No Pain - All Gain! Train the Brain to Remove Pain

During meditation and yogic breathing techniques, brain wave patterns change.

Scientists from The University of Manchester have found that people who meditate regularly find pain less unpleasant because their brains anticipate the pain less. The study was published in September 2010 and showed that meditation reduces the emotional impact of aches and injury.

In the study, pain was administered via a small laser and the threat of pain was also anticipated as part of the research.

The scientists found that the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain known to be involved in controlling attention and thought processes when potential threats are perceived, was more active compared to non-meditators. The experienced meditators also perceived the pain as less unpleasant relative to controls.

The more experience that a meditation practitioner had, the more the individual was able to distance themselves from anticipation of soreness, both reducing the expectation of and the negative appraisal of pain.

Meditation trains the brain to be more present-focused and to spend less time anticipating future negative events, reducing the recurrence of depression which makes chronic pain considerably worse.

Other studies have demonstrated that the pre-frontal cortex thickens as a result of meditation and thickening of this area of cortex is also shown to protect a person from sensitivity to pain.


Meditation Reduces Pain

During meditation and yogic breathing techniques, brain wave patterns change from beta waves to alpha waves. In addition, both hemispheres of the brain and the body become balanced. In most people, one side is slightly more active than the other e.g. being left or right-handed, but balanced sides also mean that your creative, physical, and logical abilities are equal and productive.

During the alpha state, the brain produces endorphins, natural pain-reducing hormones that are also responsible for a feeling of wellbeing and calming awareness throughout the body. Endorphins are the “feel good” factor involved in maintaining a positive quality of life, aid in controlling the body’s response to stress and in the regulation of growth and gonadotropin hormones.

When the mind is balanced, the whole body is affected.

Multi-Sensory Meditation which we teach, via classes and seminars, positively impacts your internal and external perception, your awareness of possibilities, and by promoting an optimistic mental state enables you to be free from negativity. In its simplest form, it is your own way of distancing your mind from the hustle and bustle of everyday living. You give yourself permission to relinquish the thoughts, demands, and pressures coming at you from the outside as well as from within, releasing attachment to the familiar path you traveled on before and experiencing the peace of the moment.

Guided Meditation
See previous postings on the website on the basic method of How to Meditate

Train The Brain To Remove Pain
Begin by following the breath from the tip of the nose into the base of the lungs and follow the breath out again.
Notice the body
Begin at the base of the body at the right side
See the right foot then the left
Move slowly over each area of the body, without becoming attached or associated with any particular area
Notice how each part of the body feels
Notice what you sense, smell, touch, hear, see, experience

How does your body feel with your surroundings; do you feel supported by the earth, does your body and heart feel open or closed
Travel with conscious awareness from the feet to the crown of the head
Begin to release awareness of your body, one limb and area at a time
Recognize that you are not your body
As you release awareness of having a body, you release awareness of areas that have pain as well as areas that are pain-free
With practice you learn to disassociate your Self from the confines of the body




Affirmation
Thoughts have their own unique energy. Use the power of your words to create only that which is positive for you.

See yourself as strong and healthy. See healing energy passing into you. See yourself doing all the things that you are now physically able to do. You move lightly, filled with vitality and the knowledge that all is well.

I am filling each cell with light and creating a new body

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.

Meditation: Finding Answers

Follow the Path of Meditation to Find Answers

You can use the technique of meditation for a variety of purposes and the following meditation is particularly useful for imparting restorative energy within you by helping you to listen to your body on a deep, cellular level. As you participate in this guided meditation you will experience for yourself the limitless possibilities that exist when you release your innate power to co-create your dreams.

All your actions are part of your whole life. You cannot separate them or compartmentalize them, even though you may think that you are successful in doing this. There is not one part of you that belongs only to spiritual activities while another belongs to worldly activities. You cannot project one side of you to some people and a different face to others.

Through your meditation you will come to realize that everything that you think, do, or say affects every part of you and in turn determines how others see you, and how you eventually see yourself. When you see yourself as a whole person you will recognize that your whole life is one complete life; not a series of different scenarios where you can project some qualities and not others or hide some behavior from other people. Sooner or later, all the debris from that part of your life will spill over and it will be a challenge to dig yourself out of it.

Wisdom Mind
With meditation, you enhance your wisdom mind; the part of you that discerns and acts as a supporter, helping you to make wise and appropriate decisions. Your enlightened mind will desire to project the best part of you all the time, in all situations.

Multiple Benefits
Your meditation session will not only benefit yourself; it will benefit everyone that you come in contact with through your ability to be more focused, more peaceful, and more certain of your role in life.

Preparing to Meditate
Choose a time of day when you can allocate at least twenty minutes of solitude in a clean, quiet, and airy space. For most people, this time is available at the beginning or the end of the day. Morning meditation offers an intuitive start to the day, while the evening is an opportunity to unwind.

Meditation is a personal process that begins by freeing the mind from unnecessary thoughts and ideas. You learn how to still the chatter of your thoughts and develop insight. Too often, past pain or potential discomfort in the future draws the mind away from what is happening right now. When this happens, full attention is no longer possible, eroding the bliss of every encounter, every activity, and every thought.

When you are new to meditation, your mind will wander. When you notice that it has happened simply bring awareness back to your meditation practice. Watchfulness of your thoughts, emotions, and reactions occurs by remaining present.

What Do You Want
Decide what you want from your meditation session. Do you want to experience peace, tranquility, receive answers to pressing questions?
It is important that you name your purpose for meditating rather than having only a vague idea. We all seek guidance from time to time on important questions such as “is this the right time to change jobs, move house, or have a child.” While making a decision should never be rushed, you can find yourself closer to determining the right answer through meditation. Surety of both a response and a satisfactory solution arrives through clarifying what you wish to resolve, formulating a question, and asking this question as you enter into your meditation experience.

In the following meditation you will gain the ability to release the thoughts, emotions, and other distractions that clutter the mind in order to release positive power and manifest your sincerest hopes and dreams.

To achieve a result, create a simple question or affirming statement such as:
What do I need to do in order to find time to meditate?
or
I am free from all obstacles and I have replaced them with my highest energy in order to achieve the required skills to gain promotion in my job.

Take a moment to decide what you want to achieve as you move forward with your session, knowing that as you practice it daily, you will indeed create positive change within you and discern that which is good for you. If you choose to ask a question, allow the thought to rise up in your consciousness as you enter into meditation then release attachment to it.

Finding Answers
As the body relaxes into a meditative state, wisdom imparts. Treasure the silence. It is in the quiet moments that you obtain the answers that you seek. The answer will come to you following your practice, either immediately, or when having a conversation with someone, or by simply reflecting quietly over a cup of tea. The important thing is to be vigilant following every meditation session and to expect an answer.

Breath and Concentration
Technique
With the eyes gently closed, inhale and focus on the breath flowing into your body in a smooth and steady stream for the count of two. Then exhale slowly, following the breath as it flows out evenly for the count of two.
And continue, concentrating on keeping each breath of equal length; breathing slowly in for the count of two, exhaling slowly out for the count of two.
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.
Continue for a few more breaths until you no longer need to count and your breath finds its own deep pattern. Notice the rate and rhythm of your breath.
Explore the breath as it enters your body
If any thoughts, feelings or emotions enter your awareness, allow them to drift on by without becoming attached to them. Then quietly return to watching the breath.
If you are able, deepen the breath even further, filling your lungs to a comfortable maximum expansion.
Exhale, allowing the breath to become twice as long as the inhale. Inhale deeply for the count of two and exhale in a smooth and steady stream for the count of four.
And continue, slowing the breath down. Feel the facial muscles relax, the shoulders drawing down and away from the ears. With each lengthened exhalation feel the body relax even further, staying focused only on the rhythmic flow of the breath.
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 grounded and supported by the earth.
Your breath is slow and steady. Deepen and lengthen your breath
Draw a white light into you from the base of your spine to the crown of your head
Feel the light permeate throughout your heart center and throughout your body
As you exhale, see the light surround you
Continue seeing the light flow through you and surrounding you
Draw the light into your cells
Sustain this light within you.
Feel the light within you. Become one with the light
Feel the oneness of being
Embrace the light
All is light and love.
You know the source of this love, are filled with this love and know that you are loved.

When you are complete, slowly allow the eyes to open

After Your Meditation
Notice the peaceful feeling inside you. Anytime you feel stressed, return to the peace simply by drawing awareness inward and following the gentle rhythmic flow of the breath.

With your meditation practice you will sharpen your intuition, discernment, and concentration as well as laying the foundation for opening your heart and mind to the myriad of possibilities that await you.

Peace

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: Inner Light

Today's Guided Meditation is focusing on the light within.

There is a mini-meditation video to watch (2 minutes long) where I will guide you through the steps of your visualization.

With the "busyness" of modern life, meditation will help you with relaxation and inner happiness. A simple ten to twenty minute meditation session will greatly ease stress, while providing you with the ability to remain calm and think clearly.

In addition it will help to promote positive feelings and a positive train of thought.
Overcoming a negative mindset allows you to reach for your potential and transform yourself from the inside out. You learn how to effectively switch yourself off from worrying about the past or future events, and form clear calm decisions.
Experienced meditators have found that with a regular meditation practice they can in fact stop the thought process and focus on the space within the thoughts where bliss resides.  Then, following their meditation session they are able to think rationally, with insight, and are not affected or troubled by trivial, critical, or pessimistic thoughts.

Joy and bliss are yours to have. Enjoy this simple meditation and let it lead you to a place of Peace.



For newsletter subscribers simply click on the meditation link at the bottom of the page or go directly to
http://healthywealthyandreallysmart.blogspot.com/

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

The Winning Attitude

Photography by Margaret Stockley, copyright

"Let others lead small lives, but not you.

Let others argue over small things, but not you.

Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.

Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." Jim Rohn

Your emotions, attitude and reactions can alter your perspective of all situations that you encounter and create connections that are tenuous or forever bonded.  They carry you effortlessly through life or you end up struggling against the current, depending on your attitude.

Positive emotions
Meditation enables you to know yourself better, to probe deep within, and see what habits you harbor. This helps you improve your circumstances by learning from all situations, either experienced directly or observed in the actions of others. Change is unpredictable and this means that on occasions it can sometimes be scary.
Fear of the unknown is a very common emotion as there can be comfort in what is familiar to us, whether it is in the people that we know, our routine, or even our view from our house.
Feelings of anger, jealousy, fear, and acceptance of what is, are self-limiting and self-fulfilling while a positive frame of mind that embraces altruism forges an attitude of determination that leads to inner fortitude and achievement of purpose.

Meditation releases distractions and negative voices and emotions allowing the energies of peace, love, and joy to enter. The ever-growing light within eventually spills over, illuminating the love/hate relationship that we have between our mind and our body, as well as the inter-related connection between our whole selves and other people.

Benefits
There are numerous benefits to meditation that have been listed in previous postings. People will often begin a meditation practice because of its health and relaxation benefits.
What’s often surprising is the amazing effect on attitude.

Because meditation releases a negative perspective, you view the beauty in life more than the garbage; you recognize situations that are healthy for you, people that are beneficial to know, and circumstances that you can learn from rather than complaining and believing that transformation is not possible.
The confidence and self-assurance that you have carries you through life, ensuring that your drive, resolve, and compassion will generate enthusiasm and energy to tackle and deal with all situations.
You will believe that you can make a difference, you can bring about change, and you can be successful.

And you will.

Training the mind
It is worth remembering that the subconscious mind operates day and night, whether you are aware or not. It is here that information received via the senses is stored and retrieved.

While most of us are well aware that “remaining calm” or “love is the answer” are appropriate choices, putting them into practice is another matter entirely when you find it challenging to monitor your thoughts, keep them in check, or even reign in actions that you really don’t want to pursue.

Training the mind through meditation to achieve single-pointed focus allows the self as the witness of the mind to create a better future by eliminating issues from the past which impact the present.
It permits objective observation, i.e. without judgment, of either the world or yourself.

Meditation restores peace to both body and mind and puts you back in control of what you think, say, and do. You are still aware of external stimuli from the senses but no longer affected by them.

Guided Visualization

Choose a word or phrase e.g. I am wanted and valued. I am loved and give love.
Imagine yourself walking on a straight path through woods.
The clouds and thick and heavy, obscuring the light.
See the path, the trees, the dampness of the ground, the dark sky above.
See a tunnel ahead of you.
It is very dark inside but you are drawn to a spark of light at its center.
The light fills you with hope.
As you walk in the darkness towards the circle of light, become aware of any negative memories.
See a shaft of light on the ground.
Step onto it and walk in the beam of light.
Let your negative thoughts rise to the surface and leave them behind.
Leave the shaft and feel the path easier to walk on.
You feel happier than you have felt in a long time.
At the end of the tunnel, you embrace the light.
Explore what you see there.
Use all your senses.
All is light and love.
You know the source of this love, are filled with this love and know that you are loved.

Guided Meditation: Awareness

Meditation helps you create a mind that is still

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Successful You

Are you seeing the Light and reaching your goals?

How are your New Year Resolutions progressing?

Are they going or have they gone?

Meditation helps maintain the mindset that all is well and helps you to flow with what life puts in your way. It also helps you to overcome perceived problems and see solutions to difficulties. True, no one actually knows for certain what the future holds for any one of us, but unseen obstacles need not be a deterrent or permanently hold us back.

Positive people believe that there are no "problems", only "situations". Your perspective alters when you view the world from a positive view-point rather than seeing walls and closed doors that appear in your way as insurmountable.

It means that anything is possible; all of your dreams, your aspirations, your successes.

Situations that are less than ideal can be overcome. If you can change a situation by correct action then keep on moving and act, however if a situation is unfortunately beyond the control of human ability then we can only accept what has happened and move graciously from it.

All that you desire can come true.

Starting today, resolve to be more positive! Look at what you have achieved, not what you have not accomplished, yet. No matter how small the success, focus on what is working, give thanks, and look at your next goal and determine a time when you will achieve it.

Revise your strengths, knowledge and goals. Closely examine what you are doing right and what is helping to empower you to achieve what YOU desire.
Decide what you need. You don’t have to have everything in place in order to start making your way towards your goals for 2010.
Add dates that you will begin/achieve each step toward achieving your goal.

Spend time in the presence of positive, successful people either in person, in books, or online. Let them know what you are doing. Share your plans with those whom you now trust and can confide in at this point in your life’s journey. They will be constructive and supportive. Eliminate naysayers from hearing about your aspirations.

Review your plans and desires frequently, and especially every 6 months, because circumstances will evolve, you will grow, and people will enter and leave your environment.

As your goals become clearer and you begin to realize them, you will be spurred on to reach higher and higher.

Carry affirmations with you. Memorize them. They really do block out unwanted and pessimistic thoughts.

Meditate daily. Find the time. Make the time. Prioritize your time in order to meditate. It is during your daily meditation practice that you will recognize and subsequently address self-limiting patterns of behavior and take the first steps that will release them.

Concentrate on what you want to achieve and be inspired by your own achievements, both the small and the large. The more you recognize and appreciate success, in yourself and others, the more success will follow!
Meditation is your own tool that will help empower you toward maintaining a forward momentum to living the life you want. It costs you nothing except time and the benefits are amazing.

So believe in yourself.

You CAN do it.

GUIDED MEDITATION

TRAIN THE MIND TO MEDITATE BY FOCUSING ON A SINGLE OBJECT

Steps for Concentration for Meditation
• Find a pleasing object that holds your interest such as a flower, a lit candle, a rock.
• Sit in a comfortable seated position that you can stay in without fidgeting.
• Gaze at the object without any eye strain. Notice how beautiful it is. Marvel at it's creation.
• After a few minutes, close your eyes and hold the memory of the object in your mind's eye.
• If it disappears, gaze at your object again for a little while longer then close your eyes and concentrate on your chosen image.
• With practice, you will be able to close your eyes and bring the object to mind instantly.
• Now you can focus on more subtle objects such as the breath, inner light, healing sound such as OM.
Benefits of Concentration
Whatever you focus on, your mind forms thoughts, emotions, and actions around a particular stream of thinking.
For example, if you focus on a strawberry, notice the colors and the perfume of the fruit, your mouth waters in memory of how sweet and juicy the fruit tastes and so you decide that you must have one.

During Meditation, when you are able to focus not on physical objects but on pure objects such as love or God, you become like the essence of what you are concentrating on.

You Can Do It
Meditation takes practice, but it is easily doable. Many people struggle because they try it once or twice by attempting to empty the mind, but that is too challenging because the mind is not under control. It keeps on leaping around.

The simple steps above will help you to achieve concentration and take control of the mind.

In turn, you will find that you progress very quickly from holding an external image in your mind to one where you enter into meditation and find the peace, bliss, and determination of purpose that emerges as a result of meditation.

Health and Happiness

As a teacher of yoga, with my own studio in Massachusetts, my students are acutely aware of the connection between the breath, the mind, and the body.
They know that a disturbed breath disturbs the mind and a mind that wanders hinders the creation of new and beneficial mental thought-patterns, or neural pathways, as well as the flow of positive energy.  They experience that when they are practicing asanas, pranayama, or entering into meditation.

There are two classic reasons for an unsettled mind to occur; desires and thoughts.
Desires are produced by an actual lack of control of emotions as well as the latent impressions of feelings.
Thoughts that impede positive growth are usually thoughts that occur without any awareness or are pessimistic in nature.

Negative thoughts are like weeds and prevent happy thoughts from flourishing.

Awareness in all of your activities, behavior, and choice of thoughts and emotions actually helps you to take control of your life and only create situations which are of benefit to you.

For example:
When you laugh or watch a comedy program, your body produces endorphins, which are a natural painkiller and also produces more of the cells required to both ward off and fight infection. 

It is estimated that children laugh up to 400 times per day

while adults only manage up to 15 daily laughs.

You are what you think
In the seventies, a Harvard University study discovered a special group of receptors on the immune cells distributed throughout the body. This was a major breakthrough and shone new light upon what we know about the immune system. The research demonstrated that the immune system is not an independent self-directed system; rather it has an actual connection with the conscious mind and the effect of thoughts upon the body.

Learning coping mechanisms and maintaining a positive frame of mind clinically promotes a healthy state of being. However, how we respond to our varying circumstances is based upon earlier data that is stored as a memory and used to create a response, regardless of the consequences.

Connection to the world
Our moods, health, state of mind all influence the decision-making process and subsequent outcome of a reaction to stimuli. It is only when we consider the detrimental effects upon our heart, emotions, or the effects of our actions upon other people or our environment that we begin to see the need to be aware first of how we respond and secondly to the connection between ourselves and the world around us.

So, smile and laugh often if you want to improve your chances of staying happy and healthy.

Visualize what you love

Mini Meditation
See yourself in a tranquil location surrounded by people and animals that bring you joy.
Delight in the warm loving embrace of their presence.
You are free of disease and sadness in this environment.
Peace and bliss envelop you.

Carry this image within you and use it whenever you need to return to a happy state.

Free Yourself From Limitations

Our thoughts can cause events to keep repeating themselves

At various points in our lives there are situations that are sad or even down-right unpleasant. We may try our best to cope with these experiences but without our knowledge, the feelings and emotions associated with these events embed themselves deep within our mind and even the cells of our bodies.

Neuroscience shows that past experiences, thoughts, and actions are imprinted on the neurons of your brain. Without awareness of what you are thinking or your conduct at any given moment, you will unconsciously keep reacting in a specific manner, choosing habit over healthy behavior, and reaction rather than conscious thought.

Wiser Choices
Meditation allows you to release yourself from worrying thoughts or off-the-cuff remarks and actions that you might regret, and opt instead for happier, courteous, and wiser choices.

Your present thoughts and actions alter when you first become aware of, then choose to change, your previous thought patterns and consciously act differently.

We share our lives with others via family and friends, online, and through professional relationships. Life might seem simpler if we lived in isolation on a desert island, but the truth is, our thoughts are always with us.

Looking beyond the personality we see the human self within. Forgiveness, of yourself and others, is a large part in helping you to move beyond past events and actually experience the present while planning for a future that you actually want. Meditation uplifts you, resulting in relationships that are strong and appreciative. You start to gain clarity into situations that have upset you and actually learn to release them in order to become stronger by freeing yourself from ties that are binding you to the past.

Life is a wonderful gift and meditation helps to sweep away confusion and reveal a clear path free from obstacles. It provides each one of us with an effective tool for dealing with inner conflicts and mental challenges while bringing real feelings of love into all of our most challenging situations. It imparts an appreciation for our relationships and turns previous ides on their head.

As people enter our lives, we also enter theirs. They can bring much to us, and it may surprise us to know how much we mean to them.

Releasing Limitations
During meditation, memories and thoughts that you no longer need can rise to the surface as you cease to impose limitations on yourself, your relationships, and on your opportunities.

Symbolically breathing away what you no longer want allows you to discover the person you would like to be. In addition, you discover the passion that lies within your heart and is waiting for a chance to be revealed and put to use.
However, like most things in life, knowing what to keep or what to release doesn’t happen all at once. This information usually reveals itself in drips rather than a flood.

Celebrate
You have lots of reasons to celebrate.
Celebrate because you are moving away from all of the old limitations and expectations that you once knew and held onto, and into a brighter future.
Feel secure and at peace in knowing who you are.

How well do you know yourself?
Meditation is your key to unlocking the biggest surprise of all; that which you keep hidden away.
We all like to think that we have a good understanding of our deepest needs and motivations, yet we are often surprised by some of the things we find ourselves doing or saying.

Let your spirit be bigger than anything that comes your way today.

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.

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?

Creating a Mind-Shift: Releasing Self-Doubt

"The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."

Ayn Rand

When life is frantic, people are angry, traffic is hectic, and the world seems to be getting crazier, how do you respond to this?
When you are faced with a hectic day, how can you tap into the tranquility that you so desperately need if you cannot find it?
When thoughts and past conversations keep replaying in your mind, how can you find peace?

Downbeat and pessimistic thinking is an acquired habit with its own internal mantra, so in order to stop thinking in terms of restrictions, failures, and obstacles you have to create a mind-shift and start thinking in terms of possibilities.

Looking Inwards
Meditation is a wonderful tool in helping you to look at what you believe about yourself and the world around you. By looking inwards, you discern and review what you may hold as unshakable truths and change your opinions one by one.

We all have this enquiring mind yet many of us don’t use it.

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.

You Know It’s There

If you are climbing a hill, you can’t see the other side but you know it is there.
Likewise, if you are walking on a woodland trail, it is often difficult to see the end of the path, yet you know it is there.
Even on a road with no obstacles to obscure your view, there can be a bend in the way that prevents you from seeing the end of your journey, and yet once again you know it is there.

While we can’t be sure about what the terrain that lies ahead for any of us is like, we can each be certain that the most wonderful opportunities are waiting for us to get to them.

What you want to achieve you can, by resetting your attitude and developing habits that reinforce what you want to achieve in your life.

Prepare yourself to live the life that you want to achieve from this point on. Be determined and sure in your certainty that while you can’t see your exact destination, you know it IS there.

Intuition and 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 to be fully present and conscientious.

When you establish a regular practice, you discover an additional benefit of meditation; Intuition.

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

Stay with the flow of the breath as it becomes slow, steady, and even.
This may take several minutes.
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.

Maintain inward focus on an object or the breath.

If you are new to meditation:
You may like to focus on a candle. The shape and type of candle is your choice. Now focus on the candle flame.
See the light, explore it.

As you continue to focus on the light, your surroundings dissipate
With each inhalation, draw the light from the base of your spine to the crown of your head
With each exhalation, see the light pour from the crown of the head to surround you
Feel yourself enter into the light
Become surrounded by the light
Be as one, with the light.

If you are experienced at meditation:
With each inhalation, see a light at the base of your spine and draw the light in a column from the base of your spine to the crown of your head
As you exhale, see the light pour from the crown of the head to surround you.

After 5 rounds, focus on the breath
Slowly focus on the space between each breath
The space between each breath will lengthen
Enter into the space between each breath.

This is a peaceful place and the more you concentrate on the space, the wider it becomes and the greater your peace. Experience the peace of this relaxing environment.

In both cases, stay in meditation until you feel that it is time to complete your session.

Knowledge appears in the form of enhanced intuition.
You will have awareness of the source of Love, Purpose, and the certainty that all will be well.

When you have completed your meditation, 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 following the breath’s journey.
Peace and knowledge 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 and make wisdom and peace a daily reality.

Releasing The Habit of Self-Doubt
It’s a gradual process as you uncover and release the habitual thoughts that keep intruding when you need them least. But take comfort in knowing that the incidences of negative self-judgment and views will be less frequent, the gap between each undesired thought will increase, and you will find yourself living in a very beautiful cycle of peace and tranquility.

Two thoughts can't occupy the space!  As you focus only on that which is positive, the mind likes the happy feeling and wants to stay in that place.  When you catch yourself experiencing self-doubt, which is negative thinking, either replace it with a positive affirmation, or follow the breath to your place of wisdom and peace.

Examples of positive affirmations are:
I choose my thoughts
I have abundant energy to complete all my tasks
I am filled with vitality in body, mind, and spirit
All aspects of my being are filled with love
A wonderful life exists for me

As self-doubt is stripped away, your hopes and aspirations arise as you know with certainty that you are loved, and that an exhilarating life filled with purpose does indeed lie ahead for you.

You know it’s there.

Peace.

Creating The Future That You Deserve

Where will YOUR path lead?

"There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self."

Benjamin Franklin, 1750

Poor Richard's Almanac

Most of us can’t get through the day without keeping an appointment diary or noting important events down in a calendar. We schedule visits to dentists, meetings, lunches with friends, and have set days when we attend yoga classes or the fitness studio.

What would happen if we didn’t make notes and commit to remembering these daily events?

We’d let people down, miss out on fun occasions, and fail at our jobs; none of which is good.

Life and all its obligations can become all-consuming and in a fast-paced world with high demands on your time and energy it’s not easy to figure out what you really want out of life, let alone put it into practice.

While responsibilities are important, you are important too.

In fact, when you fail to nurture your needs you fail your future and all your possibilities.

KNOWING YOUR POTENTIAL
Lack of time for your own self impacts many aspects of your life including preventing you from maximizing your amazing potential.

Every one of us is filled with promise and yet we fail to use it either because we don’t have time, don’t know how, or didn’t realize it was there.

When I teach yoga or co-lead CAN DO® workshops, it delights me to see men and women discover something unique and wonderful about themselves that they never knew existed. Whether it’s a physical strength or a skill that had never been used, to see the excitement flow through them as they grasp the reality of what has been lying within them all this time is truly wonderful.

However, distractions and feeling pulled in many directions doesn’t even give you the quiet moments that you need to figure out who you are, where you want to go in life, and what may actually lie within you.

Meditation is a wonderful method that enables you to gain time for yourself as well as reap the health benefits. Your life energy shifts in an upward direction by gaining insight into how to live in the moment and to reduce the impact of life’s pressures with calmness and self-control. No matter what life sends your way, you recognize what you can change and what you cannot.

All of the past samskaras, or imprints and habits of the mind, are released and you learn how to view life from a different perspective and initiate positive change.

Can you imagine the possibilities that you are capable of having?

Meditation is a means to helping you to transform your life by altering your perceptions.
In time, it enables you to expand your expectations and see that there are no limitations; only the ones that you set for yourself.

A regular meditation practice strengthens your mind and actions by fostering thought-patterns that nurture the behavior and positive qualities that you desire. Learning to live actively rather than re-actively benefits your relationships, (personal as well as professional) while enabling you to live more consciously in all that you think and do.

That’s how the tiny seed of transformation begins.

Obstacles disappear as you alter your responses, attitudes, and habits. Change happens in stages but occurs as a result of deliberate contemplation.

The hardest step that anyone takes is always the first one, however once you make it positive forces take over sending you effortlessly forward to complete this particular leg of this incredible journey.

REAP THE BENEFITS
Making meditation a regular part of your daily routine enhances your health and spiritual well-being, creates new pathways in the brain making it easier to implement changes with each passing day, and brings a new perspective and awareness to your life. It reaffirms what you know and provides the momentum to continue and succeed in all that you do. You gain clarity of thought and lucidity of mind combined with a clear identity of your personal strengths and what your goals and objectives are.

The demands of family and work can become all consuming, but each time you practice Meditation you create a positive mind-set and ignite positive energy that the brain wants to repeat. In a short while you find that you not only look forward to your meditation, but you make time for it.

Like the many people who have learned to meditate, you too have the ability to release thoughts and feelings that block positive energy, while transforming the way you think and act and creating the wonderful future that you deserve.

WISDOM MEDITATION
If you have any questions about any aspect of your life, ask it or write it down now.
The complete answer or the one of the steps that you need to accomplish in order to reveal the whole answer usually occurs soon after your meditation.

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

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

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

NOTE: This may take several minutes. Do not rush any part of your meditation. It’s only a total of 15 to 20 minutes after all.
You deserve to give yourself this special time!

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

Continue with this rhythmic breath until a feeling of peace flows over you.
Peace and love fill every part of your body.

Now focus on the area between the eyebrows.
This is known as the Ajna Chakra and commonly called the third, or inner, eye.
With the eyes remaining closed, look straight ahead and lift the eyes up slightly. Not too high or the eyes will start to flutter and become unsteady.

This area is the source of all wisdom.

See a light at the base of your spine. Hear the sound of Om resonating deep within you.

With each inhale, draw the light through you and as you exhale see the light pour from the crown of your head to surround you.
Repeat this five times until you are filled with, and surrounded by, the light.

Maintain focus on the inner eye.

When you first begin to meditate, thoughts will probably intrude.
That’s very common and doesn’t mean that you can’t meditate or that you should give up.

Simply acknowledge that they are there but don’t follow them. Let them drift through and return to concentrating on the inner eye.

When you feel that your meditation is complete, slowly open your eyes.
There is a well of wisdom that resides deep within you and you can draw from it at any time simply by returning awareness to the rhythmic breath and the space within.

When you have a regular meditation practice, you will discern what you need to release in your life and what you need to connect to.

Remember, there are No Limitations.  Only those that you place on yourself.

You are a remarkable individual with untapped possibilities and you Can have amazing success with all of your endeavors.

Letting go of the concept of, and worldly limitations of, the self enables you to accept the truly amazing opportunities that will help you to create the future that you deserve and one that will benefit not only yourself, but everyone who comes in contact with you.



Om Shanti Peace

Inner Happiness

Vendor making dragon's breath

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can become great.

Mark Twain

Today I had some free time from work and took a walk into the Quartier Chinois which is situated off the rue Saint-Urbain and only a five minute walk from the Basilica Notre-Dame and the hotel that I always stay in.
It’s really only a few streets but has small shops filled with trinkets, shawls, and food that range from cakes and cookies to all day buffets; not the metropolis that San Francisco has.

The photograph above shows a local vendor making a special type of sugar and nut candy called Dragon’s Breath. It is whipped and spun by hand and folded many times to make this delicious treat. The spun sugar is on the inside and represents the breath of the dragon.

Dragons must be lovely creatures to have such sweet breath!

Walking and exploring places that are not my everyday stomping ground provides opportunities for gathering thoughts, a walking meditation, repeating affirmations, and meeting strangers. I love to explore and meet the world and have travelled to many wonderful places and learned a lot as I did this.

A common thread I have found is that people are fundamentally the same. Once cultural and religious differences are stripped away it becomes obvious that we are all seeking the same things: shelter, safety, and most of all love.

While fears of reality exist, they are an illusion that prevents many of us from exploring and seeing the potential that lies in places, other people, and ourselves.

This fear is a like a dragon that’s burning away your opinions and hopes, and destroying your potential through its fiery breath.

Yet dragons don’t exist except in our imaginations.

When you listen to other people and in turn listen to and make yourself heard, you will find that you are not alone in your thoughts and aspirations.

All too often, we take circumstances and people around us for granted and it’s not until we are left alone or without, that we discover, too late, what we’ve lost. We don’t appreciate the value of time and our experiences and interactions with people we see every day, nor the importance of making new connections, new experiences, and pursuing our dreams.

After all, you make an impact on other people just as they affect you, one way or another.

So what is your reality?
Is it made out of fear, or imposed upon you by small minds?

Self-discovery is an endeavor that continues throughout a lifetime. While our knowledge of ourselves and our world is limited, you can dampen the fiery dragon’s breath permanently and render it harmless through a regular meditation practice, repeating positive affirmations, and making decisions based on love, cooperation, and prosperity instead of anxiety, uncertainty, or even anger.

Let the only fire in your world lie beneath your ambitions and your hopes and dreams

Don’t let ANYONE keep you from being great.

Peace and many blessings.

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

GUIDED MEDITATION: SPIRITUALITY

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

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

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

Spirituality Meditation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Om Shanti Peace