I would have started meditating a few minutes a day when I was 13. For years and years I thought that the strong ups and downs of my emotions were some sort of problem that I needed to understand profoundly and then fix. But in fact if you just learn to sit quietly the intensity of the moment–whether it is anger, sadness, or even overpowering joy–will soften and fade into the ebb and flow of everyday life. I didn’t learn this lesson–about sitting quietly for a few minutes at the beginning and end of each day, and just letting my thoughts and emotions settle–until my children were away at school and the hard shell of my life assumptions broke open and cried out for something new. To figure out what that new thing looked like, I needed to learn patience and inner quiet. Neuroscience
research shows that people who meditate daily experience less stress, more happiness, and more productivity that people who don’t. So it’s a good habit to take up!

– Carol Barash, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, Story To College