guided meditation
Meditation Is Easier Than You Think!
No doubt you’ve heard of the many benefits of meditation, both physical and spiritual. But how does one start a meditation practice? It doesn’t have to be intimidating. According to the Zen master and teacher, Shunryu Suzuki, approaching meditation with a beginner’s mindset is actually ideal.
It’s important to clear up a common misperception about meditation. Meditation is not simply ‘thinking of nothing.’ Rather it is a spiritual process in which we learn to center, breathe, and achieve clarity.
Meditation is practiced by cultures all over the world and does not have to be associated with a specific spiritual tradition or religious belief system. It also does not have to involve sitting passively with a ‘blank mind.’ Rather it can be anything from coloring mandalas, to a walking in nature.
So, how does one begin, if you’re new to the practice? Consider the goals you wish to achieve with meditation: stress reduction, taming your thoughts, physical relief from pain, spiritual growth? Tailor your practice to build toward your personal goals. Remember, it’s a journey and not a destination.
Keeping a meditation journal, as you go along, can be very helpful. The most important thing is consistency. Make meditation a part of your daily routine, and ideally at the same time each day.
Once you have the basics in place, it’s time to begin. Choose a pose or stance which is comfortable, and a space which is calming, private and quiet. If playing comforting music or lighting candles, or incense, relaxes you, then do that!
Introduction To The Chakras
The chakras are energy vortexes or wheels of energy located throughout the body. They inter-penetrate our subtle energy body and weave together with the layers of our auric field. The word chakra originates from ancient Sanskrit and it basically means ‘spinning wheel.’
There are seven main chakras and each are associated with one of the spectrum colors. Each chakra color is a natural etheric light that shine from within us, and I like to think of them as the colors of the rainbow. Each chakra regulates certain organs in the body, and also governs certain areas of our life.
Just like everything else that needs cleansing, like our houses and cars, our chakras also need clearing and purification, so they can spin and shine at optimal frequencies.
Psychic Protection 101
It is recommended to begin all spiritual activities, meditations, intuitive development exercises, as well as energy or healing work, with a basic psychic protection routine. A well-designed grounding, centering and shielding meditation or visualization exercise will create a solid safeguard and meditative energy foundation for any kind of spiritual practice session.
Centering is the process of anchoring and centralizing your inner, non-physical being within your physical body, while grounding (or earthing) refers to strengthening or reaffirming your connection with physical reality, the secular world and planet Earth.
Centering and grounding is therefore aimed at stabilizing yourself energetically, by firmly setting a mindful, harmonious balance between your body and soul, between the spiritual and the secular, between the physical and the metaphysical. Being grounded and centered is to feel safe and securely anchored in the physical world, while opening up to increased energy flow, and metaphysical or spiritual input. Continue reading
Healing With Music And Sound
“Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak,” wrote William Congreve in his classic poem, The Mourning Bride. He seems to have understood that music can soothe anyone who might be be stressed out, overwhelmed, anxious or depressed.
Studies indicate that music and sound heal us in a multitude of way, perhaps even at the cellular level. Long-term patients, nursing home residents, and chronically depressed people have been found to experience healing through sound.
Ancient cultures from Egypt to Japan to Australia used the secrets of healing sound. What these long-ago people instinctively knew, we now attribute to the effect of certain wavelengths upon our brains to calm, relax, and heal. As with acupuncture, these sounds may be able to reset our internal balances and remove negative energies. Continue reading