I am a seeker. I’m always looking for more. More wisdom, more truth, more answers. My mind is active, my questions are many. I’ve found answers, kept some, discarded others. I continue searching – searching for that place of peace and quiet, settledness of mind.

So as I consider the question, where would I go if I had a golden key that would open any door, it didn’t take long for me to realize that I have already had the door open to that place. The key is meditation, and the place is mysterious.

I close my eyes, take a few deep breaths, and focus inward, and my mantra flows in the background. Just the act of closing my eyes opens the door to a new world. Thoughts arise, thoughts fall, I bring my attention back to center- it becomes a sort of dance, a flow. I gradually relax, tension releases. Sometimes there are many thoughts swirling around, and I wonder “is this really meditation?” Other times I am so tired I fall asleep. Then there are the special moments when I see something profound, or have a brilliant idea — but don’t remember it later.

These are a few of the things that happen to me during meditation. What I was taught is to practice nonjudgment about whatever happens. The point is to take the time (for me, it is 30 minutes, twice daily) to sit and be with myself. There is a cleansing, a releasing, that happens during meditation. Sometimes I feel a great deal of energy, particularly in my hands and feet. Always, without me even noticing it, there are those moments when I slip into “the gap”, that place between thoughts, where peace resides.

Over time, in daily life, I realize that I am less reactive, and others who know me say “there’s something different about you.”

I think everyone experiences something different, because we are all unique. What happens to you, when you sit with yourself?