By Travis Parry
Last year my wife and I visited the East Coast for our very first time. The trip was a blast as we crisscrossed our way from Upstate New York to Washington D.C. We visited both Historic and Entertaining sites that we had only heard and dreamt about for years.
Traveling from New York to Philadelphia and on to Washington D.C. was a feat in and of itself. We managed to take every form of transportation known to man, except for Submarine, in a matter of a few days. We intermingled with thousands perhaps millions of people on the downtown parts of the major cities we visited. It was a miracle that through all the airplane stops, bus departures, rental car hassles, ferry rides, taxi cabs, shuttle, and subway rides that we managed to find our way back to our hotel room each night. At the end of each day of our East Coast Blitz tour, we would recount our favorite site or attraction and it was amazing how much we saw.
In order to balance our trip out we had planned to spend a few hours on each leg of the trip to unwind and give time to thoughtful prayer and meditation. We found this opportunity to be some of the highlights to our trip and the most precious moments that we will always remember.
We found many places to meditate and pray in the beautiful little town of Palmyra, a few sanctuaries in bustling downtown Manhattan, and time for reflection and thought, in both Philadelphia and D.C. Because we took the time to make each of these places we visited a time for peaceful reflection, they became more meaningful and the tiring pace of our trip was appropriately evened out.
We all have times in our life when things are exciting and/or stressful and we easily can get burned out. Between work, family relationships, and even our hobbies can be too much for the constant tiring pace we put them at. Each one of us has the need to spend time unwinding and filling our spiritual coffers back up.
Although we tend to call these vacations, it is easy to see how even our vacations become work. Think of how often people say they would love a “relaxing” vacation where they don’t need to plan anything but to just sit back and do nothing.
Of course it might not always be possible to take an extended vacation whenever you want, but it is possible to find a little bit of time each day, week, or month to sit in quiet contemplation about your life and events. Many people refer to this practice as meditation.
Meditation can be long and intense or quick and powerful. No matter your definition, frequency, or length it is agreed that meditation can bring great peace.
I would like to include some basic tips for meditation that even work in New York.
1. Take 5-30 minutes in the morning to read something inspirational and/or sit and pray and ponder with no interruptions.
2. Do not turn on the radio, TV, or other media until you have had your morning meditation time.
3. Schedule a few minutes in the evening to wind down before you head off to bed to practice meditation time.
4. Refrain from watching television within a half an hour before bed.
5. Exercise outside, or go on walks and hikes on trails, by the mountains, lake, river, or ocean to enjoy the beauty and natural serenity of nature.
6. Listen to inspirational music while you exercise.
7. Drive in the car in silence once in a while and think.
8. Wake up early to see the sunrise and/or wait patiently one evening to watch the sunset.
It is a fantastic feeling when you can offset the distractions and noise of everyday life by using these simple methods to help you unwind and refill spiritual life through the power of meditation.
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