As life rushes by, through and around us, it may seem hard to feel that we have a certain amount of control over our lives. By slowing it all down, and simply spending time with ones self, breathing deeply and strongly, we can begin to experience where we are and what we are doing. The calmness and serenity allows us to be ourselves, and see where we are on this life journey, what path we are following.

The benefit of simply enjoying quiet solitude is well documented, and understood at a core level by its daily practitioners. While there are various meditations that can be learned and practiced (including quieting of the mind to achieve a high level of serenity), there is no need to learn anything to get started. Merely find a quiet place, sit and breathe. That is the beginning, and the benefits are incredible. From that point you can take whatever path of meditative knowledge seems to call you.

One benefit of quiet breathing, is that it allows us to become aware of feelings that we do not allow to enter into our thinking. Our conscious mind safeguards us from so much, that it will prevent thoughts that may cause us discomfort from entering into our consciousness. Thoughts of actions that may produce fear, social unease or possible censure are disregarded or banned from our thoughts. Yet the need for those thoughts still remains, and failure to address them may cause the action to manifest anyway-and lead one to wonder why their life is “out of control”.

One of the areas we can control is who we associate with, who are our lovers, friends and even family. We get so used to interacting with them and being cognizant of their wants and needs, that it becomes a fixture in our lives. We act in the same way, go through the same habits, and react with the same patterns each time they are around, and we do so gladly. When someone accepts us, we feel the urge to accept them, and feel grateful for it.

With solitude and breathing, we gain clarity and insight into our relationships, and with our mind quiet, have no judge to censure our thoughts. The path of our life becomes clearer, and we realize how much control we have over it. We begin to understand that certain relationships, once nurturing and helping us on our path, may have become toxic and even impede the path we are on. We need to allow the relationship to change, or perhaps end it. The thought is illuminating, but it is not without fear and sadness.

We also realize that we may be impeding the path of a loved one or friend, through the way in which we interact with them. Since it is their path, such a realization should be communicated to the person, and changes made.

Our relationships impact our lives significantly, yet we fail sometimes to exercise any control over those relationships. It takes courage to look at our relationships objectively, because our emotional well being is often tied into them. By calming oneself and breathing deeply, we can access that place of nonjudgmental objectivity, and realize that there is nothing of which to be afraid. We realize that as we change, the relationships we have in our lives, and sometimes the people in them, need to change also. By being aware of our relationships, both good and bad, we can begin the process of taking control of our lives.