BENEFITS OF PRANAYAMA

Prana is the essence of ALL life.

BENEFITS OF PRANAYAMA

The essence of the breath is Prana; the life-force of the body. The breath removes impurities from the body and puts fuel into the body. By mindfully consuming the right foods, maintaining a regular meditation practice, and living a lifestyle that promotes good health you will assist yourself in achieving a purer prana which is, at its core, your life-energy.

You have the right amount of energy within you to complete your life path but all too often, there are distractions and obstacles that stand before you, sapping your strength and vitality.

Energy is increased by staying ever-present and aware to the needs of your body, mind, and spiritual path. When you increase the energy, you allow your life purpose to manifest.

Silencing the vibrations of the breath silences the vibrations of the mind. Monitoring the flow of the breath means that you can tell when the breath is rapid, uneven, and shallow. Always be aware of its expansive nature. When the breath flows smoothly, it cleanses the energy points within and enables your life energy to flow smoothly.

Prana is derived from pra, meaning continuous and na, meaning movement. With each breath, the body relaxes while the breath flows in and out. Feel the life-energy (prana) that flows through the vehicle of the breath. The breath and mind are interrelated and when you control one the other is controlled.

Yogis believe that decreasing the amount of breaths per minute increases the life span. (Animals that breath rapidly have a shorter lifespan.)
Keeping track of your thoughts helps you to notice changes in the breath where it is flowing in a disrupted pattern.
It also enables you to slowly deepen and extend the length of the breath.

Benefits of Pranayama

1. Creates and maintains the natural way to breathe.
2. Massages the internal organs and strengthens abdominal muscles
3. Reduces stress and tension
4. Helps in maintaining a relaxed body and mind
5. Opens the chest; frees the breath
6. Maintains a healthy diaphragm
7. Creates rhythmic breathing
8. Increases life-energy by taking in more oxygen than the normal, shallow breathing and making oxygen exchange efficient.
9. Strengthens the heart and regulates blood pressure
10. Revitalizes the blood
11. Gives abdominal muscle control
12. Stimulates all physiological functions
13. Reduces stress and anxiety
14. Develops a positive state of mind as the breath and mind are interrelated
15. Aids in balancing the emotions
16. Increases circulation to the head
17. Deepens concentration by listening to the sound of the breath
18. Provides steady oxygenation. Increases the elimination of toxins from the lungs
19. Slows the breath and increases breath retention
20. Strengthens the heart and lungs and creates good communication between them
21. Heats the body and energizes the mind
22. Relieves Sinus congestion, headaches, nausea, and other imbalances
23. Cleanses the air passages
24. Removes impurities from the lungs, purifying the blood
25. Cleans residual air from the lungs
26. Helps cells eliminate carbon dioxide while becoming saturated with oxygen
27. Stimulates cellular respiration, which produces warmth throughout the body
28. Strengthens the diaphragm and circulation on blood
29. Gives control over abdominal muscles while reducing excess fatty tissues in this area
30. Calms the nervous system
31. Invigorates the pineal and pituitary glands
32. Increases the lung capacity
33. Steadies and calms the mind
34. Balances the male (rational) and the female (intuitive) energies, bringing good physical and mental health to the body and mind
35. Creates alpha brain waves


The average number of breaths per minute is 15.
The average number of breaths in 24 hours is 21,600
Slowing the breath down can increase the life span.

METHOD

• Inhale, slowly breathing into the base of the lungs with a full breath.
• Breathe into every space of the lungs.
• Exhale, releasing the breath in a slow and steady stream.

Give full attention to your breath and notice what you are experiencing physically, as well as what you are feeling, thinking and doing.
Notice the relaxation that occurs within your body and mind and draw on this tranquil feeling by bringing awareness to the rhythmic flow of the breath at any time that you feel that you have moved from a point of peace.

Om Shanti Peace

Copyright 2009 Margaret Stockley

PEACE AND HARMONY

Create Peace and Harmony Within Your Thoughts.

PEACE AND HARMONY

A life that is over-worked, stressed, and flits from one crisis to another is usually a life that is living in confusion and chaos with a mind in inner turmoil. If prolonged, this can lead to accidents, illnesses, and unhappiness and no knowledge of a way out of the present situation.

The demands of daily living are not exactly conducive to a life of tranquility but every day you are presented with a myriad of choices.
If you were to monitor your thoughts, would they be assertive, encouraging, affirmative, hopeful, loving to your self or other people or even towards situations?

When you are relaxed and happy, you put others at ease too. Plus, other people like to be around you as your positive energy level rises and in turn, people feel happier when they are around you too.

A peace and harmony meditation allows you to develop calm and peaceful feelings that you can feel within yourself as well as emit to the world in general. As clarity of mind evolves, you discover that through the inner silence you can discern how to utilize your thoughts for the better.

As more people learn how to meditate upon peace and draw harmony and serenity to themselves, their meditation practice will allow more people to live in tranquility.

AFFIRMATIONS
As always, choose affirmations that feel appropriate to you. Feel free to create an affirmation that's suitable to you by asking yourself the following question:
What do you want?

This will help you to create affirmations that assert your purpose and therefore have special meaning to you.
It is important that the words you use are your own or that they feel comfortable to you.
Once you become familiar with using an affirmation, you can create your own ones, based on your specific needs on a day-to-day basis.
The affirmations presented below are a suggestion and I encourage you to change the language and content to better fit what is happening in your own life.

I choose to see only the best in myself and other people
I am happy with who I am
I bring light and love to everyone I meet
I take time every day to meditate
I think, say, and do supportive and loving thoughts and actions

IN PRACTICE
The stillness of your mind will evolve and become natural through contemplation of all the energies that are positive and stem from love.
Developing a single point of focus through both meditation and the practice of affirmations will silence the worries and fears that prevent you from remaining calm and living in peace and harmony.
When you focus only on what is good, there is no room for negativity to set up residence and so it will dissolve away.
Loving kindness will flow through you and surround you, and extend to everyone that you come into contact with.

Om Shanti Peace

Meditation and Light

Life has ebbs and flows and can change direction when you least expect it.

Change continues to be a theme for today as so many people that I have been meeting at the moment are finding that aspects of their lives have ended and new opportunities are beginning. Quite what the future holds is uncertain, but the ability to embrace change while remaining accepting and calm with the transformation that is now occurring.

Last week, one friend so eloquently said the following words:

“change is a part of the flow~ change is always life~ change is moving the life”

While plans and strategies are useful to help us to focus and aim for goals, the curve balls that sometimes head our way mean that we do have to move out of the way and head in a different direction. This does not mean that the path you have been following is wrong; rather it may simply mean that it has run its comfortable familiar course and now it’s time for new growth, challenges, and opportunities.

It can be hard to know why a situation has occurred, but meditation helps you to recognize what needs to change and what needs to stay. This change may have happened suddenly, but for many people it is a gradual and slow development.

Before you enter your meditation session, invite the spirit of truth to enter your awareness. This spirit will lead you to the light and guide you on your next path of this journey.
Maintain focus on the light within and trust that what is revealed during your meditation will continue to direct you during your everyday life.

Following your meditation practice, it’s always helpful to remember that change will happen regardless of our desire to maintain the status quo.

Every moment becomes a meditation moment as you continue to walk in and follow the light.

The Optimist Creed

Today is Info Friday where I highlight anything that is relevant to meditation. I’m not involved in any of these products or areas. They are simply something that I thought was interesting and thought you might enjoy too.

Christian Daa Larson, of Norwegian extraction, was born in Iowa in 1874. He wrote The Optimist Creed almost one hundred years ago in 1912 in his book Your Forces and How to Use Them. It was adopted as Optimist International's creed in 1922. Many have found inspiration in The Optimist Creed. In hospitals, the creed has been used to help patients recover from illness. In locker rooms, coaches have used it to motivate their players.

Whether this creed is new to you, or something that you have read but forgotten about, I hope that you enjoy its message as much as I do.

The Optimist’s Creed by Christian D. Larson

Promise Yourself -
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best and expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

1912, "Your Forces and How to Use Them." -Christian D. Larson

Embracing Change

A single iris surrounded by other plants.

Seeds of Hope

Change is unpredictable and this means that on occasions it can sometimes be scary. Fear of the unknown is a very common emotion as there can be comfort in what is familiar to us, whether it is in the people that we know, our routine, or even our view from our house.

Seeing change from a different perspective not only changes your point of view, sometimes literally, but a different thought can enable your to see that even a small change has the potential to lead to something spectacular.

Meditation affects our perception, our awareness of time, and by promoting a positive mental state enables us to be free from negativity that both creates and arises from disorder and chaos.

Give full attention to what you are experiencing physically, and what you are feeling, thinking and doing.  Nature is always changing and there are daily miracles of life everywhere.

You may like to use some of the following affirmations to remind you of the source of all creation and your unique connection to it as a means of embracing change and seeking the seeds of hope.

• I am divinely guided in all I do
• I expect life to give me what is best for me
• I am open to receive the abundant good that God has for me
• God is the source of all that is good
• When I focus on only the positive in my life, I summon all that is for my highest good, and receive what I truly need right now.

Weekly Meditation Newsletter
http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/tools/view_newsletter.php?newsletter_id=1410045011

POSITIVE CHANGE

Athletes have to stay focused!

Meditation helps you to control your emotions and focus your attention.
Thought patterns become more focused and you gain the ability to increase your attention, self-analyze, and both recognize and permanently remove unhealthy tendencies.  Overcoming distractions occurs when you recognize when the mind is wandering and know how to take the necessary steps in order to achieve a continuous conscious flow.

There are five states of attention:

1. Restlessness with fluctuating attention
2. laziness with no motivation
3. distraction by internal or external events
4. single focused concentration with flowing energy
5. continuous flawless concentration

This awareness enables you to choose to create your best life. You are not stuck with the life-pattern and thought-pattern that you currently have.  Change is possible.  Putting new thoughts into new actions is not just about producing a new way of thinking though.  Through self-direction, you decide how to follow through with your thoughts and what your actions are going to be.
With knowledge of the five stages of attention you can see what you need to alter in order to move to a calmer and steady state of mind.

What are you willing to alter in your own life in order to achieve positive change?


I co-publish a free weekly meditation newsletter and this week's newsletter is available at the attached link.  Check it out and sign up to have it delivered to your in-box every week.

Weekly Meditation Newsletter

POSITIVE MEDITATION

Short-term stressful situations can be fun!

 

While short term stress can be fun, long-term stress can create life-threatening diseases.  Stress creates an increase in the production of cortisol which in turn leads to further inflammation, raising blood pressure and inflammation. Studies show that being happy and seeing the positive side of life leads to less stress, lower blood-pressure, and fewer incidences of cardiovascular disease.

According to Dr Hilary Tindle, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, pessimism may be as bad as having high blood pressure, a contributing factor of heart disease.

In one study that followed women over an 8 year period, optimistic women had a 9% lower risk of developing heart disease and a 14% lower risk of dying compared to those who were pessimistic in their overall view of life.

Positive Attitude

If meditation is fairly new to you, you may find that interruptions in your flow of thoughts will occur. You suddenly find that your mind has gone off at a tangent. Remain the observer, without opinions, and return to the rhythmic flow of your breath to draw your awareness inward.

Stay with your breath as other thoughts arise and observe them without following them.
Pay attention to any emotions that appear as these will help you hone your self-awareness and introspection.
Release any negative emotions and concentrate on the growing space between thoughts and emotions.
Feel the growing peace that emerges from within you.
Merge with this peace.

Allow all energy that arises through your meditation practice to flow.
Be open to all that you may experience.
Remain the observer.

Negative thoughts draw more negative energy to you; however it is possible to create new and better pathways within your brain with far-reaching consequences. Carry an affirmative thought with you every day to remind you to stay optimistic.

I choose to be grateful
I choose to be kind
I choose to give love
I choose to feel joy
I choose to see the good within
I choose to be happy

HeartMath

Red roses are a symbol of love.

Today is Info Friday where I highlight anything that is relevant to meditation. I’m not involved in any of these products or areas. They are simply something that I thought was interesting and thought you might enjoy too.

Since 1991, the Institute of HeartMath has conducted research showing that your emotions work faster than, and are even more powerful than, your thoughts.
Located south of San Francisco in Boulder Creek, California, the Institute has focused its work on the heart and have proven that the heart is more important to your body’s overall health, affecting not only the heart’s health but cognitive and brain function too.

Being able to feel positively, not by how you are thinking, but by how you are feeling emotionally from your heart, directly impacts your overall health.
This is amazing research because current studies tend to look at the heart or the brain, or any other organ in isolation. This research is studying the heart and demonstrates the correlation between memory, thoughts, the effect on the heart, and the release of chemicals which in turn affect the body with either detrimental or positive results.

Research director Rollin McCraty notes, “Meditation is mainly geared towards consciously separating yourself from the reality around you. That has totally different physical consequences than our approach, which is geared towards actively adding positive energy to a particular situation.”

With the help of the electroencephalogram’s (EEG), HeartMath uses an innovative biofeedback system that shows a study participant the immediate benefits to their body when they recall a happy memory. Synchronization of the heart beat occurs instantly helping to alleviate the negative effects of stress-related diseases. In turn, this makes it easier to encourage and motivate people to behave positively and to counter negative thoughts and situations.

At HeartMath, they have found that it’s the rhythm of the heartbeat that counts, not the number of beats per minute. McCraty explains, “With every heartbeat, information is supplied that affects our emotions, our physical health and the quality of our lives.”
A different heart rhythm leads to an alteration in chemical, electrical, and neurological reactions.

The Institute has published many papers and their website has lots of information about the founders, currents research, and the exciting results that they are uncovering

For further information sheck out their website. 
www.heartmath.com

Summary
The research is astounding and ongoing. Living a life of love, remaining positive, and seeing the best in yourself and the world around you does affect you in ways that you may not have considered.

HeartMath’s slogan is "A change of heart changes everything."

Will you have a change of heart?

POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS

 

Let your thoughts drift on by, like sail boats on a lake.

The mind can only think one thought at a time and the same goes for concentration.
Try it!
This means that you can only give full attention to one thing at a time, despite the people who insist that they can multi-task quite effectively. Duties and responsibilities would be completed more efficiently when one item at a time is finished before moving onto the next.

Distractions, either physical or mental, prevent you from successfully concluding the daily to-do list. Other thoughts, such as the criticizing voice inside you, can discourage you from trying new things.
By focusing the mind on a positive repetitive word or phrase you automatically begin to quieten your mind and teach it to focus.

Have you ever found yourself settling down to gaze at the ocean or listen to music only to find that all the other images and sounds have disappeared because you have drifted so deeply into the view before you or have followed the notes of the music so intently?

Using an affirmation has a similar effect of inducing deep concentration and single pointed focus. It also has the additional benefit of promoting positive thoughts and behavior by blocking out negative beliefs and opinions that creep in when you least expect them to.

Create your own affirmations that best suit your own daily needs using positive affirmative language. Repeat an affirmation whenever you feel or catch yourself thinking or saying a negative thought.

Positive Affirmations

I always receive everything that is for my highest good
I am divinely guided in all I do
I am always in the right place at the right time
I am safe and always feel protected.
I am at peace
I am at peace with myself
I am always living in harmony
I am filled with Love

GUIDED MEDITATION: SPIRITUALITY

Guided Meditation: Spirituality
Finding time for yourself is hard due to the demands of work, volunteering, or keeping up with family needs. Lack of time for one’s self impacts many facets of your life including blocking you from cultivating your spirituality. Constant distractions and feeling pulled in many directions doesn’t even give you the quiet moments that you need to figure out who you are, where you want to go in life, and what you actually believe in.

Meditation is a wonderful method that enables you to gain time for yourself as well as reap the health benefits. Your life energy shifts in an upward direction by gaining insight into how to live in the moment and to reduce the impact of life’s pressures with calmness and self-control. You accept what life sends your way and recognize what you can change and what you cannot. All of the past samskaras, or imprints of the mind, are released and you learn how to view life from a different perspective.

Imagine the many ways that meditation can create transform your life by altering your perspective. A strengthened mind and actions continues to foster thought-patterns that nurture the positive qualities that you desire, while also deepening your understanding of your spiritual needs and what you need to do in order to grow in your divinity.
Know that your deepened spirituality is one of enhanced wisdom and connection.

Spirituality Meditation

Sitting or lying down, depending on your physical abilities, close your eyes gently and focus on creating a rhythmic flow of breath.

Let your arms rest loosely by your sides, or place your hands face up on your lap.

With each inhalation, breathe in the unique blessing of life.
As you exhale, release the breath in a slow and steady stream.
Feel tension and stress leave the body on the breath.
Slow the breath down even further with each inhale and exhale.

Focus your awareness on your heart.
Give thanks for being alive and for all your experiences.
Acknowledge that life is a blessing.
With each inhalation, feel the connection to the source of the energy of each breath.

Continue with this rhythmic breath until a feeling of peace flows over you.
Peace and love fill every part of your body.
The source of this peace is your spiritual home which you will return to one day.

With each inhale, draw the peace and love through you and as you exhale, send the peace and love out into the world.

Know that it is the soul and not the ego self that is connected to the love.
The deeper your meditation practice, the more you release attachment to the physical self and connect to the source of love.
Letting go of the concept of and worldly limitations of the self enables you to accept the presence and guidance of God.

Your enhanced spirituality brings freedom and the knowledge that your spiritual self is not the physical self and is unchanging and unaffected by the world.
Utilize the peace that exists within you by cultivating peace at every opportunity being a messenger of peace.
Continue to meditate with awareness of God and the love that surrounds you.
As you maintain this heightened awareness and consciousness, you become a beacon of love and peace as the peace of God fills you and emanates from you.

Om Shanti Peace

Affirmation: Positive Reality

 Rainbow: a positive sign and promise of sunshine

Affirmation: Positive Reality
No one has control over your thoughts except yourself. Your hope, wishes, even your imagination are all within your own power to direct their energy in one path or another.
Studies show that the mind can not discern between what it has actually seen and what it is seeing via your imagination.

The mind can be “tricked” into believing a memory that is simply created as though it has actually been experienced.

So, what do you want to create today?

Use your imagination to generate a reality that is positive, loving, and all that you desire. This is not a make-believe type of imagining, but a means of creating more positivity and constructive actions that in turn generates affirmative thoughts and actions. Gradually, you develop the habit of thinking positively, seeing opportunities rather than obstacles, and being the type of person that people want to be around because they feel good by being in your presence.

You always have a choice about how you are going to react to the world. For example, take a look around you at the room that you are sitting in. What do you notice? Do you pay attention to the fact that it is comfortable and are appreciative of having a home?
Or do you choose to think about the chores that need to be done?

Try to pay attention and catch yourself mid-thought whenever you find that a thought has appeared that does not promote the environment that you want.

Creating a Positive Reality

Use affirmations either as part of your meditation practice or carry them with you and repeat them throughout the day whenever you catch yourself thinking a negative thought.
Over time, your affirmations will have a positive effect and transform not only your behavior but generate an assuredness of self-worth and contentment.

Positive Affirmations

My thoughts are creating the reality that I desire
My imagination creates what I believe
I am now achieving my goals
My affirmations are creating habits in keeping with my objectives

Meditation with objects

 

Rocks are a solid connection to the earth.

Meditation can help you achieve self-awareness and greater insight into the world around you.
Additional benefits include relaxation, lowered blood pressure, and a reduction in stress-levels which are clinically proven to promote better health.
Meditation involves training the mind to be in the present moment and words, objects, and images all help in bringing the mind into a calm and steady state.

Maintaining single-pointed awareness occurs with regular practice and one of the easiest methods is to imagine an object that will give the mind something solid to focus on.
Meditation is pleasurable and should be free from struggle but all to often the mind wanders as thoughts intrude and people give up, thinking that they can’t meditate.

Begin slowly. Start with a few seconds, then minutes, until you find that you are able to sit still with the mind rested and enjoying the experience for as long as you need in order to complete your meditation session.

Solid State
Using your imagination, visualize a rock. It can be any shape, size, or color. The choice is yours as this is your meditation.
Using images and objects from nature are a natural organic choice as they ground you by maintaining a connection to the earth.
Focus on your imagined rock. See it; explore its shape and all its features. How shiny or dull is it. What other aspects do you see? How does it feel beneath your fingers as you imagine touching it. Is it rough or smooth, warm or cold?
Is the rock a solitary object or do you see other rocks with it?

Play around with this image as you notice the solid permanence of the rock. What is the environment that the rock is situated in; a desert, a garden, a river?

There is no right or wrong way to practice this meditation technique.
Use it for as many meditation sessions as you would like and gradually you will find that you can both enter into and remain in a state of meditation with ease.

Transcendental Meditation

Today is Info Friday where I highlight anything that is relevant to meditation. I’m not involved in any of these products or areas. They are simply something that I thought was interesting and thought you might enjoy too.

David Lynch is a well-known film producer and his current project is taking him into areas far from the world of Hollywood. As one of the biggest proponents of Transcendental Meditation, (TM) he is promoting TM through concerts and videos using well-known musicians such as Paul McCartney and Sheryl Crow via his David Lynch Foundation.
David has practiced meditation for decades and believes it has helped him tremendously in his career and also by increasing his creativity and intuition.

David is currently raising funds to place TM in schools and using his foundation to support Universities of World Peace that will “train the coming generation in a new profession: that of professional peacemaker.”

These schools are open to everyone, regardless of culture or religion and by offering a Consciousness-Based education to children in both elementary and high schools, he believes that a strong foundation for a healthy, harmonious, and peaceful world can be created. Funding is also being streamed into colleges that specialize in this form of meditation, offering classes on philosophy and aspects of meditation and spirituality.

He states, “In today’s world of fear and uncertainty, every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence—bliss—the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us. This is the way to save the coming generation.”

Dr William Stixrud, Ph.D., is a clinical neuropsychologist in Silver Spring, Maryland, and specializes in working with children and adolescents. He has studied and lectured frequently on the effects of stress on the brain, particularly the developing brain. “The effects of stress are not pretty. Not only does stress interfere with functions such as attention, memory, organization, and integration, but prolonged stress actually kills brain cells and shrinks the brain’s main memory structures.”

Studies show that schools where the students and teachers participate in meditation are generally free from bullying and aggression. Students are calm, grades improve, and there is an overall positive feeling within the schools.
This program is an innovative tool to eliminate stress and promote healthier physical and learning environments for both students and teachers.

In the following video David explains why meditation and TM in particular, is so important to him personally and why he believes it is important for the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2UHLMVr4vg

Transcendental Meditation has been successfully implemented in public and private schools and in after-school programs across the U.S. and around the world, with thousands of students enjoying its benefits (see www.mum.edu).

What role does meditation play in your life and what do you think about schools integrating meditation into the curriculum?

AFFIRMATION:WATER

A single raindrop merges with the ocean.
Likewise, we are all connected to the Source.

The five elements of nature; earth, water, fire, air, and ether exist within our own body and cycle through us every 59 minutes. The last minute of this hourly cycle is where the potential for the subtle feminine energy called kundalini can awaken and give rise to both self-knowledge and a higher knowledge.

Water is a basic element of life and sustains us and mirrors our own existence on earth.
Life has a natural flow and we are carried along gently in its wake when we conserve our energy and realize what we cannot change and what we can and should ably resist.

Each one of us has unique qualities that enable us to go with the ebb and flow of life, just as water ebbs and flows along its own path moving over rocks and bumps, twists and turns, and soaring and shallow depths.

Water moves slowly or fast, depending on the terrain, and flows continually until it reaches its final destination where it blends with a large body of water or dissolves into the earth or air.

A river begins with a single raindrop that merges with others until it forms a powerful force that returns eventually to the source from where it started.

Likewise, we are born from a source of love and will return to that special place when our life has completed its flow. Disruption in the flow occurs when we waste our energy struggling to maintain the status quo and staying in the past rather than going where life is taking us. Belief in our separateness and individuality creates difficulties and we end up wrestling with the natural course of life. There are challenges to be overcome such as changes in our health, our environment, or people that we love passing on, but acceptance helps us to flow through life and acknowledge the connection that we have, one to another, and one to the universe. We are all connected and will return to the source one day where we will be re-united.

The water element has much to teach us; from its clarity and purity when it is healthy, to its darkness and odor when it is undrinkable. Look at areas where you can cleanse your life and be like the water element, rolling and flowing with grace and ease, compassion and love.

AFFIRMATION:

I am part of something larger than myself
I live in a loving universe
I am filled with the light and love of God
I am in harmony with the Universe

What role does meditation or affirmation play in your life?

Centering Meditation

Focus on your inner center to create the changes you desire

One of my favorite methods of meditation is Centering Meditation.
This is a simple method that makes positive use of the energy contained within the body in order to create affirmative changes within the mind and the body.
Whenever stressful or challenging periods are encountered, centering allows the self to quickly overcome potentially difficult situations and prevent negative and detrimental effects from occurring. Anxiety is released, the muscles of the body relax, and breathing slows down, promoting clarity of thought.

Method
If possible, sit in a comfortable position with the legs folded so that your body makes a triangle shape from both knees to the crown of the head with the spine as a conduit for energy to travel from base of spine to crown of head.

Draw awareness inward to the belly and focus on the flow of the breath
Notice the rate and rhythm of the breath
Slow the breath down until it becomes slow, steady, and even
Inhale with a deep breath, feeling the abdomen expand
Exhale, breathing all the way out by drawing the navel to the back of the spine to assist with the exhalation
Let the abdominal muscles relax before beginning your next inhalation

Continue with this deep breathing technique for about 30 breaths, staying focused on the flow of the breath into and out of the center of the body

Breathe away any tension in the body
If the mind wanders, simply return to the flow of the breath and the center of the body

As you maintain steady focus on this deep centering breathing, the body continues to relax from the base of the spine to the crown of the head

Now, with each inhale, draw peace through whole body and feel stillness and serenity flow effortlessly through you as obstacles release via the exhalation

Continue until you feel completely relaxed, peaceful, with no attachment to troubles or tension.

This meditation method hones the mind away from stressful situations while releasing toxins via the flow of the breath. Oxygenated air passes into the deepest parts of the lungs where it replenishes the body.
Try it at bedtime to experience a restful sleep, and in the morning for heightened intuition and expanded awareness.
Combining pranayama techniques with meditation in this manner strengthens, balances, and increases energy in both your body and mind.

POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS

POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS

Affirmations Tuesdays and Thursdays)

To maximize the effects of affirmations, it is important to identify the core values that lie deep within you. These embedded ideas and deep-seated beliefs can either nurture you and produce good feelings or promote a mind-set of unworthiness.

Through regular meditation and self-inquiry each one of us can discover who we really are and what we truly need. We will slowly peel away the layers so that we can accept who we are without judgment and uphold the values that benefit ourselves and the world around us.

The two are interconnected, like a parent and offspring, as how we think and act affects not only our personal life but all that we come in contact with. We do not know how deeply our actions will affect another yet if we are knowledgeable about what lies at our very core, we can attract more of what we enjoy into our lives.

Promote clear and positive feelings by seeing yourself as honest, kind, and compassionate in all that you think, say, and do.
Thoughts have their own unique energy. Use the power of your words to create only that which is positive for you.

See yourself feeling strengthened and invigorated as you awaken in the morning. Smile and embrace the start of this new day.
Hear yourself welcoming the potential that this glorious day will bring.
See yourself succeeding in whatever tasks you need to fulfill.

“I am successful in all that I do.”

AFFIRMATION

AFFIRMATION

(Affirmations every Tuesday and Thursday)

Some affirmations will need to be carried with you for a few days or even longer until you feel/know that you have achieved what you wanted.

As always, choose affirmations that feel appropriate to you. Feel free to create an affirmation that's suitable to you by asking yourself the following question:

What do I want to …?

This will help you to create affirmations that assert your purpose and therefore have special meaning to you.

It is important that the words you use are your own or that they feel comfortable to you.

Once you become familiar with using an affirmation, you can create your own ones, based on your specific needs on a day-to-day basis.

The affirmations presented below are a suggestion and I encourage you to change the language and content to better fit what is happening in your own life.

TODAY'S AFFIRMATION

FREEDOM TO BE WHO YOU ARE

As an adult, we have the ability to choose what to cling to and what to release from our life.

We also have the ability to view the world and other people from one perspective or another, e.g. as kind and loving or troubled and unlovable.

Nothing remains the same, and happiness is achieved by acceptance of the changes and perceived imperfections as well as by a realization that in the impermanence of life only the Creator is constant and unchanging.

• I have the freedom to find out who I am
• I forgive who I was in the past
• I accept what is happening and trust that all will be well
• I know that I am a loving person and that I am loved
• I am responsible for developing my own spirituality

Guided Meditation:Relaxation

Open the window of the mind to experience full relaxation

It is useful to record your guided meditations onto a recording device so that you can fully concentrate on the sounds and images without the distraction of having to read the next sentence or paragraph.
I have endeavored to write the guided meditations into useful chunks that are relatively easy to memorize.

The general idea is to eventually take the image, and permit your mind to travel to the tranquil place that exists within your mind’s eye. No two people will “see” or experience the same meditation even though the y are following the same guided meditation because your experiences and memories are different. It is your own visualization. Let it be unique to you and allow the images to flow.

Take your time during each visualization. Spend as long as you would like to or need to in one image, developing it fully before moving on.

GUIDED MEDITATION: RELAXATION

Sitting or lying down, depending on your physical abilities, close your eyes gently and focus on creating a rhythmic flow of breath.

Let your arms rest loosely by your sides, or place your hands face up on your lap.

With each inhalation, breathe in the richness of life.
As you exhale, release the breath in a slow and steady stream.
Feel tension and stress leave the body on the breath.
Slow the breath down even further with each inhale and exhale.

Focus on the crown of your head.
In your mind’s eye, notice your scalp and feel the skin in the top of your head relax.

Move slowly to your eyebrows. Relax the forehead and facial muscles.
Consciously release all anxiety, allowing the facial muscles to relax.

Purse your lips for 3 seconds and release.
Let you mouth relax into its natural form. This can mean that the lips are closed, or slightly apart. Ensure that the jaw is relaxed and not clenched.

Continue down to your neck and shoulders. Shrug the shoulders and let them go.
Feel the relaxing energy travel slowly down your arms to the tips of your fingers.

Feel peace fill the inner space where tension once resided as the upper limbs relax.

Move to your hips. This is often a place of deep-seated stress and anxiety.
With each exhalation, breathe all tension and worry away through the body and out through the toes.
Feel the connection to the ground beneath your feet.
Feel supported and grounded by the union.

Feel relaxed and contented.

Stay in your relaxed state until you feel that it is time to return to your day’s duties.

Slowly bring awareness back to your body.
Allow the eyes to open.
Keep the breath calm and steady, the body relaxed.
Feel recharged, invigorated, and contented.

Know that you can return to this peaceful safe place simply by closing your eyes and following the breath’s journey.
It resides deep within you.

With practice, you will restore balance and harmony simply by returning to a calm and peaceful flow of breath.
Embrace your ability make contentment a daily reality.

AFFIRMATION

September 1st marked the 6th month since I started the meditation blog.
The blog continues to evolve and grow and over the coming weeks I wanted to begin to formalize the daily postings.
I will continue to write Monday through Friday except when on vacation or traveling due to work obligations.
Mondays and Wednesdays will have a guided meditation and Tuesdays and Thursdays will have an affirmation. Fridays will have either an uplifting message or information about a technique or other method that I have tried and found beneficial.

AFFIRMATION

As always, choose affirmations that feel appropriate to you. Feel free to create an affirmation that's suitable to you by asking yourself the following question:
What do you want?

This will help you to create affirmations that assert your purpose and therefore have special meaning to you.
It is important that the words you use are your own or that they feel comfortable to you.
Once you become familiar with using an affirmation, you can create your own ones, based on your specific needs on a day-to-day basis.
The affirmations presented below are a suggestion and I encourage you to change the language and content to better fit what is happening in your own life.

GRATITUDE

An integral part of any affirmation is to believe that it will happen.
If this does not come naturally to you, an easy way to learn this is to practice feeling as if it has already happened by imagining what it will feel like.
I always follow up any affirmation with an expression of gratitude, whether it’s a simple “Thank You” or a more lengthy prayer or communication of thanks.

Today I choose to believe rather than hope.
Divine guidance is with me always.
There are opportunities for deeper insight in all of my interactions.
I am willing to grow. Love is my guide

TODAY’S AFFIRMATIONS

• I am successful in all that I do
• I recognize the infinite wisdom within me
• I now surrender to the will of God