3 Secrets to Success

Successful Race Drivers need to focus

3 Secrets to Success
We live in an ever-changing world with global competitiveness and communications available at every turn. Successful people are those who specialize in effective writing, reporting, organizing, managing risk, and are also innovative and creative while enabling their organization to improve its performance and practices. So, How Does Meditation Enable You To Be A Unique Achiever?

Clinical Study
A 2008 UK study The Effects Of Meditation On Executives Performance In Business Organizations looked at meditation as an influential factor on stress reduction, assimilation of changes increase, conflict management capabilities development and leadership performance.

The study took place over 20 weeks with two 60 minutes sessions per week, with a meditation group consisting of 57 executives and 40 in the control group.
The meditation group meditated on two distinct measures; focused attention and compassion.
In summary, the results showed significant gains in the following areas:
Stress reduction, compassion, job satisfaction and performance, improved interpersonal relations, increased conflict management and improved leadership performance.
What is fascinating is that benefits in all the control points were noted after only four weeks.

How Do You Want To Be Seen?
When you look at your co-workers or people you associate with, are they energized and efficient or tired and irritable?
What do you want people to see when they look at you?
Do you think they view you as a person who is capable and in command of their life and organization, or as someone who is struggling to keep up and is flustered, short-tempered, and unsure of themselves?

Three Elements
No matter whether you are chair of the PTA or Garden Club, operating your own flourishing small business, or running a large department in an international company, meditation is an easy to learn method to help you achieve maximum results in all your endeavors.
Meditation will hone your ability to focus, redefine your leadership and management skills, and sustain the promise of change.
The practice of meditation will enhance your innate skills in three ways; balance, presence, and creativity.

Create Balance
In order to be a true asset to one’s company or organzation, a strong work ethic is important but so is knowing how to balance all the demands of work, family, and social obligations. Without balance in your life, stress builds up, and if prolonged can lead to illness, sometimes serious.

Strong leaders understand not only the needs of their company, but their employees, and also themselves and are able to strike a balance between work, rest, and play.

Make it a priority to allow time for yourself by actively scheduling Self Time. Place this time in your daily calendar. Meditation is flexible because it does not require special equipment that you have to carry around with you. Is 20 minutes out of your day so hard to find? Keep looking at how you are managing your day and you will unearth time that is for you. You can spend 15-20 minutes in meditation in a variety of places so you can easily fit it into your busy schedule.

Remaining Present
Where are you at any given moment?
Your body may be one place but your mind may have drifted off to another place.

That’s perfectly normal and often useful when it comes to the creative process but when you need to deliver all your attention to a project, a presentation, or even the person you are in conversation with, you can see why it is important to maintain a single-pointed focus.

Successful people are able to focus intently on the task in hand and to follow it through.
The practice of meditation will help you to develop the ability to integrate your unique skills and knowledge into your assessment of your current situation without being distracted. In addition, you will discover that you are able to give equal attention to each moment.

As you maintain a regular meditation practice it becomes easier to take on board several tasks with ease and complete them on time without the stress that your colleagues may be having.

This is because meditation enables you to shed obstacles (varies from person to person) freeing up mental space which you replace with positive thoughts and actions.
Your life is enhanced as relationships become more vibrant, ideas flow with ease, and you become a person that people want to be around for two special reasons; your ability to make them feel good and your positive constructive attitude.

Enhanced Creativity
As you continue to meditate, you will find the quality of your thoughts and thought process improving. You will have great ideas and find it easy to solve problems. Meditation is a process as unique and powerful as you are and is a personal tool that will assist you in creating the future that you not only want, but deserve.

Guided 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 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.
This still and focused place resides deep within you.

Practice Daily
You can return to the peaceful feeling inside simply by returning to the rhythmic flow of the breath. Everyone breathes (not always correctly) so you can “meditate” anywhere and no-one will know that you are performing a relaxation technique that brings clarity to your thoughts and purpose to your actions.
With practice, you will restore balance and harmony simply by returning to a calm and peaceful flow of breath.
Embrace your ability make tranquility and contentment a daily reality.

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

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?

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.

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: 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

STRESS-FREE MEDITATION

Reflection Pool at Ayurveda Clinic in Mysore, India

Purpose of Meditation
Meditation is often viewed as a form of relaxation therapy; however relaxation is a by-product of the actual technique itself. Meditation produces many positive results but its ultimate goal is to enable the practitioner to attain a state of Bliss and connection to God.

The meditation path, therefore, has much to offer and the relaxation response should not be dismissed but utilized and appreciated for the gifts that they are, strewn along the meditative journey.

Meditation produces an altered state of consciousness which helps protect against anxiety and depression. Researchers are using this altered state to help patients help themselves overcome the debilitating effects of these pernicious ailments.

Health Benefits
Numerous studies show that when patients are given instruction in a meditation and relaxation technique for a minimum of 8 weeks, the results clearly demonstrate a significant reduction of anxiety, depression and other stress-related disorders such as high blood pressure (hypertension) to name but a few.

For patients, the gains include not only the ability to experience relaxation , but the ability to experience a reduction in pain and the associated feelings of discomfort, a reduction in hypertension, and the ability to have self-control over their condition without the use of drugs with the associated negative side-effects.

Improvements in health not only continue during the weeks and months that an individual continues to practice meditation, but the effects actually become more pronounced with deeper efficacy and positive change.
The long term use of meditation produces a lasting effect that has profound significance for not only maintaining good health, but for both prevention and producing better long term health.

Meditation Technique
Choose your most comfortable seated posture
Feel grounded and supported by the earth
Focus on the breath
Slow the breath down until it is slow and steady
Follow each exhalation and allow the breath to lengthen and deepen
Notice the space between each breath and enter into the space
Feel the energy of the breath fill your body
As you exhale, release all tension
Continue with this technique until you feel deeply relaxed
Feel the energy of the breath flow through you with no obstacle
Notice the levels of relaxation that exist within the mind and the body
Let the mind enter the deep vastness of your life-energy
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

After Your Meditation
You can pre-empt any anxious thoughts or moments by noticing changes in your mind and body’s calm and relaxed state. Then, by returning to the rhythmic flow of the breath, you can quickly bring yourself into a tranquil and stress-free place.

MEDITATION AND BREATHING

When the breath is calm, the mind and body are also calm.

Power of the Breath
Researchers have found that controlled breathing, guided imagery, and meditation promote not only a positive mental attitude in people being treated for cancer, but provide significant health benefits in supporting the immune system and the overall health of the body, including reduced serum cortisol levels in only 10 weeks.

Blood flow is greater in the lower lungs due to gravity and correct breathing techniques ensure the maximum exchange of carbon-dioxide with oxygen, effectively eliminating toxins and other waste products from the body via the breath.

The breath has a great deal of power over the mind and the body. The main predictor for a long life is your lung capacity. The ability to breathe deeply in a steady and controlled manner has been proven to not only promote health, but increase your life span.

The breath has power not only on a physical level, but on a subtle level too. As you meditate every day, you raise your ability to develop positive awareness in rhythm with your deep and steady breath. When you are faced with challenges and stress in your day-to-day life, you simply have to return to the rhythmic flow of the breath and within a few moments, your pulse rate slows, blood pressure lowers, respiration slows and you continue breathing slowly and deeply until you experience a physical and mental state of calmness that you normally experience during your meditation practice.

Slow and Steady Breathing
As you meditate every day, choose a positive word or phrase and repeat it in rhythm with your slow and steady breath.
Positive thoughts directed to yourself and others help you to stay focused on what really matters.

Examples of positive affirmations are:

I am loved
I am filled with vitality
All is well
I am at peace
I am happy
Peace in my body, mind, and spirit

Breath Influences Your Mood
Each one of us is defined by the choices that we make as they reveal our innermost values and what we hold up as important.
Cultivate a state of optimism in all your thoughts by drawing this understanding to the flow of your breath, during meditation, and all your waking activities.

In time, a slow and steady breath becomes your normal state of being. When the breath is calm, your thoughts and life choices are also calm and appropriate.
Make choices that honor who you truly are and you will create a lifetime of love 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.

CONTEMPLATIVE MEDITATION

Word
Prayer
Spirit

Background
Centering Prayer is now more commonly known as Contemplative Meditation. It is drawn from prayer practices that began in the first century C.E. and was made popular in the 1970’s by monks from the Trappist Abbey, St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts.

They describe Contemplative Meditation as “A prayer of silence, an experience of God’s presence as the ground in which our being is rooted, the Source from whom our life emerges at every moment.”

This form of meditation is a means of centering the mind to receive God’s presence and increase awareness of God's presence in your life. It creates a peace even when awake by releasing the flow of knowledge and guidance at the level of the soul.

There is a peaceful and sacred place that abides within you. It is your refuge and your home. It is here in this hallowed sanctuary that you are safe to withdraw to discover the areas where you need to grow.

Find a quiet place to reflect on a word in Contemplative Meditation

Essence
Contemplative Meditation is a means of training the mind to concentrate, or center, on a word, a thought, a spiritual passage, or a mantra.
This type of meditation can be practiced anywhere that you have time to yourself such as walking, physical activity, or simply sitting.

Method
Choose a phrase from a spiritual book, or select a spiritual word or name.
Study the word. Notice what “speaks” to you.
Study the word again. What feelings does it evoke within you.
Return to the word a final time.
Keep focusing on the word, absorbing it, understanding it, and knowing its truth.
Merge into meditation if the situation permits.


Benefits
It expands your ability to concentrate and become aware of the thoughts, emotions, and feelings from the body as they arise.
Any time that you find yourself in a situation that is challenging, you can induce relaxation by bringing awareness to the flow of the breath and focus on a word or phrase that you have encountered during your Contemplative Meditation.
It heightens your spiritual journey and deepens your relationship with God.
Your intuition increases as it maintains an openness to hearing and following the wisdom that arises from within.

You may like to carry your word with you to deepen your spiritual connection and awareness.

AUM and OM

Om can be heard in many objects and also experienced as a ringing sound.

AUM and OM

The sound of Om is recognized as being a universal sound because it permeates the universe.

It is a sound that is inherent within everything and everyone. When you listen carefully, you can hear the sound in engines and machines, at the end of prayers, even within your own body as a sound resonating deep within you.

Om consists of the letters AUM which represent creation, maintenance, and ending. We see this in all aspects of the universe. All things have a moment when they evolve, exist, and then pass away and we acknowledge this every time we chant Om.

Your Own Om
During your meditation practice, hear the sound of Om deep within you.
As you continue to meditate upon it, the sound will evolve, becoming deeper and stronger. You experience the sound of Om during your meditation and afterwards it continues to reverberate within your life.

Only with practice does learning and understanding come.

Each time you meditate, the sound becomes more powerful in its intensity and volume. You will hear it clearly and feel it vibrate through every cell of your body.

It is your personal Om, different from mine yet both are connected to the source of Om.

Om is a pure sound emanating from the Creator therefore it is a sound that protects you and promotes goodness in your life. Also known as the first mantra, it gradually removes negativity from your consciousness and keeps your entire being focused on that which flows from God.

The Sound Current
With continuous practice of meditation and chanting Om, both externally and hearing it internally, you feel the vibration of Om throughout your body. Maintaining awareness in the third eye, located deep within the center of the head level at the space between the eyebrows, you focus on the sound, the flow, the energy within Om.

With constant study and concentration on Om, you become aware of the sound current that carries Om everywhere.

The water in the fountain comes from and always returns to the Source

The Source
Om brings a steadiness to the mind and the thought process.
If you are new to meditation, you will focus on the word of Om, then progress to its sound, then to the current of Om. Over time, you will then experience the Knowledge and the Bliss that accompanies the sound current of Om and travel to the source of the Bliss.

As the current of Om permeates all of your being, both during meditation and during your everyday existence, you experience Bliss at every moment. You have the Knowledge that you are connected to the Source and delight in being there.

The Bliss cannot be learned from reading or external study. Bliss has to be experienced. As you connect to the source of the Bliss, you will achieve freedom and peace and understanding.

Meditation and Om combined is a unique gift. Accept it and use it every day.

MEDITATION AND BREATHING

With a controlled breath there are no limits.

WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN BREATHING AND MEDITATION?

Contemplation and self-inquiry are made possible through Meditation. Meditation heightens conscious awareness of what is happening at the present moment.
Meditation reveals your present state of mind and consequently your present way of living.

When the mind is not aware, it brings about an imbalance in mood and health. Random thoughts can occur, emotions rise, and unforeseen or unwanted events occur.

When an incident actually happens or is even ONLY PERCEIVED in the mind
1. the body tenses up
2. the breath speeds up
3. becomes shallow
4. resulting in an increase in heart rate and perspiration

EXAMPLE: We’ve all used a thermometer.
Just as a thermometer can tell if your internal body temperature is too high, awareness of the breath and the meditative mind brings an awareness of the mental temperature.

What is YOUR emotional temperature?

If the mind is agitated and heated up, you can act appropriately to cool it down before it becomes too hot.

NO ONE LIKES A HOT HEAD.

If you sit in meditation and are unable to connect with the inner peace, determine what is blocking this natural state.
If you had a high temperature, you would seek the cause. In the same way, you should seek the source of inner health.

MEDITATE ON THE POSITIVE
1. Cultivate constructive driving forces by directing the mind to opposite ideas, ones that are positive to the individual and toward others
2. Negative thoughts require energy to plan and implement. They are detrimental in manner, sound, and effect
3. By maintaining a single-pointed focus of awareness via meditation, you choose to be positive and identify ways to maintain a strong mind and body, to stay resilient, and to help others.

CONTROLLING THE BREATH
In a Swedish study, published in December 2007, the researchers studied 55 healthy adults and the effect of a breathing technique that involved cycles of slow, normal, and rapid breathing exercises.

The exercises were practiced for an hour daily, 6 days a week, for 6 weeks.

48 control patients were advised to relax in an armchair for 15 minutes daily.

At the end of the study, feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression were significantly decreased and optimism was significantly increased in the breathing study group.
There was also a reduction in the sympathetic nervous system activity and a feeling of well-being with an increase in antioxidants and lower levels of cortisol.

SO, HOW DOES THE BREATH WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH MEDITATION?
Through:
1. Concentration
2. Awareness of the states of the body, e.g. tense, anxious
3. Knowledge of how to relax

Meditation improves your ability to focus and concentrate, alerting you to distracting thoughts and emotions that arise in your mind when you stop being busy.

When your mind recognizes that a situation is stressful and notices changes in the breath, you draw your awareness to the breath and slow the breath down to maintain a relaxed physical and mental state.

Eventually you maintain a relaxed and calm state wherever you go.

Meditation is the key to controlling the mind, the breath, and therefore the body.

Meditation and Spirituality

Meditation and Spirituality

How does meditation help you deepen your spirituality?
This is a vast subject with enough material for a book but I will mention some key points so that you will know that when you are meditating you are doing more than relaxing; you are getting to know, deepening, and expanding your spiritual self.

With regular practice, meditation enables you to gain control over the mind by stopping it from leaping around from one thought to another. This ability to concentrate also brings with it self-discipline. From here, the mind becomes pure as it focuses only on that which is beneficial and good.

The purpose of meditation is to connect with the Creator. Many people get distracted on the way by the feelings of peace and relaxation that they acquire and end up going no further than trying to achieve more and more relaxed, when all the while a greater experience lies ahead.

What does it mean to live a spiritual life?
Spirituality is a personal experience and is a journey of education and fulfillment. This means that people are at different places on their journey of discernment, but only when you enter the spiritual path and invite Spiritual guidance into your being do you begin leading the life you were born to live. You have an unwavering guide within you who will help you identify the choices that you need to make in your life.

You are the person responsible for making choices and changes. You have the freedom to decide when and if you are going to move away from the negativities of the past and move forward. The Spirit is never pushy and it will never make decisions for you but is always there. When you find yourself in situations that are troubling, ask for guidance.

Meditate Daily
Your meditation practice speeds up the process of identifying problem areas. The veil that covered the mind is removed and you see into the mind clearly. Here you can acknowledge the aspects hidden deep within the shadows of your mind and to set about removing them.

Clear away the debris that blocks the mind from leading a successful and productive life and transform your life anew. Practice fresh feelings of honesty and forgiveness, non-judgment and peacefulness.

Release demanding traits that are defining a lifestyle that you do not want. Enter a state of harmony and bliss by stilling the mind, surrendering to change, and reaching the highest level of awareness that enriches and nourishes you.

Meditation Strengthens Serenity
Meditation focuses your energy on the spirit. It redirects it to a place of Bliss that cannot be described, merely experienced.
Meditation brings clarity and peace and also directs all the energy involved in thinking to a single-pointed focus where it connects with the Creator.

Intuition
Trust what you sense deep within you. Listen to the still small voice inside you and hear what it is saying. Trusting in your intuition endows you with the skills to embark upon new challenges and adventures in life.

Meditation helps you see the way forward.

Visualize and Speak your Prayers
Change the way you act by acting as though what you ask for in meditation and prayer has occurred. The pressure is off you as peace arises and guidance from within moves through your life.

Meditation and Spirituality
Meditation equips you with confidence and gladness as you witness yourself succeeding in overcoming old behavior patterns. You understand that you have the tools to help you complete each step on your path. Unwavering Bliss permeates your life both during meditation and following it.

Your whole life becomes a meditation. Your whole life becomes Bliss.

When you offer your inherent gifts of kindness and generosity freely, you feel enriched and renewed by knowing that you are compassionate and doing work that helps humanity.
You owe it to yourself and to the world to live the fullest life possible, assured in the love that is awaiting you.

What you give out, you receive back.
If your thoughts and actions are positive and loving, you will receive this from others and your needs filled in abundance. You learn to live your life free from negativity.

Meditation and Peace
Inner peace comes from helping others. Living a contented life that embodies the positive benefits of connecting with the energy of the Spirit is within your reach. You gather strength in getting to know people and their unique perspectives and skills.
Keep your heart and mind open.
Become a person whose life is spiritually strong and open to the possibilities in everyone.

GUIDED MEDITATION: HEALING

Guided Meditation: Healing

The unique Life Force that exists within you flows effortlessly when all obstacles have been removed. This force is often “seen” within your mind’s eye as an internal light that promotes well-being. It is the energy that is contained within the healing process and your light can be directed to a specific area or drawn through the body as a means of maintaining and optimizing health and vitality.

This light brings an awareness of happiness and contentment that permeates all aspects of your life, including your thoughts and your actions.
If you have any illness, see a qualified medical practitioner as this is not a substitute for medical care.

Method

• Sit in your chosen seated position for meditation
• Draw awareness to the breath until the breath is slow steady and rhythmical
• Focus on seeing your healing light at the base of your spine
• Don’t strain to see the light. Simply focus on the base of the spine with a steady breath until the light appears.
• Keep your body and inner focus relaxed
• With each inhalation draw the light through the body to the crown of the head and on the exhale, see the light flowing from the crown of your head to surround you like a protective aura.
• If the mind wanders, do not judge yourself. Accept that this may happen in the beginning when you are first practicing this method. Simply draw your awareness back to the rhythmic flow of the breath and “see” your light flow from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.
• Let the flow of light continue until you feel that your body is filled and surrounded by the healing light, about three to five breaths.
• Enter into your meditation feeling the light surrounding you, concentrating on the steady flow of the breath

Benefits

There are many benefits of this guided light meditation. They include:

• Stress-reduction
• Awareness of your inner Self where calmness resides
• Ability to relax
• Increased peace
• Calmness during all situations including challenging ones
• Increased flow of energy through the body
• Clarity and balance of body and mind

This inner light meditation is powerful at blocking negative thoughts and emotions and helping you cope with daily life. When the mind is happy and content your energy flows effortlessly and your inner light shines brighter, not only within yourself, but outwardly onto other people as well.

Peace and well-being are closer than you think by feeling your light within you and surrounding you.

MINDFUL MEDITATION

Many activities require great concentration

Mindful Meditation
Recognizing what you need comes not from what you perceive outwardly, but from what comes to you inwardly through prayer, meditation, and listening to your innermost feelings.

A couple of summers ago I injured my right ankle and attended physiotherapy department for a series of treatments. I waited for my therapist, leisurely flicking through a glossy magazine, and two elderly women joined me in the waiting area; one in a wheelchair.
I couldn’t help but hear their conversation as the two friends discussed the hot humid New England weather that we were experiencing that day. Both agreed that they disliked the heat. “When my husband was alive,” began the woman in the wheelchair, “he was always turning up the thermostat, while I was opening windows. He liked the heat, you see.”
There was a slight pause, and her voice became wistful and wavered as she spoke. “I would put up with any amount of heat if I could just have him back.”

Nothing on Earth remains the same, but being able to live in the present moment enables us to heighten our experiences and interactions with people.
Every moment counts. No moment is more important than the one you are experiencing right now. Events and milestones are significant and add to your mental library of happy memories or lessons to learn from. But even these come down to the thoughts that take place inside you.

Meditation and the Moment
Meditation helps you to appreciate the value of time and your experiences and interactions with the people that you see every day.
Meditation keeps you in the present moment, not only during your meditation session, but afterwards too.
Meditation trains the mind so that you are able to catch thoughts before they turn into actions and thereby choose appropriate ones.

Mindful Meditation
In your comfortable seated pose, use the methods shown in previous blogs to release the mind from thoughts and conversations, feelings and emotions, and to simply follow the breath.
Feel the breath become slow and steady.
When the mind is calm and peaceful and the breath slow and steady, focus on the intake of the breath from the tip of the nose into the base of the lungs.
As you exhale, follow the breath slowly all the way out of the body and out through the tip of the nose.
Continue with this rhythmical breath.
Ignore any thoughts that enter the mind’s awareness.
Stay focused on the flow of the breath.
As your meditation deepens, you may lose awareness of the body.
Stay with the flow of the breath and then allow the mind to release into the space between the breath.
Continue in this manner until you feel that your meditation session is over.

Mindfulness helps you notice small gifts in life such as this rainbow forming

Mindful Present
During your everyday activities, stay mindful by keeping the breath steady and even. Focus on each task, whether you are at work, in conversation with someone, or preparing food for dinner.
Notice your thoughts and behaviors.
Notice how you react to other people.
Strive to remain positive and non-judgmental
Return to the steady flow of the breath when you need to draw yourself back to the peaceful place within.
Treasure each moment and you will have a lifetime of happy memories,