Monkey mind. That relentless chatter that fills your head when you’re snug in bed and all you want to do is sleep. Yet, all you can think about is tomorrow’s big meeting, the kids’ schedules, making plans with your husband, your shopping list, what you’re doing with your life…

My sister Laura and I thought we were destined to a lifetime of sleepless nights. Thankfully, we were not. Our answer was meditation.

Meditation isn’t some magical, mystical thing that’s hard to do. Laura gets out her meditation pillow, settles in and just pays attention to her breath, flowing in and out. “I immediately feel calmer, more grounded.” she tells me. “If I take just five minutes to sit with my breath in the morning, I feel a real sense of clarity. At night, it helps me wind down.”

I’m a fan of guided meditations. I love the self-hypnosis that happens in guided meditation. It really takes me to a place where I can relax at night, or turn on the focus and concentration during the day.

As women, we are so busy taking care of everyone and everything else that we don’t often take time for ourselves. Meditation allows us to nurture ourselves, and ignore all else. In the process, we’ve become calmer, saner, more able to attend to the daily distractions of life with ease.

Best of all? It’s free. We can meditate on the road or at home. No gym membership is needed, no fancy running shoes. Just us. One breath at a time.

Laura Pils was born four minutes before her sister Linda Mastandrea and has always considered herself the “big sister.” Attending the University of Illinois together, the twins developed their independence with Linda majoring in speech communication and Laura in marketing and business administration. Laura went on to work in the corporate world, got married, had two wonderful boys, then started her own extremely successful marketing company. Linda became a Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair racing and attended law school. She is a well-known public speaker and writer. Together, they’ve launched a women’s wellness blog to share their journey toward health and wellness with women everywhere. www.womenswellnessminute.com