes lives, which in turn changes the health of the body. It truly is the spout of the trickle effect.