TOP LESSONS I'VE LEARNED FROM MEDITATING

I know. A lot of you will be saying that you’ve tried it, or that you can’t relax, your mind is too busy, etc.

Understand that you have full control over your mind, so therefore you can manage this “busyness.”

If your mind is that busy, trust, and believe it will become exhausted, like a machine. It does start to breakdown and you eventually can’t deal with everyday events.

Stress factor. Burdens and pressures now lead to stress and eventually manifest in disease and illnesses. Your perception of events is affected.

I got into this lifestyle after taking a meditation trip with my friend. We went to Oxford, England, and stayed in what used to be a castle/duke’s home.

It was a beautiful property. Every day we had daily seminars and other exercises.

We learned about who we were and how people and events affected us in this lifetime. They believe in past lives and karma. How you are is a culmination of those past lives, not necessarily just what your parents have imprinted. Aside from rewinding and reviewing your sanskaras, we learned how to shift our thinking, and we learned how to meditate.

What are sanskaras?  They are mental impressions, recollections, or psychological imprints. In Hindu philosophies, sanskaras are a basis for the development of karma theory.

Life-changing.

 When you can review your life as a series of train cars to find out how and when you went off the tracks--wow.

I learned about loving detachment.

It’s about not getting absorbed in other people’s issues, fears, and expectations—even family. Those are their problems, but that doesn’t mean my mind and inner stability needs to be disturbed because of their perceived notion of what you should do to make them feel better.

So you’re focusing on yourself.

My self-worth and positive relationships were developed.

What else?

It relaxes the body. 

You can better respond to situations.

In this meditation center, they practice Raja Yoga. No one hums, or lights candles, and they don’t close their eyes. It is important to sit in a quiet space. The purpose of keeping your eyes open is about concentrating and focusing even when the world is still happening around you.

I found this method helpful because this means you can meditate all day. In your car, sitting in a line at the supermarket, just quick mental breaks to bring you back, reel your thoughts in and settle them. How are you feeling? What is going on?

When I came back from that trip, twelve years ago, I was waking up at 3 am to meditate. Of course, my entire household was asleep. I would meditate for an hour and then go back to bed.

Ahh! 3 am??? Yes. It was the hour that seemed like the world was asleep. My little one was potty training at the time, so one morning she heard the music and came to hang out, asking questions and chatting. She made it a habit. I had to change my meditation time. LoL.

In that time you imagine a point of light. Yes, the focus is about a point between and just behind the eyes. If you imagine a line going down from the top of your head and one going through your forehead, the intersection is the focal “point.”

You focus on peace, stability. Quiet reflection. You review the day before, and what image you want your thoughts to embody for the rising day.

It’s about coming back to being in a place of feeling centered and strong.

Through this your overall health benefits.

What do you want to change and why do want to do it?

Remember? Showing up differently. I wanted to change my attitude because I felt something was off. I felt angry, annoyed, judgmental. At first, I wanted to blame it on something like delayed postpartum (she was two and a half, it was a stretch), but that was because I was avoiding.

I wanted to become a better person, truly. I wanted to be honest with myself. I had to figure out which colors I acquired or which ones were given to me by my parents, ancestors, my husband, friends, and their issues and fears. The meditation theme just happened to be called the Power To Change. 

Because of it, yes some of my relationships have fallen away. The fear of change and face honesty was too intense and they preferred that I stayed in a manner that made them feel comfortable. My ex-husband for instance preferred to say I had a "chemical imbalance" and that I was "crazy," then to admit his resentment that I was calling him out on. He was projecting in various ways. He said the "truth was painful," and didn't know why anyone would want to face that. 

I'll stand in that fire if it means growth and emerging like a phoenix.

I wake up at 4:15 am every morning. I go sit on my lanai, I like to light a candle and put meditation music on. Sometimes it's only thirty minutes, otherwise an hour.

It’s been almost thirteen years and many people still don’t understand me, or my sense of being. That’s okay. I don’t have to make them comfortable, nor do I get disturbed and try to “fix it” to stabilize the relationship. It’s not my problem to fix.

Slow your thinking, fear and irritation.

I wish you emotional beauty and health.  

Thanks for being here.