The value of meditation has been well established — and the peaceful setting of a retirement village provides an ideal setting for its practice. The following excerpt by Sonia Choquette highlights the value of meditation.

Of the three best super powers we as humans can develop, I believe meditation is the most important, because not only does it empower us in its own right but it also lays the foundation for our other two super powers, imagination and intuition, to develop to their greatest potential. 

We start with meditation for a number of reasons, the first being that our thoughts create our lives, for better or worse, so having control over our thoughts—or at least having some control over how much we allow our thoughts to influence us—can have a tremendous effect on our lives. 

Life simply goes better when we are filled with positive, loving, accepting, compassionate, healing thoughts. 

Yet few people are in constant possession of such uplifting thoughts, and most find themselves instead distracted by all too many worrisome, stressful, self-doubting, critical, fearful, and isolating thoughts. If left unchecked, these negative thoughts will end up controlling and enslaving us, ultimately sickening us mind, body, and soul. 

If practiced consistently over time, meditation frees us from the habit of allowing our thoughts to control us. Even better, with some types of meditation we even start to replace our harsh thoughts with kinder, more loving and compassionate ones. When that happens, we begin to feel better, have more confidence, and enjoy our lives more. 

What Is Meditation? 

Meditation is simply the daily practice of quieting the mind and relaxing. It doesn’t stop us from thinking, but it helps relieve us from being possessed or even enslaved by our thoughts, and it eases our reactivity to the world, inside and out. 

Meditation reminds us to breathe, which in itself is a great relief, especially for those of us who are often rushing around, trying to manage more than feels comfortable, and having difficulty with keeping up with demands we face. 

We may find ourselves in our ancient fight-or-flight mode, breathing shallowly, our hearts racing, and in a state of constant alertness, none of which is good for our health—mental or physical. If this is the case, meditation becomes our medication. 

It reminds us that we are not the thoughts that race through our minds, so many of which are negative, fearful, or full of anxiety and dread. 

Meditation encourages us to step back and gently observe our thoughts and feelings as though they were no more than cars passing on the road. When we meditate, we learn to let them go by, rather than chasing after them. This creates distance and detachment from thoughts and feelings that leave us feeling stressed and insecure. 

Meditation creates more open space in our heads, more room in our bodies. It allows us to breathe, to relax, to regroup, to calm down, to move from fight-or-flight reactivity to observation and objectivity, and to move toward having much more conscious responses. 

Meditation helps us make better choices in our lives. 

Meditation softens our hearts, opens our minds, eases our stress, and gets the mental “tigers” off our tails that bully and push us around and leave us feeling defensive and under siege. 

Source: Based on Sonia Choquette. Your 3 Best Super Powers: Meditation, Imagination, Intuition. New York City, NY: Hay House, Inc., 2016.

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