Meditation and Abundance, Part II - Recognizing the Power of the Mind

In the first article in this three-part series, we looked at how mindfulness meditation fails to recognize the awesome potential of the mind to create better personal realities, including material abundance. In this article, we will see how one prominent New Age thinker took the next step - a step which acknowledges personal power yet includes the mindfulness-based focus on present-moment conditions. While this may not be the ultimate creative technique, it has helped a lot of people - and might help you, too!

You Can Have It All

One of the most influential figures in the New Age movement has been Arnold Patent, a former attorney who started to look for a different kind of laws - the laws of the universe - when he realized how unhappy and unhealthy he was. His groundbreaking book, You Can Have It All, provides an excellent overview of the main tenets of New Age thought, especially the central concept that everything in the universe is energy and that we are all connected to everything else in the universe. This notion of oneness is both spiritually exciting (though it is actually perceived as a threat by most major religions) and potentially empowering, because it is the foundation underpinning our personal power. When everything is energy, our thoughts and emotions are no longer mere mental constructs used to describe or relate to a separate, physical realm; on the contrary, they are the actual building blocks of our reality.

While this recognition of the power of thought was a step beyond Buddhist mindfulness practices, Patent's book contained much that would be familiar to mindfulness practitioners. In particular, there is an emphasis on non-judgmental acceptance of ourselves and of others. But for our purposes, the interesting aspect of Patent's thinking is how his application of the creative principle ends up looking a lot like Rick Hanson's mindfulness exercises.

Wanting Versus Having

Patent's version of cause and effect, like many New Age thinkers before and since, stressed the role of our beliefs in creating our own realities. His particular phraseology stressed that what you focus your attention on expands. As we shall see in the final part of this series, that advice has been taken by many self-help authors to mean that you should focus on the things you want. But Patent came to a different conclusion: his advice was to think about what you have. In his interpretation, thinking about what you want actually reinforces the idea of "not having" - of scarcity. If, instead, you think about all the things you already have, you are reinforcing a feeling of abundance.

This takes Rick Hanson's mindfulness exercises and supercharges them, recognizing the power of thought that mindfulness practitioners don't. It also resonates with the "attitude of gratitude" that figured quite prominently in Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, another powerful way of leveraging what you already have. Note, however, that just by talking about ways to make our existing situation blossom into something "better," we are implying that we do not have enough. Those little implications can have surprisingly large consequences.

For many people, myself included, Patent's approach is not aggressive enough. It doesn't take the bull by the horns and really exploit the power that is available to us. But it does serve as an important cautionary note that we must be careful not to inadvertently focus on scarcity. And this danger is all too real when we are pushing hard, getting impatient, and wondering why life isn't changing the way we want it to. It is very easy to become depressed by a perceived lack of progress, and those feelings of failure and disappointment can undo all your good work in a heartbeat. That is something to bear in mind as we move on to the third part of this series, in which we will put the pedal to the metal.

If you are enjoying this series, you will find much more in this thorough review of The Secret, which exposes some of the many problems with Rhonda Byrne's bestseller on the Law of Attraction, and in this comprehensive guide on how to manifest abundance.

Original article

Meditation Techniques

Meditation is a technique invented by ancient Indian sages who practiced meditation in order to find peace. It is a very useful technique to relieve stress of your day to day life and it has increasingly become popular all over the world as people are often stressed out and they need ways to reduce the stress and that is why they are opting meditation as the cure. Meditation is still practiced widely in the monasteries located in the Himalayas where Buddhist monks and lamas practice meditation in large scale and try to find "Moksha" which is the Buddhist concept for ultimate peace which they consider their god.

Due to large number of people adopting meditation techniques to relieve themselves from the stress of their regular routine work, find inner peace and beauty and have the sense of freedom, even the cities have tried to replicated the environment of the monasteries and they offer yoga practices and meditation practices to people. By practicing meditation, the people from all age groups have benefited largely in their daily lives. The impact of inner peace, which is a gift given by meditation, has been observed to affect the daily life of the people practicing it and they have grown more sober and serene than before.

The meditation is a minor part of the rich heritage of knowledge that is contained in the Vedas where these techniques are written in a systematic form. Along the inner peace, every person is given a unique word which acts as the carrier of the peace inside the body of the person practicing meditation. In order to reap most out of meditation, it is very important to perform meditation in a systematic and as per the rules as written in the Vedas.

Thus it is very important to be aware of the right meditation techniques as even though it doesn't have any negative impact, but when doing the right way can give you more profit in terms of inner peace and beauty, then it is unwise to practice it other way and reap lesser benefits from the technique.

Usually the best time to practice meditation is mornings when the air is fresher than any other time of the year, but meditations are equally beneficial when performed with a calm quiet and peaceful environment away from noises and clean air. It can be performed in fairly sound proof air conditioned rooms of your apartment any time of the day given that the same time is maintained for everyday practice.

If you want to know what is yoga and how does it work? Then Yoga Practice Guide is the best way to learn how to do yoga in the right way and here we are ready to provide you an easy way to work with an experienced yoga instructor who can watch your yoga positions carefully and we provide yoga videos,different meditation techniques and more. For more details please visit our website.

Original article

Meditation Tip: Meditating With a Chattering Head

It's the first day of meditation class. The group is sitting in a circle, and people shuffle and twist in their seats as we prepare to turn out the lights. Finally one person shares his fears. "What if I won't be able to do this-what if I can't make my thoughts stop?" Others look relieved that they're not the only one. "I can't calm my mind--I'm just too distracted!"

My students are not alone. Even the anonymous monk who wrote The Cloud of Unknowing, a 14th century classic on meditation, talks about dealing with intrusive thoughts. The monk (or maybe it was really a nun...I've always wondered...) was a meditation expert. He (or she) meditated every day, all day long. Even so, intrusive thoughts still happened.

Mind chatter. It just is. Our minds buzz and flit, even when we don't want them to. It's how we're made.

But even though you know it will happen, you can still learn to calm your mind. You can learn some steps to help your thoughts quiet. Sure, there will be times when your mind is full of busy-ness. But it can get better. For a few moments, more and more each time you meditate, you can find a place to rest.

Space. Peace.

Your body knows how. You just need to set it free.

Begin by noticing your breathing. When thoughts come, breathe into the muscles in your face. Let your breath gather up tension, and then release. Notice how your breath feels in your sinuses. Let your breath move all the way up your nose and through your mind...gathering up thoughts and releasing them.

And then begin to notice your body.

Notice where you feel warmth...and where you feel cool. Notice where you feel relaxed...and where any muscles feel tense. Breathe through the tense muscles, gathering up tension and releasing it...and notice how it feels now.

And now.

Notice your thoughts going by...like leaves moving down a stream. Notice them from the grassy bank, where you are resting. Notice them moving past overhead, like the clouds moving by...some of them stormy...some soft and small...and notice any blue patches in between.

And begin to pay attention to the clear spaces too.... They're there. Small at first, and then longer-and you forget to notice them, and your thoughts drift, and you watch them go by...

And you're meditating.

This is one way, one path to quieting your thoughts. We'll look at others, in other articles. But this path, of breathing, and releasing, noticing and noticing again-this will be useful to you all thorough your meditation.

Even when you're as experienced as that anonymous monk! (Or nun...I really do wonder...)

Discover how to transform your brain, renew your spirit and delight your mind and body. Dr. Kukal's guided imagery for health will support your healthy habits, nourish your healing and enhance your life.

Try a free guided imagery at http://www.thehomeinyourheart.com/id88.html.

Deborah Kukal, PhD, ABPP is a licensed health psychologist who has been using guided imagery in a hospital setting for more than 15 years. She has engaged patients from virtually every walk of life in the successful and rewarding practice of health focused meditation.

Original article

Learning To Meditate the Simple Way

With all of the secrecy and religious dogma that often surrounds meditation, it can be very intimidating for someone just learning to meditate. I'm here to tell you that it doesn't need to be that way. When you strip away the layers of dogma, what you have is something that is literally as simple as learning to breathe.

Just Sit - Most of us cannot twist ourselves into a full lotus position without needing to call for assistance to un-twist us when we are done. Half lotus is fine or, if you cannot sit comfortably on the ground with your legs crossed, then kneel. If you are unable to kneel then sit in a straight-backed chair. If you're unable to sit in a chair then, as a last resort lay down.

Learning to meditate does not require a specific posture though sitting is better than lying down so that you are less likely to fall asleep.

Just Breathe - Nearly all of us go about our day without giving regard to our breath. We assume, since we are still living and moving around, we must be breathing properly. But we breathe too shallow, most of the time. For the person learning to meditate, a simple technique can be to sit in a chair and imagine breathing from the top of your head through your feet on the inhale. This visualization helps to elongated the lungs so that you are using more of them to breathe.

Pick a Mantra - Sometimes concentrating on a word or short phrase, called a mantra, can be the simplest and most relaxing when you're learning to meditate. Mantras are typically spoken silently in your head, over and over at whatever pace feels natural to you.

The most common mantra people use when learning to meditate is "Om," or, alternatively "Aum."

Another helpful mantra to use is what is called the peace mantra, "Om Shanti."

Keep in mind, when learning to meditate, you only need to use one mantra during a meditation session.

And as far as how long to meditate for, choose what is right for you at the beginning. A few minutes meditating is better than none at all, but ideally, you should try to work your way up to twenty-one minutes a day.

Learning to meditate doesn't have to be overwhelming or confusing, you just need to take the initiative and simply observe whatever experience occurs. With these simple tips in mind, you have everything you need to begin your meditation practice.

If you're interested in learning the secrets to creating a Simple Life, living more authentically visit my website where I share my experience with the best techniques and products that I personally use for the best results.

Visit my website at: http://www.charlieforness.com/

Original article

Meditation and Abundance, Part I - The Uses and Limits of Mindfulness Approaches

It might seem odd to associate meditation with materialistic concerns about wealth and abundance. Isn't meditation supposed to be a spiritual pursuit that takes us above such worldly matters? While it certainly can be purely spiritual, meditation has become linked to abundance in the New Age movement because it addresses control over our minds, and what we do with our minds is believed to affect what happens in our lives. The extent to which one believes in the power of the mind dictates the type of meditative practice one will employ. In this first article in a three-part series, we look at the approach taken by those who can't quite bring themselves to fully accept this power.

The Minimalist Approach - Applied Mindfulness

Mindfulness practices aim to cultivate present-moment awareness, with the ultimate goal of teaching us that we have a choice over the contents of our own minds and, consequently, the way that we feel as we ride the ups and downs that life throws at us. The Buddha taught that suffering is inevitable, but the way we react to it is not.

From a New Age perspective, the problem with Buddhist mindfulness is its failure to tell us that we create our realities with our thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness techniques are wonderful ways to reduce stress, and have been shown to boost immune function and positive attitudes, but they do little to empower you. They can change the way you feel, but they do not take the next step and explain how feelings have creative power outside the self.

Thus, the kinds of exercises that are sometimes prescribed by mindfulness practitioners, like Dr. Rick Hanson, are all about making you feel more abundant, but not about making you have more abundance. We are told to feel grateful for all the things we have right now, and to notice and appreciate simple everyday things that we typically take completely for granted, like the air we breathe and the food we eat. Dr. Hanson's approach, combining evolutionary neuroscience with Buddhism, tries to satisfy primitive structures within the brain that are almost permanently afraid of not having enough to survive.

The Limits of Mindfulness Methods

There is much to be said for this approach, but it can be seen as simply managing the symptoms of the disease rather than curing it - a kind of palliative care for the impoverished soul. And, rather ironically, by ignoring the very real creative power of emotions, mindfulness practitioners are actually selling themselves short. It is possible to generate significant feelings of plenty from these simple exercises, and those feelings can work magic in your outer reality. But none of that is acknowledged because most of these practitioners aren't willing to join that segment of the New Age movement which believes in a much greater power of the mind.

In the next article, we will remedy that defect and take a step toward fully embracing the true power of our minds over our lives. But before moving on, I want to emphasize that mindfulness practices should not be ignored. In fact, because they are so simple and can be used to generate feelings of abundance even when the chips are down (we always have air to breathe!), they should be seen as a basic weapon in our never-ending battle against poverty-consciousness. Moreover, mindfulness is an essential quality for anyone seeking to understand the connection between inner and outer reality, for without awareness you have absolutely no chance of ever being able to control your mind well enough to control your life.

Click on the following links for more on the limits of mindfulness and how to manifest abundance.

Original article

Two Easy Ways to Try Meditation and Feel Better

Meditation is a practice that has been around for centuries, and for good reason. Not only is meditation a wonderful way to relieve stress, there is medical evidence emerging to show that the practice of meditation can boost a person' immune system, lower cholesterol, end insomnia, improve circulation, counter anxiety, ease chronic pain and may even allow a person to live a longer life. These are all wonderful reasons to give meditation a try.

There are several different methods of meditation that are not complicated and can easily be incorporated into your regular daily routine. And since there are so many varied ways to meditate, finding one that works well for you should be simple. Here we will discuss two different ways to meditate daily. Each will help you calm your mind and bring your attention to only one thing. For many people, this may be a challenge since multitasking is ingrained in us and seen as a wonderful skill for all kinds of careers and even in our personal lives. But in time, you'll be able to meditate with ease and realize the extreme benefits that come from this ancient practice.

Basic Breath Mediation is based on the foundation of all meditation techniques - breathing. We are always breathing but we rarely pay any attention to it. Practicing Basic Breath Meditation forces you to become aware of your breathing, each time you inhale and exhale. Observe how you breathe, pay attention to it, feel where your breath moves within your body and eventually you can change your breathing. You can actually use this meditation technique anytime and anywhere. It's a good idea to start by practicing this technique for about 10 minutes a day and then gradually work your way up 15 then 20 minutes daily.

Here are the steps to performing Basic Breath Meditation

You can either sit or lay down for this technique. If you choose to sit, pick a comfortable position with your legs crossed. If you choose to lay, then lay on your and keep your body straight. Put a pillow or a rolled towel under your knees and keep your arms at about 45 degrees from your body.Breathe through your nose, in then out. Pay attention to your breath, feel where it goes and how it moves through your torso.Take notice of how your breathing changes once you begin to focus on it.If your mind drifts (and it will), refocus it back onto your breathing.Try bringing your breath into areas of your body where you feel it doesn't always reach. Consciously send it to places like the small of your back, your thighs, places that feel dull or empty. Let your breath follow your consciousness.When your meditation session is complete, bring yourself back from the session by wiggling your fingers and toes and then stretching your arms and legs before you stand from your seated position. But if you are lying down for your session, roll onto your side before moving into a sitting position. Stand slowly, rolling up your torso and finally raising your head.

If the previous technique doesn't fit your thoughts of the ideal technique for you to use, then you may want to try Mindfulness Meditation. This technique is aimed at seeing things as they really are and therefore seeing things more clearly. It's about being fully aware of things. For instance, when you are eating an apple you are aware of the smooth skin, the feeling of your teeth sinking into the apple's flesh, the sound of your chewing, the sweet or tart flavor in your mouth, the texture of the apple on your tongue. With this type of technique, it's suggested that you start with five minutes a day, gradually adding a few minutes a day until you reach a full twenty minutes.

Here are the steps to performing Mindfulness Meditation

Find a comfortable position where you're sitting on a pillow, a chair, maybe on the couch or the floor.Relax and begin to listen to the sounds around you. Practice letting go of the sounds. Don't hold onto them, but don't push them away either.As you breathe in think "in" and as you exhale think "out."Inevitably, your mind will wander and thoughts will drift in. Maybe you'll start thinking of a pain in your neck or the conversation you had with your manager last week that didn't go quite the way you expected. Don't be afraid to acknowledge the thoughts or feelings that come to your mind, spend just a moment with it and then return to your thoughts of "in" and "out."You may find yourself dwelling on that pain in your neck or that ill-fated conversation. These thoughts may continue to pop up. In this case, maybe you'll want to mentally label them with words like "pain" or "disappointment" and then bring your awareness back to your breathing.Traditionally, to end this type of meditation session, dedicate the new energy you've created to others. You can do this in a few ways, but try saying "may the merit of this practice be dedicated to all beings everywhere. Stand. You should feel more centered.

Spirituality and Health Magazine - We report on the people, the practices, and the ideas of the current spiritual renaissance. Spirituality Health is open to all points of view on spiritual questions, drawing on the world's wisdom traditions as well as science, psychology, sociology and medicine.

Original article

Loving-Kindness Meditation and the Gamma Wave - A Marriage of Ancient Tradition and Modern Science

Of all the brainwave frequencies displayed by the human brain, perhaps the most fascinating is the Gamma wave, around 40 Hertz. When in a Gamma state, the brain seems capable of remarkable synergy, exhibiting a high level of holistic functioning that unites multiple senses, perceptions, and memories. In short, we become almost super-human. Interestingly, this state is commonly observed in experienced Tibetan monks engaging in a "loving-kindness" meditation. As we shall see, Gamma waves are not the only benefit of this practice.

What Is Loving-Kindness Meditation?

Loving-kindness, or Metta Bhavana in Buddhist terms, is an ancient practice intended to teach us that happiness comes from loving others and empathizing with them. It is actually the foundational meditation in a four-part series, with the next steps being compassion (empathy for the suffering of others); empathetic joy (rejoicing in the well-being of others); and equanimity (acceptance of both joy and suffering, whether our own or of others). Loving-kindness creates harmony in our relationship with ourselves as well as with others, replacing anger, resentment, and hurt with patience, consideration, and forgiveness.

Since we are looking at the effects of loving-kindness from a more scientific viewpoint as well, it is worth noting that no less a scientist than Albert Einstein essentially prescribed the same practice:

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

How to Practice Loving-Kindness Meditation

The cultivation of loving-kindness starts with what should be the easiest subject - yourself - and works up from there in the following progression:

YourselfA good friendA neutral person, like someone who serves you in a storeSomeone with whom you are having problemsAll sentient beings

Various techniques are employed to cultivate the feeling of loving-kindness. Visualize yourself or the other person being happy and smiling back at you. Reflect upon that person's positive qualities. Use your own affirmations to reinforce feelings of warmth towards yourself and others. And use mantras, repeating words or phrases like "loving-kindness," pausing between repetitions to observe the impact on your emotions. It is advised that you refrain from thinking about people to whom you are romantically attracted, since lust is not the emotion we are seeking to arouse!

The ultimate objective was expressed beautifully by one of the leading websites on Buddhism, wildmind.org: "Eventually we want to become like an emotional bonfire: a steady blaze of emotional warmth that will embrace any sentient being that we become aware of."

A New Twist

While several prominent guides to Buddhist meditation recommend guided meditation CDs, they do not seem to have grasped the potential of adding brainwave entrainment techniques to the audio soundtrack. This is almost certainly because they are approaching meditation from a traditional, Buddhist perspective, including the recitation of prayers written by the Buddha himself. But we should not necessarily allow respect for traditions that are over 2,500 years old to blind us to the teachings of modern science. If we can see from EEG scans of experienced meditators that loving-kindness gives rise to Gamma waves, would it not make sense to encourage their formation? Listening to brainwave audio designed to entrain Gamma waves need not distract in any way from the familiar processes of visualization and affirmation. In fact, I believe it enhances the process tremendously by both increasing focus and encouraging whole-brain thinking and feeling. And that has to be good news, for the world really doesn't need to wait one day longer for more love and compassion.

If you're interested in amplifying the power of your meditation sessions, you need to know more about brainwave entrainment. But you also need to be careful, because not all brainwave entrainment audio will deliver on its promises. To find out which producers know their stuff, visit Meditation Audio Reviews.

Original article

Best Meditation Techniques For Beginners

Although it may sound self evident, whenever you are starting a new thing in your life it's best to begin at the beginning. This applies to meditation techniques as much as anything else. As we get older, we forget that almost everything we now take for granted such as walking, riding a bike, driving a car, or whatever else took time to learn. We didn't instantly go from novice to professional. Yet we often expect to do this as we grow older!

That said, we need to get reasonably fast results otherwise we move on to the next idea. So here are some simple meditation techniques for beginners that will put you on the right track with your meditation practices.

1. Set aside a regular time for your meditation

OK, this isn't really a technique but it applies nonetheless.

If you decide that you're only going to meditate when you've got time, the chances are that - unless you're completely dedicated - things will lapse and your daily session will turn into an every other day one and then once a week, once a month and finally "oops, I can't remember the last time I meditated".

Setting aside a time is fairly easy after a while. It takes us around two weeks to form a habit so make sure that you put a note in your cell phone or something else that will nag you until you pre-empt the alarm notice. You'll then know that your habit is truly habitual.

2. Breathing meditation

This is difficult to get wrong! Which makes it an excellent way to begin meditating.

You already know the basics. Most adults take between 12 and 20 breaths per minute. Which is quite a big variation if you stop to think about it.

Generally - at a beginners level - a breathing meditation will concentrate on the actual experience of breathing.

You'll listen to a set of instructions and your focus will be set to the process of breathing from taking air in through your mouth or nostrils, feeling the air flow down your wind pipe, notice your lungs filling with air, maybe thinking about how the oxygen gets transferred to your bloodstream and then feeling the air retreat through your wind pipe again and escape through your mouth or nose.

Wow! That sounds complicated when it's described like that. Yet you're carrying out that process every few seconds.

The act of focussing on your breathing usually involves taking longer breaths than you'd maybe take normally. This will slow down your breathing rate and in turn that helps to induce a state of calm and relaxation.

There are plenty of good quality guided meditations on the market that will literally talk you through the whole process.

3. Traditional meditation

Personally I wouldn't classify this as a beginners meditation technique but I've included it because a lot of people do start with this method.

The idea is to have a focus point that you concentrate on, allowing your mind to get quieter as this happens.

The focus point could be a spot on a wall or ceiling. Or it could be a candle flame. Or anything else that doesn't move around too much that you can fix your attention on. A television program doesn't count for this! But a purpose made video could do - you'd watch calming pictures and listen to relaxing "new age" music.

So keep an open mind here. If you find the traditional method of meditating is too hard at first, be open to ideas that will change the method without wrecking it.

Traditional meditating can also involve repeating a mantra over and over again. One of the usual ones - you'll recognize this from Hollywood films - is the word "Om". Which sounds a bit like a hum. Some meditation masters will pass their own mantra on to their students. The actual mantra is less important than the effect of allowing your mind to focus on the mantra and allow other thoughts and worries to fade into the background.

4. Binaural beats meditation

Purists count this method as cheating!

It's probably the quickest way to drop your mind into a deep meditative state that would otherwise take years of practice to achieve.

The system normally requires the use of headphones. The binaural beats are then played into your ears and your brain is placed in what can be best described as a state of mild confusion. The two beats it's hearing are almost identical but not quite.

So your mind tries to match up the two ever so slightly different tones. In the process, it gets automatically taken down to whichever level the creator of the track was aiming for.

There are programs out there which will allow you to create your own binaural beats but unless you're a complete geek with qualifications in biology as well as computers, it's better and more reliable to buy a system off the shelf.

There are a number of different binaural beats systems available. Some require years of listening, others will get good results in a matter of weeks or months.

They'll also overlay the beats with other sound. Binaural beats on their own are a bit like listening to white noise - not exactly pleasant. So the different meditation programs available will mask the beats with natural sounds such as rainfall or with specially designed meditation music that gives your conscious mind something to listen to whilst your subconscious mind beavers away, trying to make sense, and takes you down to a totally relaxed meditative state.

Original article

Meditation Cushions and Posture

Aligned and balanced posture enhances our ability to achieve stillness and practice proper breath control. To calm the activity of our thoughts it is important that we understand the benefits to the mind and body that an aligned posture brings. You will need to decide which practice position is both comfortable for you and that you will be able to maintain for increasing periods of time. Zafus are one instrument used to manipulate the body so we may achieve alignment.

Choosing the best meditation cushions for your practice involves a deeper understanding of the way your body works. Begin by standing before a mirror in the anatomical position. Your stance should be facing forward with your legs and feet together, arms hanging loosely at your sides and palms facing forward. Observe the curvature of your spine. The spine is naturally curved as a subtle S shape divided into five regions: cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal. You want to ensure that the height of your zafus and thickness of your zabuton maintain the proper alignment of the spinal curvature.

The cervical region of the spine encompasses the head and neck. While meditating the crown of the head and neck should be vertical. The head should be tilted slightly forward while the chin is up.

The thoracic region includes the shoulders and chest. Note whether your shoulders are rounded, hunched or stiff? Any tightness in the chest? How do your arms naturally hang? These notations will be useful to determine what practice position will be comfortable and whether to chose round or crescent meditation cushions for support.

The lumbar spine includes your abdomen and lower back. In Zen, this region is the foundation of our spiritual power. Note any curvatures in your lower back. Is there an extreme concave or convex curvature? Height and fill of zafus will manipulate excess curvatures for better concentration.

The sacral and coccygeal are fused together. This region attaches the back of the pelvis to the spine. During meditation, the pelvis should be in a neutral position. The proper choice of meditation cushions will assist your pelvis from tilting forward or backward.

Lastly, what type of muscle tone do you have? Are your muscles naturally tight? If so, where? Crescent meditation cushions provide support to your thighs especially for those of us with tight hamstrings. Round or crescent meditation cushions will suit someone who has loose muscle tone, however the fill of meditation cushions may be more significant so known whether a firm of flexible fill will provide you comfort.

Once you have gathered this information, you can begin to think about which positions will allow you to maintain focus for the longest period of time and which meditation cushions will enhance your practice. Review your notes before deciding on postures and zafus. Where does your body need assistance to balance your posture and support your muscles? Meditation cushions filled with buckwheat hull easily mold to the body. Zafus filled with kapok are firm and maintain structure. The best shape of meditation cushions for you depends upon your choice of practice position, which is the topic of my next article.

Susan Forte has more than 16 years of professional experience in the field of Human Services, which heightened an awareness for the need of strong stress management skills and the need managing ones daily mental health. Susan explored meditation through local ashrams and then Buddhist centers. The mission of Meditation Cushions For All is to provide information, so you may choose meditation cushions that will enhance your practice.

Visit or order at http://www.meditationcushionsforall.com/
(877) 511-8916 (973) 798-2293

Original article

How To Meditate - A Practical Guide

First, you want to find a nice quiet place, one that will allow you to think clearly and have a moment to yourself where you just relax and enjoy the peace and tranquility of your life and day. You can find a place, a corner perhaps, in your own house, in your room, something you can easily witness, something you can get away and have a moment in, and this way you can find a place where meditation can take place with ease and efficiency. You can find a place outside your home, too, maybe on the beach or seaside, or maybe in a secluded hotel room somewhere far away, somewhere like another country or maybe a quiet café or bookshop.

Anyway, once you choose a place you need to go there with your mind open and your stress turned off. This means, do not bring cell phones, or technological devices, no laptops, no computers, no anything that will distract you or keep you focused on your troubles or the stresses of your day, do not bring your work, do not bring your stresses or bills, leave them behind for this one hour where you will devote yourself to complete and utter relaxation and tense free time.

You can, however, bring a radio or CD player, and you can put in some nice easy instrumentals that make it calm, such as Enya or jungle beats or some other kinds of instrumental or soothing music that will put you at ease. This is not the time for your favorite Michael Jackson CD or your Beatles records, this is the time for reflective and calming sitars and flutes, or even noise CDs, like beach waves or the sound of falling rain or crackling fire or faraway chirping of Asian frogs, this is the time to have your mind escape the rigors of the world and the words and lyrics and stresses, and just fall into a kind of peaceful and tranquil stupor.

This can help you achieve a wondrous sense of peace and happiness if you let yourself float away from all your troubles for a while and just enjoy some peace and tranquility of the moment and for a while. You can take deep breaths and have a relaxing time of it, too, while you enjoy a moment where you do not think about anything but the hour of you, a time to reflect on the beauty of your life and the things that make you happy and joyous to be alive, such as your family, your friends, and your dreams. You want to keep your thoughts positive and believe in yourself so that when you emerge from this hour of meditation you are rendered clean and anew and can take on any challenge with an open and refreshed mind and have a nice time about it.

This can help you tackle anything that comes your way and you can enjoy having a nice moment each day where you take stock.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for PoloMercantil

Original article

Meditation Nightmare - Traveling In India

Will my back, legs and thighs ever be the same again?

After 10 days of sitting with my legs tucked under me, thighs spread apart, back ramrod stiff and listening to a neurologically challenged old man drone on and on, I doubt it very much.

Welcome to the world of the meditation centre - or more aptly the world of the reform centre. Actually, the western prison system could base their whole programs and ethos on a mediation centre. No one in their right mind would re-commit and face a sentence in this regime.

The tinkling of a bell incessantly was the wake-up call at 4.00am and that little bell ended up sounding like a police siren. The first session started at 4.30am either in the hall or our rooms called appropriately "cells". I never did get to see how many turned up at 4.30. After 2 hours the inmates progressed to breakfast- wow, glued up porridge, some other type of Indian stodge, brown bread and "chai" and this choice didn't change for 10 days. The breakfast was an indication of my bowels; they were a good reflection of the state of my experiences- clogged and uncomfortable.

Back to meditation at 8.00 for 1 hour and then onto a further 2 hours. Somehow 11.00 o'clock was construed to be lunch time, this was the only meal of the day and not too bad. A couple of hours of rest and then back to the hall for hours of meditation, back-ache, boredom and thoughts of "what the hell am I doing here?"

The neurologically challenged man droned over speakers at the beginning and end of each session. His constant repetition of words and phrases was unnerving and his favorites' were "Observe! Observe! Observe!", "You are bound to be successful, you are bound to be successful; you are bound to be successful", ad nauseum. Well I had news for him, because as soon as I heard his voice, I completely switched off and thought of a soft bed, good food, anything to get my mind out of there.

At 5.00pm it was yummy tea-time - dry rice bubbles with a sprinkling of peanuts, a piece of fruit and "chai". This was it until 6.30 the next morning. It is surprising how much you look forward to this weird tea; I suppose it was the chance to sit on a chair and to break the monotony of the day.

My fellow 170 inmates were a mixed crowd from the anorexic, glazed-eyed spiritual seekers, to the everyday Indian housewife. There is a strict segregation of the sexes and I wondered if the presence of women in the hall may have stopped the endless burping, farting, yawning and snoring of the Indian women. The couple of Korean girls looked mortified at each explosion and I threw dirty looks at the offenders, but to no avail. They mostly had their eyes closed in presumed meditation, oblivious to their uncouthness.

There was strictly no speaking, "noble silence", it was called. Well I reckon that was in place for fear the complaints would be overwhelming and in my case the mockery of the "teacher".

I was very pleased not to be paying for this agony and mind games. I paid only for my expenses and certainly did not give a donation; this place should not be encouraged! There must be many people who do approve though, as the infrastructure was impressive and the usual grand plan for the golden temple was drawn up, ready for the gullible to give their money for the glorification of the "teacher" and not the fundamental benefits of the mediation technique.

Sue Gibbins
Long time traveler in the Far East. For more traveling information goes to
best at travel
compare flight prices

Original article

Who Else Wants to Discover Yoga Meditation Techniques for Beginners?

If you want to experience the amazing health benefits that can coincide with the practice of yoga meditation, then you can either sign up to attend a yoga meditation class in person or purchase a DVD to do at home (you can also borrow one from your local library). If you are a complete neophyte to the practice, then it's very important that you learn the proper way to implement your technique. There are numerous different techniques that you are going to have to eventually learn. However, there are a few principle ones which are essential to master right away, and many of them entail reciting Mantras.

When it comes to properly carrying out a yoga meditation technique, one of the first things you need to master is maintaining a steady gaze. Select an object from the room in which you are meditating. Fix your eyes on it and continue staring at it until the conclusion of your session. This technique is important for a couple of reasons.

First, a steady gaze helps you accomplish and sustain a good balance, with the selected object serving as your focal point. Second, staring at a single object helps to calm and relax your mind. Think about how difficult it would be to feel relaxed if you were continuously looking around the room and switching your gaze.

Another key component of yoga meditation is the observation of proper breathing. Breathing is a crucial part of meditation. Therefore, in order to reap the benefits of meditation you need to make sure that you're maintaining a steady breath - in and out - at the correct times. You need to release yourself from your conscious thoughts, and if you catch yourself focusing on any one thought, you need to let it go and resume concentration on your breathing.

Focus and proper breathing are just two of the techniques you can learn if you decide to sign up for a yoga meditation class. During a class, you will be guided by a knowledgeable and experienced instructor who will show you the proper way to engage in yoga meditation. The instructor will also be able to help you make adjustments if you are doing something incorrectly. This type of hands-on experience with immediate feedback is not something that you can get from watching a DVD or by reading a book. When you perform your exercises the correct way, you can expect to experience more immediate results.

Yoga meditation is a fantastic way to assist your mind and spirit as well as strengthen your body. When you find a technique that you are comfortable with, try to practice it as often as possible, or at the very least two times a week. Anyone who practices yoga meditation will tell you that doing it regularly can greatly benefit your mind, soul, and body.

Want more free information? Feel free to get all kinds of wonderful meditation tips, advice, and information on http://www.yourbestmeditation.com/.

Also, be sure to 'Like' us at https://www.facebook.com/ExploringMeditation.

Original article

Dealing With Emotions With Meditation

It is important to appreciate the power of your feelings. We often disguise our true feelings - an apparent calm that hides emotions ablaze. Therefore, we unconsciously are affecting our well-being. If we are consumed by strong feelings, it is hard to be neutral and objective. We tend to become rigid, closed in our opinion. It is the typical reaction of shaking knees - impulsivity - the result of years of conditioning, the product of emotional patterns that have become so entrenched that emerge automatically.

However, meditation helps to break these patterns, it has the potential to turn around the negativity, and ultimately correct our attitudes. The next time you invade a fury, or someone has touched a sensitive spot, try to create an interval of time before reacting. This allows you wondering for a moment on the validity of your negative emotional reactions, not to judge or criticize for a moment. Causes react in a way undermined, rather than act purely by reflex.

When you 'miss' your impulsivity, you can reverse the impulses of your life. Understand that you assign weight or importance to your thoughts, actions and reactions. Fill them with meaning.
Emotions that emerge from meditation

Many of us are used to suppress our true feelings, particularly anger. Unresolved conflicts and the psychological issues are recorded in our subconscious, where they raise, but as the practice of meditation will end up with your mental and bustle creates space in your mind, you are giving problems deeper buried in your mind the possibility of coming to the surface.

Such a transfer cannot be operated in a single experience, it is a slow process in which a change in consciousness, perhaps higher, leading to the initiation of new experiences.

The release of emotions

One way to get rid of anger is to feel and write a letter to the person you're angry. Do not worry about grammar and do not omit any of your feelings. Then put the letter aside for two or three days (not more). It is not intended to be sent to the recipient, only serves for your personal enlightenment. Read it carefully, add whatever you want, and then re-set it aside for two or three days. Take it again, reread it one last time and then destroy it.

On a sheet of paper, write down everything you think about it - the stories, experiences, feelings. For example, if you have problems with anger, write what has triggered this rage, because you feel angry, thoughts and behaviors that your emotional state is to engender. Then in another sheet of paper write down the reason that your anger is justified.

Then go to your place of meditation. Finally, burn everything written on this subject, speak words of relief and let go all thoughts and feelings that need to be released.

Meditation is the best way that we have to control wath goes on in our mind. If you want to know more about how to meditate properly, then you can start today doing so. Learning how to meditate can take some time, but it is all worth it.

Original article

How Can You Overcome Stress?

Meditation is a highly effective means to overcome stress. It helps restore the body to a calm state. A knowledgeable expert can guide individuals using the correct stress management meditation techniques, helping to relax and focus the flow of thoughts over a sustained time period.

If you regularly feel stressed, then perhaps you will find some comfort in the fact that most people suffer from some sort of strain. Statistically speaking, more than 40% of adults are adversely affected by stress. If untreated, stress can inflict serious, detrimental effects to one's physical and mental health.

Numerous different factors may contribute to an individual's elevated stress level. Perhaps you have a serious communication problem with one of your loved ones. Or maybe you hate your job but have no other options. You may be living alone, gradually cultivating a feeling of loneliness. Indeed, there could be any number of reasons for an individual's stress.

Stress often manifests itself as discomfort, worry, anxiety, uncertainty, fear, and excitement. The behavioral symptoms of stress include eating more or less, isolating oneself from others, sleeping too much or too little, neglecting responsibilities, and using alcohol, cigarettes, or other substances to relax. Stress can lead an individual to develop other tell-tale habits such as nail-biting and pacing.

The effects of stress vary from person to person. Some people thrive upon stress, while others feel bogged down by the slightest obstacle or frustration. The ability to withstand the negative effects stress depends on several factors including one's general outlook on life, the quality of the relationships one has, one's emotional intelligence, and genetics. Additionally, a strong network of supportive family members and friends acts as a buffer against stress. And, if you possess confidence in your ability to influence events and overcome challenges, you will find it easier to take stress in stride.

Optimistic individuals can cope with stress much better than those with a negative view of life. Stress-hardy people embrace challenges and are willing to accept change. One's ability to deal with emotions also counts. If you know how to soothe yourself when feeling sad, angry, or frightened, you will be able to balance your emotions. It also helps to be prepared for a stressful situation. For example, if you undergo surgery keeping realistic expectations post-op, your recovery will be less stressful. Conversely, if you expect to bounce back immediately and this does not happen, you will feel more stressed.

In order to successfully combat stress, you need to develop resilience. If you do so, you will be able to bounce back more easily. Everyone faces challenges in their lives, whether they are financial, personal, or professional. Regardless of social or economic status, every person faces some sort of adversity. The important thing is that you are able to move past it!

Meditation is a highly effective means to overcome stress. It helps restore the body to a calm state. In order to achieve the utmost results, one needs to practice meditation under the guidance of an experienced instructor. A knowledgeable expert can guide individuals using the correct stress management meditation techniques, helping to relax and focus the flow of thoughts over a sustained time period.

A successful stress management program helps to cultivate the skills necessary to better combat stress. If you need professional help to cope with stress, you should enroll in such a program. I guarantee that you will see a dramatic difference in your stress levels.

This article was written by Dr. Robert Puff, a well-known California-based motivational speaker, author, stress management expert, and TV show host.speaker

Original article

The Art of Visualization - How to Visualize Results in Your Meditation

The Powerful Benefits of Meditation and Creative Visualization

Meditation and creative visualization are easy to learn and their benefits are immeasurable. There isn't any formula you could use to renew your spirit, nurture your mind or rejuvenate your whole body the same way that a tranquil meditation can.

Most people have heard of meditation, and many understand it is healthy for you, just like clean air and wholesome food. However, it is a misconception that it requires a very long time to know the correct way to meditate.

It will not take a person very long to master it. The trick is doing it repeatedly; that can make it much easier to enter into a blissful state in which recovery, rest and rejuvenation occur.

The more one practices meditation, the easier this gets, and also the faster you'll be able to get noticeable benefits associated with it in your everyday life. Simply create enough time for it. As soon as you learn the way to get to that state of meditation, you will then be able to advance to creative visualization in order to manifest anything you need.

Concentrating on your quintessential goals and ambitions using creative visualization can truly be enjoyable. After all, is there a better way to pass time than through visualizing and seeing yourself realize your greatest dreams, such as your much-desired career or perhaps touring some faraway corner of the globe? When it pertains to visualization, lots of individuals just cannot create enough time for realizing their goals - and there is a simple reason for it; they simply don't think of it as enjoyable. Allow it to be A Fun Activity. Visualization pulls its power from the ability to envision the image of your dream objectives, such as a large bank account, or even shedding those tenacious pounds of extra weight. However, you need not shut yourself inside a room to be able to provide these images with genuine power - as an alternative, act out your objectives!

Make use of the Power of the Imagination. You don't have to visualize the exact same thing repeatedly. With regards to creative visualization, there's just one guideline: anything goes!

Don't Limit Yourself. Whenever you visualize what you desire, you may go wild! Do you wish to slim down? Just go ahead and see an image of the number of heads you'll be able to turn as you walk down your street with a different, slim, wonderful body. If you're fantasizing about returning to college, don't simply imagine a diploma - rather, visualize yourself participating in classes, interacting with new individuals, as well as building vital relationships with the professors and instructors.

As you're able to see, on the subject of meditation and creative visualization, the key element is this: the more enjoyment you have using it, the greater the benefits you will get from it.

http://www.how-to-meditate.net

Original article

Can Gratitude Be a Form of Meditation?

I attended a Yoga teacher intensive in Attleboro, Massachusetts on meditation in 2006. At that intensive, we were taught so many different forms of meditation over the course of a Columbus Day weekend that I filled a note book. One method that really stuck to my mind was a mantra meditation that is so easy to practice. It consists of just two syllables and both are English words. Sometimes, this mantra helps me in prayer, sometimes this mantra helps me gain control of my breath, and sometimes this mantra helps me to meditate or relax. Here are the two magic words: "Thank You." For breath awareness purposes, "thank" goes well with an inhale, and "you" goes well with an exhale. Until 2006, I never met anyone who could break down the most complicated Yogic ideas into mentally digestible concepts.

With Yoga teachers and bestsellers touting an endless array of meditation styles, the whole concept can be intimidating. As soon as we think we have figured it out, here comes another workshop or article making us wonder if we are meditating at all, much less doing it correctly. No wonder the process seems so mysterious and confusing.

Perhaps meditation is like religion or politics; controversy may sometimes stem from individual interpretation of words rather than major differences in beliefs. People to others with similar backgrounds initially taught all kinds of meditation - regardless of whether it is called mindfulness, centering prayer, Yoga, qigong, or one of many other names -. Many styles have survived for thousands of years, an indication of their universal truth, but the question of whether one is "better" than the other remains.

Some readers, implying that meditation is far more esoteric and mystical, vehemently challenged a blogger's recent claim that simple gratitude can be a form of meditation. Although Buddhist monks have recognized the act as a part of their mindfulness techniques for thousands of years, scientists are now supporting their claims in studies at leading institutions around the world.

In research done by doctors at the University of California and Southern Methodist University, there were three groups of participants. Each group wrote in a diary daily.

• Group I recorded everything that happened.

• Group II recorded only what they perceived as unpleasant events.

• Group III made a list of things for which they were grateful.

Researchers observed the following changes in the group that practiced gratitude.

• They were more alert, optimistic, enthusiastic, and energetic.

• They exercised more regularly.

• They experienced less depression and fewer stress-related concerns.

• They were more apt to go out of their way to help others.

• They came closer to fulfilling their personal goals.

• They were more likely to feel loved.

In 2010, "Clinical Psychology Review" published additional research to support the benefits of appreciation. The findings showed that people who are thankful for the positive aspects of their lives are less likely to suffer from psychological stress and to recover more quickly from trauma and stress. Adolescents also experienced more satisfaction in school after they learned to express gratitude, a simple act that consisted of writing down three to five things in a diary each day.

Author and psychotherapist Richard Carlson once said, "When you're feeling grateful, your mind is clear and therefore you have access to your greatest wisdom and common sense. You see the big picture."

That sounds a lot like the results of meditation; but if it works, does it really matter what we call it?

© Copyright 2011 - Aura Wellness Center - Publications Division

Faye Martins, is a Yoga teacher and a graduate of the Yoga teacher training program at: Aura Wellness Center in, Attleboro, MA. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/

Original article

Learn Ramana Maharshi's Meditation Technique for Enlightenment

Self inquiry is one of the most powerful and effective meditation techniques used by thousands of people all over the world. Taught by the enlightened Guru, Ramana Maharshi, this meditation technique alone has helped many people experience profound states of meditation, samadhi and even self realization.

At the most mundane level, self inquiry is asking "Who am I?" In asking this question, your attention reverses back onto itself, the mind becomes still and for however long it lasts, you experience nothing but pure consciousness, pure attention itself. Dualistic subject/object perception is gone and there is only the experience of one infinite consciousness.

The amazing thing about this meditation technique is that it uses the mind to stop the mind. "Who am I" is not an intellectual question, instead it is a question to cut right through the intellectual mind. Because if you really look to find the answer, you will find that your name, body and occupation is not what you are.

Certainly intellectually, these things would be your answer. But if you really inquire into the nature of what you are in this moment, you move past all mental definitions and come to something which cannot be put into words, something that actually silences the words.

So in practicing the self inquiry technique, in asking "Who am I," your attention moves inward instead of outward, past intellectual knowledge to that which cannot be described or defined. You begin to experience what is here beyond your thinking, beyond all ideas and definitions of what you know intellectually. This experience of pure consciousness, pure attention is often referred to as the Self, Atman, the feeling of 'I am,' stillness, silence, the void and the absence of me.

All of these words may point in the direction of what is here, but it is necessary to note that the words themselves are not the answer. The answer is the silence, the mystery that is there every time you ask the question. You use the self inquiry meditation technique to take you to the essence of what is here beyond thought and in that you learn to remain in that essence, to rest in pure consciousness.

When you begin practicing the self inquiry meditation technique, you may ask "who am I?" and the experience of pure consciousness may only last a moment before you are again caught up in thinking. So then you repeat the question to again take you out of thinking and into your natural state of pure consciousness. At first, it may be that you ask "who am I" with every inhale and then on the exhale you experience what is here beyond thinking.

But as you improve, you can remain in your natural state of pure consciousness for longer and longer periods of time. At first, the experience of pure being may last 2 seconds, then 5 seconds, even 30 seconds before you are again get caught up in thinking.

But with practice, you come to a point where the question is no longer needed; you come to a point where the feeling of pure consciousness becomes dominant enough that your attention can remain in that without actually needing to use the question any longer.

It is here the meditation technique no longer becomes an inquiry, but rather you simply relax into pure being, you surrender in pure consciousness. You begin to be able to directly experience this moment beyond mental perception, without having to use your mind. You begin to experience that you are not your thoughts, but the consciousness behind the thinking, the consciousness from where the thoughts arise and disappear on their own.

It is important to note that a large part of Ramana Maharshi's teaching has been overlooked, and that is the Guru himself. Ramana Maharshi radiated Shaktipat, the energy of enlightenment. Just by sitting in Ramana Maharshi's presence, people would effortlessly experience deep states of bliss and self realization, without having to practice any meditation technique.

You can receive this same Shaktipat by listening to a very unique meditation CD. Simply by listening to meditation music, this Shaktipat is awakened in you and you effortlessly attain deep states of meditation and bliss.

Click on the "Shaktipat Meditation Music" link below to hear free samples and experience it for yourself.

Listen to Free Samples of an Amazing Shakti CD
That Awakens You to Self Realization & Bliss
Visit the Shaktipat Meditation Music Website

For More Free Teachings on Meditation, Awareness
& How to Attain Deep States of Bliss
Visit the Spiritual Enlightenment Website

Original article

How Do You Meditate Properly?

Every action and activity has rules and guide to do for get the best result. It is same with the meditation. You should be meditating properly to get benefit from all type of meditation. Many question stated from beginner of meditate especially how do you meditate properly?

To get meditate properly; you must know what is the goal of meditation. Here, I will use dragon meditation techniques as case study. This is having three main goals like:

1. Health and relaxation,
2. Spirituality
3. Martial arts.

All goals must get together with one technique in meditation. This is techniques useful for generate vibration and level of concentration in this activity.

Lets discuss shortly one by one. Health and relaxation benefits appear in every meditation including in this techniques. In health side, dragon meditation techniques useful for improve our health and to do healing process with its vibration. It is also relaxation methods because after do these activities you will feel relax, fresh and free of stress.

Spirituality will develop in meditation if you apply your pray based on your religion or ways. I am always suggesting everyone who does mediation to pray before and after meditation. But, if you are pray along meditation, then this is very good. So, spiritual side always place in meditation whatever type of meditation you do. You will remember to God in meditation. It is will give you more power in meditation. Pray in dragon meditation techniques will improve vibration quality. This vibration is useful for healing activity and self shield in martial arts.

Next discuss is martial arts. This technique is useful for martial arts because the vibration will use as virtual self shield. I am sure every meditation will generate vibration like magnet wave in your hand. This is useful build vibration power to stop attacker when you are in dangerous. Whatever your meditation you must feel vibration and keep feel it till the biggest quality.

To get meditation properly, you must learn in detail all guide of its approach. Read carefully the manual. See and hear patiently in your guided audio and video meditations. After all guide understand, try it with follow all guide, do it patiently, keep feel your self in meditation, get and follow whatever happened in activity and make discussion with your trainer or friend.

Learn meditation for beginner need patient and careful to get the best result in this life style. I am sure you will get best benefit to improve you life quality. Every people who can understand the guide will get this benefit including you. If you can read this article, you are the best person to do this life style approach. Lets go more spirit in our life with meditation. Keep smile to your self and to everyone because the world will smile to you.

Mike Handy is meditation practitioner almost 18 Years in Asia. He has 8 seven type of Dragon Meditation for selected people. Now, he want everybody can enjoy this meditation via his website: http://dragonmeditationtechniques.com/

Original article

Meditation and Abundance, Part III - Climbing Over the Wall of Doubt

In the final part of this series, we will explore the full potential of the mind in creating better personal realities. We will learn how to use the power of our beliefs and emotions to best effect, while remaining aware of the possible pitfalls of employing these unusual creative techniques. One of those pitfalls is trying too hard to make things happen, which can lead to frustration and failure, but the main challenge we must overcome is the constant resistance of the logical, conscious mind. As we noted at the start of this series, our desire to control our outer circumstances requires us first to master our own minds.

Belief Modification or Cognitive Dissonance?

Once we have recognized the extraordinary creative power of our own beliefs and emotions, and decided to change them - somehow - into something much more positive, we run into an immediate brick wall of doubt. If you are not currently enjoying particularly happy circumstances, then any time you spend believing that things are the way you want them to be is, in effect, a denial of your current reality. For mainstream psychologists (who, despite their years of training, have generally not realized just how powerful the mind really is) this amounts to cognitive dissonance. In layman's terms, you can't live in a dreamworld. And your conscious mind is going to constantly remind you of that fact.

In order to function properly in daily life, it is indeed important to deal with your world as it is. But if you never lift yourself mentally and spiritually above your current circumstances, those circumstances are not going to change. The easiest way for most of us to pull off the necessary balancing act is to confine our belief-modification activities to distinct meditative sessions - times when we do not have to take care of anything in the real world and are free to let our minds go. Once the session is over, we can let its effects linger on at a subconscious level while we return to everyday affairs, without focusing on any apparent inconsistency between the two. But what, exactly, should we do in such sessions?

Creative Visualization and Beyond

Maximizing our creative power requires letting our spirits soar to unprecedented heights. We need to go to mental places that are far beyond everyday reality and feel emotions we do not normally feel. This becomes an exercise in imagination - a skill that many adults left behind in their childhoods but need to rediscover. Yes, it's really alright to lose yourself in fantasy for a while. But don't make the mistake of obsessing about the details of your imaginary experiences. It does not matter whether your dream home is in Malibu or Monaco; it may be one thing one day and another thing the next. What matters here is the quality of the experience, not the details. Change the details as much as you want from one session to the next in order to make yourself feel the way you want to feel. Far from undermining yourself by giving the universe mixed messages (which is how Rhonda Byrne would look at it), this mental playfulness reinforces the belief that you can have anything you want, and that is a seriously powerful belief. This is, in fact, an example of what I call "success by implication": your implied belief in having what you want in general can be more effective than specific beliefs in detailed outcomes.

For logical people - so-called left-brain thinkers - this type of exercise is particularly difficult. The conscious mind keeps objecting that the reality you are trying to live in your mind is unrealistic. Or it insists on everything "making sense," requiring a coherent narrative for your imaginary scenarios. Either way, we need the logical mind to be quiet for a while so we can have the emotional experience that creativity requires. One of the most useful tools to help overcome this tendency is music, especially instrumental music. And the new audio technology of brainwave entrainment can help even more, by encouraging your brain to leave the Beta frequencies associated with waking awareness in favor of the more relaxed and creative frequency ranges of Alpha and Theta brainwaves.

The Two Keys to Successful Manifestation

Over many years of experimentation, my own experience has shown that success depends upon two factors: persistence and intensity. If you are looking to produce long-term changes in your life, you need to make long-term changes in your thinking. In other words, one or two good creative visualization sessions isn't going to be enough to give you a whole new life. But, having said that, the only way to accelerate the process is to boost the intensity of your sessions. This means feeling very strong emotions and really, deeply believing that the conditions you want to bring about are real for you. This is, of course, easier said than done, but when you have a few small successes under your belt your faith in the creative process itself will help lessen the doubts that constantly anchor you to your current reality. When you finally get out of your own way, you will be amazed at what you can do.

If you have enjoyed this series on meditation and abundance, you will find much more in this more complete guide on how to manifest abundance. And if you would like to learn more about the new technology of brainwave entrainment, you will find a thorough review of the technology and the best audio products at Meditation MP3.

Original article

Self-Healing Using Meditation

Studies conducted on terminally ill patients, show recoveries between those who have channeled their efforts to develop positive thinking and its potential healer. Of course this does not mean give up on treating the disease by orthodox methods. It only means that can clarify the clinical cure releasing negative conditioning and using positive affirmations and visualization to heal.

It is important to recognize that, often, the disease results in part to psychological factors, past or recent, that are causing an imbalance of energy in the vibrating body. When energy is blocked in the body, it creates dysfunction. Emotions, thought patterns and spiritual beliefs are so important to the health of the individual as the systems, tissues and organs. Health is an alignment or balance between the physical and energetic vibrations mental, emotional and spiritual.

The path of meditation attempts to ban the 'guilt', which is why it is important to fully accept - and enjoy - who you are. If you can stop judging and be strict with himself, will be less likely to blame or judge others. Self-acceptance is important in your practice of meditation, since confidence, energy and happiness - and therefore health - they happen when you accept your life and accept yourself, without shame or embarrassment. Allowing yourself to look inside, learn to listen to the inner truths that come from your heart, buying higher quality in their meditations.

Thinking is a form of energy, in which the emotions behind each thought vibrations that create an energy field projected by a certain mental construction can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thus, positive thinking can help you maintain good health. In fact, studies show that the natural defense mechanisms of the body are much stronger when we keep a positive attitude.

Emotions, attitudes and thoughts of balance, physical energy and undermine natural immunity, so the person becomes more exposed to viruses and bacteria.

Sit in a comfortable position and make the first few breaths, to focus on. Visualize that is inspiring intense white light for the crown of the head and it flows from the crown to the heart chakra. Feel the light to fill and expand your heart. As you exhale, release, knowingly, any tension, stress or pain. Try to feel intuitively any energy imbalance, there are any irregularities in their tissues and cells, then go for this white light in the body. Imagine your cells and tissues to be penetrated by the healing light. You can also imagine the cells to change shape and size, and then display them to reorganize and rebalance again. As you exhale, imagine all the toxins, dead cells and strain to be expelled from the body.

The heart chakra, directs the light through the whole body, starting with the left foot, rising to the ankle, then to the calf, etc... In a systematic way, fill your whole body with light, imagining that you are a being of light, full of energy, refreshed and healed. This can be done at any time and can take five minutes to an hour.

Meditation is a great way to listen to your body. Learning how to meditate properly can help you relax your body and start relieving stress. If you want to start meditating here you will find everything that you need, to learn how to meditate for beginners.

Original article

Meditation: How To Gain The True Value Of Life

You often lose the battle with life's critical moments in your mind. You let the circumstances prevail over your mindset. You tend to create a vision of the world and when that vision is destroyed, you get depressed. These things are natural with people who don't have proper control over their mind. That is the fundamental premise of succeeding in life.

How to control your mind?

You are best served by meditation to learn how to harness your mind. Your mind travel faster than light and is the genesis of dreams and translator of reality. Through meditation, you can check its speed and remain composed even in extreme moments of crisis.

Your mind is ever deluded by countless thoughts. When you think of an aim, other thoughts cancel your chances of achieving it. To realize your actual potential and understand the true picture of reality, you need to resort to different levels of Meditation.

The objective of this book

The Art Of Meditation is a French book by Matthieu Ricard, which needs to be translated into many other languages. It is all-encompassing and gives many ways of meditating practices and its countless benefits. Vajrasana is perhaps the most effective where you sit cross-legged with steady body balance and looking ahead.

You start your life boggled by curiosities and there are too many questions haunting you like ripples. However, proper meditation makes you analyze all occurrences in actual light, and show you wisdom. It is also supposed to enhance your grasping powers and your instincts. In the end, you become as composed and deep as an ocean, a stage when all hardships seem superficial to you.

Practice meditation to perfection

Deep meditation helps you gain control over your breathing, and in effect, your nervous system. Automatically, your brain starts receiving more oxygen and becomes livelier. You will then remain quiescent even in a landslide, and find out ways of survival, when others panic and crumble down.

Your brain is made of too many convolutions and is practically impossible to map down fully. It is said in Zen Philosophy that you can add anything to a teacup filled with water. That is true also of your brain if your channel your thoughts in a right manner. Hypnotists achieve mastery over a minute portion of their brain trough immense concentration. You can do more by practicing meditation regularly and following regulations.

Space and constraint

Of course, you require a peaceful environment and proper space to concentrate. That is why olden saints used to go to the forest. You will find answers to many riddles of life if you introspect into your own activities. You can only do that fairly, when you think the matter in isolation, and away from loved ones. The techniques given in this book are illuminating and worth emulating.

Jeff Benwell is the author of the blog, Books That Can Change Your Life and shares his views on various aspects of art of meditation. Visit his blog to know more.

Original article

The Buddhist Monk Meditation

It has been known that meditation is great help to achieve a certain level of peace within one's self. How much more if you can meditate like a monk within a month? You might be a little bit of a sceptic about this, but read on. The following steps will prove that meditating like a Buddhist is not impossible. And even ordinary folks like us can do it.

For the first five days, you must develop a sense of awareness of your thoughts. It is natural to have full control of your thoughts, but you can begin by being aware of the dominant thoughts in your brain. You can do this by assuming a meditating position for fifteen to twenty minutes and focus on the thoughts crossing your mind. Do not try to do anything with your thoughts: do not drive them away, change or analyze them. Just let them be and focus on them. This is the first step that you should do. Just make sure that you are aware of the thoughts running through your mind.

For the following five days, you should be able to meditate in "hypnagogic state" or what is commonly known as the state between dreaming and sleeping. To do this, find a comfortable place to lie on. Make sure that you lie on your back and position your arms and the elbows so that it forms a 90 degree angle with your torso. When you begin to fall asleep, your arms fall and awaken you. Pay attention to your body as you are falling asleep. The goal here is to put yourself in this state at will. You must also be aware that you might find yourself in a state known as "sleep paralysis" which often comes with hallucinations. Do not worry, this is normal. There is nothing to be anxious about.

By the middle of the month, you must also learn thought maintenance. Remember, for the last few days, you were told not to do anything about your thoughts. Now you are encouraged to address them out loud. This can be a bit different from what you were doing for the past days. This is the next stage and it is going to be a new experience altogether. When you do this, you will find that thoughts begin to disappear. You will then be waiting for the next ones to be entertained.

Now that you are nearing the last five days of the month, you will also notice that thoughts become still in your mind yet you find peace with it. Just maintain this state and you will find more meditation benefits. You will then start to feel at peace and not feeling any kind of anxiety in your mind and in your emotions.

This is a whole month's guide that you have to follow to become effective in meditation like the Buddhist monks. Once you perfect them, make it a lifetime commitment. Allot at least fifteen minutes per day. This is going to benefit you. You will find more physical, emotional and spiritual benefits than your ordinary kind of meditation.

Want to learn more about personal and spiritual growth? Go to our site and also get a Free Self Help Tips Report.

Original article

Heart Wisdom

Looking to the mind for answers and guidance, at least for the important questions and problems, can only produce unsatisfactory results, for the head is the heart's low second in command. The heart is the captain. The mind lives in a state of duality and can only produce in dualistic terms. There will always be a war in the mind when we try to champion one pair of opposites over another. Strive as we will, true peace cannot be found nor created with the mind. It is only the heart that has the capacity for the inner peace, self-acceptance, and love that we seek. If we try to reconcile these with the mind, however, they will disappear from our experience, for, the mind can only hold the version of peace that includes war, only the version of self-acceptance that includes self-rejection, and only the version of love that includes fear or disdain.

Why are we so insistent that we must understand ourselves and our world through our minds? Is it lack of trusting the heart? Ourselves? Life? God/Universal Wisdom? Why are we so ready to trust our mind? Does our sense of "self" seek to "know" with the mind to be fulfilled? To feel valuable? Perhaps, trusting the mind is like looking to the first mate of a ship to do the captains job! I think, at least for me, it is a lack of trust in the heart's wisdom that keeps me looking to the mind to figure out my problems, my life, and the cause of my sufferings.

One thing that keeps me in my mind is that I do not want to overlook anything: any of my faults or lessons I need to learn. Nor do I want to ignore or repress any aspect of a problem or experience. Can I trust in my heart to guide me without looking to the mind for direction, for understanding? I have been trying so hard for so many years and am finding that I cannot figure out myself, my problems, or how to best be with others through my mind.

I am so glad I choose to sit with my demon-struggle and not run off in these early morning hours to distract myself from inner anguish with busyness of body and mind. I am grateful for the utter failure of my mind to "figure out" my inner dilemmas. I am exhausted from the unending struggle and weary of the pain. I have been such a stubborn one, insisting that I figure this all out! Yet, I know that, at least, part of my insistence comes from a desire to truly live as the loving and wise being that I know as the true essence of us all. And for this, I will love this misguided little self that has stubbornly clung to its need to know with the mind. Yes, you see, little "fallen" self that has struggled so long, you are loved and accepted, even in your blindness.

The Heart is the Captain: A Wake Up Call

But what about the pain of realizing that my actions have caused pain for others? Sometimes I think I act too aggressively. What is aggressiveness? I think it is self-focused action: impulsively acting to fulfill a need without regard for others or the situation at hand. It is ego. When I see that my actions have caused someone pain, I get stuck in self-recrimination. Wait a minute! I just noticed that my concern for how I have hurt others is causing me to remain focused on myself: still self-focused before and after the regrettable action!

Maybe the pain or guilt we experience when we perceive we have closed our heart to another is just a wake up call to consciousness. Just a sharp poke in the side to call our attention to the fact that we were asleep or caught in some story or misperception that caused us to act as we did. I know that, when I hold on to this painful prod and move into self recrimination, I am paralyzed to further action, especially positive action, and remain stuck in unproductive negativity.

This is probably why self-forgiveness is so important. It is impossible to move forward without it. I am not a bad person (though in my darkest times my mind may try to convince me otherwise). I just got stuck in my head and went a little crazy! I'm sorry! Back into my heart and then into the next moment! Ah, what a relief that I do not have to nail myself to my inner cross to atone for "my sins"! Instead, I will connect to my heart, the part of me that knows "who I am" and how I really want to show up in this life. And then, with open hearted intention, allow myself to be lived by This and from This: a brave and grateful surrender into the unknown moment. This is all I can do, dear sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, children. It is all I can do - all that is of any real benefit.

The Heart is the Captain: Welcome Home

We are not really two and we are not only one. As an "I" that can see "you", I need to have a boundary but I am not separate from you. I smile, for I do enjoy seeing you in this way: as "me" as "you". Meeting like this feels safe, familiar yet unique. My heart is warmed by currents of joy and love that spontaneously arise as the essence of what is see. What a delightful welcome home in your eyes!

Celeste Walker

To speak with me personally or to make an appointment:

Call or email Celeste at 408-914-5441 or celestewalker1@yahoo.com. Office located on the boarders of San Jose, Los Gatos and Campbell: 3880 So. Bascom Ave. Suite 212 San Jose, CA. 95124

I look forward to meeting you and holding the space for you to heal, discover, and create a life that makes room for all of your dreams!

Original article