What is meditation? It is bringing yourself into the present moment. Just having one breath being fully present, that is meditation.
Why do we need to bring ourselves into the present moment? - because that is where our power is, that is where our creativity is, that is where we live our lives. We don't live in yesterday or tomorrow or this afternoon, we live in the now, the present moment.
We need to spend time alone, in meditation to be able to reconnect with ourselves. To hear what we need, to hear what we feel. Meditation allows us to calm the incessant chattering of the mind. The mind chatters along the whole time. If we don't spend time alone, we don't see our thoughts for what they are - just passing across our mind. Meditation allows us to be observers of these thoughts rather than "victims". We can observe our thoughts and choose which ones we wish to believe, or act upon.
Quiet time alone, enables us to gain divinely inspired ideas, enables us to connect to our needs, to hear what we need.
I would recommend spending some time alone every day. Alone and actively working on quieting the mind/not engaging with the thoughts that are travelling across your mind.
I personally find repetitive physical exercise one of the best ways to quieten the thoughts in my head - walking the dog, swimming, running, yoga.
We are so overstimulated with computers, tv, music, radio, adverts, people, social media. My brain can feel quite frazzled from these at times.
You could actively choose to switch all these machines off for an amount of time, and see how that feels.
Doing sitting meditation enables you to become more aware of your body, your thoughts, your emotions. Calming yoga is also great for this. By focussing on your "postures" and your breathing, the mind is naturally quietened, thus enabling you to do a sitting meditation.
There are many benefits to meditation - it can help reduce your stress levels, it can improve your sleep, can help you feel happier and more contented, can help you feel more connected, it can increase your attention span, improve your immune system and more...
If you have never meditated, you could start by sitting comfortably, with your back upright and just notice 3 breaths - notice the rise and fall of your chest/the air flowing in and out through your nostrils - that is meditation. If you start doing just this at regular intervals throughout the day, you will most likely, want to increase and do more.
I have some free and low-cost meditations available to download at :
http://www.massagedownloads.com/product/3-minute-breathing-space/
Let me know how you get on!
Life is not a competition. It is a gradual unfolding and discovering of who you are - if you allow it to be.
Don't be jealous of others. Don't envy them or their lifestyle or their seemingly perfect life.
Life is not greener on the other side - it is a different shade of green.
You cant walk in someone elses shoes, only your own.
We are all incredible and important beings. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. If you don't know that already, then what an adventure life could be if you choose to work on finding this out for yourself.
I am reading a book at the moment called "Spontaneous Evolution" by Bruce Lipton. Part of it is a scientific viewpoint on the law of attraction. He explains the quantum physics behind how material objects come about. (His previous book "The Biology of Belief" is better for explaining this however, this is a sequel).
He talks about how humanity is on the brink of destroying itself. We are poisoning our air, our water, manipulating our seeds, destroying the possibility of pollination etc etc
He describes the human body as a collection of cells. Each cell is vitally important. It has its own job to do. Each cell in itself is like a mini human body - it needs food, water, it uses its energy to action what it needs to do, its excretes waste products. However, each cell is important in its own right. A liver cell can't try and be a heart cell, or a red blood cell. There is not point in competing because it would destroy the body that it is creating.
How would it be if we viewed human beings like this? We are all sharing one earth. We are all made of energy, as is everything around us. We are all vitally important. We each have a job to do. But we also need to communicate efficiently, take what we need, perform our activities, any surplus goes to the collective storage point for when it is needed for a certain function/area.
There is no room for competition. We all need to become in our power. A liver cell will always be a very poor heart cell, or red blood cell. It is better to be a well-functioning, healthy liver cell than a poor and weak version of a heart cell.
Find out who you are, recognise how amazing and important you are. Allow others to do what they need to do. Take what you need and no more, trusting that there will always be enough.
If you notice you are feeling envy of someone else, or others, use this as inspiration to create changes in your life. What can you do today, to make your life more how you would like it to be?
Encourage others to empower themselves. Don't berate them or criticise them to make you feel better. It doesn't make you feel better, it belittles you and negates your power.
Support and encourage others, while also supporting and encouraging yourself.
Humanity is only as strong as it's weakest link.
