Archive for the ‘Meditative Thoughts’ Category

The regular practice of meditation and guided imagery is the most powerful form of preventative medicine. It reduces stress, which is a major cause for many diseases.

Meditation and guided imagery shows you how to achieve positive changes in your body through the power of your mind.

Every thought that enters your mind creates reality.

On a personal level you can very easily observe this fact. If you entertain positive thoughts and feel happy you are having a good day. If you are down and upset the opposite happens.

I would like to share three simple meditation exercises with you:

1. Breathe to your abdomen. When you are stressed you breathe to your chest. Abdominal breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system and breaks the stress cycle.

2. Focus on happy memories. Feel the vibration of happiness and joy. Feel the smile on your lips. Research has shown that a happy outlook on life strengthens your immune system. And please remember that whatever you focus on you get more of.

3. Visualize yourself surrounded by bright-shining, benevolent light. The light is all around you. It protects you and shields you from all harmful influences. Through you breathing you bring this light into your body.

Let it fill you entirely and exhale everything that does not serve your highest good. The light cleanses and purifies your entire being. Make this a daily habit, so you don’t internalize negative emotions and stress which, over time, may manifest as disease in your physical body.

Scientific studies have proven that the regular practice of meditation and guided imagery has many positive benefits. These include:

• control of blood pressure with less medication
• reduction in chronic pain
• improvements in sleep
• reduction of premenstrual symptoms
• reduction of nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing chemotherapy
• reduction in anxiety
• and more

Every thought that enters your mind creates reality.

Gloria experienced this first hand. She hadn’t slept well, was worried about an important project and felt exhausted while rushing to work. Her mind was cluttered with negative self-talk and she expected a dreadful day at the office. Then she remembered an exercise from the meditation and guided imagery class.

She took a few deep breaths, faked a smile and forced herself to recall happy memories. Several minutes of focused thought allowed her to feel more relaxed. Happy memories filled her mind and a sincere heartfelt smile began to spread on her lips. Feeling better she entered her office building and shared the elevator ride with five colleagues.

To her surprise everyone smiled back at her. One woman even commented on how happy Gloria looked. Her day at the office turned out to be a very good one. All issues she anticipated concerning her important project resolved easily. She also received compliments from her boss for her competence.
This day Gloria promised to herself to never get trapped by negative thinking again.

The Kabbalist Baal HaSulam explains that a single thought is as powerful as an atomic bomb and if we actually became aware of its impact we would be afraid to think.

On a personal level you can very easily observe this fact in your everyday life. If you entertain positive thoughts and feel happy you are having a good day. If you are down and upset the opposite happens.

At this time of global interconnectedness we should ask ourselves if our individual thoughts cause effects on a global scale. We are all plugged into global media, news and entertainment. This causes millions of people to think the same thought at the same time.

Imagine that the effects you see in the outside world, like global crisis, natural disasters, wars and epidemics, were an actual result of our mass consciousness as a human family?

Look at what is playing in theaters now. Recently I saw a preview for the apocalyptic movie 2012, which entertains us with end of world scenarios. If this could be a preview to life’s coming attractions all of us together need to take bold steps right now to change this course.

Considering this, we actually may be creating a very scary future. Research has shown a direct correlation between events presented by mass media and the events following in real life. This was first observed in Germany after World War II.

Not only our actions, but also our everyday thoughts contribute in a cumulative and subtle way in how history unfolds. We are not powerless victims or passive participants. Decide right now to become the active creator of your reality. You are powerful beyond measure. Don’t allow random thoughts to bombard you. It is your personal responsibility to think consciously.

One interesting study has shown that the practice of group meditation in high crime areas significantly reduces crime. During an 8-week period in the summer of 1993 focused group meditations were practiced in Washington, D.C., The findings later showed that the rate of violent crime – which included assaults, murders, and rapes – decreased by 23 percent during the June 7 to July 30 experimental period. The odds of this result occurring by chance are less than 2 in 1 billion. (The study was conducted by John Hagelin, Ph.D., a world renowned quantum physicist and the director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy.)

Exercise – Three things you can do to change your thoughts from negative to positive:

1. Create your own positive thought current. Focus on the favorite qualities you would like to experience in your life and repeat them like a mantra. For example say to yourself: I am harmony. I am balance. I am inner peace. I am radiant health. I am happiness. I am joy. I am abundance. I am fulfillment. I am infinite love. Focus on these qualities and soon positive inner images will follow. Even a clear roadmap on how to experience these qualities at all times will reveal itself to you. Remember; whatever you focus on you get more of.

2. SMILE. Smiling is contagious. Each time you smile endorphins, natural pain killers, are released. Smiling boosts your immune system, because you are more relaxed. When you smile there is a measurable reduction in your blood pressure (If you have a blood pressure monitor at home please try it out. Smile for 10 minutes and measure your blood pressure before and after.)

3. Visualize yourself surrounded by benevolent golden light, which comes from the highest level and serves your highest good. The golden light is all around you. It protects you and shields you from all harmful influences. Through you breathing you bring this golden light into your body. Let it fill you entirely and exhale everything that does not serve your highest good. The meditative journey is called the journey to enlightenment; by visualizing light you come closer to enlightenment.

We change the world by changing our thoughts.

How do you start your day?

Do you wake up in the morning happy and energized, looking forward to another fantastic day?

Do you know with all your heart that everything good comes to you easily and things always work out in the most perfect and divine way?

Do you look forward to the wonderful people you will meet, knowing that they come into your life to enrich you and to serve your highest good?

Do you always expect the best?

Or – do you wake up in the morning exhausted, dreading another busy day – filled with activities you don’t really enjoy doing?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to the last question it is time to set a clear intention for the day.

Every thought that enters your mind creates reality. As you think, so you are. You truly have the power to reprogram your mind and create the reality you want. By consciously deciding to have a perfect day, you become the creator of your reality.

C.G. Jung stated that we live in an intelligent and responsive universe which acts and interacts with us towards our best interest. The universe will assist you in every way. Pay attention to synchronicities and meaningful encounters.

Every morning as you awaken spend ten to fifteen minutes visualizing your perfect day. See everything working out easily; see yourself in the flow and good things all around. See that every person enters your life to enrich you and presents new delightful opportunities. Invite happiness, joy, ease and health into your life.

You can integrate the practice of setting your intention into your every day activities, e.g. as you are driving to work. Instead of listening to the radio, focus your thoughts on visualizing your perfect day.

You have the power to change your reality right now. Yes, it is that easy to create a wonderful and happy day. Practice this exercise daily for two weeks and see miracles happen.

Labyrinths are sacred circles found in every culture around the globe, dating back thousands of years. The circle has no beginning and no end. It is a doorway to another dimension and it allows us to become whole and experience oneness, fulfilling the deepest yearning of the human soul. The sacred circle represents our origin and final destination, our divine essence which exists beyond time and space.

The labyrinth is not to be confused with a maze, where you can take choices and reach dead ends. Mazes became popular during the period of rationalism in the 15th century, emphasizing reasoning and thinking. This was also a time when the holistic understanding of the universe lessened. The body mind connection and the knowledge of how the mind rules matter vanished. It is interesting to notice that now we have come full circle. In the last 20 years the labyrinth movement in the Unites States flourishes with dozens of new labyrinth created every year.

The labyrinth is a spiritual transformation power tool that answers our call to wholeness.
It allows you to reach states of clarity, during troubled times and turmoil. Its single winding path invites you to relax, give up control and trust.

As you walk the labyrinth consider the three R’s. Release, Receive and Reflect.
Following the journey into the labyrinth consider to release everything that does not serve your highest good. With every step visualize breathing in bright shining divine light. You exhale all concerns, worries, painful memories, aches from your body, as well as beliefs and perceptions that do not resonate with the light. Enjoy this cleansing and purification process.

The center of the labyrinth represents your connection to the divine, your higher self and it is a place of unity and oneness. Here you may ask for guidance to life’s challenges. Be assured that the answers to your questions will emerge in the days following your labyrinth walk. Now as you have exhaled everything that does not serve you any longer you may visualize breathing in the light and breathing it out, the light with in you and all around you grows and expands. You become a vessel for the divine light; let your light shine bright and radiant.

Then trace your steps back out of the labyrinth. Count your blessings and all the good you have received throughout your life. Focus on happy memories, moments of joy and love. Every thought that enters your mind creates reality. Reflect and see the miracles and wonders which are always there.

Always, when walking a labyrinth expect miracles to happen. You have planted a seed of light in your consciousness and it will grow and expand and reveal itself in the most blissful way in all aspects of your life. You are invited to walk the labyrinth again and again, creating a reality of love, light, joy and peace on step at the time.

I am very grateful to the Cameron Wellness Center who asked me to build their labyrinth. I have chosen the 7 circuit Cretan design, dating back to 350 B.C. Built out of pea gravel and river rock this sacred circle is beautifully integrated into the nature setting. You are invited to walk the labyrinth any time. It is located at Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center of Washington Hospital, 240 Wellness Way, Washington PA 15301, on the Waling Trail behind the Wellness Center.

Your heart is a life-giving masterpiece. Located in the center of your chest, this fist-sized double pump beats approximately 3 billion times throughout your lifetime and pumps more than 50 million gallons of blood.

Being caught in our busy everyday lives, most of us don’t appreciate our well-functioning organs. We take them for granted, until something goes wrong.

I would like to ask you to take a moment and appreciate your heart. Sit comfortably in your chair and acknowledge the amazing task that your heart performs everyday. Say thank you and practice gratitude for several minutes.

You will notice that as soon as you bring your focus to your heart it relaxes and you heart beat slows down.

Research has shown that the heart is directly affected by our emotional states and stress is a major underlying cause for heart disease. In order to gain a deeper understanding about the negative effects of stress on our heart health we need to examine its metaphysical function. The heart is our emotional center for love, self-love and healing. The heart center also puts us in touch with our life’s purpose.

If we excessively expose ourselves to stress, it translates to the fact that we don’t honor, value and love ourselves. We neglect our essential need for balance and relaxation.
The first key to a healthy heart is to love yourself, to give and receive love freely and to listen to your heart.

Now, what does it mean to you to listen to your heart?
How often do you listen to your heart?
When making important decisions do you listen to your head or your heart?

In a society that emphasizes rational reasoning and thinking, we are not encouraged to listen to our hearts. But you have the freedom to choose differently. Learn to listen to your heart by practicing this beautiful exercise, which changes your life and heals your heart:

Listen to your Heart – Exercise:

1. Sit in a comfortable chair, close your eyes, inhale and exhale deeply, breathe to your abdomen. Let your awareness travel to your heart and notice how your heart feels like. Is your heart happy? Is it open, light-hearted or does it feel heavy or broken?
2. Exhale everything that is on your heart. You may travel back in time and breathe out all memories and emotions that do not serve your highest good. Every time you exhale and let go more light, lightness and peace enters your heart.
3. Now let your mind wander to the happiest moments in your life, moments of joy and love. Blissful moments that make you smile. Cherish these happy memories and place them all at once into your heart, your center for love, self-love and healing. Feel your heart smile. The smile brings a beautiful vibration of radiant health which now spreads throughout your entire body.

Practice this exercise every day and expect miracles to happen. This is the best form of preventative medicine, as the ancients knew by saying: ‘A merry heart doeth good like medicine.’

Do you ever feel misunderstood or sense that the other person is not getting what you are trying to say?

Do you ever feel that it is a challenge to find the right words to express your innermost emotions?

Have you ever experienced that you say one thing and the other person hears something different? Do you ever find yourself exclaiming, “I never said that!”

Studies have shown that 80 percent of all quarrels are a direct result of mis-communication.

If you answered “Yes” to the questions, you have experienced the limitations of verbal communication.

Conversations charged with emotions of anger and hurt offer boundless potential for havoc and disaster. First, you have to translate your own inner world into words, which offers the first potential for confusion. As you speak, the tone of your voice and your body language offers a second opportunity for misunderstanding. The other person then translates what they hear (and remember, hearing can be very selective) into their own inner world and then deciphers the message. This is a very complicated process.

A proverb says: Silence is Golden.

In German we have an equal expression saying: Talking is silver, silence is gold. “Reden ist silber, schweigen ist gold”, and an American philosopher once quipped, “One of the things you can never get back is the spoken word.”

Please consider the deep wisdom found in these words. They contain the secret to creating harmony and peace in all your relationships.

We know, though, that in today’s society, biting your tongue doesn’t always resolve issues. Meditation, however, teaches you how to practice the art of nonverbal communication and how to connect to the other person on a spiritual level.

It’s easy: Next time, wait before you speak, especially when you are emotionally charged. Take a few deep breaths and center yourself. Visualize yourself surrounded by bright shining light, as well as the person you are communicating with. Set an intent for balance and peace which serves the highest good for all parties involved.

This example from a meditation student, a business director, illuminates the art of nonverbal communication.

Once a month her supervisor visited from out of town to evaluate her office. Even though her office was one of the top performers in the business, a week prior to the meeting my client got nervous and didn’t sleep well. She dreaded the meeting, and over the years it became a major stress factor in her life. When she arrived at meditation class her major complaint was lack of communication with her superior. “We don’t connect, he has a negative attitude and I don’t think he likes me,” she said.

I suggested that she practice the cleansing breath meditation, and to surround herself with brilliant light, as well as her superior. In addition, I asked her to write down a positive vision for the meeting, in which she described the best possible scenario of perfect communication. Skeptical, my student practiced the meditations and focused on her vision every evening before she went to sleep.

Prior to the meeting she visualized the conference room filled with bright shinning benevolent light. She surrounded herself with light and sent a loving intent from her heart to her supervisor’s heart.

Then she received a flash of insight: She saw her superior sitting comfortably in the chair next to her and not across from her, which felt more confrontational.

She rearranged the chairs, and her supervisor didn’t seem the least bit surprised to sit next to her instead of across from her. The atmosphere was relaxed and all the previous tension my client had felt was gone. For the first time, she enjoyed the meeting. It was never again a problem. She reported that a miracle had happened, and her newly acquired meditation tools allowed her to experience improvement in all of her relationships.

Do you ever find yourself taking on other people’s energies?

For example, you go to the mall and shortly after you feel extremely exhausted. Or you watch the news, see something terrible happen and you feel drained, depressed or anxious.

Or your co-workers don’t get along and after every meeting with them you feel aggressive or angry.

These are examples of taking on other people’s energies and emotions.

I would like to share two releasing exercises.

1. Energetic Protection:

Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to your abdomen. Visualize a radiant bright shining ball of light above your head. From this ball of light you draw radiant light into your body, feel it reverberating within every cell. Enjoy the pure light vibration of radiant health, happiness, joy, fulfillment, harmony, balance, love and inner peace.

Now extend this light around your physical body, creating a protective bubble of radiant light. This shield of light surrounds you like an eggshell, extending 3 – 4 feet beyond your body. Only the highest and purest vibration enters from the outside. You are safe and secure in your shield of light, protected from negative influences.

Make this meditation part of your daily practice and you will notice an elevated level of energy, less mood swings, and a continuous positive outlook on life. Everything works out for you in a better and easier way.

2. Releasing Statement:

If you know the person whose energies you have picked up, the releasing statement is an efficient tool to free yourself. Simply put: You leave the issue with the person who owns it. Literally, it is none of your business. Life is so much easier if we don’t take on other people’s problems.

Visualize that person or the people involved in front of you and say:

“I leave it with you. I take responsibility for my part, the rest I leave with you. Everything that does not belong to me, I now give it back to you. In this way I honor your destiny and I am free to live my own.”

You may visualize a package or symbol for whatever it is that you carried for that person and hand it back to them.

An interesting observation is that people gain strength if they take full responsibility for their issues and their own destiny. Everyone of us is fully capable to handle our destinies.

A person who intends to ease someone’s suffering by taking on their problems, actually creates the opposite result. They weaken themselves, as well as the person who suffers the issue.

This means, if you would like to make this world a better place, take full responsibility for your own destiny.

Live your dreams, live the best live you can live and let your light shine bright and radiant.

Did you ever consider that every problem already contains its solution?

By nature, a problem can not exist without its solution. This is the law of polarity, opposites create one another and could not exist without one another. For example, day and night, man and woman, big and small, up and down, rational and irrational, problem and solution.

Every problem in your life can be seen as an invitation for spiritual growth and change.

In order to reach the solution an internal development is required.

Just look back on your life and you will see that every problem you ever faced eventually resolved itself and resulted into a solution. Evaluate the inner processes you had to experience in order to reach the new place. The process changed you and you had to let go of some of your beliefs, perceptions and judgments.

Our quality of life is an immediate result of our perceptions and attitudes towards the things that happen to us.

I would like to share a powerful meditation, which will help you to deal with the problems in your life in a better way.

Meditation

The solution to every problem that presents itself to you right now, already exists in a future place. In spirit there is no time and space. This means that you are spiritually able to access the vibration of the solution at this moment.

Sit in a comfortable chair and focus on abdominal breathing. With every breath you take you become more calm and quite. Close your eyes and visualize a sphere of light. You hold it with both of your hands. This is the sphere of your solution.

Feel its gentle vibration and energy. This energy streams through your hands and fills your entire body. Then it engulfs you entirely and extends all around you.

Meditate with your sphere of light for as often and as long as you wish. As you become a vessel for this new light vibration you become in tune with the solution and it can manifest itself in your life.

Expect miracles to happen.

The other day I had the perfect day of my life. I was busy completing the tasks on my to-do list when I realized that the weather was gorgeous and I’d rather be outdoors riding my motorcycle.

I allowed myself a two-hour break from work, got on my bike and enjoyed zooming along my favorite country roads. I followed the rolling hills through Burgettstown, Avella, and on the way to Hickory, I stopped at Cross Creek Lake. Bright sunlight turned the ripples of the water into silver. Geese flew over and into the distance and their distinctive honk resonated through the air. I enjoyed a moment of quiet reflection.

Then I continued my ride and felt inspired by meaningful inscriptions on the bulletin boards of country churches.
They said: “Start your day with gratitude, instead of attitude.”
And: “Life is not about surviving the storm, but about learning to dance in the rain.”

Yes, life can be easy and delightful, if we follow these simple truths. However, most of us rush through our demanding every day activities without taking time for ourselves. We are so busy accomplishing one task after the other we don’t even rest to catch a breath.

A quote from the Talmud states:

“When you die, God and the angels will hold you accountable for all the pleasures you were allowed in life that you denied yourself.”

Please, take a look at your day, every day, and ask yourself how you can bring more pleasure into your life. Make a list of pleasurable activities, e.g. a walk in nature, lunch with a friend, a hot relaxing bath, etc. Then schedule time for fun and pleasure in your planner.

A daily dose of pleasure increases the quality of your life and is the best form of preventative medicine. It uplifts your heart, so you may easily learn to dance in the rain. And most importantly: there will be no need to hold you accountable for all the pleasures you were allowed in life that you denied yourself.

Every language has its uniqueness and specific idioms, which you can not find in any other language. Occasionally it happens that I want to say something in English and there is no direct translation available for the perfect expression I know in Hebrew or German.

I love Hebrew. The language is ancient and every single word has a deeper meaning. It truly enriches my life to consider this incredible wisdom. For example:

The Hebrew word for dog is ‘Celev’. Literally translated it means: Like a heart. Now look at the dogs behavior and you will see that this is a perfect description. They open our hearts and teach us about unconditional love. You can always trust that your dog will wag its tail and be happy to see you, no matter what. This true and unconditional love opens our hearts.

Also consider if you see a connection between the words BREATH and SOUL. In Hebrew they have the same root, ‘neshima’ and ‘neshama’. Also HEALING and RELAXATION are closely connected, ‘ripui’ and ‘rafui’.

Latin is a great teacher, too. MEDICINE and MEDITATION do have the same roots. There is the Latin ‘mederi’, which means to find the right measure or the right balance. As well as the Latin ‘meditari’ which means to let go or to let happen. This is an important consideration, since our Western thinking teaches us to be in control, to achieve and to make things happen. We are always active, but sometimes it may be just as important to let go, give up control and enjoy the flow of life.

Certain expressions clearly illuminate the difference in thinking and perceiving the world. In America when you go to your doctor he will ask:”What is wrong with you?” In Germany your doctor will ask: “What is missing?” (Was fehlt Ihnen?) Take a moment and reflect upon these two approaches.

Which one of these two questions makes you feel better? The holistic approach to medicine teaches that all answers are within. I ask my students and Reflexology clients what is missing and the answers flow immediately and show the direct route to their healing and well-being.

Please take a few deep breaths to your abdomen. Inhale and exhale easily. With every breath you take you become more calm and quiet. Take a few moments and reflect upon your life.

See if there is anything that does not feel right. It may be any area of your life, your body, your work, your relationships, etc. Then ask yourself: “What is missing?” Continue to breath to your abdomen and invite the answers to come.

Practice this exercise daily. You may want to take notes and keep a journal. Your answers show you the way to the solution. Please do not ignore them. Learn to trust yourself and listen to your inner voice; then expect miracles to happen.