The Daily Word for June 18, 2021

 

breatharian - noun - a person that thinks it is possible through meditation to reach a level of consciousness wherein one can exist on air alone (Lexico.com)

Although I am not a breatharian, I do believe that meditation can elevate one to new heights. Several years ago when I was enduring an egregious break-up with a man who claimed to be a Buddhist (ironically, because he was pretty far from one), I read Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now and decided that meditation might relieve my heartbreak. It took a series of disciplined sessions to alleviate any and all thoughts of him until we decided to reconcile, which was a big mistake, a bad decision that meditation had nothing to do with. 

Fast forward about five years: as a teacher of high-school English, I was trying to manage a last-period class of mainly freshman boys who unknowingly were imitating the behavior found in most frat houses, but in a classroom. The same paramour mentioned in paragraph 1 suggested that I consult with the local Buddhist monks. I did, and they invited me to join their weekly guided meditations, which enabled me to survive Period 9 and all things unpleasant from that day forth. Interestingly enough, most of the attendees at the temple were either teachers or recovering substance abuse addicts (or perhaps both). 

What am I getting at? You don't have to go all in and become a breatharian to benefit from meditation, a.k.a. mindfulness. Recently, medical science discovered that it can cure depression. It certainly has helped me maintain altitude in any kind of turbulence, literally and figuratively. (And yes, continued meditation did finally give me the strength to walk away permanently from the faux Buddhist.) Try it if you haven't. Meditation may keep you airborne as well. 

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