Meditation creates space.

Space is, in my opinion, the most misunderstood of all phenomena. Probably because it's hard to qualify. What is "space"? But perhaps that's the wrong question.

Space isn't anything in-and-of-itself. It is what - or where? - things happen. We so quickly, if not entirely unconsciously, react to our thoughts, believing them without hesitation or evaluation, that we never actually experience space. We are so eager to be something that we make little room for anything to become anything.

Spiritual wellbeing exercises, like qigong , meditation, and yoga, create space, often by merely drawing our attention to our breathing habits (which is, shockingly, enough). When we "empty our minds", we aren't literally pouring our pureed brains out of our ears. We are metaphorically resisting the relentless temptation to believe the unreal (our repeated thought-patterns), and wait, holding the empty space, to see what is really there. It's only after you've exhaled that you can take another breath.

We need to empty our lungs if we want to continue living.

You need to empty your mind if you're going to find our who you are.

- The book I mentioned is Kenneth S. Cohen's, The Way of Qigong
- Greg Holden is a singersongwriter based out of the UK
- As far as I know, my buddy Jody runs at least two open-mics in Toronto; here's his Instagram
- Here is Anto's Instagram. He's a wonderful poet, and an even better person.

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