When Dr. Bowery pointed out how much philosophy and yoga have in common, I found that the idea of meditation is one of the best things someone can do for the mind. I have tried meditation before when I was very stressed out about school and other things, and it has really helped. It allows me to center my mind and refocus all of my energy on what’s important. It’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind world around us. So many people, so many deadlines, so many tasks to be done, in general, so much pressure. The thing is, we in a way facilitate that sort of pressure because we allow it to be put upon us. We’ve become so used to reacting in certain ways to stressful situations, and our methods are not usually positive. Meditation is calming. Just sitting still and breathing, focusing on the breaths you take, and on nothing else. It really seems to allow unity of body and mind. It helps to try to empty out your thoughts. Regaining control of yourself is important, because we are at times so out of control that we lose ourselves without even knowing it. I often find that sometimes I get so busy with school and work and pressures from other people that I can’t really remember what I did that day other than school and work…Where was my down time? What did I do too just chill out? I can’t even sleep because I’m so focused on tasks looming ahead for tomorrow. I certainly don’t always want to live my life that way. Meditation is like me time…when I just pause and take a few moments to clear my head, I’m more efficient anyways. So actually, it’s a very valuable way to spend some time.