Well, that explains it. I’ve been feeling especially anxious lately and I usually only get that way around the days preceding a full moon. According to astrology, the moon is my planet.

And this month, there are TWO full moons, the second occurring today, August 31; the second full moon that occurs within a month is often referred to as a blue moon.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling like I couldn’t concentrate; I was distraught and restless and I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling like that since I’d just gotten out of bed! So while the coffee was brewing, I decided to sit down and meditate. Meditation usually clears my head and helps me concentrate, but let me tell you, yesterday, it was difficult to make myself do it for even ten minutes!

Afterward, it was like a veil had been lifted. I felt refreshed, inspired, focused and invigorated–after a mere 10 minutes of just sitting and breathing!

The benefits of meditation never cease to amaze me, and once again, it proved invaluable to me. If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll consider giving it a try one of these days. Many years ago, my tae kwon do sa bum nim (master) taught me how to meditate. “Do not expect anything from mook yum (meditation),” he told me. “Just do it.”

So I did. I sat and meditated daily for six months without expectation and then one day, like a wary deer tip-toeing out from a dense forest, the benefits of meditation began to reveal themselves. And they were profound. I’m not saying that you need to meditate for six months before you’ll notice any benefits; your experiences will be different than mine–but I am saying that you will notice benefits if, like with anything else, you don’t give up!