Meditation, another tool

[Guest guest]

Simple meditation exercise steps for beginners who may never have meditated before. It takes only five minutes to get started and enter a peaceful place.

I learned to mediate only three years ago but it has made a major impact on my life. Whenever I am tense or overwhelmed with the responsibilities of life I can turn to mediation for a few moments to clarify my thoughts and enter a place of peace.

Why do we need to meditate? This world is filled with anxiety, worry and frustration. Negative forces surround, especially on TV with the daily bad news playing into our fears. Meditation can bring us lasting peace. We crave meditation because we have an inner hunger for quiet in our soul. We are body, mind and soul and yet the soul part of us is usually neglected.

Meditation requires conscious effort. The mind must be calm and quiet to benefit from the few minutes you take to meditate. We need to empty ourselves in order for our inner being to reach a level of peace.

What is meditation? It is communication with the Divine or a oneness with the universe. All that anxiety we feel in life is when we have stepped away from our purpose and allowed negative thoughts to control us. Is mediation a form of prayer? For many of us it is. For others it is a way to find inner peace. Meditation and prayer are not mutually exclusive. How we mediate is an individual matter but I offer some suggestions which work for me.

Set up a schedule. Perhaps at first you will meditate only for five minutes in the morning before going to work. Have the preparations completed the evening before. Then in the morning you will have everything ready for your meditation without rushing around.

Suggested items to prepare ahead of time:

A fragrant candle sea shells (picked by you or purchased) incense

Light the candle. Light the incense. Take a deep breath and let the calming air into your soul. Breath out the negative thoughts and fears. Look at the sea shells and picture yourself relaxing at the ocean. You are a child. You are happy and carefree playing in the surf. Keep your eyes open so that your vision is centered on the candle and sea shells. If you close your eyes you might fall asleep. As you move into meditation your brain goes from fully awake alpha waves to beta, which is the beginning of the relaxation state.

What do you seek from the universe this morning? I like to start with a thankful heart grateful for my blessings and the new day. Then I dwell on positive aspects of the universe such as: Love Peace Wisdom Solace/comfort Forgiveness

The scent of the incense helps with the purification as you breath in the positive and breath out the negatives.

The sea shells help you think of a place where you can be a child again. Even if you've never been to the ocean, you can imagine it or a peaceful lake.

The candle flame reminds you of the oneness of the universe or the divine.

You can sit on your bed and mediate or sit in a comfortable chair. Don't worry about the difficult lotus position. You do not need to do that to mediate. Relax your body. Be comfortable. Sitting in a chair or bed is okay but don't lie down because you'll probably fall asleep.

Keep your breathing regular, slow and easy. Breath in the positive, breath out the negatives. Breath in power, exhale fear and worry.

Feel at one with the universe. Rest in love. Accept the peace which surpasses understanding. Relax. Breath in, breath out. When you are ready end the meditation. You'll find your day will go a lot more smoothly after you have begun with meditation even if you have only taken 5 minutes for this relaxation technique. You can add more minutes, or repeat this exercise later in the day.

After you get into the habit of relaxing through meditation you can try to go deeper through guided imagery, but that is for another day.

Suzi

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

http://suziesgoats.wholefoodfarmacy.com/__________________________________________________