There are a lot of things Eastern philosophies like Buddhism and minimalism can offer the human experience. But if I had to point out one thing people don’t talk about enough, I’d say it’s the way they teach you to discipline your character. And no, not “discipline” in the Western sense of the word, where it usually means suppressing parts of yourself through aggression, pressure, sacrifice, and routines that feel almost military in nature. For people who genuinely appreciate a broader way of thinking and actually put Buddhist teachings into practice, discipline isn’t necessarily something that takes years of suffering and punishment to achieve. In many ways, it becomes the natural result of meditation itself, which is exactly what this post is about.
Over the past few years, especially during the last decade, guided meditation has become insanely popular through yoga classes and similar practices that have basically been adapted to fit Western standards. What I mean is that even if the concept isn’t exactly identical to traditional Buddhist meditation, it’s still nice to see these ideas becoming more normalized over here. And let’s be honest for a second: Western society doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to embracing customs from the other side of the world. We usually simplify them first, commercialize them later, and only after that start understanding why they mattered in the first place.
And honestly, my own experience with this stuff is deeply personal. I grew up in a typically chaotic household where everything revolved around my mother’s decisions and expectations. She controlled absolutely everything. From the color of the walls in our house to how my daughter was supposed to dress during Christmas. After years of that kind of mental exhaustion mixed with regular adult problems and everyday stress, conflict eventually became unavoidable. But even after those confrontations pass, something always stays behind. Certain emotional scars don’t disappear as easily as people like to pretend they do.
Because the truth is, even when we think we’ve released everything through catharsis, sometimes we really haven’t. Anger has always lived somewhere inside me. Quietly. Patiently. Like a lynx watching from the shadows without attacking. I know that isn’t healthy, and over time, influenced by the idea that sometimes less truly is more, I decided to make meditation part of my routine. I don’t need to “align my chi” or light two hundred scented candles around the house. A quiet corner, the Venezuelan winter breeze, and a little less noise are enough for me.
Eventually, everything that overwhelms me starts calming down. It balances itself out little by little. Meditation isn’t some magical solution, obviously. It doesn’t erase trauma or solve life overnight. But it does become another tool for dealing with the emotional leftovers that simply come from existing. The kind of weight every human being carries in one way or another. If you’ve seen Everything Everywhere All at Once, the Oscar winner from 2023, you probably have a clearer idea of what I’m trying to describe. And if you haven’t, that’s okay too. At the end of the day, it all comes down to finding ways to make peace with the things that hurt us or throw us off balance. Learning how to keep ourselves emotionally steady is fundamental. Almost artistic in its simplicity. Worry less. Channel more.