Going Home: Moving Inward Through Meditation

You know the saying “home is where the heart is.” It’s the feeling you get when you return from a long day at work and your dog is waiting at the front door, jumping up and down to greet you. Or your kids rush over to give you a hug. Or you open the front door and enter your peaceful solitary sanctuary. You kick off your shoes, turn on the TV, and relax. You’re home.

Well, I see it somewhat differently. For me, home is the heart space I return to each morning in meditation. Sitting still in the wee hours of the morning and sinking into the flow of subtle energies that naturally arise after decades of committed practice is my home base.

Have you ever visited a new place and suddenly felt like you knew it? You knew just where to turn, knew the smell of the air, and felt like you looked just like the people who lived there.

A friend of mine had that experience when she first went to the foothills of the Himalayas in India. Although she’d been born and raised in New York City, a far cry from the sacred hills of the sub-continent, she immediately identified a remote village as “home.” It was as if she’d landed back in a past life, a happy life, and was delighted to have finally found where she “belonged” on earth.

That’s how I felt when I landed in the space of meditation. I knew that place. I belonged there. And it brought me great comfort and a sense of security, just like the feeling of “home.”

As a spiritual teacher, I’m often asked by my students whether they are living in the “right” place. Some live in the same town, and possibly the same house, they grew up in, and where their parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents lived. Others live in relative isolation from family, and have created their “home” space by relying on a circle of friends.

Some think moving here or there will change their lives for the better, and sometimes that is true—a better job, a larger social network with the potential for finding a mate, a healthier climate for your particular body can be beneficial. But before making any drastic changes in your life, think about reversing your thought process and instead of moving outward, first try moving inward.

Meditation can change everything in your life—your health, your stress and anxiety level, your love life. Even if you’re waking up in a different hotel room every day, even if there is no partner or dog to greet you when you get back, even if you rarely see your family or friends, you can carry your home around with you, like the turtle carrying its shell. And like the turtle, you can withdraw into your portable home at any time to recharge and revitalize your energy and reawaken your connection to the deepest feeling of home that exists—your connection to your own Higher Self, the sacred space of knowing you are part of the All. No matter how isolated you may be from others on the physical plane, you are held in the warm embrace of the interconnected web of energies that you access through meditation.

Ellen DeGeneres compares meditation to shutting down your computer when it goes crazy, and when you reboot, it’s all okay again. Paul McCartney calls it a “lifelong gift.” Nicole Kidman uses a meditation app on her phone to time her 20-30 minute session every day. Jerry Seinfeld says meditation is what got him through the intense nine years of writing, producing, and acting in his TV show. Jane Fonda calls it the secret to aging gracefully. George Lucas based Yoda, the sage of Star Wars, on the founder of a meditation practice. And the list goes on and on. These celebrities (and many, many more) have found they can carry “home” with them.

So if you find yourself longing for the comfort of “home,” learn to meditate. I provide a path to learning a special kind of mantra meditation designed to release stress and heighten your intuitive powers>>>

You’ll be able to go home, any time, anywhere.