Life is crazy. As high school students, our to-do list seems never ending. There’s sports, clubs, friends and, sadly homework. How are we supposed to stay sane with all of these pressing issues on our mind?

Meditation could be the answer.

I decided to meditate every day during Spirit Week, one of the most hectic weeks of the year. I decided to start by carving out five minutes each day for meditation. Plus I figured, how hard could it be to find five minutes each day?

I found it was actually much harder than expected. Consistency is key with mediation, yet I only found time to meditate five out of the seven days that week. I knew I had to change up my game plan. I had been trying to meditate at night, but there were too many distractions, especially my iPhone.

My conclusion- meditate in the morning.

So how does one actually meditate? After a little bit of research, I discovered Buddhaimonia.com, which suggests starting out simple with mindful breathing.

Mindful breathing consists of sitting in a relaxed position and focusing on your breathing for a certain amount of time. During this time period, you let your thoughts come and go. If you find yourself getting distracted, gently return your focus to your breathing.

Focusing on my breathing proved to difficult to me, so I chose to do a counting meditation. To do this you simply count your breaths. The goal is to get to ten without becoming distracted. If you find other thoughts slipping into your head then you need to restart the counting. I’ve only made it to ten once, but it’s getting easier.

I clearly need practice. Meditation is something that takes commitment, time and dedication, yet people across the world attest to its benefits. When I was meditating, I was able to remove myself from the craziness of my life and find a moment of peace. I could actually hear myself think, something that rarely happens with all the noise that goes on around us.

In the future, I plan to continue meditating. Senior year has been crazy so far. It is a continuous  struggle to manage all of my many activities, in addition to schoolwork and college applications. By spending five minutes in meditation each morning, I will be ready to face the challenges of each new day with a calm, peaceful mind.

Kelly Foulk is a News Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.