Gratitude: Guided Meditation

Water everywhere! Swans are enjoying the water.

Gratitude

This week I was reminded of the wonderful power of gratitude and I wanted to share the story with you today, especially as it is a special time of year in both the Jewish and Christian calendars.

Here in New England we’ve had a lot of rain over the past two weeks that has broken meteorological records and submerged roads, houses, and caused bridges to crumble under its mighty force.

In my yoga studio, I have an automatic sump pump installed and since the rain started falling it has been working overtime.

Usually it switches on for a minute and is a gentle soothing trickle, however the last few days have poured a lot of water from the sky and the pump was quite audible on several occasions.

Most of my students have been attending classes at my studio for months and even years and have learned to filter out distractions and focus on the peace within. Their peaceful composure and ability to stay “in the Flow” is a credit to their dedication to practicing all the aspects of TriYoga.

This week though, I was reminded about an incident that occurred about ten years ago. I attended a workshop held by another teacher and at the end of the session one attendee complained to the instructor about the noise in the next room; the footsteps, the doors opening and closing, and the conversations.

To me the noise was very minor and no more distracting than cars outside in the street, planes flying overhead, and the chirping of birds in the trees.
In rented space it is often challenging to have the perfect environment which is one reason why I created my own studio, but few things in life are ever truly perfect.

Perfection lies within.

Anyway, the attendee who was complaining did not see that the problem lay within their very own self, rather than externally. As yogi’s we learn to live in the world free from distractions and to maintain single-pointed focus.

Which brings me back to this week.

I was delighted that my students were able to filter the external noise; some students even thought it was soothing and a deliberate choice on my behalf to enhance the water element theme of the class!
However it was a particular comment by one student, and echoed by the class, that I want to share with you.

Remember, there has been and still is a major amount of flooding throughout New England and residents (including my students) have had boilers, washing machines, computers, and basements ruined, to name but a few items and have spent hours salvaging what they can.

At the end of class, one student said:
“Thank you Margaret, for having the sump pump and giving us a warm dry studio that we can come to, to practice our yoga. We need to be here.”

That was such a wonderful thing to say and a reflection on the inner peace and transformation that is possible for all of us, despite our own problems and the difficulties that we see around us.

Practicing gratitude, following the peace within, and focusing on what is good and beautiful and right with the world rather than what is wrong and being unhappy enables each one of us to remain strong and be a force of light when problems do occur.

Gratitude remains a powerful tool to remain contented and happy. If you are new to the practice of meditation you will discover that it will help realign yourself with light and love and relinquish the hold of emotional irritation, unhappiness and even anger.

It does not mean looking at the world through-rose-colored glasses, but about releasing fear, fault-finding, and doubt.

Instead of looking at a rose and focusing on the thorns, be grateful that thorns have roses.

Guided Meditation
See this earlier posting on How To Meditate


Sitting in a comfortable position, allow the eyes to gently close.

Slowly inhale, filling your lungs completely with air.
Exhale slowly.
And continue, slowing the breath down.
Follow the breath from the tip of the nose to the base of the lungs, and slowly release the air.

Draw the navel in with each exhalation to assist with removing the impurities that are carried with the breath.

Release attachment to thoughts and emotions, focusing on your breath.

Continue as you allow the body to relax and the mind to be quiet and still.

Draw light in a column through the body in front of the spine.
Exhale, and see yourself surrounded by the light.
Continue for 5 slow and steady breaths.


Now, with each inhalation draw awareness to the heart center.

See light emanate from this sacred space.

As you exhale, allow the light to cleanse you and remove impurities, both physical and subtle.

Feel yourself glowing with the pure light that both fills you and surrounds you.

See the light flow effortlessly from your heart center.

Bathe in the light, feel it cleanse and renew you.

SAY WHAT YOU ARE GRATEFUL FOR

In the beginning it may be challenging but like all things, with practice it get SO MUCH EASIER and you find that you have zero problems finding subjects to be genuinely grateful for.

Continue to bathe in the light. Feel the warm embrace of peace and light.

When you feel that your meditation session is over, slowly allow your eyes to open.

Demonstrate gratitude through prayers, through acts of kindness, and by monitoring your thoughts and subsequent actions to ensure that you are truly thoughtful with every word and action.

Grazie

Merci

Thank You

No matter how you say it, giving thanks and showing your gratitude is a positive emotion that unlocks the fullness of your energy.
As opportunities open themselves up to you, you will be able to recognize them and act upon them. You have the power to influence your thoughts.

Gratitude
Meditation is often described as a mirror to your Self, revealing to yourself the reality of how you are really doing in living your life with purpose. You will know that all is well when peace flows through you and stays with you for longer periods until your whole life is peaceful.

Think gratitude, give gratitude, receive thanks and love.

Peace

Guided Meditation

Observe your life for one whole minute. What difference does your being there make?

Interesting, isn’t it.

If you’ve never tried it before, the results might have surprised you.

As a yoga and meditation teacher I have found that while students enjoy learning how to meditate and experiencing the wonderful benefits, what is more challenging is releasing the “stuff” that prevents complete joy and bliss from manifesting. Sure, there is a sense of peace, but there are other even more wonderful experiences that will happen, if room is made for them. The “stuff” that I’m referring to here is different from one person to another but it acts like a pile of boxes that are stacked in front of a closed door. Once they are removed, meditation unlocks the door and then you have the choice to open it and enter.

Give yourself permission to evolve and change

How do you value yourself?
Prioritizing your life lets you see where you put your own needs and then do something about it.

With meditation, there’s no room for you and your excess thoughts. If you allow thoughts to enter and then follow them, that’s when you find that you’re not experiencing the bliss that you know is there, inside.
If you are new to meditation, thoughts WILL intrude. But hold onto either an affirmation, a mantra, or the image of a light in order to use them like a shield to protect you from unwanted thoughts.
Like all practices, once it becomes a regular habit, you become better at it and can enter it with ease.

Building confidence relies on thinking you are worth it and by acting upon it. In the opening question at the start of this posting, what was your mind drawn to?
If it was an event or attribute that made you feel happy, then that’s good. If, however, you found that you were drawn to past mistakes, then it becomes necessary to stop judging yourself, or others, and look at ways to create a mind-shift.
There are two inner voices, or thoughts, that can form in your mind; one is always wrong. These mistaken and erroneous thoughts are formed by habit, just as thinking positively about yourself and the world in general develop through continued practice.

You CAN change your mind and not cling to past opinions if you know or find them to be wrong.
It is never too late to begin meditation, nor is it too late to change your mind. Just because you are walking down a certain path doesn't mean that you need to follow it all the way to the end. It’s hard to take a different path, leaving what you knew, but you can make a mental (or physical if that’s what you want) break from what’s preventing you from making different choices. Sometimes all it takes is a word from someone, an inspiring book you have read, or a strong internal feeling that arises from meditation to spur you to make a positive difference in your life.

Researchers have conducted sensory meditation studies and have found that mental characteristics that were previously regarded as fixed and unchangeable can in fact be altered by mental training such as meditation.

The brain has an ability called Neuroplasticity, in which new pathways (thought patterns) and new brain cells can form.
You’re not stuck with your current way of thinking, unless you choose to.

Additional studies have also found that electrical activity is in fact heightened during meditation in an area of the brain called the left prefrontal cortex, which is situated just behind the forehead. Scientists have associated activity in this region with positive emotions, as opposed to the right prefrontal cortex, which is associated with negative responses in an individual’s feelings and emotions.

Out With The Old, In The New
Few people can honestly say that they know what they should do with their life. They wander and drift having some moments of clarity, only to find that what they are doing loses its momentum.

Meditation trains the mind to maintain single-pointed focus. This promotes greater awareness of what is empowering and what is detracting you from living your best life and having fun while you do it.

I’ve always found it useful to make a list of my goals and intentions. I encourage you to do likewise; otherwise before you know it every good thing that presents itself will seem like the right thing. After all, when making a meal, you don’t add every healthy item to the recipe. You are selective to ensure that the food turns out just as you want it to.

Meditation is one of the simplest methods to help you look deep within and determine what will actually make you happy. Then the steps that you need to take and live by in order to attain it fall into place with ease.

Life is a wonderful gift and meditation helps to sweep away confusion and reveal a clear path free from obstacles.

Guided Meditation

Surroundings
As always before you begin your meditation practice, ensure that you find a quiet place with no distractions such as the telephone and that your clothes are comfortable. Your chosen place for meditation can be either indoors or outdoors but ensure that the temperature is not too hot or cold.
Try to develop a habit of meditating in the same place. Then once you are ane to enter into meditation with ease, you will find that you gravitate to meditation easily and oblivious to potential disruptions.

Sit as comfortably as you can, with the spine lengthened.
Close your eyes, and use the power of the breath to relax the body and mind
Follow the breath from the tip of the nose to the base of the lung
Follow the breath all the way out again.
Don’t rush this process
Continue following the breath until you feel completely relaxed

Allow the exhalation to become twice as deep as the inhalation.
Continue to notice the rate and rhythm of the breath.
Maintain attention only on your steady and even breath

With each breath, release your thoughts. Do not follow them or struggle with them.
Acknowledge they are there and allow them to drift by.
If you are visual, you can see the thoughts as images of clouds and let them drift away against the backdrop of a blue sky.

Return to the flow of the breath

With the breath gentle and flowing, notice the stillness within you. Focus on the space between each breath.
Thoughts lessen.
Stay with the deep, rhythmic breath
Enter into the space between each breath

NOTE: Even if this stillness lasts for a few seconds, you have been meditating and with practice the stillness lasts longer. When you come aware that you are experiencing stillness, it occurs with a thought such as “I am experiencing stillness.” Release that thought and return to the breath and then the stillness.

Feel the expansive abundance of the stillness
Feel the oneness with peace

When you are complete, allow the eyes to slowly open.
Notice how you feel and the state of your mind.

Know that you can return to this state of mind, simply by returning to observing the rhythmic flow of the breath.

Action
Developing awareness in all situations, including your own feelings and reactions, enables you to take control of what you think and therefore do. It’s up to you to determine what kind of reaction, and ultimately reality, you are going to create.

Keep a journal where you can write down your experiences and any goals or aspirations that arise.

Focus on the present and carry peace and joy around inside you. You will eliminate feelings of irritation and anxiety and live a healthier, happier life not only when times are going well, but especially when they are tough because you have the resources now to draw on the happiness and bliss that flows within.

Meditation is a great teacher and you have the resources within you to have a truly amazing life. It is YOU who has the ability to empower yourself and take the first steps to move forward on your life’s purpose, rather than standing still.
You are a remarkable individual with untapped possibilities and you CAN have amazing success with all of your endeavors.

Observe Your Life
Next time you observe your life for one minute, what is it like this time?

LOVE

Holy River Ganges, India

“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden where the flowers are dead. The consciousness of living and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.”

Oscar Wilde

“I am a river of Love. If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

Mother Teresa

Meditation on Love

Method
For this particular meditation practice, imagine a river filled with the energy of Love.

With each inhale and exhale, feel this river flow effortlessly through your body.
See the fluidity permeate through every cell, bathing you in Love.

Feel this river of Divine Consciousness flow through you and surround you.
Experience the oneness with the source of all Love.

Focus on the word Love.
As you repeat it, feel bathed in the energy of Love.
Continue to repeat the word Love, while feeling embraced by Love.

See the energy of Love as a brilliant white Light radiating from the base of your spine to the crown of your head.
As you inhale, draw the Light from the base of your spine to the crown of your head.
As you exhale, feel this Light flow through you and pour from the crown of your head to surround you.
Feel totally immersed in the Light and at one with the Light.

See your Light and Love continue to surround you and when you are ready let it extend out into the world.

So in order to see a change in the world, you simply have to look within and connect to the Light.
As you continue to practice this meditation, you will illuminate the world with your inner light.

Bathe daily in the River of Love and keep your own Love flowing by being consciously connected to the source of all life and Love.
Feel the Love, warmth, and richness in your life permeate through all that you touch, in both thought and action.

Direct all your energy to what truly matters, i.e. Love, and you will be more productive and happy in all areas of your life.

Imagine what your life will be like when you know how to be at peace and filled with love.
Direct your energy and Love to others and see Love returned.

Be at one with the river of Love.

Peace and Love.

Peace, Light, Love

  A dragon holding a golden key.  What will it unlock?

Many thanks to Flo for sharing the dragon with us. I've photographed it on my yoga mat in my yoga studio.  Note the dragon's breath as it protects the key.

Last week I posted an article about dragons and while they don’t exist except in our imaginations, there are real things that can create fear and anxiety in each of our lives, if we allow them to.  Inner Happiness

These fears prevent many of us from exploring and seeing the potential that lies before us every day. If our imagination can project fear, then it can also project happiness.

Instead of allowing the fears to burn away your hopes, desires, and potential, meditation and affirmations help you to take control of your thoughts and actions and overcome any internal and external obstacles.

Unlike stories where a knight will arrive and slay a dragon, the only person who can eliminate the dragon breathing down your neck with it's fiery breath is YOU.

Meditation and assertive affirmations remove all feelings of helplessness and of being lost.

The inner light of meditation connects you to the Universal Source that infuses you with peace and love.
When you are connected to the source of Love, there is NO PLACE for fear to reside.

Period.

It's that simple.

When you are learning to meditate there will be times when you feel positive, only to have doubts later on.  Love is stronger and each time that you meditate you will REINFORCE your strength and the power of Love.
This power exists within you and you can tap into it every time that you meditate and bring it into all your activities.

Assertive affirmations are a great way to keep you focused on the wonderful individual that you are.  They act like a shield to block unwanted thoughts that will harm you if permitted to continue.

Holding a positive image in your mind during your meditation practice helps you to stay focused.  Following your meditation, you can concentrate on this image whenever you experience the mind wandering from a peaceful state.

One image that I like to focus on is the face of a person that I love.  I invite this person into my heart and see their divine qualities.  Slowly, I fill my mind and body with love until it is overflowing.

During my waking moments, I can re-experience this loving feeling whenever I draw this person into my mind's awareness.  It's a simple yet effective method of developing concentration and awareness of Love.

Use the strength and power of your meditation practice to chase away any dragons and seize the golden key that will unlock the door to health and success in all that you do.

Peace, Light, Love

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

POSITIVE MEDITATION

Embrace life.

The practice of meditation is transformative on many levels. The beginning of a changed life pathway is by living THIS moment in the present to your maximum potential. Then the next moment will ALSO be lived to fullest potential, and then the remainder of your life!
Life is not about what you think may happen in the future. Life is about enjoying the journey of daily creativity and loving experiences.
Then when you least expect it, something great comes along to change your life making it even more purposeful, with an aliveness, vitality and a higher sense of spiritual purpose in life. Something even greater will happen for you that you never even planned.

Will you be able to say in a few months time that this moment TODAY changed your life, because you changed to THINKING POSTIVELY by using your mind and soul to your maximum potential ?

Can a mere thought block energy? Can a mere thought cause disease? A study at Duke University in 1997 found that thoughts leading to negative emotions like anger or sadness actually constrict the blood vessels of the heart, a condition known as ischemia. Ischemia starves the flow of energy to the muscle and is a precursor to heart attack. Researcher Elizabeth Gullette said "What surprised me was the power of the association and the fact that negative emotions can actually trigger ischemia." The findings summarized that "negative emotions double the risk of ischemic attacks for an hour after the emotional trigger but positive emotions reduce the risk of such events."

So, holding on to a negative thought about someone or something blocks energy flow while a positive thought reduces risk.

In this way, the nature and quality of the thoughts we think, the feelings we experience, and the meaning we attach to events, either consciously or unconsciously, both influence and are influenced by our sense of awareness and level of consciousness long after the experience has passed.

Recognizing what you need comes not from what you perceive outwardly, but what comes to you inwardly through prayer, meditation, and listening to your innermost feelings. In quieting your mind, you hear what you need and begin to recognize the areas of your life that require healing, sustenance, and love. Determining the difference between wanting and truly needing is self-liberating.

Be serious in your choice to follow the right path and all that it requires. It takes effort, but pursuing the wrong path is destructive and painful and demands more effort in the long run.

Change your routine and habits to set yourself up for success. Replace bad habits with good habits. Begin one at a time and don’t be afraid to bring people into your life you who will support you and not try to detract you from your intentions.

We live in a world full of temptation and by maintaining a regular meditation practice you equip yourself with a unique tool to cope with pressures and desires. You will feel the joy that flows through each one of us, instilling you with the capacity to face up to daily challenges.

Meditation infuses you with a powerful energy. While you are in a relaxed state of body and mind, realize that you are master of your body. The mind is yours to control, and when it is controlled it will care for you and follow your directions.

Only when your mind becomes still through meditation can you attain clarity of thought and purpose in your actions. Ultimately, life is about maintaining a balance. In other words, when you practice moderation, your mind, body, and Spirit are healthy.

A positive mindset leads to positive actions and meditation allows the essence of unity with the source of pure love to lead you to a state of harmony and bliss.

Om Shanti Peace

PRANAYAMA

Feel the calmness that accompanies freedom from obstacles.

Preparing the body for meditation through an activity such as yoga is an ideal process in which to acquire skills to control unconscious thoughts and physical movements. Yoga creates a training ground in which to bring awareness to the joints, muscles, and the thoughts, in order to create single-pointed focus to sit still in meditation. An integral part of yoga is the practice of pranayama and the key to successful meditation through the all-important control of the breath.

When the mind is calm, the breath is also calm, and vice versa.

Incorporating breathing techniques and meditation in your daily activities is easy to do and helps you to live harmoniously with your surroundings while experiencing the transforming benefits of meditation.

For many people, the breath is erratic, uneven, noisy, and fails to maximize the life-force energy of prana. This is especially so when faced with a challenging situation.

The next time you encounter heavy traffic, pay attention to how you are breathing.
Then notice how you are feeling.
What thoughts and emotions are coursing through you?

Slowing the breath down and breathing deeply into the base of the lungs releases toxic emotions from your body. Notice how a deeper, more relaxed breathing pattern helps you slow down not only the rate of the breath, but your thoughts as well.

You can consciously practice pranayama everywhere; walking, waiting in line, waiting for a pot to boil.

Method
Observe the breath. Begin by monitoring the flow, rhythm, and speed of the breath. All three should be slow, smooth, and steady. When you focus your mind on something repetitive you automatically begin to quieten the thoughts and emotions. Purposely drawing your attention to one thought process prevents negativity and limitations from taking root. With each exhalation you can release what you do not need or want, and with each inhale, full your body and mind with the peace, joy, and love that will uplift you every day.

Once you teach your Self to breathe properly, you will use correct breathing techniques at every waking moment. In the beginning, you may catch yourself during moments of stress and detect that the pace of your breath is not effortless and calm.
Simply bring awareness back to the rhythmic flow of the breath and notice how it returns with ease to a composed and steady rate.

With practice, you will notice an improvement in clarity of thought, happiness, and peace of mind. Other people will notice the changes in you too and that means that you are making a positive difference not only in your own life, but in the lives of others too.

Your life becomes calmer, your meditation practice effortless, and the mind becomes limitless.

Peace

BENEFITS OF PRANAYAMA

Prana is the essence of ALL life.

BENEFITS OF PRANAYAMA

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

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

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

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

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

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

Benefits of Pranayama

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


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

METHOD

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

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

Om Shanti Peace

Copyright 2009 Margaret Stockley

PEACE AND HARMONY

Create Peace and Harmony Within Your Thoughts.

PEACE AND HARMONY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Om Shanti Peace

Meditation 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.

Mastery of Energy Healing

Explore other methods of meditation and energy healing

and see where this new knowledge takes you.

Over the next few postings, I’d like to share with you some of the useful items, amazing people, or interesting methods that I have come across that help people explore and deepen their meditation practice. I am not affiliated with any of the methods and highlight them simply as a means of enabling you, dear readers, to make informed choices and grow in your knowledge of the fascinating world that we live in.

There are many forms of meditation and affirmation with the purpose of enabling an individual to promote peace and healing within themselves and I was fortunate recently to experience a new method called Mastery of Energy Healing. I was introduced to this powerful, yet simple, technique by one of my yoga students.

My student had a colleague, Glen, who had been seriously ill for a number of years with a heart condition. Glen’s amazing testimony is highlighted in the following website www.masteryofenergyhealing.com
My student stays in regular contact with Glen and he has used the Energy Healing to help her and other people.

Alex J. Hermosillo is the founder of Mastery of Energy Healing (M.E.H.). In his own words, he states that M.E.H. is a gentle, non-invasive healing technique that assists the individual in releasing the negative energies and negative memories of unserving thoughts, emotions and patterns that cause illness.

Research in neurophysiology is supporting the premise of his work, which is outlined in the following statement.

“From the moment you are born to the present, your body and mind stores a complete record of information about you (called ‘Cell Memory’). Every experience of joy, gratitude, contentment and peace of mind is within you. Also within you are the energies and memories of heartbreaks, grief, confusion and fear.”

Simple in concept, it is actually more challenging for a person to release deep-seated beliefs than they realize. There are a variety of reasons for that, but one of the reasons that I like Alex’s method is that release does occur, without having to relive the negative events that caused them to be embedded in the first place.
Once the release has occurred, you bring in positive energy that, in turn, promotes a healthier view of yourself and your life.

“If there are individuals or a person who causes you harm, keep them at a distance, and bring in individuals that will nurture you, for they are plentiful as the stars."
~ Alex J. Hermosillo

People who have participated in this program find that they gain confidence, assertiveness, become more loving to themselves and others, and gain relief from symptoms of illness. Best results are apparently achieved through working with a healer trained in Mastery of Energy Healing.

MEDITATION, MANTRA, CLARITY

CLARITY
There are times when we experience a mental "blockage" and struggle with finding a solution to a problem or a creative idea. This can occur because we are unconsciously holding on to outdated ideas or past beliefs and meditation enables each one of us to obtain clarity of mind by gently stripping away obstacles and confusion layer by layer, revealing our connection to the source of all creation.

MENTAL BLOCKAGES

Fr. Thomas Keating of The Contemplative Outreach Center in New Jersey Resist wrote the following words in 1998:

"Resist no thought, retain no thought, react emotionally to no thought, and when you notice you are thinking about some thought,
return ever so gently to the sacred word.
One does not think about whether to return to the sacred word or not.
One simply returns to it when thoughts are attracting one's awareness
to a particular object."

Awareness rarely emerges when forced. It comes into being when you cease the struggle and clear a path for it to flow. Concentration and heightened awareness develop with practice and carry with them additional advantages such as:

• being more receptive to listening rather than asking
• being rather than doing
• increasing your faith
  

The past can leak into the present when we least expect it, but by taking charge of the dominant brain and leading it on a spiritual path you encounter fewer obstacles and instead invite calmness, the right people, and unexpected opportunities into your life that will guide you forward instead of holding you in a place that you have outgrown.

FINDING YOUR SACRED WORD
Affirmations are useful when you are beginning meditation or need to train the mind to think more positively.
A Mantra or Sacred Word or Phrase however, has special significance and energy in part because it originates from sacred text, sacred music, or sacred tradition.
It is extremely powerful and while a whole posting can be written to describe its importance, you can begin using a word or phrase that has special meaning to you by reading a scripture and finding a passage that resonates with you. As you consider the text, read slowly and a word or phrase will stay with you, drawing your attention to it again and again.

Once you have settled into your meditation, allow the word to flow unimpeded through your mind's awareness. Focus on the word, its energy, how it feels, what it says to you. Feel its vibrations.
After your meditation session is complete notice how you feel, what your perspective is like, how relaxed your mind is, and how clear your thoughts have become.
Release attachment to the past and remain focused on the present. Cultivate sacred words and carry them with you and notice a deepening spiritual awareness and connectivity to the source of all creation.

CULTIVATING PEACE

Peace and stillness flows through the mind like a river.

"There is nothing in all creation so like God as stillness."

Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)

Elusive Peace
Noise is everywhere; in the streets, in shops, even inside your head when you keep replaying past conversations. Sometimes the internal noise drowns out the external so that someone has to repeat what they have said to you in order for you to hear them. Sounds impact each one of us whether we are aware of them or not. Laughter, crying, shouting, and music can each affect our mood even when they are in the background and we are not aware of paying it very much attention.

The constant bombardment of noise on the senses can reach the point where life gets so hectic and fast paced that you say to yourself, “I just want a break. I need some peace.”

So where do you go to find it?
A spa? A sacred place of worship? A stroll in the park or by the ocean? A library?

A Moment for Meditation
Where does true lasting peace exist? Certainly not in an external place, no matter how tranquil or spiritual the place is. However, a beautiful scenic filled with the sights and sounds of nature, or a romantic atmosphere, can promote short acting peace and provide both a positive memory to return to within the mind's awareness and a stepping-off point to begin developing lasting peace.

It takes no special skills, simply practice and the belief that peace DOES reside within you.

Awareness of lasting peace is cultivated over a period of time, provided it is given the right environment so that you can first recognize it, and then enable it to deepen its roots and strengthen over time.

It is through meditation that you experience serenity and tranquility. You create a memory for it within your mind and body.

Your Meditation
As you prepare for this meditation, know that you are going to focus on the peace within you.
Even if you don't feel particularly peaceful, know that you will release stress and unhappy feelings and replace this revealed inner space with feelings of peace.

You allow tranquility to flow effortlessly in the way that a river flows unimpeded when boulders are rolled away to permit an even and steady passage of water.
Your own energy will flow in such a way that while it may be a trickle at first, it will steadily increase until anxiety and stress no longer have a chance of taking a hold again as the current of peace sweeps it away.

Your body and mind will desire staying in a peaceful state and through regular meditation you learn how to experience serene feelings and deep happiness. In doing so you calm the mind and the body, creating a situation that promotes calmness and freedom from worry.

You will return to a peaceful way of living with increased frequency until peace becomes your natural way of being.

Breathing Meditation

A breathing meditation helps the lake of the mind remain calm and still

Meditation has numerous applications and there are a variety of methods that you as a practitioner can use depending on your needs.

A breathing meditation serves as a single-pointed focus and both calms the mind and develops internal peace.
You can choose whether to concentrate solely on the breath prior to entering your meditation practice, or to stay with the breath and actually meditate upon it during your entire practice.

Breathing Meditation

Sit in a comfortable position with the spine erect. Your chosen place for meditation should be free from distractions including being too hot, cold, drafty etc as it’s not only noise that can be annoying.

With the eyes gently closed, 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

Continue following the breath as it enters and leaves the body until you feel the body and mind relax and the breath becomes slow and steady

Note the sensation of the breath as it passes through both nostrils, over the back of the throat and into the base of the lungs
Never force the breath

Deepen and lengthen the breath
Feel the breath flow into the body, permeating every cell

Maintain awareness on the sensation of the breath
Concentrate on how the breath feels

If any thoughts enter the mind’s awareness, simply allow them to pass on by.
Don’t follow a train of thought.
Remain focused on the breath and all the impressions that it leaves.

If you discover that you have inadvertently allowed the mind to wander off, don’t judge yourself. Accept that this has happened and simply return to the gentle rhythmic flow of the breath.

Eventually, the deeper you concentrate on the breath, the fewer distractions that will appear as there is no room for other thoughts to enter.
With practice and dedication the mind will stay with the breath. It will be comfortable in this new attentiveness.

All distracting thoughts subside and the mind experiences deep relaxation and profound peace.

A feeling of expansiveness of body and mind will permeate your entire being.
It is not uncommon to actually lose all awareness of even possessing a physical body as the mind joins with the source of the peace.

Knowledge and understand thrives and flourishes.

Once your thoughts have melted away and awareness is only on the sensations of the breath, let the mind dissolve.

Stay in this peaceful state until you feel that your meditation is complete.

After Your Breathing Meditation Session

• Notice the different levels of relaxation that occur within the body and mind simply by following the breath and remaining with the breath.
• Excluding other thoughts enables you to stay calm and peaceful.
• You control your thoughts and the body by controlling the mind.
• Any time that you find yourself in a stress-full situation, simply return to the rhythmic flow of the breath and you will be able to bring your mind into a relaxed state.

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.

EVENING: GUIDED MEDITATION

An evening meditation helps you unwind, give thanks, and prepare for a new day

EVENING MEDITATION
While a morning meditation is a wonderful start to the day, ending the busy-ness of the day with an evening meditation is a perfect resolution to the various tasks, distractions, and emotions that present themselves throughout the day.

An evening meditation restores balance, peace, and calmness if these have somehow gotten lost during the day. It also provides a means to offer gratitude and prayer and prepare you for a good night’s sleep, free from concern about what has transpired and what may happen in the future.
It helps to keep you in the present moment so that with practice you will live every moment of your day and night in peace and harmony with both yourself and in your interactions with others.

Winding Down
The energy of the day is winding down and just as most of nature rests during the night hours, you also can prepare yourself for the best night’s rest in order to have the best start the next day.
An evening meditation provides you with the fuel to restore physical healing, a calm mind that will sleep undisturbed, and endows you with an energized mind, body, and spirit when morning comes.
When the mind is clear and the heart open, the body can enter into a deep state of relaxation, bringing healing and light into a body that has expended its daily quota of energy and fill up the tanks for the next day.

Evening Meditation
Begin your meditation practice by sitting in a comfortable position and concentrating on the breath. This permits a single-pointed focus and promotes concentration and relaxation.

When your mind and body feel calm and still, experience the silence that resides deep within you

All sounds melt away and your heart is open and at peace
Enter into the place where you feel closest to God the Creator
Offer sincere thanks for what has occurred today, whether it was part of your plan or not
Give thanks for all the many blessings that God has given you
Give thanks for all who have come into your life today
Ask for forgiveness
Ask that others in the world may find peace and love
Ask for understanding of your purpose
Rejoice in being safe in God’s presence

With the mind clear, continue to follow the breath and let all thoughts and emotions pass away
Enter into meditation and bathe in the peace that surrounds you
Stay in meditation until you feel complete

Reflection
Remember every day to Love others as God Loves you.
Each time that you pray and meditate, you are replenished and renewed as God’s Love and energy pours forth into you.
Use your energy to further Peace, Love, and the Healing of the Earth one person at a time.

NOTE: The free weekly Multi-Sensory Meditation newsletter (published every Wednesday) is available at the following link:
Link

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: Peaceful Life

Paying attention to the needs of your body means that you have to ask yourself several key questions on a regular basis: are you getting enough rest, appropriate nutrition, adequate exercise?
Listening to your physical and emotional needs disciplines you to live in tune with your inner rhythm. The body’s requirements differ from day to day just as the natural rhythms of the body rise and fall from morning through the night.

Is your body getting adequate nutrition?

Monitor Your Thoughts
Meditation helps you to protect and nurture your body and learn to face and cope with daily challenges. This is an ongoing process as you discover your strengths and skills and use them to help yourself and others. You learn to monitor your thoughts and see the intention behind the thoughts, resulting in actions that are kinder and more productive.

Creating Change
The inability to initiate changes is not always because of a lack of will power.
Apprehension of what will replace your current behavior, fear of the unknown, and uneasiness of having an empty space in your life are all reasons why it can be difficult to alter your current mind-set.
Even fear of success brings its own trepidation with concerns about how other people will view you, what they will think of you, what they will say about you.

Altering any aspect of your life is initially fraught with potential discomfort as you begin to realize that some friends may not welcome the changes that you are making and will not support you or walk with you on your path. As you become more confident and see the positive effects of one small change in your life, it becomes easier to keep transitioning until you are comfortable with who you are.

Hesitation in making a smooth transition from your current way of thinking to achieving your hopes and dreams is normal. You clear away tension and stored up anxieties only to come across an obstacle that grinds you to a halt. Every journey has its delays and detours.

Meditation helps you to stay true to your destination.

Personal questions to consider:
• What makes you react to situations and other people the way that you do?
• What feelings do you hide within you?
• What makes you feel afraid?

Don’t judge yourself.
Judgment is in itself a negative thought and therefore not conducive to helping you move to a life of peace and harmony, whether it is other people or yourself that you are judging. You are striving, one step at a time, to consciously monitor your thoughts and alter your behavior.
This is a learning process and you are focusing first on the areas where you want to make a change and then gradually discovering ways to remove unnecessary habits and replacing them with actions that are more productive.
Work consistently through your early successes and accept that there will be some aspects that are more challenging.
Remain steadfast in your conscious desire to change.

Meditation helps you create and maintain lasting inner peace

Meditation is a Healer
Meditation restores balance and controls negative emotions. Prayer, meditation, and your inner voice (intuition) all serve as a means to guide you in a particular direction.
As you become aware of areas that create difficulties, work with intention to open your heart and mind to learn and eventually to heal.
Meditation helps you create the space within to allow intuition to flow and enable your choices in life to be the ones you really want.

Meditation for Peace
During your meditation practice, slow the breath down until it is smooth and steady.
Feel space within you as you breathe away negative thoughts.
With each inhalation, draw in positive happy feelings.
As you exhale, release all tension and discomfort.
Continue with this breathing technique until you feel peaceful.
Hear the sound of Om resonating deep within you.
See light at the base of your spine and draw it in a column to the crown of your head.
Om changes to the sound of bliss, which is the sound Ah.
As you exhale, see the light pouring from the crown of your head to surround you.
Repeat the sound and light visualization for 3 to 5 rounds
Feel yourself dissolve into meditation

Retain the peaceful feeling inside you wherever you go, returning to it through the calm and peaceful breath and the ongoing healing of your meditation practice.

MEDITATION: MEMORIAL DAY 2009

Today's meditation article is a reminder to all of us to reflect on peace, sacrifice, and courage. To reflect, not on war, but on peace.

Today we remember our veterans for their strength in doing more than people thought was safe or wise to do so. We will not forget the lives that were taken.

It takes courage to stand up against injustice and the abuse of human rights, and we remember our veterans for their perseverance in withstanding danger through not counting the days, but in making the days count.

With guarded optimism for the future, we are both humbled and privileged to see the character of this country in our veterans and say; we do remember you for your courage in giving of your time and of yourselves. Your resolve, grace, and strength are an example to our nation.

Unity
The men and women we remember today demonstrated the highest form of courage, ensuring not only our survival, but our ability to continue to live in freedom; ensuring unity, fairness, and justice. Together they embody the belief in standing side-by-side with determination and one purpose.

They have seen sorrow and pain that will never completely go away, and to those who have lost a loved-one, our country will never forget the debt we owe all who gave their lives for freedom.

Memorial Day, Decoration Day, Remembrance Day.
These are names given to the day when we pause, reflect on, and honor our soldiers, our family, our friends, who have died.

Meditate on What Lies Within
What lies behind us and what lies before us is a small matter compared to what lies within us, as we strive to be a nation that serves goals larger than self.

All of us today can take a moment to reflect on these words on this special day and look within ourselves for a portion of the unique courage and strength of character that these men and women portrayed.

The veterans’ values give meaning to our lives today.

Throughout the country, we solemnly reaffirm our duty to honor the dead and embrace the living by honoring their memory through teaching the next generation of the determination and commitment of our veterans and to strive for peace wherever possible so that there may finally be an end to war.

Time for Remembrance
Please take time today at 3pm to reflect on and honor the men and women of the United States who died in the pursuit of freedom and peace. This is designated as a National Time of Remembrance.

Meditation on Peace
During your Meditation practice or during a time of reflection, look at areas of your own life that is experiencing struggles. Focus on creating peace and harmony in your life and in your surroundings.

If we all brought our awareness onto peace beginning with ourselves and in our connections with others, we would indeed change the world and create a peaceful world for all of us and for future generations.

On Memorial Day 2009, seek out peace and love wherever you are and pause to reflect on what the Day means. Change does begin one person at a time, one thought at a time.

Meditation allows you to see deep within to where you can be the catalyst for peace.