Albert Einstein knew what he was talking about. Everything is relative. Oh, sure, that zit feels like Vesuvius just before your big date. But compared to the huge boil on cousin Gary's neck, it's just a minor irritation. It's all in perspective.

Artists use perspective all the time to trick your eyes into believing a flat object has depth. My favorite definition of perspective is from the American Heritage Dictionary: "Subjective evaluation of relative significance: point of view." In other words, given a choice between your zit and Gary's boil, your zit doesn't look as bad as you first thought. Getting the right perspective is half way to solving the problem. This makes perspective a powerful stress-management tool!

This month's meditation is an exercise in perspective. To prepare your meditation space, adjust the lighting, put on some music and perhaps light some incense. Sit comfortably erect on your chair or cushion. Check your posture. Are your shoulders relaxed and down? Is your spine aligned? Your tongue should be at the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth. Cross your hands on your abdomen and feel it move as you gently inhale and exhale.

Bring your attention to the earth below you. As you continue breathing slowly and gently, move your hands out to your sides, palms down. Imagine the energy of the earth connecting with you through your hands and feet or spine. Rest in that connection for eight breaths. With each breath, the connection with earth becomes stronger.

Now bring your attention to heaven above as you maintain your gentle breathing. Turn your hands palm up and imagine the energy of heaven connecting with you through your hands and the top of your head. Rest in that connection for eight breaths. With each breath, the connection with heaven becomes stronger.

Next, return your hands to your abdomen. Place your hands so the tips of the thumbs meet at your navel and then cross your hands on your abdomen below the navel. (Females should cross right over left, males cross left over right.) Feel your abdomen moving softly as you breathe. This is the place where heaven and earth energies meet and merge within you. For eight breaths, imagine the merging energies swirling within you as you breathe.

Now, in your imagination, create a box on the floor in front of you big enough to put your problems into. Give them plenty of room and pile them all into the box. Next, imagine your meditation space. It's as if you are outside yourself watching a show. See, there you are with your problem box. Imagine looking at your whole house with you and the box still inside. Move out further and further, as if you're in a balloon drifting higher and higher. Imagine you can look down and see your neighborhood, then your city, state, and country. Now you're high enough to see the world - then the universe and all the other planets. And now the galaxy; now, all the other galaxies. How far can you go? How much of infinity can you imagine? Isn't it beautiful?

Look down again. Can you see the earth from where you are? Can you see that box? How do you feel about what you put in the box? Can you see the answers from way up here? Spend as much time working on your problems from the edge of the universe as you want. When you feel ready to return, put them back into the box with the answers you discovered and imagine you are floating back down to the earth and your room.

As you return to yourself, bring your attention back to your abdomen and your breathing. Move your hands, palms down, out to your sides and bring them up in a circle over your head as you inhale gathering earth energy. Continue the circle back down to your navel as you exhale, bringing the energy into yourself. Repeat this movement three times to close the meditation.