I don’t meditate. I wish I could, and I certainly recommend it. In the past, I’ve tried transcendental meditation and just quieting my mind, but neither have worked for me.

Like most people, I have a hard time quieting my mind. However, the cards are really stacked against me, astrologically-speaking, with strong Aries (ruled by my head), Capricorn (analytical) and Virgo (critical thinking) in my chart(!) Whether it’s relevant or not, suffice it to say that I can drive myself crazy overthinking.

But it hasn’t stopped me from tapping into that special inner place that’s available to everyone, where we gain access to our inner guidance and the universal intelligence — which is the point of meditation, in my opinion. Instead of meditating, I relax my mind.

I discovered this by accident when I moved from New York City to Los Angeles. After work, I would walk on the beach. I was also recovering from cancer — the reason why I moved to sunny, southern California. Spending time in nature on the beach was an intentional part of my healing plan.

As with most people, my job was stressful. By the end of the day, my mind would spin endlessly — agonizingly — around the day’s events and worries. To make matters worse, even though I was grateful for my job, I didn’t enjoy it.

What started out as a daily, hourly walk began to turn into two and three hour walks. I would just walk and walk. Eventually, I realized that I wouldn’t stop walking until all of my worrisome thoughts of the day were emptied from my mind and replaced by lightness — solutions, ideas, inspiration, creativity, and positivity. A shift in my state of mind. The difference between the beginning of my walk and the end was profound and distinct. But it wasn’t because I’d worked through the problems of the day. It was because being in nature was relaxing, relaxed my mind — helping me to release my incessant thoughts — which, in turn, allowed me to tap into that special, inner place.

Recently, I was in a part of town where life is pretty typical. It’s a commercial area where there are stores, restaurants, people, traffic, congestion. A plane would fly over head, a firetruck sound its siren and speed down the street. Inside stores, cafes, and restaurants, too loud, distracting music plays. Staff scurry about, calling out orders, seating people quickly, and ringing up items at the cash register with breakneck speed. Customers getting in and out of their cars in the parking lot move briskly, with precision speed, pulling out into the traffic whizzing by, no doubt later checking in on the news and social media and immersing themselves in any number of other busy activities.

I had just finished hiking, my mind was relaxed. Noticing the contrast between where I’d just been and where I was now, I realized that this is how most of us live. How can anyone tap into their inner place? Whether intentional or not, the world inhibits it from happening. The world creates so much physical and mental noise that it blocks us from looking inward and deciding for ourselves whether it’s something that we want — what is our truth.

By the way, I differentiate between noise and sound. One of my favorite ways of connecting to my inner place is to listen to sound in the form of music.

When I started writing my first book, it took about eight months to discover what was my creative process. Which is to begin my day by getting up early and going straight to a cafe. Literally. Waking up, getting dressed, gathering my things, and stepping out the door. At the cafe, other than placing my order, I don’t talk to anyone. Nor do I go online or dig into work right away, allowing anything to begin to fill my mind. I sip on my beverage or take a bite of something, let my mind wander. Poke around, look out the window, notice what’s going on around me. Maybe answer a text or email. Eventually, an idea or inspiration will pop into my mind. It could be something familiar or out of the blue. And before I know it, the next task or activity to do presents itself to me. With my mind relaxed, I can ease into the day. This is my inner guidance at work (my boss), supported by universal intelligence (the research department). I usually complete my work within four hours, and I’m done for the day. I feel productive and my work is rewarding. My creative process grounds me and sets me up for the rest of my day — to have a pleasant day. When i don’t have the opportunity to begin my day in this way, my day doesn’t flow, I don’t feel grounded. So, I make doing it a priority.

When I left my home this morning, the idea for this post came to me. I had something else I thought I should work on, but I wrote this instead, following my inner guidance. I’m not sure why, but it felt like the right thing to do.

Have a beautiful day!

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The Simple Seven © Marlene Veltre 2021 All rights reserved. No portion of this post may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of Marlene Veltre. The information in this post is to be used for educational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a substitute for professional medical advice or to prevent, cure, or heal any illness or disease. You should always see your doctor or health practitioner.