In a television series, To Know God, Morgan Freeman embarked on a quest to find out what people think of God.

To know the answer, he crossed the world to have a better and deeper god of understanding.

He spoke with ordinary people, archaeologists, religious historians, and clergymen of the world’s major religions, namely Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, to learn their perspectives on God.

For the record, of the five, only four are considered a “religion” by the accepted definition of the word.

Religion is:

“The belief in the worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.”

Christianity has God the Father, Islam has Allah, Elohim or Yaweh, in Judaism, and Brahman, for Hindus.

Buddha, in Buddhism, is not a god, but a state of enlightenment. And the goal of all Buddhists is to reach that level to become Buddha.

Achieving enlightenment was a good point of discussion between Mr. Freeman and a Buddhist monk. Here is an excerpt from that discussion.

Mr. Freeman: How do you achieve enlightenment?

Buddhist monk: Pure and true enlightenment is a very long and tedious process and can only be achieved through constant meditation.

mr freeman: How do you meditate?

Buddhist monk (with a smile): The easiest way to meditate is to focus on your breath.

By respiration, we mean “concentrated respiration”, the main ingredient in Mindfulness of breathing, which is one of the two basic meditation techniques taught by Gautama Buddha (the other is Love-Kindness).

What is mindfulness of breath?

This works on the theory that if focus on your breathing, you notice the tendency of the mind to jump from one thing to another.

By concentrating on your breathing, you return to the present moment and enjoy all the wealth of experiences it contains.

It is a way to develop mindfulness, the faculty of alert and sensitive awareness.

Mindfulness of breathing is a good antidote to restlessness and anxiety; Relaxing SE. And it has a positive effect on your physical and mental state.

Is Mindfulness Good For Older People?

Many years ago, I had a terrible migraine.

For weeks I had a constant, aching headache that caused a stiff neck and excruciating pain when I raised my right arm.

Tried various cures, to no avail. Then someone suggested complete relaxation and gave me advice on how to do it.

In less than a week my migraine disappeared. Since then I have never had to take headache pills and I had no trouble sleeping either. If I want to, I can fall asleep soundly in less than five minutes even sitting in a chair.

You too can get the benefits of focused breathing. Aside from the above, here are a few more:

1. Slow down memory loss:

Meditation through concentrated breathing stimulates the hippocampus and frontal lobe of the brain, which are responsible for both long-term and short-term brain functions.

In a study published recently in Neuroscience Letters, regular meditation was reported to slow the progression of cognitive decline, which is a prelude to dementia.

2. Improve your digestive system:

If you have a chronic digestive problem, meditation will provide almost immediate relief.

This is because regular meditation improves blood circulation and increases its oxygen content, which is then shared with other organs, such as the stomach and intestines.

Besides that, the increase in oxygen through meditation also helps the immune system and heals the lungs.

3. Makes you feel happy:

Meditation stimulates the prefrontal cortex, the “feel good” part of the brain.

It is especially beneficial for you if you are in and out of depression caused by circumstances in your life.

Your enthusiasm and vigor for life will get a boost.

4. Helps you focus more:

With meditation, your left and right brain hemispheres work together to improve your concentration, creativity, and resourcefulness.

You become more mentally alert and can function better in society, allowing you to fully enjoy your retirement days.

5. It is the best way to beat stress:

The life of an older person can be one of constant stress from chronic illness, loneliness, loss of a spouse or loved one, separation from children, limited boyfriends, and many more.

Living in these for long periods of time can result in chronic stress, which is one step away from depression, dementia, and ultimately Alzheimer’s disease.

Concentrated breathing can take them out of your mind. It costs nothing and can be done anywhere, anytime.

Granting that it doesn’t completely solve your problems, but it gives you precious breathing space and time to think of ways to fix them.

There are no unsolvable problems. But sometimes we are inundated with so many that logical thinking becomes impossible.

Meditation clears your mind. Remove the chaff from the grain.

6. Away loneliness:

As a senior living alone, my biggest concern is loneliness. There are days when tears soak my lunch or dinner.

My two children are married and live alone. Although we see each other from time to time, and they are only a text message away, but nothing beats their presence, to have a more personal conversation with the people dearest to me.

But that has become impossible. They have their own lives to live, their own schedules, their own spouses.

I have become a simple flicker on your screen.

When the loneliness gets so stifling, I fixate on a nice, comfortable place and take a concentrated breath.

I empty my mind of all negative thoughts painted by my loneliness, accept my present realities and focus on the moment.

It works all the time.

Skeptics may take concentrated breathing as nothing more than first aid; a band-aid approach to problems that affect most older people. Just sweep those problems under the rug.

Maybe. But it is your best bet against loneliness, stress, and many other age-related problems.

It is cheap and can be done at any time. And even if the relief you get is temporary, it gives you precious time to think of more concrete solutions to your problems.

Finally, after traveling thousands of miles, Mr. Freeman has observed that all religions share one thing in common: God is peace, God is love, and God resides in each of us.

Take care of God, and God will take care of you.