I had an AP Government and Politics teacher this past year named, Coach Rebstock. He was an absolutely wonderful teacher that made the class enticing every day. Even on the days where he would leave for the entire class period. We students usually ended up debating on a topic.

He taught us something important, meditations. Now when we think about meditation we think of crossing our legs, closing our eyes, being in nature, and a great Instagram pic. However, meditations are different from meditating. Meditations is actually a method developed by Nero, a Roman General, that used to use this method before entering battle.

What Nero did was write down everything he felt at that moment that was inside his head. This allowed him to expel everything inside him troubling or not at the time. If he was plagued with a thought then he would write it down to make peace within himself.

Today we call this journaling, but I prefer the term meditations. I was actually taught this method by my fifth-grade counselor. She told me to write everything down that I felt, and then throw it out. If I was angry, write why I was angry, and then toss out the paper to in essence toss out the emotions.

My teacher, Coach Rebstock, told me to keep them and reread them to see why you felt that way at the time, analyze yourself, and move forward. I ended up sticking with the latter.

I personally have the wonderful ability to overthink things and be inside my head too often. I play over scenarios in my head more times than I've listened to "Party in the USA," which I am not ready to admit to how much I have listened too. The point is that I am an anxious person that is constantly in my head.

The meditation by Coach Rebstock was an assignment. I wasn't going to take it seriously at all. We had the entire year to do it, so I figured I would bust it out quickly in the very beginning. I got through about fifty in the first two weeks and then I forgot about them. The school year went on, and then I went through a lot of personal stuff. I won't go into detail, but it was a lot.

I remember sitting up one-night thinking over everything that happened, and I just couldn't go to sleep. I ended up sitting at my desk and trying to type down anything, but I just couldn't. I then decided to clean my desk, and that is when I saw my meditations book. I grabbed it out and grabbed a pen and started to write.

I wrote for about an hour. Each meditation was different from the next. I felt relieved, sat on my bed and went to sleep.

The next night I went back to my meditation book and wrote for about another hour, and then I went to bed. This became a nightly routine. As time had progressed I noticed a change in my meditations. It became less of a rant, and more of how I can overcome what is happening in my life. How can I fix what I am doing, and be okay with the situation at hand? I ended up writing more about the philosophy of life and ethics. I started to write about my inner psyche to know why I acted the way I did. It became more than just a way to vent, but a way for my mind discover the inner-workings of itself.

I then added meditating into my nightly routine. I would meditate for about thirty minutes, and then write my meditations for another thirty minutes.

I became so at ease with myself that I learned to be okay with myself and the events that occurred in the past and the present. I just finally felt relaxed. My mind wasn't racing as quickly, I no longer felt anxious, and I was a happier person.

At the end of the year, I read over all of my meditations, and I noticed a common theme. The theme centered around trying to find a way for personal growth. I realized that the meditations became my self-care method. My way of growing as an individual.

Everyone should have a self-care method, for people like my father it is running, for people like my mother it is massages and spending a few hours to herself, for people like my sister it is creating art, and for people like my brother, it is playing video games. What all these activities allow us to do is be present in ourselves. It allows our minds to wander and contemplate matters. It gives us the chance to look at ourselves and determine if we are happy with where our life is going, and if not how to fix it. Self-care is one of the most important things a person can do for themselves and its different for each person. Mine happens to be meditations.

I gave my meditation book to my teacher, thanked him for the wonderful assignment, and left his class. (It was also the last day of school and the bell had just rung).

This was a wonderful method for me to use, and if anyone wants to start then its pretty easy. There is no method, there is no formula. Just grab anything you want and start to write about anything. Write about the best and worst part of your day, or simply say a single word like "serendipity."