Americans today are the busiest we’ve ever been. In the world we face, most work from the time they’re teenagers, until retirement, all with school and kids or spouses, and maybe a sliver of a social life. Oh, and sleep, too, because apparently some people have time for that. So balancing our crazy lives has gotten harder than ever. One of my favorite escapes from this is meditation.

Meditation helps me clear my head and escape from the chaos that is my life. Working 40 or more hours per week, being a full time student two-thirds of the year (and a part time student for one-third of the year), having a “social life,” and occasionally sleeping on top of whatever the latest drama or news tragedy of the week is. The way I perceive the world may be a bit different than others; for me, it’s as if a hundred people are screaming for my attention, there are dozens of different colored neon-flashing signs begging for me to notice them, and I have to keep perfect detail and high standard in work that I’m doing at the same time. In other words, the world can be very overwhelming to me sometimes. So I appreciate the silent getaway that meditation provides me.

There is no right or wrong way to meditate; for me, meditation is sitting comfortably in silence, quieting my thoughts until my mind is eventually calm and, well, clear. Blank. I’ll close my eyes and acknowledge every thought’s existence, and then sweep it away to continue focusing on mental emptiness. As bad as that may sound, it’s a wonderfully effective and healthy escape from day-to-day life that has helped me achieve a high GPA at my university, enough calmness to work the chaos of a fast-food lunch rush, and the ability to effectively focus on and manage all of the details of my familial, social, school, work, and love life.

To anyone that has considered meditation, I highly encourage it. If you don’t know where to start, there are hundreds of “guided meditation” videos on YouTube. These will most typically just be a still picture, with a calm voice telling you what to do and what to focus on, to lead you into and through meditation. The feeling that you have after even just 10 minutes of meditation is bliss- it’s calmness, alertness, clarity, and peace all at once, and you feel ready to take on the world once more. Anyone interested could also easily look up meditation tips on Pinterest, with or without a free account.

I was hesitant to try meditation, but now that I have, I am so glad that I have welcomed this habit into my life. I began around 8 months ago, and practice meditation almost every single day, helping me to find clarity and peace in our chaotic and noisy world. As the saying goes: you should sit in meditation for at least half an hour per day, unless you don’t have time; then, make it an hour.