Meditation Works Like Your Cell Phone
The best way to think about how meditation works is to think of your cell phone, which consists of three components: apps (Gmail, Insta, WhatsApp), an operating system beneath those (Android, iOS), and hardware (Galaxy S24, iPhone 15). Similarly, we could think of ourselves as being made up of our life apps (school, health, relationships), an operating system (the mind and heart), and hardware (body, brain, nervous system).
Most people start meditation thinking that they are working on an app in their life: “I’m meditating to become a better student; meditation will help me with stress.” But really, meditation is working on the operating system level—our heart and mind.
Consider what happens when you do an update to your phone’s operating system. All the apps get updated, too: they run more efficiently, experience fewer errors, don’t break down as often, and work faster. Likewise, meditation acts as an “update” for our heart-mind. Consequently, all the apps in our life—our work, friendships, blood pressure, etc.—begin to operate more efficiently, with fewer bugs and breakdowns. This is why meditation is so powerful and why eventually it changes everything in our lives.