Welcome
Thanks for visiting my website, which I created as a resource for students like myself who are interested in learning meditation or practicing mindfulness. I started my own meditation practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then it has helped me to manage stress and maintain focus and balance in my daily life. Learn more about me and my practice as well as my project for the Jared's Fund Youth Fellowship. Also, feel free to check out my blog or reach out if you have any questions. – Alejandro Ledesma
New to Meditation?
I put together a list of resources: podcasts, websites, apps, books, and programs to help beginners get started with their meditation or mindfulness practice. Feel free to reach out with suggestions or questions.
Why Meditate?
Meditation is good for your brain and body and science explains why! Learn about some of the benefits of meditation – I include links to some scholarly and scientific articles for more in-depth information.
Read the article
Personal Stories
This page will feature short videos and/or interviews of people talking about how and why they started doing meditation and how it has helped them. If you have your own meditation story, please reach out!
Content coming soon!
Jared's Fund
I began this website as part of my project for the Jared's Fund Youth Fellowship. Jared's Fund started in 2016 in the wake of the death of Jared Zimmerman who tragically passed away at the age of 20 as a result of his mental illness. To honor Jared's life, his family started the Fund to "reduce stigma about mental illness, to create spaces where we can support our own, and to encourage research, conversation, advocacy, and art that creates space for silenced individuals – both those we know and those we don't." I am honored to have been chosen this year for the Jared’s Fund Youth Fellowship, which provides paid fellowships to current Montclair High School students or recent alumni to work with a mental health-related non-profit or undertake a project of their own choosing during the summer of 2021. Learn more about Jared's Fund.
My Blog
By Alejandro Ledesma
If you are new to meditation, the key thing is to be patient and consistent with your practice. It can be challenging for new meditators to remain aware and focused on the present moment because it’s easy to get distracted by your thoughts. It’s important not to get discouraged by this – it’s totally normal. Read more...
By Alejandro Ledesma
A lot of kids my age have unhealthy sleep habits. This negatively impacts every aspect of their lives – performance in school, mood, and physical fitness. Today’s adolescents get less sleep than teenagers in previous generations – we stay up later and wake up earlier, and the result is what's known as sleep debt. Read more...
By Alejandro Ledesma
The physical and mental health benefits of meditation are truly remarkable; scientific and scholarly research tells us why and how meditation can be a very powerful tool in addressing a vast number of issues. Treatment of depression is one area researchers are exploring. Read more...
By Alejandro Ledesma
Do you know anyone who has started an exercise program and then abandoned it after a few weeks or months? Maybe you are one of those people! It’s very difficult to maintain the discipline and motivation to keep a workout regime going over the long haul, especially if you don’t see or feel the results you were hoping for. Read more...
"Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life."