What Meditation Really Means: How to Focus, Relax, and Let Go of Perfection
By Ashley Stricker, Pursuing MA in Social Work; Nexus Intern
October 17, 2025
A common misunderstanding about meditation is that to meditate, the mind must be completely clear. Unless someone is an expert at meditation, this is close to impossible. This is because meditation can also include setting an intention and intensely focusing on something specific. For example, a popular meditation method includes focusing on the breath. As it moves in and out of the body and being curious about how the abdomen moves up and down as the breath moves. Meditation can also include gratitude by setting aside five minutes to focus on what you are grateful for. Meditation can also focus on mantras. For example, if you know that tomorrow you need to handle a difficult situation that is bringing up anxiety, a meditation could include focusing on mantras such as “I am brave, I am strong, I am capable.”
The main point is that meditation can mean many different things, look different ways, and there is not one right way to do it. Meditation is about setting an intention, placing the focus on that intention and being gentle with ourselves throughout the process. As humans, our mind will drift to another thought during meditation. This is perfectly normal and is expected! Being gentle becomes a part of meditation when the mind drifts, and we notice it, and gently bring ourselves back into intention.
There are a multitude of benefits that can come from meditation! It can help with sleep, lowering blood pressure, reducing negative feelings, increase awareness, and help manage stress (Mayo Clinic, 2023). If you are interested in trying meditation, there are many options available to you. YouTube has a large variety of meditations, and there are phone applications to choose from. Insight Timer is
my personal favorite app to use. Below is one example of a meditation that you can start today!
Body Scan Meditation
This is a body scan meditation that can be used before bed to find where tension is at in our body.
- Sit or lay down somewhere comfortable and without distraction.
- Take three deep breaths in through the nose and out the mouth.
We will start by slowly scanning our bodies to find tension. During the scan, when you find tension, see how relaxed you can make that part. For example, is your forehead scrunched or is it relaxed? If it is scrunched, release those muscles.
We will start with the top of our head
Next, around the eyes
Jaw
Shoulders
Hands and fingers
Abdomen
Hips
Thighs
Calves
Feet and toes
By now, your body should be relaxed and without tension. If you still feel tension, give it a second try!
If you are interested in further exploring meditation, speak to your counselor about resources. If you don’t currently have a counselor, call 719-388-3558 and get started with Ashley Stricker to help support you on your journey with meditation.
References
Mayo Clinic (2023). Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858
Ashley Stricker, Pursuing MA in Social Work
I am a Clinical Mental Health Counseling student pursuing my Master’s degree to gain licensure in the state of Colorado to be a Licensed Professional Counselor. As a member of the local community, I feel passionate about advocating for our community. My developing approach to counseling centers you as the client with the deep belief and understanding that you make sense! I believe that in counseling, my job is to create an environment for you to feel heard, understood, and accepted. From there, we can build a therapeutic relationship that fosters mental health healing and growth to enable you to live life more fully. I believe that for healing, we need to focus on what is happening in both the mind and the body as they work together so intricately. An essential part of my counseling approach is to view you as the client in a humanistic and holistic fashion that considers all aspects of you and your lived experience. I find it important to view the client, through the necessary lenses that allows me to understand you. A few of those lenses could include your culture, the impact of gender socialization, trauma, and your upbringing, parenting styles and so much more. These significant parts of life are important parts of your story for me to understand in order to work with you proficiently. I will sit with you and your story as we work together toward mental health healing, because I believe there is profound relief in telling our stories and being heard and understood. As I develop as a counselor, I hope to work with clients with military spouse issues, self-worth issues, depression, anxiety, attachment issues, and trauma. My goal is to open a counseling center in the area that focuses on childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault recovery. Survivorship and advocacy are another passion of mine. Whether this is your first time in counseling, or you are seasoned in counseling, I am excited that you are taking this step for your mental health and would be honored to work alongside you!