Upgrade Your Meditation, and Happy Birthday Angela Davis

To meditate doesn’t take much, except the desire to sit and devote time to doing it.  It doesn’t have to take place in a serenely beautiful meditation room, or under the best of circumstances.  Meditation can be practiced anywhere, even in prison.

I happen to know this because, when styling her locs for Essence Magazine back in 1995, I asked activist, public speaker, scholar, author and professor, Angela Davis – whose 77th birthday is today, how she handled the horror of being incarcerated.  She shared with me that it was the practice of yoga and meditation that helped her through the ordeal of prison.  I had long been practicing yoga and meditation but hearing that she accomplished this in prison gave me more resolve.  Because of this revelation, I have assured myself that there is never an excuse good enough to keep one from meditating.

When we are free to have options for our practice, I recommend trying different scenarios.  My current meditation practice includes burning one of our frankincense resins, or copal, to cleanse and set the vibration of my space.  Just smelling these sacred essences shifts my mind and spirit.  I then lightly spray myself with one of the Spiritual Spritzers that I am drawn to at the time, settle into a comfortable position, and begin my meditation.

Right from the start, having this little preparation ritual has elevated my meditation practice, helping me to go deeper, to experience less inner “chatter” and fewer distracting thoughts.  If you’d like to try something new with your own meditative practice, I highly recommend setting a tone by using our Sacred Resins and Spiritual Spritzers to signal to your mind that it’s time to get quiet and go within.  If you have a special practice, please share it with us.