Lately, I have met a lot of people inside and outside my counseling practice who have shown a strong interest in incorporating meditation into their lives. They hear the news, they listen to meditation tapes, they read books, and see it all over the internet: meditation improves your focus, your memory and your well-being. Meditation promotes healthy social relationships, increases our sense of gratefulness, and guide us towards a more meaningful life. At the same time many of these people say that they don't know how to begin a meditation practice or where to go to begin one, while others feel intimidated by attending the long Buddhist rituals and chants that often accompany meditation learning and practice.

I am a proclaimed Buddhist, and and I use meditation as a spiritual way to increase my level of consciousness. However meditation does not need to be a religious practice to everyone, and not everyone sees it as a spiritual way to reach enlightenment. Sitting there watching your thoughts pass by and letting them go can be just a good practice of common sense, a healthy training for the brain, and a true way of being here now. Being present liberate us from worry and anxiety about the future, and from the guilt and shame of the past. So whichever your belief or faith, you can use meditation to your advantage to be more aware, for self-knowledge, and to increase focus on the things that are really important to you.

For anyone that would like to begin or continue a meditation practice, I have created a meetup group in Providence directed to promote a community committed to self-growth, wisdom and compassion. The Heart Zen Meditation Group will be meeting at different times indoors and outdoors, and hopes to reach out to anyone who wants to access the healing practice of a tradition that has lived among us for thousands of years, and that is beneficial to everyone of us.

For more information head on over to our meetup group page.