How can we achieve Inner Sanctuary?

What Is Meditation? My students answer: "Being With Myself"

by Kathleen Lisson

When I asked my meditation students in week three of my IPSB Meditation and Mindfulness class to define meditation, I received some surprising answers. I had taught them in week one that meditation is nonjudgemental intentional focused attention to the present moment and we had experienced this type of attention by following our breath, inhale and exhale, for ten minutes. Three weeks later, my students were reporting that meditation was, to them, the practice of knowing and being with themselves. They had instinctively grasped the power of meditation to lead the way to their inner sanctuary.

Both seated meditation and walking the labyrinth can provide this experience of inner awareness. In today’s society of 24-hour news cycles and social media, we are urged to learn an astounding amount of information about other people, from national politicians to our old college friends’ constant stream of baby pictures. A balanced focus on both self and others on can be lost, especially for the sandwich generation of adults caring for both children and their own aging parents. Meditation can be an ideal practice to gently rebalance our lives and allow us to rejoin our inner sanctuaries, especially during times of great stress.

Kathleen Lisson is a certified Meditation Teacher and Labyrinth Facilitator and teaches Meditation and Mindfulness at IPSB college in San Diego. Sign up for a private meditation lesson or labyrinth walk in the comfort of your home here: https://www.massagebook.com/San_Diego~Massage~sandiego?src=external