Want to Meditate? It’s Easier Than You Think
(I needed this advice!!)
There’s something about meditation. The word itself is often imbued with a kind of mystical quality: “I spent two hours meditating yesterday. I felt really close to the Universe, you know?”Well, that’s great. Seriously. But what about the rest of the world? The ones who think a lot about meditating but are intimidated or think that they have to jump right into a two hour session? The ones who aren’t even exactly clear on what meditation is, exactly, but would like to find out?
Meditation, in my book, is an activity that clears the mind and works to bring the personal spirit into unity with Universal Spirit. For many, this activity is sitting quietly with no distractions. However, it can actually take many forms: yoga functions as meditation for many - particularly yoga done independently at home with no distractions. The act of silent focus on breath and movement clears the mind and allows the Spirit to speak within ourselves.
Maybe it’s not yoga for you - maybe it’s sitting on a bench by the water, listening to nature. Could it be laying in the middle of a body of water on a float? Perhaps it’s right before bed, as you’re preparing to sleep.
If you want to start a daily meditation practice, I can only suggest that you take the steps I have taken: identify the times and places that you are most inclined toward the type of behavior mentioned above. Chances are you are already practicing some form of meditation whether you realize it or not. If not, feel free to go with the old standby - sitting with your legs crossed and eyes closed.
Next, focus on your breathing: It should enter all the way through your diaphragm. Block out the sounds around you and hear only your breath.
In five minutes or so, open your eyes and gently wiggle. Five minutes is a long time when you are first beginning, so allow yourself to end here for the first couple of weeks. When you can center on yourbreathing immediately and easily empty your mind for those five minutes, you might consider expanding to ten minutes.
I think that if you meditate for anywhere between five and ten minutes a day, you might be surprised what you learn about yourself - and what that might mean for the way you begin to treat not only yourself, but people in the world around you.
Meditation is about centering yourself and unifying with the Universal Spirit. You don’t have to do it for hours a day to reap some substantial benefits - and there’s nothing intimidating about it, I promise. So go get started!
11 Ways To Become The Person You Love
- Stop judging, and appreciate the beauty within you. – Judging yourself is not the same as being honest with yourself. When it comes to living as a compassionate, non-judgmental human being, the only challenge greater than learning to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, is learning to walk a lifetime comfortably in your own. In every smile there is beauty. In every heart there is love. In every mind there is wisdom. In every human being there is a soul, there is life, there is worth, and there is the ability to see all these things in everyone, including one’s self.
- Treat yourself the way you want others to treat you. – Accept yourself! Insecurity is what’s ugly, not you. Be you, just the way you are, in the beautiful way only you know how. The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others. You must love who you are or no one else will either. And when you are truly comfortable in your own skin, not everyone will like you, but you won’t care about it one bit.
- Care less about who you are to others. – Don’t lose YOU in your search for acceptance by others. Be aware that you will always appear to be a little less than some people prefer you to be, but that most people are unaware that you are so much more then what they see. You are good enough just the way you are. You have nothing to prove to anyone else. Care less about who you are to others and more about who you are to yourself.
- Know your worth. – We often accept the love we think we deserve. It makes no sense to be second in someone’s life, when you know you’re good enough to be first in someone else’s.
- Don’t rush intimate relationships. – Love is not about sex, going on fancy dates, or showing off. It’s about being with a person who makes youhappy in a way nobody else can. You don’t need a perfect one, you just need someone who you can trust – who shows you that you’re the only one. If you haven’t found true love yet, don’t settle. There is someone out there who will love you unconditionally, even if it’s not the person you were initially hoping for.
- Let go of those who aren’t really there. – There are certain people who aren’t meant to fit into your life no matter how much you want them to. And the only ones truly worthy of your love are the ones who stand with you through the hard times and laugh with you after the hard times pass. Maybe a happy ending doesn’t include anyone else right now. Maybe it’s just you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself for something better in the future. Maybe the happy ending is simply letting go.
- Forgive yourself and others. – Of all the things that can be stolen from you – your possessions, your youth, your health, your words, your rights – what no one can ever take from you is your freedom to choose what you will believe in, and who and what your heart will love going forward. Life begins where your fear and resentment ends. Just because someone hurt you yesterday, doesn’t mean you should hate the world, or start living life today in constant fear of being hurt tomorrow. When you forgive yourself and others, and stop the inner imprisonment, you’re creating the love of your life.
- Focus on the positive. – Do not let the pain make you hopeless. Do not let the negativity wear off on you. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Even though others may disagree with you, take pride in the fact that you still know the world is a beautiful place. Change your thoughts and you change your reality. Our thoughts are the makers of our moods, the inventors of our dreams, and the creators of our will. That is why we must sort through them carefully, and choose to respond only to those that will help us build the life we want, and the outlook we want to hold as we’re living it.
- Believe in the person you are capable of being. – The real purpose of your life is to evolve and grow into the whole person you are capable of being. Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing. Change really is always possible – there is no ability that can’t be developed with experience. Don’t ever let your negative beliefs stand in the way of your own improvement.
- Work on goals you believe in. – Never put off or give up on a goal that’s important to you. Not because you still have tomorrow to start or try again, but because you may not have tomorrow at all. Life is shorter than it sometimes seems. Follow your heart today.
- Keep looking and moving straight forward. – Moving on doesn’t mean you have forgotten; it means you have accepted what happened in the past and choose to continue living in the present. Moving on doesn’t mean you’re giving up; it means you’re giving yourself another chance by making a choice to be happy rather than hurt. Through all the problems you have faced, the burdens weighing down on your shoulders, the pain in your heart, you have only one thing to say, “I survived and I now know better for next time.”
(via happy-healthy-and-fit)
You Are Unique and Beautiful
By Elaine Boddy
I love this; I heard it from an amazing yogi recently, and it really resonated:
“You are not your body. Your body does not define you. Your body is the vehicle that carries your mind and spirit. How wonderful.”
And what great news to my ears! I am not my body. This body that I have allowed to define me, to control my emotions and actions for so much of my life, is my vehicle, is what carries me. It is not who I am. I am my spirit; I am my personality; I am my actions; I am life; I am love. I am me.
Herbs for Insomnia
Because I often suffer from this…I found this article very interesting.
by Amy Jirsa
Sleeplessness, or insomnia, is a condition I’m asked about over and over again. This isn’t really surprising when you think about it. Our diets, stressors and lifestyles coupled with artificial lighting, computer screens and televisions pretty much guarantee that we’re not always going to go to bed and get up at the same time every day (an important factor in conditioning our circadian rhythm for healthy sleep patterns).
But the other, more confounding, aspect of insomnia is its myriad causes; sleeplessness can be due to an over-active mind, too much caffeine, not enough food, too much food, spiking cortisol levels, spiking or dropping blood sugar levels or certain drugs and/or supplements. When a client comes to me with insomnia, I usually have to ask about diet, lifestyle, supplementation and when and how the insomnia occurs in order to recommend a treatment that will work.
So, here’s a little breakdown (and I’ll try to keep it interesting…that last thing I want is for this article to be an insomnia cure). When does your insomnia occur? Do you have trouble falling asleep? Is your mind active at night? Do you just feel completely awake and unable to go to sleep? Or does your insomnia occur in the early hours (2-4 a.m. is the classic time for this type of insomnia)? Do you feel anxious and is there a churning in your belly? Does your mind suddenly wake up, despite being exhausted, keeping you from getting back to sleep?
In my experience, morning and evening varieties are the two most common forms of chronic insomnia (as opposed to occasional insomnia, which we all experience, due to excitement or nerves before a big event or an over-indulgence of food, alcohol, or caffeine). So, I’m going to break it down here into these three types: evening, morning, and occasional insomnia. Hopefully this will cover everything like a (bad pun warning) nice warm blanket.
The Awesome Healing Power of Breathing
How many of you are shallow breathers? I am. Why? Not sure. Fear? Anxiety? Perhaps I don’t breathe deeply because in some corner of my domesticated girl damage a deep breath means a rounded belly and a rounded belly is “bad”. You know what I mean? Suck it in, keep it slim. Yesterday that changed. I worked with the most amazing healer and for 90 minutes all we did was breathe – I mean REALLY BREATHE.I got high. I cried. My body shook. I started to sweat, to laugh. The world opened up and kissed me. Whoa… It was frickin’ cool! Breathing can do that? You bet!
The deeper we went the more clarity I felt. I peeked at the dumb dumb beliefs that hold me back.The emotional vampires (renovate the rolodex!), physical blockages, and spiritual disconnects lit up like Christmas trees. Dang, after all this time I still have issues in my tissues. Well, I guess that’s kinda cool. No, I know that’s VERY cool. Solving the puzzle that is me is tres interesting. Never a dull moment on the path…
Lots of folks have advised me to practice pranayama – yeah, yeah, breath work – snooze (the voice of me before yesterday said). I’m definitely mindful of it in myyoga practice, but truthfully, it kinda ends there. Oftentimes before a speech my breath is like a roller coaster. If I don’t stop, drop, roll and pray, I shoot out of the gates with guns blazing and then fizzle out at the end. People love to watch my circus, but what the heck did I really say? The light show muffles the meaning. The craziest part about it is that I talk about the importance of breathing in my workshops. Healer: Heal thy self and quit the double standard!
At the end of my session I was an open vessel longing for a bucket of water to flush the muck that the breath dug up. I walked the streets of New York giddy and clear. It was spooky fun. In retrospect I never should have scheduled work meetings afterwards. Who knew that O2 can replace shrooms?
Without oxygen there is no life. Cancer hates oxygen. Without water there is no life. Water conducts energy, electricity. These two substances are key elements of life force. Are you getting enough of them?
Because it feels so good to feel so good, I’m going back for more. Come with me. Take some time to get frisky with your lungs. Listen to your body when it asks you for hydration.
Peace & a deep delicious, highly nutritious breath,
Kris
Who’s Your Cheerleader?
The other day my friend Anita and I were talking about Gabrielle Bernstein, The Spirit Junkie, and how she has such great spirit and is really a “cheerleader”. Then we agreed that everyone should have a cheerleader in their life. Whether it is a dear friend, your mother, sister or even your spouse, we all need that person who not only supports but supports with constant encouragement, motivation and …spirit!! Someone who shares in your happiness and successes but also lifts you up when you are low, with no acceptance of excuses or defeat. Someone who is so sincerely happy for you and for your triumphs that their day is lifted as if it was their goal achieved or their dream realized. Someone who jumps for joy, and smiles with energy and pure sincerity, someone who loves and supports you with no envy, no bitterness, no skepticism, pessimism and no doubt.
I am fortunate to have a few “cheerleaders” in my life, my Mom, husband and a few dear friends who “give me a L , give me a O- V- E!!!” What does that spell???? ……..OK, gotta a little carried away…you get the idea…….
I think even more importantly is that you too need to be someone’s cheerleader. You need to be that person for someone because until you have felt that unselfish joy for someone’s success or that heaviness for someone’s sorrow you truly won’t feel and learn from the purity of your own highs and lows. So pom poms or not…start your cheering!!!
The Happiest of Days: Yahoo News: Canada best for Women
LONDON, June 13 (TrustLaw) - Policies that promote gender equality, safeguards against violence and exploitation and access to healthcare make Canada the best place to be a woman among the world’s biggest economies, a global poll of experts showed on Wednesday.
Infanticide, child marriage…
8 Ways to Open Your Heart Chakra
A balanced heart chakra is a beautiful thing. However, most of us—at one point or another—will encounter major blockages in this area. A myriad of life circumstances can cause problems for your heart center—from break-ups or health issues to low self-esteem.An unhealthy heart chakra can exhibit many signs and symptoms—including but not limited to being defensive, critical, controlling, suspicious, withdrawn, possessive and afraid of letting go. When in balance an open heart chakra displays acceptance in others, life and yourself. Here are eight easy ways to begin to open your heart.
