Soul Sustenance: Meditation

Meditation sometimes has negative connotations, and people often discount the benefits that it can have. I'm able to post an interview with Barb Schmidt, author and speaker, where she discusses how meditation has helped her.

What brought you to meditation?
When I got out of the treatment center for my bulimia, the 11th step of AA sent me on a serious search of an inward, deep connection with God. I read The Road Less Traveled and started becoming interested in meditation and Eastern religions.
How did The Practice/A Path help you overcome your greatest challenge?
When I started a path of self-discovery, and deep connection with God, little by little in meditation I started to get to know me - all of the good and all of the not so good things that happened in my life. I believe that my spiritual path has helped me accept me, all of me, and has helped me feel complete; helped me be open and receptive to life; vulnerable. Through this acceptance of my life I have overcome my fear of not being good enough, not being lovable, not feeling complete or whole.
What prompted you to found The Practice?
I have a deep desire to help all beings realize their magnificence; realize that peace is within; you just have to sit with yourself; get to know yourself; accept yourself fully and you can and will live your greatest life! I want outer peace in the world and this begins with finding inner peace; and The Practice can help do just that.
What was your inspiration in writing The Practice?
I want to change the world- I want to change people’s lives- I want all beings to realize their greatest lives- I want outer peace and love in the world and I know deeply that this first starts with inner peace. So The Practice is a toolkit for bringing inner peace into life. Being a recovering addict myself, I have a strong passion for helping people overcome addiction and live the great life they can live.
There are so many self- help books out there what makes yours stand out?      
I feel that I’ve taken thoughtful deep practices, like meditation and explained them as an easy to understand and follow guide for life. I have given many personal examples as well as used many quotes from so many of our greatest teachers. I’m hoping that as people read this book they say to themselves “I can do this- I want to do this- I want to live my most magnificent life!”
What would you like for people to take away from your book/message?
We all have everything we need within us to live the greatest life. We have all the security, strength, courage we need without needing anything from the outside. We can have complete control over what we do and say and how we let life affect us- we can manage our stress, we can learn patience and we can live the life we wish to live.
How do you think the stigma of meditation has changed over the years?
Meditation has become so much more mainstreamed; so accessible for people and people are now seeing the need for meditation; calmness; present moment living; reducing stress. It’s become “the thing to do”- it’s the “cool” thing now! 
What is one simple thing everyone can adapt into his or her lives?
We can all stop, breathe, smile and spend a minute just being!


Barb is founder of Peaceful Mind Peaceful World, a community outreach program through Florida Atlantic University (FAU) designed to promote dialogue in the greater community on the topic of inner peace by incorporating workshops and weekly teachings with Barb and many of her esteemed mentors, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Andrew Weil, and many others.Barb is also the founder of Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life, a non-profit organization through which she teaches The Practice, a three-part guide to practical spirituality in the modern world and her tool for spreading her belief that “outer peace begins with inner peace.” Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life has rapidly expanded to include an online community via Facebook (with posts reaching over 10 million people), through their daily inspirational emails and weekly blogs. She is on the board of the Schmidt Family Foundation doing incredible philanthropic work.