Breathe Magazine

In Bobbie-Marie’s post last week on The Art of Peaceful Living, she ended with a question: How do you practice peace?

I probably don’t practice as much as I should (I’ve missed more yoga classes for meetings and other obligations than I’d like to admit), but I’ve also recently gotten back into meditating. I used to meditate in college before I went to bed at night, but like many of my undergrad habits — both good and bad — I fell out of practice upon transitioning into “the real world.”

I forgot how much 20-30 minutes of breathing and being still every day can do for my well-being. Granted, it takes me at least half of that time to get the racing thoughts to come to a halt, but I’m getting there. And after reading Eat, Pray, Love, I’m loving the meditation style Elizabeth Gilbert recapped from Bali where the healer taught her to smile while meditating. Something about smiling makes it easier for the thoughts to melt away.

In my house, between the hardwood floors and coarse natural fiber rug, it’s hard to find a comfortable place to sit cross-legged for more than a minute without shifting on my sit bones. And I’m not quite yet in touch enough with my inner Buddha to meditate outside without the bugs driving me crazy. So when the opportunity came along to try out the Mobile Meditator, I was intrigued.

$24.95 at mobilemeditator.com.

It’s an inflatable meditation cushion that I’ve only used at home so far, but it’s ability to deflate and fit neatly into a cute little case makes it easy to take wherever you go. I’ll admit, it took more time than I thought to inflate it, but I’m 34 weeks pregnant so it doesn’t take much to get me winded. More serious meditators will definitely appreciate how much lighter and easier this pillow is to take along on trips than your typical, bulky meditation pillow. I just like that it keeps me focused on my practice and not on how sore I’m getting from the floor. Plus, they donate a portion of their proceeds to a handful of selected charities that share their spiritual sentiments.

I won’t be surprised if I start to make excuses to not meditate as I have with yoga (silly things like work and preparing for a baby tend to get in the way), but at least with this cushion, my butt will never be a “but”.