INNER KNOWLEDGE

Inner Knowledge; Harnessing the Senses for Peace, Balance, and Health is available in print through all major stores such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com

Filled with cutting-edge research for a non-yoga audience you don’t have to practice yoga to reap the benefits!

The following is an extract from Chapter 2 Mind Into Matter.

You Can Choose Your Thoughts

Psychiatrist Jeffrey Schwartz combined the science of neuroplasticity with quantum physics to help people with obsessive-compulsive disorder adjust what and how they think and thereby learn to respond in new ways.

During his research he made an extraordinary discovery; that these patients were able to achieve lasting change because of their new-found ability to refocus their attention on positive thoughts and behaviors which in turn transformed the neuropathways in their brains.

Schwartz conceived the concept and practice of “self-directed mental force” based on his own personal practice of meditation, along with using the concepts of quantum physics.

Self-directed mental force is a process where the mind forges new connections in the brain simply by changing undesirable thoughts into more constructive and positive ones.

Perspective Awareness Transformation works similarly by allowing you to let go of the old perspective that does not work so that you can consciously make new and healthy choices in thought and deed, and in doing so, transform yourself. 

You are not your thoughts and this means you are not bound to your current thinking.

New perspectives are born from new ways of thinking and new ways of thinking are the cause for and the result of conscious awareness...

Click on INNER KNOWLEDGE for more information, 

Four Key Steps to Silencing Self-Talk

Scientists at the University of Toronto-Scarborough have studied the important role that the inner voice plays in controlling impulsive behavior.

They examined inner conversations such as “keep running when tired, stop eating even though you want one more slice of cake, or don’t have an argument.”

In one test, participants were shown different symbols on a computer screen and were told to press a button if they saw one type of symbol and to refrain from pressing the button if they saw a different symbol.

There were actually more “press” than “don’t press” examples in order to make the act of pressing the button an impulsive and repetitive response.

Repeating a word over and over in order to gauge any impact on their ability to do the test also blocked the participants “inner voice”. The repetition prevented any self-talk that would aid self-control resulting in impulsive behavior.

Researchers suggest that the correlation between mindfulness and self-regulation is perhaps the least surprising of the findings reported in mindfulness studies, because your level of mindfulness will in fact predict self-regulation in all aspects of your life.

The research shows that it is not possible to control behaviors that you are unaware of therefore mindfulness may increase not only awareness of your own personal behavior but it may also improve your ability to self-regulate your behavior beginning with your thoughts.

In yoga philosophy there are progressively four states of the body and mind that an individual gains mastery over:

• first is control of the physical body
• second is control of the breath
• third is control of the senses
• and finally there is control of the mind.

Conscious awareness of thoughts, feelings, and emotions quietens the internal chatter of imaginary conversations and halts the playback of events based on interactions with other people that did not go as expected or was based on an imagined “sensing” of how other people felt.

The consequence of rising to external influences or emerging thoughts creates erratic spikes in emotions, feelings, and reactions, which in turn affect the energy that flows in waves through each of us.

With awareness, the senses enable us to be mindful of what we are thinking and feeling; whether we are demonstrating empathy for example, or whether our actions or non-actions are appropriate.

Simply put, mindfulness enables you to discern what you are thinking first and to respond accordingly, with no more speaking (or doing) before you think.

This heightened level of awareness also teaches the body and mind to relax by monitoring the senses fully and expanding mindfulness in all mental and physical activities. It allows you to release attachment to outmoded beliefs and use a clear perspective based upon what you actually perceive rather than having living life clouded by bias or emotions.

When you practice the action of awareness you will end up with the results of your conscious choices.

Affirmations
When you are exposed to a specific event, it is how your mind reacts that determines the response, rather than the actual event itself. When you are aware of the power of your intention and how it shapes yourself and the world around you, you recognize how uncontrolled emotions can keep you tied down in the very place you are struggling to get away from.

The past has no hold over me

I am in control of my thoughts and emotions

I make conscious decisions to follow one path or another

My life is brimming with bright choices and overflowing with joy and happiness.

Finding Your Self: This Is Who I Really Am

Sometimes what we perceive is a mirror reflection of who we are.

Do you like what you see?

As always, thank you to everyone around the world who follows my writing and thank you again for forwarding the blog link to friends.

Happiness and friendship is never diminished because it is shared.

Margaret

Finding Your Self
In the early 1980’s, Dr Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. worked as a family therapist. During his sessions with clients, he began to notice that some clients, those with eating disorders, would have internal dialogues with a pessimistic part of themselves that was either urging them to eat or purge the food from their body. As he explored this further with one client called “Diane”, he discovered that he was not talking to what he perceived as Diane, but to a part of her that was constantly engaged in an on-going war with a pessimistic voice that was constantly telling her that she was hopeless. When he asked her to directly inquire why the pessimist was always saying this, it said that it was protecting her from taking risks and getting hurt. Diane felt that this voice made her life a continuous struggle.

As he explored further, he discovered that there was also an angry voice inside Diane that pushed her to achieve while the pessimist voice told her she was hopeless. He invited her to ask the angry voice to “step-back” and to tell him how she now felt toward the negative voice. He reports that Diane immediately responded gently, in a more relaxed manner and compassionate state, appreciating the negative voice for caring about her, for trying to protect her, and for having to work so hard to make itself heard.

From that point on it was easy for Diane to handle the pessimist and to deal with her situation.

Dr Schwartz conducted on-going research into the inner voices with many of his clients. Upon reaching the calm, compassionate state they all gave, in their own words, the same response;
I am not like those other voices,
This is who I really am,
That’s my Self.

For the next twenty years, he has refined his research into teaching clients to reach their Selves. Likewise, he teaches therapists to also release baggage and perceived agendas and to get in touch with their real Self through his Center for Self Leadership (CSL) which has trained over 10,000 people in this approach since 2000.

Self-Awareness
We have all heard the inner voices that Dr Schwarz identified; the ones that discourage, ridicule, or worse. There are several clinical methods that can be used to declutter the mind from the constant static and to heighten awareness of the Self.

Just as research into the Self is now accepted and funded in America, meditation has also been researched with even deeper research examining the effect of meditation within the DNA of cells. Today’s technology enables us to see the physiological and chemical changes that occur throughout the whole body.

Self-Reflection
In many cultures, the Self was already known and spiritual and philosophical ideas arose through the practice of being in contact with the Self.

Meditation has been used for thousands of years for self-reflection, self-awareness, healing, enlightenment and connecting with the Self. It draws your attention away from a particular object or illness to an overall knowledge and feeling of inner calmness and peace. The mind concentrates less on individual problems or issues and settles instead on promoting an inward focus, enabling the mind and the body to experience a profound state of restfulness. In turn, the brain becomes balanced, while the mind and body move beyond thinking, to simply being.

Yet many people live their life following the same routines and habits, sometime without remembering why, and don’t know why or how to begin making simple changes that will bring positive transformation to their professional and personal lives.

Meditation
Meditation allows a heightened state of awareness to evolve and with this newfound clarity comes an understanding of needs, purpose, and the ability to implement change with confidence. Thoughts lessen as the mind develops inner vision and learns how to develop single-pointed focus. Like most things in life, meditation takes practice but it can easily be learned bringing with it the rewards of purpose and self awareness.

This increased level of awareness helps practitioners make subtle changes in diet, activity, and other lifestyle choices while improving interactions through enhanced empathy, understanding, and greater perception of life situations.

Affirmation

Affirmations are powerful statements about what you want to create in your life.
Balance your actions with awareness of thoughts and clarity of vision.
Noticing how and when you respond to situations gives you the ability to choose your thoughts and subsequent actions.
Envisage a clear and positive outline for your future by retaining only that which is positive and beneficial to you.

With each inhalation I breathe in ….. (what you need)

With each exhalation I release …..(what you don’t need)

I pay attention to why I think what I do

I pay attention to why I do what I do

I pay attention to how I affect the world around me

I am filled with love and happiness

Guided Meditation: Concentration

Today's meditation provides you with one method of training the mind to focus, also known as concentration, in order to promote a positive frame of mind, inner calm, and control over thoughts and actions.

Meditation does not just enable you as the practitioner to experience peace and ultimately bliss.
Through introspection, or learning to simply be in the present moment, you release "stuff" that you may not even have been aware of carrying around with you.  This differs from person to person and has names like obstacles or blockages.

Your confidence and self-assurance increases as you train the mind to achieve single-pointed focus by silently observing what's actually going on inside the mind.
In this way you will catch yourself during your everyday activities and stop negative thoughts and actions from going any further. You can then identify and release the obstacles as they arise.

During meditation, as you discard the patterns of thought that you no longer need, you will experience moments of joy that become longer and longer. You fill the void left by the obstacle that is now gone with feelings of love and peace.

This feels good, makes you happy, plus your relationships, whether business or personal, improve because you become known as a person that motivates, inspires, and lives their life by example.

It's a gradual upward movement.

Positive cycles like this not only make you want to keep on meditating, but help you to uncover answers and even discover your life's purpose.  Meditation is not a chore, but something that you actually look forward to doing.

You are an amazing individual and a world of endless possibilites awaits you.
Only you can take charge of what you think.
With meditation you will help to create a brighter future by letting go of outdated patterns of behavior.
Get to know yourself better, find out who you are, and uncover your deepest needs.
Be at peace by knowing that your spirit is bigger than anything that flows your way.

With the ability to concentrate you will learn to focus on what is positive and powerful rather than distracting or unhelpful. This becomes a life skill that will help you in many aspects of your life.

See and feel yourself being successful every day. The skill of concentration will grow and develop the more you practice meditating and maintaining single-pointed focus.
Know and believe that you are capable of and worth receiving what you want.

Peace

Guided Meditation: Awareness

Meditation helps you create a mind that is still

and thoughts that drift by like clouds against a blue sky.

The subconscious mind uses memories and learned behavior patterns to react to many everyday events. On a simple level, this means that when you wake up, you don’t have to be re-taught everything that helps you in your day-to-day life such as putting on your clothes the right way or tying your shoes!

On the other hand, this ability creates problems when past events that you have forgotten about leave a lingering impression that manifests whenever you are exposed to people or events that bring an immediate response that you were unaware of.

Power of the Imagination
Illusions are powerful and play easily with the mind, impacting everything, from your imagination to your actions.

Your mind can and will continue to replay powerful emotions as long as you permit the input from memories to influence what you do with your life. However, this can only occur with awareness; and what's the easiest method to develop awareness? Meditation.

Power of Meditation
Meditation enables you to rewire your thought patterns by changing the way you think and feel. Gradually you notice positive changes as your brain lays down new neural pathways enabling you to observe and act in a manner that you desire.
Previous attitudes, beliefs, and points of view that no longer work for you are replaced with a perspective that empowers and strengthens you.

Meditation also helps you to let go of the shadows and imprints of the physical world by taking control of the body and mind in order to transcend the inner stillness of a mind and life that is at peace, and tap into the knowledge that exists in your spiritual world.


In the beginning of your practice, meditation is a tool, or coping mechanism, that helps you to generate a positive frame of mind. As you continue to enter into your practice with ease, you not only promote a healthy state of being, you respond differently to the world because your thoughts are different and your self-esteem and self-worth becomes balanced as ties to negative emotions and feelings are severed.

Guided Meditation
Relax and focus on an object of meditation that you prefer, such as the breath or a candle flame.
Observe without any judgment.
If the mind moves away from this object, return to it when you become conscious of it.
Notice any feelings of relaxation that occur such as the breath slowing down, muscles relaxing,
Notice the growing space between thoughts and your meditation object
Stay with your growing awareness of inner peace
If any other feelings occur, allow their energy to flow through you.
Notice what rises up through your meditation
Release what you no longer need.
Allow the focused attention to dissolve into awareness
Enter into the space between the thoughts.
Draw the inner stillness to you and fill yourself with tranquility and silence.

When you conclude your awareness meditation, know that you can return to the feelings of peace simply by returning to the flow of your breath. Awareness and self-knowledge grow with each meditation enabling you to think with precision and from a source of love.

Meditation and Beliefs

 

Vicki and Emma successfully completing a full marathon race.

Beliefs
What do you believe about yourself, your relationships, and the world around you?
Where does the information come from that enables you to form these beliefs?

All of your past experiences, and your perception of your experiences, create physiological changes in the brain in response to new information that is received. This occurs on a continual basis via images, words, sounds, smells and a myriad of other information that the brain constantly absorbs, including data received from your own thoughts and emotions.

Creating a quantum shift
Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to restructure itself depending on how your mind chooses. Combined with meditation, this ability of the brain to reform itself helps you transform your mind to make beneficial life changes. By becoming aware of and adopting healthy thoughts and behaviors, you can create a quantum shift away from habits that are destructive and in doing so, experience the world and yourself from a different perspective.

Beliefs shape our world whether we are aware of them or not. Unfortunately, strongly-held beliefs that are detrimental can create havoc with any desire that you have to live a peaceful existence or achieve your goals and aspirations, simply because these beliefs are so powerful that they spur you on to keep repeating similar actions with different people in different situations.

Without awareness we will not be able to address these deep-seated beliefs nor alter them.

Believe you can change
Beliefs are often ingrained over years of reinforcement but they can be altered. Meditation will bring about a transformation in not only your thoughts and words, but also in the way that you behave. With a regular meditation practice you will develop an understanding of the different layers of consciousness that will in turn enable you to shed all beliefs that are limiting, such as fear, pressure, or worry while adding those that build and sustain you.
This will not occur in one sitting though. It will take time for awareness of your Self to develop, for beliefs to be identified, and for a new attitude to what you know to be TRUE about your Self and what you want to KNOW is possible to achieve in life to be adopted.

During your regular meditation practice you will reinforce beliefs like love and altruism that strengthen and sustain you and enable you to be a positive force to the world around you. Practitioners of meditation state that they become more aware of how they react to other people and it helps them to work on not only thinking about their actions but helps them make a commitment to create positive changes.

There are many guided meditations and affirmations on the blog page that you can use to help you begin the process.

Affirmations
In addition to your meditation practice, you can help the subconscious mind work on your behalf, rather than sabotaging you, by the use of affirmations that reform your belief patterns.
Writing down your affirmation and placing it where you can see it daily and then committing it to memory helps develop the right frame of mind to be open to change. Repeating your affirmation in an earnest and heartfelt manner helps you to re-set your belief system to one that works for you.
Over time, you will see yourself feeling and reacting differently to all that happens in your life.

I acknowledge the wisdom within me

My new reality exceeds my previous limiting beliefs

I am free to achieve what I believe I can

Inner Peace

 Patanjali

(Photo by Margaret Stockley)

The Hindu sage Vyasa defines non-violence (ahimsa) as "the absence of injuriousness toward all living beings in all respects and for all times." He noted that a person who draws near one engaged in the true practice of ahimsa would be freed from all enmity.

Similarly, Patanjali (circa 100 ce) regards ahimsa as the great vow and foremost spiritual discipline which those seeking Truth must follow strictly and without fail. This was not meant merely to condemn killing, but extended to harm caused by one's thoughts, words and deeds of all kinds--including injury to the natural environment. Even the intent to injure, even violence committed in a dream, is a violation of the principle of ahimsa.

Take a moment to identify harmful behavior:
i. to others
ii. to you
iii. to the environment

Non-violence has a more encompassing meaning than not killing or physically striking out against another. It asks you to follow the stem of violence to its deeper root and understand the reasons why you respond the way you do in certain circumstances.

Every day, there are media reports of violence, anger, hatred, verbal abuse, and deaths. In your own life, you hear harsh words uttered in the spur of the moment, callous remarks spoken about someone who is not in your present company, unsympathetic words spat out in impatience.

Living a life free from violence promotes love. You love your neighbor as you love yourself, you feel compassion for all living things, and you honor and respect the challenges that you face without judgment, knowing that you and everyone that you come in contact with are all at different stages on the journey of life and are doing the best that you either know how to do, or choose to do.

Meditation is the easiest method to develop inner peace and calm and is available to everyone.  Meditation develops heightened awareness of your Self and your surroundings.  Through meditation you grow in your understanding, knowledge, and ability to know Bliss.

Surroundings affect your well-being through your awareness and your sub-consciousness. Pollution, harsh noise, and foul smells are all violence directed at the environment. You co-exist with nature and it is your responsibility to be aware of what is occurring around you. This is a moral obligation and you may wonder why you need to bother. As you explore the causal effects of right and wrong, what is sometimes referred to as the karma effect, you begin to understand where this responsibility comes from and why it is your duty to uphold this moral code, even when other people appear to be doing the opposite. Every time you make a choice, you verify or nullify the Creator.

Seeds of Fruit
One example of this is the act of eating a piece of fruit and randomly spitting out the seeds with no thought to where the seeds will fall and whether or not they will take root. This is the same as permitting your emotions to motivate you and rule your life without thinking how your actions will affect the world. With a little forethought, there would be less pain and misery.

Accepting your own traits and personality as a wonderful part of what makes every person a unique individual enables you to make the best use of the opportunities that confront you. Seek to monitor your thoughts and your actions and how they impact yourself and others.  Meditation helps you maintain single pointed focus and complete attention on what exists within you.  From here you are able to explore the inward journey and the source from which all peace flows from.

Goals
Ask yourself what your motive is for your actions. Do your actions serve your real purpose? Do they move you closer to achieving your goals?

Set yourself goals about what really matters and counts to putting you on the real path. Know that it is not material growth that you seek. You are seeking ways to enrich yourself, your friends and family, and the world at large. Catching yourself in a violent thought or action is the start of a process of achieving positive actions rather than repeating destructive behavior.

Be ever mindful, ever present, and ever conscious of all that you think, say, and do. If you are not in charge of your intentions, you will not be able to control what comes out of your mouth, or what you do physically.
In turn, your heart and mind becomes pure and free of petty egos and negativity and you develop divine qualities such as tolerance, humility, kindness, and love.

Peace

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.

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.

Awareness Meditation: Part 2

Awareness of the mind enables it to become clear, calm, and still

Awareness Meditation: Part 2

Once you have practiced the basic introduction method to awareness meditation posted below and feel comfortable about dissolving into your meditation with ease, you may wish to try a deeper meditative practice.
A deeper awareness meditation may uncover deep-seated issues or desires and the key is to let them arise without judgment.

You are an observer of your thoughts and emotions and the purpose of meditation is to remain unattached to them. As you focus on whatever arises during your practices, identify it but don’t spend time analyzing or struggling to identify it if it is not immediately recognizable.
Whether it is a person, an object, or a desire for something that you wish to occur in your life, it is useful to know what it is in order to recognize the feelings and emotions that are consciously or unconsciously associated with it. With each subsequent awareness meditation, more thoughts become recognizable and therefore identifiable.
Remember to remain objective and without judgment of either the object or yourself.

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. Once again 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 the emotions that appear as these will help you hone your self-awareness and introspection.

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

As your mind settles on the space within, you discover a reservoir of energy that enables you to quietly identify aspects of yourself that you want to release, and aspects that you wish to nurture and grow.
Enter into the space between the thoughts and feel the expansion of knowledge, creativity, and compassion that emerges.

With continued practice, once each meditation is complete, you will continue to foster awareness in all aspects of your life including communications with other people and your interactions with the world around you. Heightened awareness enables you to become more alert, with renewed or enhanced desires and a sense of purpose.

Awareness Meditation

A bird house is hidden in the asters.

Look deep within yourself and see what lies beneath the clutter of the mind.

Meditation has been used for thousands of years for self-reflection, self-awareness, healing, and enlightenment. Today’s technology enables us to see the physiological and chemical changes that occur throughout the whole body.

Varied health professions now teach meditation as a means of stress management and improving a patient’s overall quality of life in a wide-variety of diseases such as cancer, hypertension, and back pain.

Meditation is also a means of reducing the symptoms and discomfort of depression, anxiety, and anger, as well as increasing energy and vitality. People who meditate regularly are clinically shown to have fewer overall symptoms of stress, fewer cardiopulmonary and gastrointestinal symptoms, less emotional irritability, and cognitive disorganization.

Awareness meditation draws your attention away from a particular object or illness to an overall knowledge and feeling of inner calmness and peace. During this specific method of meditation, the mind concentrates less on individual problems or issues and settles instead on promoting an inward focus, enabling the mind and the body to experience a profound state of restfulness. In turn, the brain becomes balanced, while the mind and body move beyond thinking, to simply being.

Awareness Meditation: An Introduction

• Prepare your meditation room as outlined in previous postings
• Ensure there are no distractions that will disturb you for the next 10 to 20 minutes
• Allow all energy that arises through your meditation practice to flow.
• Be open to all that you may experience
• Simply observe

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

• Relax and focus on an object of meditation that you prefer, such as the breath or a candle flame.
• Observe without any judgment.
• If the mind moves away from this object, return to it when you become conscious of it.
• Notice any feelings of relaxation that occur such as the breath slowing down, muscles relaxing,
• Notice the growing space between thoughts and your meditation object
• Stay with your growing awareness of inner peace
• If any other feelings occur, allow their energy to flow through you.
• Notice what rises up through your meditation
• Release what you no longer need.
• Allow the focused attention to dissolve into awareness
• Enter into the space between the thoughts.
• Draw the inner stillness to you and fill yourself with tranquility and silence.

When you conclude your awareness meditation, know that you can return to the feelings of peace simply by returning to the flow of your breath. Awareness and self-knowledge grow with each meditation enabling you to think with precision and act from a source of love.

STRESS-FREE MEDITATION

Relaxing vacations have proven health benefits

Stress-free Living
When you are constantly on-the-go, you risk losing track of what’s important in life. This creates adverse effects on your physical health as well as significantly impacting your psychological and spiritual well-being.

Researchers at the State University of New York at Oswego published a large study in Sept. 2000 based on 12,866 men, aged 35 to 57. They found that regular vacations lowered the risk of death by almost 20%, helped ward-off stress-related illness, and improved health over the long term. Compared with men who took no vacations, those who took regular vacations were 21% less likely to die over the next nine years and 32% less likely to either have a heart attack or die of heart disease.

The findings of this study are relevant to both men and women regardless of age too. When you feel chronic pressure about time, as opposed to short-term acute pressure, it compounds the stress that already exists, and increases your likelihood of developing high blood pressure, cardiac problems, and other health risks.

Meditation Balance
Meditation helps to rebuild your energy, enabling you to be still, quiet, and connected with the centers of your heart and mind. Without this, you risk leading a hectic lifestyle in which you feel emotionally and physically wrought and chronically exhausted.

A balance between rest and activity enhances productivity because you are able to focus, are more observant, and creativity can flourish. Your mind requires meditative time to stay inspired and alert. The difference between being tired or rested often translates into the difference between being overwhelmed with daily challenges or finding resourceful solutions to them.

Making Time for Meditation
Once you train your mind and body to relax and receive answers and blessings during meditation, you will find it easier to return to a peaceful state by remembering what tranquility feels like, and thereby using the breath and physical adjustments to restore harmony and be fully present and conscientious.
In time, every moment is a meditative moment.

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

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.
Consciously release all anxiety, allowing the facial muscles and the limbs to relax.
Feel peace fill the inner space where tension once resided.

Let your mind drift to a safe and serene nature scene.
This can be a garden, beach, lake, or country scene. Whatever you are drawn to, real or imagined is the place that you will travel to in your imagination.

Focus on a calm scene

Experience the peace of this relaxing environment.
Remember how you feel: protected, nurtured, and free.
Stay in your safe place until you feel that it is time to leave.

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.
Peace 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.

MEDITATION PRACTICE

"Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Follow the stream, have faith in its course.
It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there.
It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices.
Just follow it.
Never let it out of your sight.
It will take you."

Sheng-yen (807-869 CE)

Are You at Peace?

In the busy, high-pressure, fast expectation environment that we so often find ourselves, it is often challenging to set aside fifteen or twenty minutes a day to be in meditation.
We cling to past thoughts and behaviors hoping that that will be enough to help us deal with unexpected challenges.

Meditation is a means to achieving peace not only during the meditation experience, but during your daily life and interactions with others.
Are you at peace?
What thoughts circulate through your mind about how you perceive yourself or other people?
The thoughts that you think and the words that you speak say a lot about you as a person and influence the way that people treat you. If you are not aware of negativity in your choice of language, your tone of voice, or even the flow of your thoughts, you should not be surprised when your life does not go the way that you hoped.

The awareness that emerges through regular meditation practice is applied in daily thoughts and reactions, ensuring that you only think and say good things.
Firmly held beliefs can be chipped away at and permanently removed by meditation. You no longer need believe that you are undeserving of success, love, or happiness in whatever endeavors you pursue.

Release Attachment

We've all seen someone whose happiness circulates around the material stuff and possessions that they acquire. They are on a seemingly endless quest for more toys, gadgets, and objects with no end in sight. Are they happy? For a short time yes, then they're off looking at something new.
Yoga philosophers such as Patanjali wrote over 2000 years ago of the importance of non-attachment in helping a practitioner achieve peace. While a degree of attachment is necessary to enable us to achieve goals, help those in need, and to nurture those whom we love, the freedom, happiness, and joy that we all seek arises from connecting to the peace that lies within.
The same holds true with your meditation practice. Follow it, never force it, and go where it leads and guides you.

Meditation Holds the Answers

Previous postings give specific details on how to begin to meditate.

During your meditation practice, awareness on the breath slows the thought process down so that you become aware of what you are thinking and can then respond accordingly rather than reactively. For example, by using the breath and a chosen word such as relax, you can direct this energy of the word to tell your body to breathe deeply and slowly.

Replace your old thought patterns with a new phrase.
Start with one thought.
Choose a specific word or phrase that you can repeat during your meditation.
Take a moment right now to listen to your mind and body.

• What is it that you need more of, or less of e.g. more peace, less stress.
• What is preventing you from achieving this goal?
• Decide what you need and be specific rather than too vague and all-encompassing.
• Ensure that what you ask in your affirmation is positive in nature and in the present tense; eg “I am loved” rather than “I will be loved.”
  

Following your meditation, carry one of the affirmations with you throughout the day and soon you will see the changes that you desire manifest in your life as you develop your ability to be more aware and in tune with your thoughts.
You will find that you become less attached to the external world as you uncover the source of real peace.

Putting new thoughts into new actions is not just about producing a new way of thinking though.
It’s about generating a new way of living, discerning and applying the information gleaned from meditation to let go of old ways of reacting to a lifestyle that no longer serves you.

Delight in the peace that is yours to have in abundance.

Follow your stream and see where it takes you.

MEDITATION: PRESENCE AND AWARENESS

Animals live fully in the present

Meditation: Presence

Who is the most important person in the world?
It’s not a trick question and this individual is someone that you actually know.
The most important person in the world is the person you are with at any given moment in time. All too often we fail to notice this individual or give them our complete attention because other distractions get in our way.

Nothing on Earth is permanent and we never can tell if we will be the last person this individual will see, or conversely the person we are with will be our last.
Awareness and presence develops through meditation. Being mindfully present in all your interactions, means that you have an opportunity to treat others differently from this point on.

Presence is both an awareness of your own existence and what you are witnessing at this very moment in time. It releases you from expectations about what you think might happen or from speculating about why things are unfolding a certain way. Speculation is different from intuition and I’ll talk more about intuition in a later posting.
Take your time with this meditation. Allow at least 15 minutes and practice regularly until you notice that your ability to remain present in every situation is occurring with ease.

Meditation
In a seated position with the spine straight and the flesh of the body relaxed, bring your awareness to the breath.
The eyes can be open or closed, but the gaze should be soft with the eyes still and attention focused directly in front of you.
The shoulders are relaxed, the hands resting on the thighs with the palms facing up in Om mudra. (Tip of thumbs and first fingers lightly touching. Also known as Inner Om Mudra.)
Observe the breath from the tip of the nose into the base of the lungs.
Feel the belly gently rise and fall with each inhale and exhale.
Keep the breath slow, smooth, and steady.
Don’t rush or force the breath.
Continue to watch the breath as it flows effortlessly from the tip of the nose to the belly.
Feel the belly gently rise and fall.
Draw awareness fully to the breath.
Experience the sensation of the lungs expanding and contracting, the air entering and leaving the body.
If the mind wanders (which it often does when you start to learn to meditate), simply draw the awareness back to the breath.
Do not judge or think that you have failed or cannot learn to meditate.
You are retraining the mind and new habits can take up to four weeks to become part of your regular routine.
Continue to watch the breath and direct it from the nose to the base of the lungs.
Feel the breath flowing in the present moment.
When you feel ready, in your own time, shift your attention from the breath to the present moment
Continue to focus on the present moment and dissolve into meditation.
Go deeper and deeper into the awareness.

After Your Meditation
You will strengthen you ability to be present in all that you think and do.
Your relationships will improve.
You remain open to experiences and lowly eliminate obstacles that block energy.
Your heart center opens as you give your full attention to the person that you are with.
You strengthen your ability to remain in the present moment and to be present with everyone that you meet.
You cease to be lonely as you experience contentment with your Self and connection to the source of all Love and Light

OPEN HEART MEDITATION

The energy of the heart is represented by the color green because Creation which is all around us in grass, trees, and plants, stems from Love.

Open Heart Meditation
Songs and poems from cultures throughout the world describe the peace and happiness that stems from the source of love. While there are different energy centers within the body, the heart is the energy center of Love.

There are many heart opening techniques and meditations that can be used. The following meditation is a wonderful technique that can be done by beginners and experienced practitioners alike.

The important thing to remember is to see meditation as a part of your whole life, not a separate entity that works on its own.
The efforts that you expend to open your heart do not begin and end with meditation.
You need to embrace it as a way of life.
This meditation will help you to prepare the way for loving energy to flow effortlessly through you by removing any obstacles that are within you, and yet you are not aware that they are there.

Once the obstacles (they vary from person to person) are gone, you will experience wonderful joy. Along the way, sometimes shaking or trembling or tears arise. It’s important to know that this is normal and not be afraid should it occur. Simply let it flow through you and breathe it away and continue focusing either on the light or the peaceful loving feeling within you.

Restoring Balance to the Heart
Method
Sitting in a comfortable position with the eyes gently closed and the spine erect.
Draw the attention inwards to the breath.
Keep the eyes still in this inner eye gaze.
Follow the breath from the tip of the nose into the base of the lungs
Follow the breath all the way out in a steady stream
Keep the lips closed and the facial muscles relaxed
Allow the breath to flow effortlessly into and out of the body without your input or control
When you feel the mind and body relaxed, concentrate on seeing a light at the base of the spine within your mind’s eye
Hear the sound of Om resonating deep within you
Feel light flow through the body from the base of the spine to the crown of the head
Concentrate on the sensation of the energy
Concentrate on Om and try to feel its vibration and meaning
As you reach the top of your inhalation, see the light pour from the crown of your head to surround you
Feel Om change to the sound of bliss which is Ahhh
Release anything that arises
Know that you are safe in your meditation
Feel the cleansing energy of the light flow through every cell of your mind and body
Dissolve into meditation
Continue with your meditation until you feel complete

After Your Meditation

• Continue to maintain a connection to the heart center and keep the loving energy flowing through you.
• Nurture love by replacing any negative thoughts with ones of kindness and love.
• Bringing your awareness to the heart will change your perspective on life and positively impact the people around you.
• Remaining in the present draws awareness to maintaining an open heart and permitting the flow of love.
• Try to choose peaceful situation e.g. avoid watching violent movies
• Practice kindness rather than reverting to previous negative thought patterns
• Promote happiness by being a beacon of light and love to everyone you meet.

MEDITATION: PEACE AND PERFECTION

Creation is beautiful and is always a work in progress.

Meditation and Creation
In our western culture we are taught to set goals, to achieve, to succeed. When life does not go smoothly, and we end up having to take detours on our chosen path, we can sometimes think that we have failed to live up to the expectations of others and even ourselves.

However, it is worth remembering that being perfect should not be goal in life.

Ancient cultures make this point very clear during craft activities such as blanket and quilt making. They will deliberately create a small “flaw” in the pattern as a reminder that none of us are perfect except God, the ultimate Creator.

Accepting Change
Life is always changing and no matter how hard we try, we can never keep everything in our life the same. Accepting change is challenging as sometimes things change and we become sad. Happily though, life does change and there are joyful moments in our lives where we can retain the happy memories and also share our happiness with others.

While it is important to be the best that we can be and to do the best job that we can in all circumstances, releasing the misconception that we HAVE to be perfect is freeing.
None of us are perfect and none of us will ever be truly perfect.

Nature is a reminder that nothing remains the same.

Embracing Imperfection
Meditation helps us to relinquish our ideals and releases us from clinging to the human perception of perfection.
We see around us the beauty of the world and humanity, but we know that true perfection exists within the source of peace and Love when we connect to God through meditation.

Despite our imperfections, meditation shows us that we ARE loved and welcomed with an open heart.

Your Personal Meditation
During your meditation experience, don’t worry if your mind wanders or thoughts intrude.
Stay relaxed and return your attention to the breath or your chosen internal object of focus.
Don’t worry about your practice having to be perfect.
Stay focused on the ultimate goal of meditation which is to draw closer to the Divine.
Know that you are welcome and that your meditation practice will get you to the place where Love resides.
Return to your meditation and draw deeper into the peace that resides within.
Each time you enter into meditation you will encounter fewer distractions and experience longer moments of tranquility and happiness.

MEDITATION AND HEALTH

The mind is expansive and not limited to the physical body.

Meditation and Health
A 2007 national Government survey found that more than 20 million adults had used meditation in the past 12 months which is 5 million more than a previous study 5 years earlier. In addition, 725,000 children had practiced meditation.

People use meditation for various physical and emotional problems, such as:

• Anxiety
• Pain
• Depression
• Stress
• Insomnia
• Symptoms associated with chronic illnesses and their treatment, such as heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and cancer.

Meditation also helps promote overall wellness:

• Quality of life
• Spirituality
• Relaxation
• Inner Peace
• Heightened connectivity
• Improved relationships

Mind-Body medicine has proven that psychological factors in the way that an individual thinks affects their clinical symptoms with either positive or negative effects depending on a persons mood and train of thoughts.

Meditation can significantly slow down the progression of degenerative diseases and improve blood pressure, reduce stress, and enhance the effects of rehabilitation techniques in conditions such as cardiac care and cancers.

Pain Reduction
Evidence from a variety of studies has shown that meditation lowers or even completely alleviates pain. One study with a master meditator showed that he was able to withstand pain that was inflicted upon him during his meditation session. fMRI of his brain mapped out the areas within the brain that were affected and showed meditation calming the brain down to ignore the pain. Meditation switched off the receptors that the brain used to transmit the awareness of experiencing pain.

In addition to improving an individual’s quality of life, meditation helps with the ability to sleep through the night, cope with daily issues, and improve the outlook on life including raising overall hope and expectations.
This means reductions in pain and nausea, reductions in use of medications, fewer trips to visit the doctor, and a feeling of well-being and improved health. Life becomes livable as the mind focuses on the present, not on the difficulties of the past or what may happen in the future.

The Meditative Brain
Meditation creates positive changes within the mind and the body that are both physiological and emotional. The National Center for Complimentary Medicine states the following:
Some types of meditation might work by affecting the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system. This system regulates many organs and muscles, controlling functions such as the heartbeat, sweating, breathing, and digestion. It has two major parts:

• The sympathetic nervous system helps mobilize the body for action. When a person is under stress, it produces the "fight-or-flight response": the heart rate and breathing rate go up and blood vessels narrow (restricting the flow of blood).

• The parasympathetic nervous system causes the heart rate and breathing rate to slow down, the blood vessels to dilate (improving blood flow), and digestive juices to increase.

Each system of the body is not an independent self-directed system; rather they each have an actual connection with the conscious mind and the effect of thoughts upon the body.
The brain produces chemicals called neuropeptides which affect the immune cell receptors in specific ways according to your emotional state.
Meditation produces actual changes in brain function which in turn creates new neural pathways that assist in new habits, the ability to monitor thoughts and feelings, and your ability to choose appropriate actions.

Meditation improves your health. Can you afford not to meditate?

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

Be mindful of what you reflect from your thoughts, words, and actions.

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

You learn how to:

Bring complete attention to the present

Monitor your reactions

Project thoughts free from judgment, criticism, and hostility

Calm the mind and breath

Live with intention

Generate a positive life

Create your future through visualization

Develop higher knowledge and intuition

Obtain answers that you seek

Promote a sense of well-being

Open the heart center

Happiness
A multitude of benefits await you in addition to the ones mentioned above. Meditation enables you to experience life joyfully and fully by heightening your awareness, promoting a positive mindset, and providing you with the tools that you need to cope with the unexpected events that life reveals when you least expect it. Happiness should not be an effort but be an outward reflection of the real happiness that you feel on the inside.

When someone that you meet is troubled or anxious, are they helped if you are miserable too? Of course not. They are helped if they see hope, peace, and light radiating from you. Your empathy for someone’s situation should in no way diminish the light that shines within you. Meditation keeps you connected to the source of happiness and keeps “topping you up” so to speak. In this way, you gain all of the benefits mentioned above, and are able to share them.

Life is a gift and gifts are to be enjoyed.

Affirmations
Affirmations reinforce not only the benefits received but also your goals and you can create your own affirmations by simply asking yourself what you need. If you are unsure of what to ask, clarity often arises following your meditation practice.
Choose an affirmation that feels appropriate for your particular needs today.

Examples include:

I am provided for
I always receive everything that is for my highest good
I am divinely guided in all I do
I am open to receive the abundance that God has for me
I have all that I need

What do you want to reflect?

Reflection
Your happiness resides within you and like a mirror your joy reflects on others too. Gloomy thoughts and feelings have no effect on your mood even if they are projected to you by other people. Insensitive comments bounce off you and while your heart opens and your empathy grows, you become a beacon of light shining on everyone and everything in your world.
Your growing awareness helps you to consciously reflect the peace and happiness that you feel inside and in time you will see this peace in the faces of others.

Let the benefits of meditation grow and multiply each time you complete your meditation practice and as they uplift you, you will be a tower of strength to everyone you come into contact with.

MORNING:GUIDED MEDITATION

Morning is breaking and the sky fills with the potential of a new day.

Morning Meditation
A morning meditation is a wonderful way to start every day.
The energy of the morning is tranquil as the earth and the daytime inhabitants begin to stir and prepare for the tasks that lie ahead.
A morning meditation lengthens the stillness and peace and creates a positive lasting experience and memory that you can draw on throughout the day.
Try to sit for your meditation about fifteen minutes prior to the sun actually rising.

If you are able, sit outside for your meditation practice in order to hear the dawn chorus of birds, see the remnants of night pass away, and feel the warmth of sunlight striking the earth and enveloping your own body.

No matter the weather, a morning meditation helps you to see the challenges of the day with a new perspective.
It helps you to act with intention and clarity of purpose throughout the day. You begin each new day with peace and harmony that arises out of the tranquility and stillness contained within the promise of each new day.

Pranayama
Before you begin your meditation practice, spend ten to fifteen minutes in a pranayama practice.
A breathing practice prepares the body and mind for meditation, brings the brain into alpha rhythm which is most conducive to a peaceful state of being, and provides you with the energy that you need to see you through the day.

Meditation
Choose your most comfortable seated posture.
Feel grounded and supported by the earth.
Focus on the breath and ask yourself what you want to achieve today.
Follow each exhalation and allow the breath to lengthen and deepen.
Notice the space between each breath and enter into the space.
Allow the mind to go deeper into the space between the breath.
Feel the energy of the morning cleansing and invigorating you
Develop an expansion of the breath and the mind as radiant love flows through you.
Let the mind enter the deep vastness of your life-force.
Breathe in rhythm with the energy of the morning light emerging from the sun.
Allow the mind to dissolve from a place of concentration and enter a place of stillness and peace.
Remain in this peaceful place until you sense that it is time to begin the tasks of your day.

This was taken as the sun rose over the Pacific. The ripples are caused by dolphins.

Other Morning Meditations
You can practice your morning meditation when walking, praying, or simply marveling at the sun rising.
Look at your surroundings with an awakened perspective.
Notice the plants and flowers that are in window boxes or line the side of the road. Notice trees, the shapes and colors of their leaves, the birds in the trees.
Notice the clouds, their sizes.
Feel the warmth of the sun, the touch of a breeze against your skin.
Absorb the serenity and peace of this special moment
Express your gratitude and listen for the answers that arise from within or in your encounters with people as the day progresses.

Morning Meditation
You will feel energized, renewed and willing to face the world. You will be a positive force for change as you bring your light to everyone you meet.

INNER CHILD GUIDED MEDITATION

Meditation helps You to See and Embrace the Wonders of All Life

The Inner child is a term used in psychology to describe an aspect of a person’s psyche as though it were a separate being. It lies beneath the layers of adulthood that mask the innocence and clarity with which a child views the world. The Inner Child is often used as a means of addressing emotional memories stemming from childhood and connecting to the child within can help guide you to speak from your heart and the source of truth.

The following Guided Meditation is a means of rediscovering the dreams held by a child, exploring a child’s view of looking at the world through wondrous eyes, and remembering hopes and dreams that will help you find your passion.

Before you enter into your meditation, create an appropriate environment or sacred space by lighting a candle. See yourself sitting in a safe place surrounded by the light of the sun. Feel its warm embrace nurturing you.

Guided Meditation
Sit in your chosen seated position for meditation with your back supported and the spine as straight as possible. Sit in as upright a position as you are able with your hands in a relaxed manner by your sides or on your lap. The feet are placed with the sole of the foot flat on the ground.

If you are sitting on the floor, choose your most comfortable seated position. If you are able, try placing the heel of one foot in front of the ankle of the other foot without discomfort and maintain this position for the length of time of the meditation.

The hands are relaxed and resting either on your lap or by your hips.

With the eyes gently closed, begin your meditation.
Inhale slowly and begin to notice your breath. Exhale slowly and steadily.
And continue.

Breathe steadily into the base of the lungs, feeling the belly rise gently. Exhale and release the breath in a steady stream.

Never force the breath.

And continue, concentrating on keeping each breath of equal length; breathing slowly in, exhaling slowly out.

Draw awareness to the breath until the breath is slow steady and rhythmical

If the flow of the breath is uneven, make any adjustments necessary to maintain a steady breath.

Keep your body and inner focus relaxed.

With each lengthened exhalation feel the body relax even further, staying focused only on the rhythmic flow of the breath. Feel the facial muscles relax, the shoulders drawing down and away from the ears.

With each controlled inhalation fill your body with the energy of your breath.
With the exhalation feel the arms relax, releasing further away from the body.

Feel loved and safe, surrounded by the love from the light.
Continue with this technique until you feel extremely relaxed.

See you Inner Child sitting beside you.
Hold onto your Inner Child’s hand

Feel the warmth of the hand and the embrace of the light

Hold your Inner Child to you and let your heart open
Feel light and love envelop both of you

Listen to anything that your Inner Child has to say
Tell your child that you hear what they are telling you and that you love them

Spend as long as you need to, listening to anything that you hear or experience.

All obstacles melt away
Feel joy and happiness and that life is good

Continue to hold your Inner Child as you embrace life together
Let the child dissolve into the light while you remain surrounded by the light.
Feel renewed and aware of all that life has to offer.
Draw on the energy of the light at any time.

Animals Live in the Present and Seize Moments to Play

After Your Meditation
Delight in the basic joys of life; a sunset, birds flying, colors on tree bark, the feel of grass between your toes, a refreshing drink.
Let yourself laugh and play more without fear of what others may think.
Balance work, rest and play.
See life for the precious gift that it is.