I've been studying more of the meditation techniques, as described through the e-newsletters I receive from The Meditation Expert. I admit, I am a novice at this - it takes a lot of work and concentration to empty the mind of all thoughts (we've all seen, I'm sure, the funny commercials of Ellen DeGeneres attempting to meditate) to just breathe deeply and... be, for however long at a time. It does help to concentrate on the breathing - sort of like when a woman is focusing on her breathing when in labor (which I did during natural childbirth!)... You are just focusing on each breath, each inhalation, each exhalation. Slowly. Slowly. It's interesting how... relaxed one becomes during this practice. No thoughts. Just breathing.
I do like to have a complementary music CD playing simultaneously - whether or not it's actually distracting... I don't think so. I have several favorites, among them "Anjali" by Michael Mandrell and Benji Wertheimer, "Still Chillin'" by Gabrielle Roth, and, of course "Music as Medicine" by Nawang Khechog & R. Carlos Nakai (you can find this one at CD Universe, by the way). "Kismet" by Aurah is another good one. I also just love the music by Larisa Stow & the Shakti Tribe - I find her music more exciting and prayerful than meditative, though.
...to continue...
I persist with the meditation practice, always looking (hoping) for a follow-through of those generated feelings of well-being that is the result of each "session". I think that the particular essential oil blends that I assemble and utilize during these meditations have their effect on me, my emotive state, as well. I come away feeling more empowered, somehow... more hopeful regarding any given situation or circumstance that has been prayed about or meditated on - and, yes, I do sort of combine the prayer/meditation in a silent (for me, effective) manner... results come. Not always the results I would expect or hope for, admittedly, but always results in keeping with what I actually require - whether I am aware of that or not. Knowledge, understanding, always comes around.
I realise that I am such a novice, an infant, in this... I have read that it takes years to reach particular stages of meditative prowess - and I believe it. I believe one needs a teacher, a Master to guide through the basic steps of meditation, whether that be via one's religion or other resources such as The Meditation Expert, that I found and am so enthusiastic about. Perhaps one would read, study, practice with and through these guides and still come to one's own conclusions on technique and assists - such as incense and essential oils or complementary music such as that from Sounds True (where one can find those awesome sounds I mentioned above - "Music as Medicine", "Anjali", etc...) or even from independent online alternative music stations...
I am on such a path... how did I get here? I don't quite know. But, I happily continue...
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
On Meditation...
It's August - my god, the year is passing me by, and without a lot getting accomplished! It feels like I am working so hard toward that ever-driving goal (my personal freedom, my website's success, a brick-n-mortar storefront - lifelong dream, that)... and I am not quite making any progress, visible or otherwise! It all becomes so overwhelming, the dreaming, the planning, the work with what feels like nothing to show for all that effort. I admit it - I do become tired. Just short of depressed, even. What does one do with this?
Sometimes, I take a break. Especially when I find myself succumbing to "naptime" a tad too frequently for comfort - i.e. more napping than working. That break consists of finding a good book and losing myself in delightful, suspenseful storytelling (thank you, Nora Roberts, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz). But, as much as I adore reading a favorite suspense thriller, that can be just another form of procrastination and/or avoidance. What is a better, healthier method (at least, for me) of dealing with these feelings of inadequacy and failure?
I fall back to affirmations and meditation. When I first started working at The Blissful Soul those few years ago, I had access to an assortment of marvelous self-help books authored by Wayne Dyer, Gregg Braden, and Louise Hay, among many, many others. I was quite amazed, in fact, to come across the original book by Ms. Hay that actually started it all for me quite some time ago: "...You Can Heal Your Life..." I had actually read this first book years before, without knowing who she was at all. Talk about full-circle.
I had taken that first book of affirmations all those years ago and sort of tweaked them to suit my particular needs and I utilized them as part of a prayer and meditation practice that I committed myself to. I can't say I saw a lot of change in my life, through those years, but I did feel better for the activity. Prayer in and of itself is quite healing, as far as that goes. And, I certainly did a lot of praying, that was for sure.
Anyway, over these years I've grown, done a bit of modifying to those prayers practices, those original beginning attempts at meditations... I've read and studied other texts - on theology, spirituality, etc - in conjunction with the self-help, locating a thread of connection between all. Creating, forging a prayerful path, if you will. Something to "do" pretty much daily that would give (or at least encourage) some semblance of peace that would, almost by default, create that productivity that would result in some sort of life success.
Has there been "success"? one might ask. Eh, to a degree, I suppose. I am much better at finishing those things I start, which is a plus. I have made life-altering changes... relocating from L.A. to Valencia being the biggest for me, so far. I work very hard to be more independent, to grow intellectually, emotionally, while improving health and fitness... I've worked hard to achieve some semblance of financial independance - hard, hard, hard that is!! Right now - yes, it is still paycheck-to-paycheck... but, I am so very thankful for that paycheck and the opportunities and friendships that have come with employment. And, I persevere with the website "business".
Again, to help me through it all, I have fallen back on the affirmations and a renewed interest in meditation. The affirmations are what they are (it's funny how sometimes the day will bring with it the very thing - or persons - that I have affirmed/meditated/prayed for). The meditation, though, I found to be improving as I took the time to study and learn how to meditate. I found a great tool in this through the Meditation Expert. Oh, my, this man, Bill Bodhri, just offers the most detailed teaching tools, meditations and advice on how to get the most from meditating. I am so grateful for stumbling across his website - yes, I found him quite by accident.
Most of my most influential resources have been found by accident, as it happens. More to come...
Sometimes, I take a break. Especially when I find myself succumbing to "naptime" a tad too frequently for comfort - i.e. more napping than working. That break consists of finding a good book and losing myself in delightful, suspenseful storytelling (thank you, Nora Roberts, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz). But, as much as I adore reading a favorite suspense thriller, that can be just another form of procrastination and/or avoidance. What is a better, healthier method (at least, for me) of dealing with these feelings of inadequacy and failure?
I fall back to affirmations and meditation. When I first started working at The Blissful Soul those few years ago, I had access to an assortment of marvelous self-help books authored by Wayne Dyer, Gregg Braden, and Louise Hay, among many, many others. I was quite amazed, in fact, to come across the original book by Ms. Hay that actually started it all for me quite some time ago: "...You Can Heal Your Life..." I had actually read this first book years before, without knowing who she was at all. Talk about full-circle.
I had taken that first book of affirmations all those years ago and sort of tweaked them to suit my particular needs and I utilized them as part of a prayer and meditation practice that I committed myself to. I can't say I saw a lot of change in my life, through those years, but I did feel better for the activity. Prayer in and of itself is quite healing, as far as that goes. And, I certainly did a lot of praying, that was for sure.
Anyway, over these years I've grown, done a bit of modifying to those prayers practices, those original beginning attempts at meditations... I've read and studied other texts - on theology, spirituality, etc - in conjunction with the self-help, locating a thread of connection between all. Creating, forging a prayerful path, if you will. Something to "do" pretty much daily that would give (or at least encourage) some semblance of peace that would, almost by default, create that productivity that would result in some sort of life success.
Has there been "success"? one might ask. Eh, to a degree, I suppose. I am much better at finishing those things I start, which is a plus. I have made life-altering changes... relocating from L.A. to Valencia being the biggest for me, so far. I work very hard to be more independent, to grow intellectually, emotionally, while improving health and fitness... I've worked hard to achieve some semblance of financial independance - hard, hard, hard that is!! Right now - yes, it is still paycheck-to-paycheck... but, I am so very thankful for that paycheck and the opportunities and friendships that have come with employment. And, I persevere with the website "business".
Again, to help me through it all, I have fallen back on the affirmations and a renewed interest in meditation. The affirmations are what they are (it's funny how sometimes the day will bring with it the very thing - or persons - that I have affirmed/meditated/prayed for). The meditation, though, I found to be improving as I took the time to study and learn how to meditate. I found a great tool in this through the Meditation Expert. Oh, my, this man, Bill Bodhri, just offers the most detailed teaching tools, meditations and advice on how to get the most from meditating. I am so grateful for stumbling across his website - yes, I found him quite by accident.
Most of my most influential resources have been found by accident, as it happens. More to come...
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