Getting to know meditation (Part Four)

Even though the downsides of meditation are few and far between (I haven’t experienced any) much, they remain a possibility. Rather paradoxically, meditation can sometimes initially increase anxiety. When people stop distracting themselves, they may become more aware of fears, worries and unresolved emotions and while it’s temporary for some, it can be distressing for others. 

Meditation can also uncover grief, trauma, shame and unresolved conflicts, something that’s not necessarily harmful, but that can be overwhelming without proper support. 

Beginners sometimes believe they are meditating when they are actually worrying, replaying arguments or obsessing over problems and this can reinforce distress rather than reduce it as they would hope. 

A small minority also experience feeling detached from themselves, disconnected from reality with a sense that the world is unreal ; these effects are usually temporary but could be frightening to some. Practitioners could also become less engaged with family, work and relationships as meditation is taken as an excuse for disengagement. 

There’s also the case of practitioners avoiding difficult conversations, therapy, emotional work and using "acceptance" as an excuse to ignore problems. More concerning is excessive self-focus as some individuals become overly preoccupied with their thoughts, emotions and their inner states. Instead of increasing freedom, practice can become self-absorption. 

Ironically, meditation is found to sometimes increase self-criticism if expectations are unrealistic. Interestingly, long-term practitioners often describe a different outcome as meditation does not necessarily make their life easier but enhances their experiences. That increased visibility can feel pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant depending on what is being observed. 

I must admit that I’ve never felt any of these negative effects. I must be just a very lucky guy!

Getting to know meditation (Part Three)

Under its most various forms and iterations, meditation isn't a black and white practice, nor does it have clear benefits and drawbacks. As we’ve seen, "Meditation" encompasses hundreds of practices—from focused-attention techniques and mindfulness to mantra repetition, Zen, loving-kindness, transcendental meditation, and intensive retreat practices. Their effects overlap, but they are not identical. 

A useful way to think about meditation is that it is a mental training method that can produce benefits, neutral effects, or occasionally adverse effects depending on the individual, the technique, the intensity, and the context. 

The strongest evidence of well-documented benefits comes from mindfulness-based interventions and related practices that have been studied in clinical settings. Most consistently, practitioners report feeling less overwhelmed, recovering more quickly from stressful events, less emotional reactivity and greater ability to pause before responding. 

Then, there’s improved attention and concentration as well as better emotional regulation as experienced practitioners often develop greater awareness of emotions before those emotions become overwhelming. Specifically, less impulsive anger and rumination, greater emotional stability and increased tolerance of difficult feelings. 

Anxiety symptoms also are reduced, even though meditation is not a cure for anxiety disorders, but many studies show meaningful reductions in generalized anxiety, worry and stress-related symptoms. In a related category, one of the strongest clinical applications of meditation is preventing relapse in recurrent depression in which practitioners often become better at recognizing negative thought loops before becoming trapped in them. In terms of health benefits, while meditation generally does not eliminate pain, it often changes pain perception, suffering associated with pain and lessens emotional reaction to chronic pain. 

There are also modest improvements in blood pressure, cardiovascular risk factors and stress-related physiological responses. Finally, many experience shorter time to fall asleep, less pre-sleep rumination and improved overall sleep quality. Surveys have shown that effects vary considerably between individuals. Many report noticing habits sooner, recognizing recurring emotional patterns and understanding personal motivations more clearly. There’s also increased compassion and empathy, greater patience and improved interpersonal relationships.

Tomorrow, we’ll check the downsides...

Getting to know meditation (Part Two)

Meditation isn’t easily defined. To begin with, there are hundreds of techniques, but most practitioners fall into a few categories. On top stands mindfulness meditation (currently the fastest-growing), followed by mantra meditation (better known as Transcendental Meditation), Zen meditation, Vipassanā (insight) meditation, loving-kindness (Metta) meditation, yoga-based meditation and Christian contemplative prayer (see chart).

At what age do people begin? This varies by culture. In traditional cultures with strong Buddhist or Hindu traditions, many children are introduced before the age of 10, with formal training beginning in adolescence. In modern Western countries, people begin much later, between an individual’s 20s to 50s, which is the most common starting period. 

Often entering the practice is triggered by stress, illness, burnout, or a life transition. In the US, meditation users are disproportionately middle-aged adults. You can wonder if meditation usually become a lifetime practice and the answer is yes, at least traditionally. In Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, and contemplative Christian traditions, meditation is generally viewed as a lifelong discipline, similar to physical exercise or prayer. 

However, modern secular meditation is different as many practitioners meditate for stress reduction and many quite once the immediate problem improves while others yet cycle in and out of practice. Research on meditation apps consistently finds that long-term adherence is difficult. There’s no single global figure, but dropout rates are high. Depending on the program, short mindfulness courses often lose from 20 to 50% of their participants before completion.

Meditation apps frequently lose the majority of users within a few months and only a minority maintain a daily practice for years. In the US, one large study showed that about 79% of people who had ever meditated had also practiced within the previous year, suggesting many continue at least intermittently, so meditation is not usually abandoned completely, but consistent daily practice is much rarer than occasional one.

In the next blog, we’ll explores the most well-know and also potential drawbacks of the practice...

Getting to know meditation (Part One)

For almost six and a half years I’ve been meditating without missing one single day. I had begun in 1969, dropping off and restarting for short periods every now and then. With that in mind, don’t jump to the conclusion that meditation is addictive, because it’s generally not considered pathological, though some people become attached to the pleasant mental states it can produce. 

It’s simply hard to stick to it for a wide variety of reasons. Yes, there are hundreds of millions of people who meditate worldwide and the practice is gaining rapidly more followers, especially in the mindfulness category. Unlike myself, most people can’t maintain a strict daily practice for long periods of time as dropout rates are substantial, especially during the first few months after they get started. 

Meditating begins anywhere from childhood (in traditional cultures) to middle age (in secular settings like our Western world). Reliable country-by-country statistics exist only for some nations; the highest participation appears in countries where meditation is integrated into religious and cultural life (see table). 

The biggest uncertainty lies in Asia, where meditation is often embedded within religious life and may not be measured separately from prayer, temple attendance, yoga, or other spiritual practices. For countries such as India, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, China, and Japan, the cultural importance of meditation is clear, but rigorous nationally representative prevalence figures are surprisingly scarce. 

One interesting conclusion from the available data is that modern secular countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States now report meditation participation rates comparable to—or sometimes higher than—those measured in many traditionally Buddhist countries, depending on how "meditation" is defined, which is a dimension we’ll explore in the next blog.

Tapping into cosmic energy… (Part Three)

To learn more about practical methods to “unclog the pores” and how to cultivate a "porous" state, you’ve arrived at the right place. Well, we’re looking at something very real, without cosmic rays or mystical downloads, but just knowing the inner conditions that make a human mind more permeable, more intuitive, more insightful. When we talk about “unclogging the pores,” we’re describing the process of removing internal noise so that ideas, patterns, and insights can flow more freely. 

Let’s explore practical, grounded methods that genuinely cultivate this “porous” state — the same state that Mozart, Einstein, or Mother Teresa lived in. Let’s begin with “Quieting the Noise”, that is the foundation. We can’t be porous if our mind is jammed with static. A warning, the solutions sound simple but can be very demanding. It’s mindfulness meditation and takes at least 15 minutes daily. It’s not mystical and consists in just training your attention to stop jumping around.

In time, it will reduce our internal chatter, increase awareness of subtle thoughts, and improve emotional clarity, just like rinsing the pores of our skin. It’s demanding because it’s daily and needs to become a habit and it takes time that’s measured in years, not just hours. You’ll know when you get there. It will be where the “porous” state really begins. 

We’re teaching our mind to notice what it normally filters out. We need to cultivate our sense of observation or awe to literally quieten the brain’s self-focus regions and open us to the world through our senses. Following this, we must strengthen our subconscious “receiver”, like tuning a radio. This is where creativity, intuition, and insight emerge. 

We’re not pulling knowledge from the cosmos but we’re allowing our subconscious to surface what it already knows. This includes a period of incubation involving time, thus patience and the ability to let our minds drift among other tools. Then we must work on the emotional component to remove resistance. 

Porosity isn’t just cognitive, it’s emotional. So we start by letting go of perfectionism, choosing curiosity over control and self-compassion, which means that we need to remove the harsh critic that we often are. Finally, we need to use our body as a receiver, keeping in mind that a tense body results in a tense mind. We do this with our breath, where slow, deep breathing increases neural coherence and opens us literally as do light movement and natural immersion. 

This is the physiological version of opening the pores. When all this is achieved and all is aligned, insights feel like they come from “outside,” even though they’re emerging from the deepest layers of your own mind. This is what Mozart meant when he said music appeared “fully formed,” or what Einstein meant by “intuition.” This is what we’re pointing toward when we commit to it. Work smart at it, and good luck!

Tapping into cosmic energy… (Part Two)

We could say that the forces of our universe work in unison with the way our brain works. Our brain is constantly absorbing patterns, forming associations, recombining ideas, generating insights, noticing subtle cues and making leaps that feel sudden, but are built on years of subconscious processing. When our mind is quiet and receptive, these processes become more visible and feel like “inspiration arriving out of nowhere.” 

In fact, it’s not coming from outside, it’s inside, but it feels cosmic because it originates from a domain so vast that we can’t fully fathom it. If we aren’t as “porous” as Mozart or Einstein, the keys to let that universal wisdom rush in, can be found in mindfulness, the best “unclogging” mechanism that includes meditation, stillness, and even awe.

Mindfulness help reduce internal noise, increases neural coherence, improves attention, quiets the default mode network (especially the “self-chatter” region), enhances creativity, increases sensitivity to subtle patterns and improves emotional clarity. This is the mental equivalent of “opening up the pores.” Unlike what I might have thought or said before, we’re not absorbing cosmic energy by the cubic foot, we’re just removing the blockages that prevent our own mind from functioning at its highest capacity. 

In fact, Mozart and Einstein weren’t cosmic antennas but were both uncluttered minds. Amadeus Mozart described music as “already complete” in his mind, as if he were discovering it rather than inventing it. Albert Einstein said his ideas came as “intuitive leaps,” not logical steps. Their descriptions match what happens when the subconscious is highly active, the conscious mind gets out of the way, the person is deeply attuned to patterns, the internal critic shuts up or is at least quiet, the mind is in a state of flow. 

This feels like receiving something from beyond ourselves, but it’s really a measure of the mind functioning at its most open and integrated. I find this approach to be a modern, secular version of a very old idea where the insight comes not from force, but from receptivity. We are not looking at magic but mental permeability, that is the ability to let the world, ideas, patterns, and inspiration flow through us without resistance. 

It’s not mystical, it’s simply wisdom. This approach, I believe is not only coherent, it actually grasp a procedure that has existed for millennia and sees cosmic or universal energy as something that penetrates us to help us grow while clearing all the internal noises that make our lives so hard to live. 

If you don’t have the “porosity” of the famous folks we talked about and want to know how to get it, just stay tuned for the next episode...

Tapping into cosmic energy… (Part One)

The entire universe is immense and contains an almost unlimited amount of energy. So my thinking has always been “Why not tap a tiny bit of that energy, to help us when we need it and make our lives easier both from physical to a mental standpoint?” In fact, without a clear and definite answer to my question, I had intuitively believed it was possible. 

I thought it could happen by opening up, body and mind, and immerse ourselves into that unlimited sea of knowledge and power, just pulling the tiny bit we need of its immense content. How does this strike you? Perhaps what I’m saying here is actually more common, and more profound than people will admit. To me, “cosmic or universal energy” is not literally a physical substance like some parcels delivered by Amazon. 

Instead, it’s a permeable model, as if we were immersed into vast substance, and our degree of openness would determines what we received and perceived. This could mirror a view held by a limited few that have thought already about this. What I’m trying to define is a real psychological phenomenon. Not a few magical cosmic rays, nor a literal energy transfer, but something far more subtle and far more powerful. Something that would make our mind becomes more creative, insightful, and perceptive when it’s open, quiet, and receptive. 

This is not mysticism either. It’s more like neuroscience, psychology, and lived experience. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Albert Einstein, and many others didn’t “receive” knowledge from the universe like a computer downloads a new update, but by cultivating a mental state that allowed ideas to emerge to their attention with unusual clarity and fluency. This in fact is the mechanism I want to discuss and try to explain. 

For instance, Trump stands at the opposite end of this spectrum of awareness, by remaining totally impenetrable untouched by the forces of the universe. “Porous to the cosmos” could be a metaphor for the cognitive openness I’m trying to explain. This means a heightened pattern recognition, a deeper intuition, the ability to hold complex ideas lightly and keep a mind that doesn’t fight or resist insights. 

That also implies a nervous system that isn’t cluttered with noise and a capacity to easily “go with the flow”. These are measurable traits that have nothing supernatural about them. They’re just psychological and neurological and can be cultivated. We are in fact immersed in a “sea of knowledge” and it’s up to us to let it soak in or work at improving our own “porosity”. 

Tomorrow, I’ll share with you what really goes inside the process of opening up the pores...

Six years meditating… (Part Two)

Long-term meditation practice is also associated with a physical reduction in the size of the amygdala region of the brain (the "fight or flight" center). This leads to permanent lowering of baseline anxiety. At the cellular level, long-term meditation appears to slow down the "clocks" inside our cells. Telomeres are the protective caps at the end of our chromosomes. 

Short telomeres are markers of aging and disease. On that subject, a study published in Psychoneuroendocrinology showed that long-term meditators (averaging 5+ years) have significantly higher telomerase activity. This is the enzyme that repairs telomeres, suggesting that daily meditation may actually slow cellular aging and increase longevity.

In addition, our brains have a "Default Mode Network" (DMN) that is active when we are not doing anything specific, like "mind-wandering" and worrying about the past/future. A Yale University study found that in experienced meditators (10+ years), the DMN is permanently transformed. 

They don't just "quiet" their minds during meditation; their brains have a new "default" state where mind-wandering is reduced, leading to higher levels of daily happiness and presence. This said, some of the most extreme results come from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which studied intense meditators (10,000 to 50,000 hours of practice). 

These showed massive increases in Gamma wave activity—the highest frequency brain waves associated with peak concentration, "flow" states, and feelings of universal compassion. Crucially, these high levels of Gamma activity stayed even when they were not meditating, suggesting that after 10 years, the "state" of meditation becomes a permanent "trait" of the person. 

Clearly, the more years and minutes we put into meditation, the more our brain changes for the best. Pretty cool! Do you need more incentive?

Six years meditating… (Part One)

It’s been more than six years that I’ve been meditating daily and from what I have realized, this practice has changed my life and has been the best thing that recently happened to me. That prompted more research on my part to understand what scientific studies had found on the subject. 

What I’ve been able to find is that studies on the effects of meditation over 5 to 10 years move us away from the "feel-good" temporary benefits of the practice and into the domain of permanent structural and biological changes. 

Because it’s jstf to keep a control group from meditating for a decade, most research in this time span is cross-sectional (comparing "expert" meditators with 5–10+ years of experience against "novices"). However, the results are remarkably consistent across various peer-reviewed studies.

Beginning with the physical brain structural neuroplasticity, the most significant finding is that meditation "thickens" the brain in areas responsible for attention and sensory processing, while "shrinking" the areas responsible for stress. 

A landmark study by Dr. Sara Lazar (Harvard/MIT) found that long-term meditators (average 7–9 years of practice) had increased gray matter thickness in the prefrontal cortex—the area responsible for decision-making and executive function. Most importantly, Lazar found that 50-year-old long-term meditators had the same cortical thickness as 25-year-old non-meditators. Meditation appeared to offset the natural thinning of the brain that occurs with age. 

There’s even more to this and I’ll share it with you tomorrow...

Soul searching (Part Two)

Now that we’ve go a better idea where the center of our body hides, and if we stay on the subject, it’s only fair to ask where does our soul hides? Here’s a question that bridges biology, philosophy, and spirituality. The idea of a “location” for the soul depends entirely on the lens through which we view it. 

Obviously, modern science does not recognize the soul as a physical entity, so it has no anatomical location. However we all agree that consciousness, that’s often conflated with the soul, is linked to brain activity—particularly the prefrontal cortex, limbic system, and neural networks—but we can’t say it’s the a soul in metaphysical terms. In fact that’s a question that all religions have addressed in their own manner. 

Christianity seems to see the soul as immaterial, residing in the whole person or “heart.” This explains why some mystics place it near the chest. In Islam, the soul is breathed into the body by God; its location is undefined but central to life. For the Hindus, the soul is eternal and resides within the body, often associated with the heart chakra, or Anahata, (the fourth of the seven main chakras) and it represents love, compassion, and balance. 

It’s found in the center of the chest and serves as a bridge between the lower, earthly chakras and the upper, spiritual chakras. Buddhism rejects the whole idea of a permanent soul, focusing instead on consciousness and karmic continuity and Taoism believes that the soul is part of the Qi flow, a diffuse, dynamic element not confined to one place. From a philosophical viewpoint “The soul is not in the body; the body is in the soul.” 

This poetic inversion suggests that the soul is a field of awareness or essence that envelops and animates the body, rather than being housed within it. Personally I feel strongly that my consciousness is fully part of my body, especially when I feel pain in my chest when I grieve, in my gut when I fear, or in my fingertips when I create something. 

This to me means that my spiritual component is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It’s a presence, it’s totally attached to me rather than floating in a precise place and won’t ever leave me.

Wondering where your true center is? (Part One)

When I meditate, I’m always surprised to discover that the center point of my body is definitively not around my brain. Scientifically, it’s called our perceptual center. The heart often falls also in that category. There are people who feel their “center” is in their head (where thoughts originate) or their heart (where emotions are felt). 

Both locations are just metaphorical centers tied to identity and experience. To me, the head feels more like the computer that centralizes and manages information, but doesn’t participate much in what I feel. That comes from the less obvious region towards the center of my body. 

Sure, every doctor will tell me that the anatomical center is found in a pelvic region, the center of mass in a standing adult and that it’s typically located just in front of the second sacral vertebra (S2), which is in the middle of the pelvis. Science also tells us that it’s the point around which our body balances and rotates most naturally. 

Then, beyond that location is the so-called energetic or philosophical center, also called core or solar plexus. In yoga, martial arts, and many Eastern philosophies, the body's center is often located a few inches below the navel. It’s seen as the source of physical and spiritual energy and it’s also associated with grounding, stability, and inner strength. 

Okay, now I know what to make out of my question, even if some of you aren’t yet convinced. That seems to take care of my physical body, so my next question is where in hell is our soul located? We’ll explore this provocative question in our next blog, so please, don’t miss it!

Meditation tapping into cosmic energies (Part Three)

Beyond religious beliefs there are also many forms of meditation that are aiming at tapping into cosmic energy. Mindfulness or meditation practices across cultures look to channel these cosmic, divine, or universal forces. 

The idea is to align the individual with a greater spiritual force, whether it's called Chi, Prana, the Holy Spirit, or simply “cosmic consciousness.” The table below displays some of the most prominent types of meditations using universal energies. 

All these practices offer common threads, like breath and stillness, using breathing as a gateway to subtle energy. 

There’s also visualization and intention as many techniques involve imagining light, energy, or divine presence flowing through the body. 

Sounds can be used too, through mantras, chants, or prayers that are often used to attune the mind to higher frequencies. 

Finally, many of the movement-based meditations like Tai Chi or Qigong are there to integrate body and spirit. 

As my meditation practice evolved and thank also to good luck, as that pathway is difficult to enter, my own meditation practice has evolved into the realm of cosmic energy and over time, appears to have helped me a lot with my personal mental balance, natural energy, good health and creativity.

Holy Spirit, Prana, Chi and more (Part Two)

The Holy Spirit (Christianity), Prana (Hinduism), and Chi/Qi (Chinese philosophy) are distinct yet intriguingly parallel concepts that reflect humanity’s yearning to understand and harness the invisible forces that animate life. While they arise from different cultural and theological frameworks, they share profound similarities in origin, function, and spiritual significance. 

As we’ve seen in the previous blog, the Holy Spirit emerges from Greek tradition, Jewish and Christian scriptures as the breath (ruach) of God. In Christian theology, it becomes the third person of the Trinity, which is God’s active presence in the world. The Holy Spirit, also called “giver of life”, is central to salvation in Christian belief. Prana on the other hand, rooted in Vedic texts, represents the breath of life and cosmic energy. 

It flows through nadis (energy channels) and is cultivated through practices like pranayama (breath control). Prana is also linked to liberation (moksha) and spiritual evolution. China offers its Chi/Qi, which in Taoist and Confucian thought is the vital energy that flows through all things. It is harmonized through practices like Tai Chi, acupuncture, and Qigong. Chi is seen as healing and liberating, freeing individuals from imbalance and oppression. 

All three are seen as transformative forces. For instance, the Holy Spirit transforms hearts, grants spiritual gifts, and connects believers to God. Prana energizes the body and mind, enabling spiritual awakening and physical health. Chi maintains balance and vitality, and its flow is essential for well-being. 

 

The above table lists eight additional religious concepts from other parts of the world that pretty much have the same virtues and effects. Each tradition offering a lens into the mystery of being alive, connected, and spiritually attuned. Some theologians and spiritual thinkers propose that these concepts may reflect a universal spiritual reality issued from different cultural expressions that express the same divine breath or life force. 

This idea is especially explored in interfaith dialogues and global theology, where the Holy Spirit is sometimes interpreted as analogous to Chi or Prana in terms of its immanence and vitality. A thoughtful analogy would go like this: “If the Holy Spirit is the wind that fills the sails of the soul, then Prana is the breath that animates the body, and Chi is the current that flows through the river of life.” 

In the next blog we’ll explore certain forms of meditation across cultures claim to tap into cosmic, divine, or universal energies.

Origin of the Holly Spirit (Part One)

When I was an Altar boy, I’ve never understood nor supported the Holy Spirit concept. I saw it as needless “Joker” in an already useless partition of power between God and his son, Jesus. If you prefer, a convenient “filler” for some unforeseen needs, somewhere, sometime. 

Apparently, the Holy Spirit has roots that stretch from the earliest pages of the Hebrew Bible to the theological debates of the early Church and into modern Christian practice. Some of its origins can be found in the Old Testament, where in Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of God (ruach elohim) is described as "hovering over the waters" during creation. 

It’s also portrayed as a divine force that empowers individuals like Moses, the judges, and prophets. In that early period, the Spirit is more a manifestation of God's power or presence than a distinct person. As Christianity began to take hold, the Holy Spirit played a central role in Jesus’ life, present at his baptism (as a dove), guiding his ministry, and promising to help his followers. 

Then, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, empowering them to speak in tongues and spread the gospel. Quite a a shift from selective empowerment to universal availability for believers! In his Epistles, Paul emphasizes the Spirit as the source of spiritual gifts (charismata), inner transformation, and unity in the body of Christ. In 381, the Holy Spirit becomes the third person of the Trinity, both co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son. 

This soon would lead to a major theological dispute over whether the Spirit proceeds from the Father alone instead of the Father and the Son, contributing to the East–West Schism in 1054. From medieval mystics to modern Pentecostalism, the Holy Spirit has been central to movements emphasizing direct experience of God through prophecy, healing, and ecstatic worship. 

As a matter of fact, extracting something from the universal energy appeals to all religions and all of them have a vehicle to do just that. From a Catholic perspective, the Spirit’s role is found in sacraments, Church teaching, and personal sanctification, while Protestants see its focus on the Spirit’s role in Scripture interpretation and personal conviction. 

Finally, Pentecostals emphasize spiritual gifts and baptism in the Spirit, while my Mormon neighbors and Jeovah’s Witnesses often see the Spirit more as a divine influence or force than a person. Tomorrow, we’ll explore it’s relationship with Prana Chi and other cosmic manifestation of energy...

Life energy

Quite often, I wonder how our personal energy level, call it motivation, drive, etc., can vary so widely. Where does that "life energy" come from? Is it self-induced or channeled through our bodies by cosmic energy or something similar and do we have any control upon it? 

That's a pretty heavy question bridging science, philosophy, and spirituality. If we look at it from the standpoint of psychology. Neuroscience, and motivation, we’re in part dealing with brain chemistry as dopamine fuels our motivation. It’s released not just when we achieve something, but in anticipation of reward, propelling us to act. 

Of course there are our basic drives, like hunger, thirst, safety, and reproduction that are primal motivators rooted in our own evolution. Our beliefs, goals, and values also direct what we pursue and how much energy we invest. Then, there’s the emotional arsenal of feelings like love, passion, hope, as well as fear and anger, that can either energize or deplete us. 

This would suggest that we’ve got some control, but probably not total dominion over that energy. Still there are the unconscious forces and biological rhythms that open the door to spiritual and metaphysical views. As many know, spiritual traditions propose that life energy, often called chi, prana, or vital force flows through us from the universe.

This is a view I also happen to share. Eastern philosophies (like Taoism, Hinduism) suggest this energy is universal and can be cultivated through practices like meditation, breath-work, and movement (yoga or tai chi). While these ideas aren’t empirically proven in the scientific sense, many people trained to channel them report feeling more energized and aligned when they engage in such practices. 

So in conclusion, what control do we have if any? This might start in the way we shape our internal environment through routines, goals, relationships, and self-talk. We can also influence our external environment: by choosing activities, spaces and people that uplift us. 

As I believe, we can tap into deeper sources: like purpose, meaning, and connection through meditation techniques, which often fuel sustained motivation more than fleeting rewards. Finally, let’s not forget rest, reflection, or even surrender that could be the cherry on that cake!

DNA and Afterlife

We recently discussed the afterlife on this blog and I overlooked the important relationship that exists between DNA and eternal life, as an alternative to the concept of surviving one’s own mortality. 

This thought first hit me 37 years ago, at the death of my father. I realized then that we all lived forever through the DNA we pass on to our offspring. This idea of "forever life" through the genes we pass to our children is a biological perspective on immortality, rooted in the principles of genetics and evolution.

While it's true that our genes persist in our descendants, this is different from most traditional concepts of an afterlife, which typically involve some form of conscious existence beyond physical death. I will admit that through that process I cease to exist as a conscious individual, and that doesn’t get any better as my genes mix and dilute over generations, meaning that my future descendants will only carry minute fragments of my DNA. 

For those whose kids were adopted, or childless artists and others, this non-biological form of persistence still works perfectly as we "live on" through our ideas, influence, and cultural contributions. 

Sure, there are also all the religions and spiritual beliefs that offer an afterlife involving a form of reincarnation or some eternal consciousness—something beyond mere genetic transmission, but that doesn’t work too well for me as I am woefully unable to remember any previous lives of mine, yet alone events that occurred to me 50 or 60 years ago! 

In conclusion, for me, in a strictly biological sense, parts of my DNA will persist in future generations, even though I realize it will be under the form of diminishing returns and won’t be the same as my living forever in a conscious or spiritual sense, a concept that I must admit, tires me when I begin to imagine it, so the gene story will be plenty for me...

Will my meditation practice last?

A large number of people try to meditate, but few stick with the practice for a long period or even the rest of their life, so I was wondering what percentage stay with it in the long run. I wasn’t expecting precise statistics due to the scarcity and the variability in studies, how we define the "practice," and its data quality. 

This said I have researched it a bit in order to get a rough answer to my question. In reality, many begin meditation, but fewer can sustain the practice as their initial enthusiasm often wanes due to what they see as lack of time, difficulty focusing, or not seeing any immediate benefits. 

 Those who maintain a consistent practice for their entire lives only account for 1 to 5%. People who stick to it for a decade or more show a deeply ingrained habit and their percentage is still below 10% of those who initially started. Maintaining a practice for at least 5 years (my current case) shows a significant commitment and might involve around 10 to 20% of those who began. As for those dropping after a year, their percentage might be close to 50%.

When I first began meditating in 1969, I might have lasted one or two months at best. Staying with meditation for the longer term often involves having a teacher and finding meditation beneficial enough to justify pursuing it. That latter part is important and I credit it for still practicing it. 

There are other valid reasons to stay with it, like overcoming practical and mental obstacles to practice or having a higher sense of conscientiousness than most… Having friends, family, a community or participating in organized retreats will also increase adherence to meditation. If you have some experience, don’t hesitate to post a comment!

Meditating for five years...

As of yesterday, I’ve been meditating every single day, for five years, and I’ll try to explain how that consistent practice has had an impact on my personal, day to day life. 

However, before I do this, let me say that my meditation practice is not conventional at all and is far from being even close to that found in most guides. Still, I believe it’s the right one for me, so I’ll stick to it, and I would even add that it probably should be customized to each person. 

So to review the tangible benefits I received from the practice, I’d say that it has contributed to reducing whatever excess stress and anxiety I had, and instead, experiencing greater calmness, a sense of inner peace, and protection from stress. It also had a big impact in freeing me of the tyranny of my emotions, leading me to regulate them and feel happier and more content as a result. 

I’ve been able to better manage anger and frustration and turn them into more constructive energies. I would also admit that meditating has improved my sleep quality, I now fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly.

It’s also helped me be more compassionate, even though I still have a long way to go on that path, but it’s definitely helped me in being more present and mindful in my interactions with others, improving the quality of those relationships. Another huge impact of five years of meditation has translated into more creativity and opened up new perspectives. 

One remarkable thing is that now, I can get almost instantly into a meditative state when I need it, to pass a tough moment, endure a pain or just fill a void, so it’s there at my disposal, any time I need it. 

Again, no single individual experience will be the same as the benefits of meditation will vary greatly, but I see its impact as well worth my while and I am now fully convinced of its positive impact on me!

The shifting appearance of meditation

We don’t see as much written on meditation as we do on trail running, iron man races or even hot air ballooning. The practice behind meditation is much more elusive, diversified, secretive and so subjective that few come forward to translate it into words.

It’s probably why I feel compelled to intervene as I’m closing in on 5 years of daily practice. In a few words, I just find meditation to be just like a moving target. One reaches a certain level or target, and everything suddenly changes and forces the user to switch gears. 

What used to work reliably no longer does and, if anything, this forces the practitioner into being more focused on what is going on. Expecting the unexpected seems to be the rule when one meditates. 

Is there any reader-practitioner around who can confirm this?

Dreams and meditation

People often wonder if meditation has an effect on the way they dream, their type and their quality, and it would appear that meditation can indeed influence them. After meditating everyday for almost five years, it has had an effect on my dreams, but before I get into this, let’s look at what general research says on the subject: 

Regular meditation is said to enhance awareness, making it easier to remember dreams upon waking. Dreams are also said to be more vivid and lucid, filled with details as the mind is more present and aware. They’re also said to occur more frequently and there’s the case of meditation increasing the likelihood of lucid dreaming, where we become aware we're dreaming and can sometimes control the dream narrative. 

I’d say that this latter aspect is something I have briefly experienced recently, but the preceding stuff hasn’t been part of what I can recall. However, what I’ve observed in the last two months is a much calmer dream pattern, devoid of stress, whereas, since I’ve been retired, most of my dreams were highly stressful, complicated and, at times, frightening, not to mention that they’d wake me up all the time.

Now I sleep much better and wake up fresh and ready to go. I haven’t had specific changes in my life to justify that drastic change and the only reason I can find is a higher mindfulness and better meditation. It’s obvious that individual experiences do vary and while meditation can positively influence dream patterns, there is no guarantee it will do the same for everyone…