One of the many wonderful things meditation can do for you is it can help you become more aware of your environment — your own personal environment, as well as the entire Earth. I’d like you to do a simple exercise so you can begin to understand what I mean: Wherever you are at this very moment, I want you to close your eyes and just listen. Don’t try to listen for anything in particular, or focus on one specific sound; just observe what you hear. Try it out for a few minutes…

Did you notice how easy it was to completely shift your focus and suddenly transform your consciousness? You probably noticed a lot you weren’t aware of. Now, I want you to use this same technique, except this isn’t going to be a listening exercising; this is going to be a looking and listening exercise and we’re going to apply it to saving energy.

Begin to scan and survey your immediate surroundings for possible ways to save energy. Really take a good, hard look. How many lights do you have on? How many need to be on? How many devices do you have plugged in that are not in use? Are you running the air conditioning? If so, do you also have a ceiling fan? Is the fan running? What speed is it on?

I’m sure you get the idea. In our modern world with so many distractions, it is so easy to be completely oblivious to what’s right under our noises. Sometimes all we have to do to save energy is become more conscious of our environment. And of course, there’s no reason you can only do this in your home. You can also do this in your office or wherever you work. You can even apply this heightened awareness and energy consciousness to public surroundings. For example, do you always turn the light off when you walk out of a public bathroom if no one else is using it? Do you accept plastic bags when you don’t need them? Do you ask your server to refill the cup you’re using or do you always let them get you a new one?

If you just start paying closer attention to the things around you, you’ll begin to discover all sorts of ways you can save energy. If you’d like to get a jumpstart on saving energy right now, here’s a great list of 100 ways you can do it.

Note: Specifically, with regards to medical issues, always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Web site.