Category: Meditation

Consistency in Meditation

10/10/2026

To make meditation a habit, it’s important to find regular time for meditation, and then stick with it. Treat your meditation time like an appointment with a good friend. You wouldn’t allow other events and issues to squeeze out time with a friend. Apply the same thinking toward your meditation schedule. As you sit regularly during the same time, it will naturally become part of your daily routine.
-Victor M Parachin, "How to Make Meditation a Habit the Buddhist Way," Spirituality & Health

Chanting Meditation

10/6/2026

There are many ways to meditate besides sitting silently. From the Vedic tradition, there is mantra meditation. Here, one repeats a word or phrase for the purpose of focusing the mind. The most common word, and one which is said to have the most power, is the sound OM. Sit quietly and chant om for several minutes until you feel your mind relaxed. Follow that with a few moments of silence.

From the Japanese Nichiren Buddhist tradition, there is chanting of the phrase Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This way of meditation was favored by Tina Turner, the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” who practiced chanting meditation for decades. Buddhist and Vedic traditions offer a wide variety of meditative techniques. Research them and commit to the technique that works best with your personality.
-Victor M Parachin, "How to Make Meditation a Habit the Buddhist Way," Spirituality & Health

Meditation Posture

10/3/2026

The seemingly universal image of a meditator is of one seated on the floor with legs crossed or in a full lotus position with feet resting on opposite thighs. While these positions work for some, they aren’t ideal for most people. In fact, the Buddha is presented in various images in four separate postures: sitting, standing, walking, and reclining. If you can sit comfortably on the floor or a cushion with legs crossed, do so. If that posture doesn’t work with your body, then do what the Buddha did: stand, walk, or lay down on your back. Also, meditation works just fine sitting on a chair with a straight back and hands gently resting on the thighs. This is called Egyptian posture because it is believed that the ancient pharaohs sat this way in meditation.
-Victor M Parachin, "How to Make Meditation a Habit the Buddhist Way," Spirituality & Health

Maintain a Balanced Perspective

9/26/2026

Meditation is very good for the spirit. Ancient yogis and modern meditators note spiritual/emotional benefits, including:
- emotional, spiritual and mental detachment
- peace of mind
- heightened awareness of the inner self
- the ability to look beyond the body, mind and personality
- living without ego attachment
- discovery of one's true being
- attaining self-realization and spiritual awakening
- maintain a balanced perspective on life

Before proceeding, it can be helpful to pause and think about the importance of cultivating a broad perspective on your life. Suffering is often deepened because we personalize what has happened. This can leave us feeling victimized by life which, in turn, makes us feel worse. . . . You have a choice in how you will respond to traumas which come your way. Use meditation as a tool for empowering you to respond--not react--to life's difficulties in a rational, healthy and balanced way.
-Victor M Parachin, Sit a Bit

Walking Meditation Part 2

9/1/2026

"I have two doctors, my left leg and my right leg." -G.M. Trevelyan
2. When walking you can give your mind a focus by a simple method of counting your steps. As you walk, count the number of times your right foot touches the ground beginning with three steps: 1, 2, 3. Once at 3, add another number and begin again: 1, 2, 3, 4. Once at 4, add another number and begin again: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Follow this pattern until you get to the number 10. Then, do the same with the left leg and keep alternating the legs. Once you feel your mind is relaxed, stop counting. If you find yourself overly preoccupied with thoughts start up the count again.
-Victor M Parachin, Think Like the Buddha

Walking Meditation Part 1

8/29/2026

A four-mile walk takes around 60-70 minutes. It not only refreshes and strengthens the body but does the same for the mind when walking is used as meditation. There are many approaches to transforming walking into walking-meditation:
1. Just walk and observe. Be truly mindful, noticing the path, the grasses, the trees and shrubs, insects, birds. On such a meditation walk one day, I encountered one of the largest turtles I'd seen making his way to a water refuge. On the way back I came across a mother raccoon gently guiding her three young ones across the path into a forested area.
-Victor M Parachin, Think Like the Buddha

OM Meditation

8/22/2026

The tradition of simply chanting OM is an important and powerful part of meditation because it's a way of creating vibration and synchronizing with the energy of the universe.
- Note that OM is actually three sounds made up of A-U-M.
- Begin with your mouth open, saying "Ah" then slowly make a smaller circle with your lips to form the "au" sound and conclude by gently bringing the lips lightly together for the "M" sound.
- At that point feel the vibration on your lips, in your nose and nasal passages, your throat and your chest.
- Chant OM seven times. Then pause and breathe naturally for the same length of time that it took you to chant OM seven times.
- Then return to chanting OM seven more times, followed by the same amount of time for silent meditation.
- Go back and forth this way for five minutes.
-Victor M Parachin, Sit a Bit

On Eagles' Wings

7/25/2026

Try this meditation based on a text from the Jewish Bible (the Old Testament): "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31, New International Version)
- Read the verse several times
- Take several deep inhalations and exhalations
- Begin to repeat these four short sentences over and over:

God renews my strength.
I will soar on eagles' wings.
I will run and not grow weary.
I will walk and not be faint.
-Victor M Parachin, Sit a Bit

Top Ten Reasons to Meditate

7/14/2026

10. Meditation improves physical health.
9. Meditation improves mental health.
8. Meditation improves spiritual health.
7. Meditation deepens intuition.
6. Meditation generates feelings of peace.
5. Meditation increases self-awareness.
4. Meditation increases creativity.
3. Meditation increases spontaneity.
2. Meditation makes it easier to get along with others.
1. Meditation makes you easier to get along with.
-Victor M Parachin, Think Like the Buddha

Breath Awareness Meditation

7/11/2026

- Sit comfortably
- Gently close your eyes
- Bring attention to your nostrils
- As you inhale, note the subtle flow of cool air entering your nostrils
- As you exhale, note that the air passing out of you is warmer
- Breathe naturally
- If your mind begins to drift and thoughts enter, gently acknowledge that you became distracted and bring your attention back to the cool/warm air entering and exiting
-Victor M Parachin, Sit a Bit

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