Guided Meditation • Visualization • Mindfulness

Afternoon Meditation: The key to happiness is learning to want what you already have, rather than wasting your time wanting what you do not have.

This goes beyond just appreciating the moment.

“Wanting” is a visceral energy that is connected to our sense of well being.

Wanting what you don’t have creates a sense of lack, while wanting what you do have creates abundance.

I choose abundance.

For those of us who remember the days before cell phones, email, and Facebook the pace of life has quadrupled; and to keep up we’ve all developed the habit of multi-tasking.

We talk on the cell phone when we drive, eat lunch at our computers, text or watch the news during dinner,  and so on.

The idea of having to keep up with all of this new technology has taken over our minds, thoughts, and lives;  resulting in high and pervasive levels of  stress.

Multitasking breeds inefficiency and stress because your attention can only be in one place at a time, not ten places at a time. It also fragments your attention causing you to be unfocused.

Fragmentation and being unfocused is exhausting…and there is nothing worse than coming home feeling overworked, overtired, and over-stressed and yet nothing meaningful was accomplished.

How Meditation Helps

When you meditate regularly you learn how to focus your attention on the present moment. Thoughts, images, and feelings come and go.  You learn how to  rest your attention in the present moment and the body rests there too.

Try this:

When you notice that you are multitasking, stop, take a deep breath and ask yourself what is important right now.  What is the one thing that needs your attention right now.  Then do that!

Click here and experience a free guided meditation

Is freedom from judgement possible?

Is it possible to not feel pain when others criticize you, your ideas, or projects?

Is it possible to not to feel joy when others praise you?

Praise and criticism are two sides of the judgment coin. To let go of one, means you’ll have to get rid of the other.

I have a confession to make, I enjoy making others happy.

It feels good when my picky children say, “dinner was good mom,” and it feels bad when a project I’d spent hours on is rejected or criticized at a board meeting.

There was a time when my desire to please others kept me from saying what was really in my heart and mind. I would withhold the “truth” because I didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but really I was fearful of their reaction, fearful that I would be rejected.

My desire to please others became a trap.

My desire to please others started to change when my children became school age. I realized that no one would advocate better for my children than me, and so their needs became greater than my insecurities. I have had to confront other parents, teachers, coaches, and administrators on their behalf.

My meditation practice has been invaluable to me in dealing with judgments and confrontation.

Meditation has not only helped me to stay calm and centered, it has taught me to recognize the “me” beyond my fears, doubts, and emotions. That is, the practice of sitting, breathing, and being while letting my thoughts and feelings go, has carried over into all other aspects of my life!

Freedom from the judgement of others isn’t about not feeling happy or hurt, it’s about knowing who you are beyond the noisiness of your doubtful thoughts and your elated or hurt feelings. Freedom from judgement is about following your truth.

Meditation heals.
Just Breathe,
Krista

“Connecting with the Still Small Voice Within,” 8 Week Meditation Class starts January 25th and January 26th.

A relaxed body is a relaxed mind.

During meditation focus your attention on relaxing the face, shoulders, hands, legs. Conscious relaxation removes your attention from thinking mind.

Why? Because your attention can only be in one place at a time.

If you help with conscious relaxation the go toMeditation Storefor a free guided meditation.

Happy Holidays

I started my meditation later than usual morning.  As soon as I began, I heard both of my kids screaming at each other over the Wii remote.

Thoughts rushed in, “Why is this happening now?” “This shouldn’t be happening.”  “I should send them to camp.”

I felt anger radiate down the insides of my legs, my stomach tighten, and throbing at my temples.

I willed myself to stay conscious and not react by employing two techniques:

• Deep conscious breathing to allow myself to feel what was happening inside of me.
• “Positive Self Talk.”

(more…)

 Marriage as a vehicle for deeper self awareness, pleasure, enchantment, and perhaps enlightenment?  Why not?

You’re married, committed, at least for now, but you are craving something more from your relationship. You look at your partner and think that the moreness that you are craving should come from him or her.  You think,”If only he’d talk with me more, share more of his feelings with me, then I would feel more fulfilled.” Or,  “If she would take better care of herself, laugh at my jokes like she used to when we were dating, or just lighten-up, then I would feel fulfilled.” Really?

What if your marriage really is the key to a more fulfilling life, but you’ve just been approaching it in the wrong way?   What if what you most need from your partner is what you have been unable or unwilling to give to yourself? What if what you are really craving is already within you and is spiritual in nature?

Being married for spiritual practice means that you are willing to be your absolute best self, alongside your partner, for the purpose of mutual joy, love, and spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical fulfillment.  This is an intuitive practice of living and problem solving; it means looking inward first rather than looking to your partner as your source of pleasure or pain.  Marriage as spiritual practice isn’t a flight from reality rather it is a complete and total engagement with reality.

There are four keys to this practice and subsequently to a terrific marriage:

1. Getting in touch with your intuition.  Intuition is your partner and your guide through the windy road of marriage.  It is through the gate of your intuition that you’ll be able to see yourself and your marriage in a new revolutionary way.

2. Practicing Self Awareness through seeing yourself in your partner.  This is the most vital and challenging aspect of this practice and I’ll be talking about it more at a later date.  Of course meditation, contemplation, spiritual study, therapy, prayer… whatever you need to have a better understanding of who you really are, is also necessary.

3. Clear truthful communication. That is,  speaking and listening from deep within the body.  What is it you really need to communicate to your partner?  To find out, you will need to feel your way to the truth through the body and the breath.  Truth is not in your head, but in your heart. Listening too requires that you are grounded in your body.  This way you are completely present to yourself and your partner.

4. Having a clear and mutual vision for your marriage or having a big picture regarding your marriage.  What do you both want your marriage to look, feel, and be like? Has it changed?  Are you on the same page regarding your vision?

Your marriage is organic, unique, and alive. While you are in it, be in it consciously.  Use the challenges in your marriage and with your partner to deepen in empathy, patience, and love.  When you are not being challenged, take pleasure in one another’s company, don’t take the gift of a pleasant evening together for granted.
Be present, be mindful, breathe…

Everything begins with the breath.

Shallow breathing is an indication of stress.  Shallow breathing makes the spine rigid, the belly hard, and the face stern.  Shallow breathing is a confirmation that life is difficult and puts you in a state of mind that is resistant to Life. Your mantra is “No.”

When you breathe deeply, the spine is fluid, the eyes are clear, and the voice is melodious.  The belly becomes soft and life becomes softer. When you breathe deeply, your attitude aligns with the attitude of the Universe; “yes” is your mantra.

A deep conscious breath can change everything.  Done repeatedly, it will lower your blood pressure, improve your memory, release you from the burden of your past, and transform an enemy into a friend.

Do this:  Take a deep conscious breath all the way down to your toes and sigh it out.  Let the shoulders drop away from the bottoms of your ears.  Relax your forehead and your jaw.  Repeat the process, except this time close the mouth and exhale through the nose. Repeat.

Sit in a comfortable position.  Lightly, close your eyes, open and close your mouth to relax your jaw, and move your shoulders away from your ears. Breathe.  When you become aware that you are thinking, move your attention back into the body. Breathe. This is meditation.

You are at work and a colleague is speaking to you. Breathe. While she is still speaking, you notice that you are thinking about the next thing you want to say.  Let the conversation in your head go and come back into your body. Breathe.  This is meditation.

You are at home and you are angry with your teenage child.  Breathe. You notice the sensation of anger in your belly.  Your face, neck, and shoulders are tense.  You do not have to let go of the anger.  Just Breathe.  Come back to your body, consciously relax the face, and move the shoulders away from the ears.  Breathe.  This is meditation.

Shanti, Shalom, Salaam, Peace

Hold the cup in your hands.  Feel how its warmth radiates in your palms and fingers.  Inhale.  Feel the steam.  Inhale again and follow its scent.  Can you taste the coffee on the back of your palette when you inhale deeply?   Slowly sip your coffee, taste it, and follow the smooth warm liquid.  Can you feel it in your chest?  Can you feel it in your stomach? Inhale deeply and take another moment to give thanks for the earth, sun, and rain.  Give thanks for the growers, harvesters, and truck drivers.  Imagine all the people that were involved in bringing you your one cup of coffee.  Give thanks.  Feel blessed.  The Folger’s Coffee commercial is right, this is a great way to start your day.

Shanti, Shalom, Peace

Relaxation is only the beginning of meditation, relaxation is not meditation. 

 Meditation is an opportunity for you to connect with the well-spring of peace, love, and joy within.  It is the practice where you cultivate a meaningful relationship with your authentic Self.  At its best, meditation is a practice where you learn the art of  listening with your entire self…mind, body, and spirit.  

The beginning of your practice should always be to relax the body consciously, then you wait.  You wait upon the still small voice within to “speak” to you.  It will.  It may come to you as a gentle breeze that caresses the skin, the sound of birds singing outside of your window, or as a wonderful coincidence sometime during your day.  It may speak as an inner knowing, a deep feeling of release, or as an inner sigh. 

Give yourself enough time for your practice, at least three minutes after relaxation, to wait and listen.  Accept the invitation  to go deeper into the nature of Being.

Shanti