My Meditation Hack: Cigars

I was having a bad day.

I had been going through a lot, and with my girlfriend out of town, a lonely house awaited me after my shift waiting tables. I didn’t want to go out drinking. I’ve long tried to abstain when at my most depressed — with my history of alcoholism, I have always been aware that using it to cope with the dark moments could well put me on the path to ruin I’ve flirted with for so long.

But spending the night doing nothing sounded bad.

I needed something different, and something safe. And then I remembered that I was just two blocks from Orlando’s Corona Cigar Lounge, their selection visible through the windows on the many nights I passed by.

A little intimidating, but certainly different. (Image Credit: Google Maps)

So I picked out a single craft beer from my cooler at work, walked over to get a cigar, and made my way to my destination: my quiet, dark, back porch.

Over the course of the next few hours, the depression that had gripped me for the better part of a year finally started to subside. My mind crafted a project that met all my wants, and maybe even my needs. I went to sleep perfectly content for the first time in months.

But that’s all a story for a different day. I’m here to tell you that part of what I found was the magic of a cigar. Or, rather, the cigar was there to show me the magic of meditation.