A couple of years ago I decided that I wanted to start doing yoga. It was the new trend that all of the celebrities were doing and I wanted to lose weight. I thought that this would be the best way.

Well that did not happen. At all.

I tried a few classes, but was too lazy to really stick to anything. But then something changed my senior year of high school, a mere three years ago.

I was in a class called Great Books and many of our topics revolved around the idea of Buddhism and Meditation. I never really looked into it before but it was fascinating to me. Around the same time that I started taking this class, I started doing a type of yoga called Bikram Yoga.

Bikram Yoga is 26 different postures in a room that is roughly around 105 degrees fahrenheit. Pretty damn hot. The first class that I went to I felt like I was going to pass out but luckily I made it through. It was a weird experience because the lights were on high and our eyes were always open, so it was very intimate. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. It made me feel like I had the power to control myself and my emotions. I brought this idea of bikram to my great books class, and things started to connect. This brought me to the idea of “Awareness."

Awareness is when one is in full control of their thoughts, emotions, and actions. It is not easy, but when one person is in full control and is aware, their life can turn around completely. So between trying to become aware more and yoga, I felt a transformation occurring. I no longer only thought about myself and how I could lose weight, I thought about how I could take control of my life and become happy.

Throughout my numerous studies on Buddhism, I have come to the belief that everything in life is in our control, to some extent. What I mean by that is that anytime you have an emotion or feeling that you do not particularly like, you have the ability to change it. It is, after all, your body and your mind.

Now, three years later, I use awareness every single day in my life and I challenge you to do the same.

Every single day, I want you to take 10 minutes to meditate. What this means is take 10 minutes with no distractions. So put your phone away, lock the door, and just sit and breathe. That is all meditation is, being aware of your breath, in and out through your nose, and bringing your thoughts and mind to peace. Anyone can do it, it just takes practice, but once you start, you will feel the transformation greatly.

As my favorite book once said, “We. Are. All. Free. To do. Whatever. We. Want. To do.” – Richard Bach, Illusions. Take that quote however you want to take it.