Meditation-An Everyday Practice
We live in a vast world of stimuli and information. We can turn on the television and listen to live or taped broadcasts, pick up a cell phone and answer a call from anywhere in the world, read email messages on our computer from friends and relatives, and search the internet for anything we want to know about or purchase. Psychologists have started calling this energetic bombardment of information glut by a new term. They call it “data smog”.
Is it any wonder people become addicted to their electronic playthings? There is a sense of instant response with machines. That isn’t all bad. It’s great to have so many choices.
It’s also great to press the “power off” button.
I’ve heard James Ray, one of the featured speakers from the DVD “The Secret” say if you can be with yourself in a room, without a phone to answer, a television to turn on, a computer, and be your only companion for a few hours, and find contentment, chances are, you like yourself (and your own company). If you like your own time with yourself, when you’re ready and want to venture out, you’ll probably attract good company to you, too.
Meditation allows me to turn the “power off” button, so I can “power on” with more fun, intensity, peace, and joy when I interact with others. I have more "self-joy", too.
Shut down, reboot, refresh… That’s meditation for me.
I find one of the most powerful ways for me to feel grounded and connected to life, source energy, and myself is by practicing meditation every day.
Dr. Susan Gregg wrote a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Short Meditations. She also has a website called www.shortmeditations.com. She is a wonderful facilitator of meditation and a great resource to explore.
I have found that there is no wrong way to meditate. In the beginning it wasn’t all that easy to quiet my mind. I actually started to meditate using the Holosync™ Program and have recommended these CDs to people, always with positive results. These CDs are definitely recommended for those people who do have an active mind, and want to quiet the “chatter” and explore the benefits of meditation. I even have fallen asleep to my CDs, and like I say, there isn’t a right or wrong way to meditate.
To find the Holosync™ CDs, and try a free demo, click here.
There are many physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits to meditation. I have noticed more energy, vitality, and usually something really great comes into my life after a meditation session. Here’s a link from Psychology Today on the benefits of meditation, and you can do your own self-exploration on self-exploration http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20030424-000003.html.
Many times, I don’t use my Holosync CDs, since meditation has become a daily practice, like brushing my teeth. I check in with myself and know what I need to do before my session. Sometimes I put on soft and soothing music for some background ambience. Sometimes I meditate in silence (I live in a townhome, so there isn’t complete silence, and the meditation practice has helped me be accepting about even hearing “neighbors”). I can even find a way to meditate in a noisy restaurant for a few minutes. I close my eyes, focus on my breath, and allow the opportunity to journey within, to be in a place of present moment focus, and to slow my mind down. I unhook from thoughts, judgments, and just notice sensations, breath, and still myself and tune inward.
Sometimes my meditation time is short (15 minutes). Sometimes I have the opportunity to meditate for an hour or so. Sometimes I set a clear intention for my meditation, and sometimes I just close my eyes and allow the meditation to flow, trusting that whatever I need for myself happens and is perfect.
For me, I don’t have an agenda when I meditate; the process of allowing whatever needs to flow through or empty from my mind is the process of opening up to something larger than myself. I completely surrender to that source energy to move within, and through me.
There is a saying that spiritual practice takes practice. And it's all good!
