1.  Go Inward
2. We want something because we believe that getting it will end our suffering.  We want others to be the way that brings love into our lives, we want the weather to be just so, we want our day to go a certain way, we want someone to apologize, or we want the past to stop haunting us, we want what we want so…we can then be happy.

In this way, we become a prisoner of our mind and our desires and they have the remote control of our happiness.  We convince ourselves that it must be so, so we can be happy.   We get fixated on it.

Yet the happiness escapes!

What if there was another way?

Instead of “fixing” the outer circumstances, we travel in the opposite direction – internal.

In the beginning, this will begin to occupy much of your attention as the internal is full of “stuff” that will interest you.  As you travel, it will shift your perspective on what you thought you wanted, what you thought was wrong, the intensity of desire will soften as you now realize there is more to your  “story”

The inner travel will unravel  the “mystery” of your predicament and will keep unraveling in the exact pace as you can handle, in the exact way that you can “see”.

This is where the mind expands, new awareness comes in and our suffering will lessen or at least will begin to shift.   Right here is your proof that the end to suffering is in the inner direction, not the outer.  The outer will change in divine time, not in our time, so it is wise not to be so vested in it.  We do what we can do and then we rest in the internal.  We soften, we open…

This is a process that works in layers but you can be sure that it works at the exact place where you are, but will leave you in a better place.   One thing is for certain in this process – you will grow in ways that you never imagined.   You may still hurt but your awareness will expand in many dimensions that will give you the key to find peace.

The inner work will get you curious; curious about you, about life, your place in this world, and the “knowing” at each layer will fill the places inside of you that were once empty and a different kind of “hunger” may get ignited.  That “hunger” is what we are here to satisfy; that hunger is here to heal your life.  This work will resonate with you, you will move towards your true “Self” and that path is THE PATH out of suffering.

So while you may want to meditate for stress reduction purposes and that you should but know that it only scratches the surface of the world that is inside of you.  We want to be stress free but foremost we want to experience the “bliss” that awaits within.