Meditation (Photo credit: Moyan_Brenn_BE_BACK_IN_SEPTEMBER)

By Richard and Mary-Alice Jafolla

There is only one way to experience “the silence” and that is to be silent, physically and emotionally silent. One of the best ways to accomplish this is through the process called meditation.

Small Investments Bring Big Benefits

Sitting quietly, with the body relaxed and the mind stilled, brings many physical and emotional benefits. It reduces tension and stress, lightens anxiety, lowers blood pressure, increases energy levels, improves sleep patterns, helps to decrease harmful body chemicals and increase beneficial ones. It does all this and much more.

Yet these physical, mental, and emotional benefits cannot begin to compare with the greatest benefit, the one we actually enter the silence for, and that is the experience of knowing God and of activating our own divine qualities.

Since the within of us is so vast, it seems obvious that we should direct our attention to inner core, dipping into the eternal wellspring of life which we find there. During these times of stillness, we want to let go of all reservations, all preconceived ideas, all personal willfulness, and then surrender completely to Spirit.

Meditation is not prayer. Put simply, prayer is talking to God whereas meditation is allowing God to talk to you. You do this by getting quiet and intentionally directing your attention to your inner self, to the secret place of the Most High. …

You begin by relaxing your body and then turning your mind inward to the stillness, resting in the beautiful sense of your oneness with God.

Regularity and consistency apply to location as well as time. Always try to meditate in the same place. If you can set aside a special room in your home to do your spiritual reading and meditation, this would be ideal. Just walking into the room would prepare you for the silence.

Read More The Silence | Unity.