Friday, July 19, 2013
The Power of Meditation
Curious about meditation?  Think it's too woo-woo or complicated? Laurie Martin provides insight and simple techniques that will help you tap into the power of meditation!

Meditation is an act of inner awareness directing our attention in a specific way. It is also similar to a deep rest and relaxation. It is an opportunity to draw our energy into ourselves by sitting quietly with our eyes closed. We benefit greatly by taking a few minutes each day to shut off the outside world and make ourselves a priority, our inner world and get to know who we are.

 Meditation helps in other numerous ways. It is a way to quiet down all of the noise in your life. It allows us to practice staying fully in the present moment. By becoming the observer of your thoughts and feelings, you get clear on how you feel, and trust your gut feelings and intuition. Meditation expands self-discovery, helps create inner peace, improves clarity, stimulates creativity, elicits relaxation, and improves mental and physical health by releasing stress.


There are many different methods and techniques. And, just like any new habit you create in your life, it takes dedication, practice and loving patience:

 1.  Create a time of day that works, a few minutes to thirty or even sixty minutes daily.

 2.  Find a place in or outside your home that is quiet and comfortable. Sit on the floor, chair or grass.

 3.  Set an intention to sit quiet and meditate.

 4.  Close your eyes.

 5.   Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose. Relax. Become the witness to your thoughts. Allow them to flow. Don’t resist them. Acknowledge them and lovingly guide yourself
back to feeling your breath entering your nose, feeling your breath leaving your nose.

 6.  You can say silently, on the in breath “in”, and out on the out breath “out”. Adding a mantra, breathe in, “I am love”. Feel love throughout your whole being. You can do this exercise for a couple of minutes and then change your mantra to “I am perfect health.”

Other beginner exercises during meditation are counting the length of the inhale breath and the exhale breath, or watching the flame of a lighted candle. Your thoughts will pop in during this time. This is perfectly normal. Know that you are benefitting just by sitting quietly, being loving and relaxed.

With practice, you are learning not to “attach” to your thoughts. You are the witness of them. Then you learn to choose your thoughts wisely, choosing life affirming and positive thoughts that honor your beautiful infinite and fully empowered self, thoughts of unlimited possibilities.

Laurie Martin is a leading teacher of self-love and personal empowerment. Laurie is a Certified Life Coach, Yoga Teacher, writer and Author of Smile Across Your Heart: The Process of Building Self-Love and her new E-Book, The Conscious Breakup Guide. Sign up for her free newsletter to receive her workshop invites or purchase her Yoga DVD, books or services: www.smileacrossyourheart.com. Email:LaurieM@SmileAcrossYourHeart.com
Written at 11:15 AM by Andrea.
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The Power of Affirmation
Written by the "affirmation queen" herself, Louise Hay:

PEOPLE OFTEN ASK ME, “What are affirmations and how can I use them?” An affirmation is any statement that we make—whether positive or negative. If affirmations are used consistently, they become beliefs and will always produce results, sometimes in ways that we cannot even imagine.

 I’ve always said, “Life is simple. What we give out, we get back.” We can say out loud or think to ourselves one affirmation all day long, such as All is well, over and over and over. Or we can have a list of 20 affirmations and just say or write one each day. The number of times that we say or write an affirmation is really up to each individual.

 When we concentrate on these affirmations and start to change our way of thinking, our inner voice immediately reacts to these new thoughts in one of two ways: with fear or with love. If we sense fear, then we need to say to ourselves, “Thank you for sharing. This is a thought that I’ll be sending you many times, so get used to it!” It’s as if our mind is a filing cabinet and these thoughts are new folders that we’re placing in it.

 This is the moment when you’re either enjoying or not enjoying your life. What you’re feeling now is creating your tomorrows. Isn’t that a wonderful thing to know? You are in charge of your life! 

 You don’t have time to waste on negative thinking because it only creates more of what you say you don’t want. If you’re doing positive affirmations and you’re not getting the results you want, then check to see how often during the day you allow yourself to feel bad or upset. These emotions are exactly what’s delaying the manifestation of your affirmations and stopping the flow of your good.

 We live in an ever-expanding, unlimited Universe. The possibilities available to us are far beyond what our human minds can imagine. The only thing that ever limits us is our thinking. We waste our thoughts thinking of limitations. Our thoughts are so precious. Every thought we think is creating our future. Every thought!

 Each time we think a thought that makes us feel bad in any way, it’s a wasted thought. Not only have we wasted an opportunity to think a positive thought and create a great life for ourselves, we’ve added to the pile of negative thoughts that bring uncomfortable experiences to us.

 Each thought is precious. We can learn to think in positive affirmations. Yes, it takes a bit of doing to gain control over our thoughts; however, the rewards are tremendous. The past has no power over us. Even problems have no power over us. Our power lies in the thoughts that we choose to think today. Remember, there are endless opportunities for good before us.

 We can think happy thoughts. We can think positive thoughts. We can say, “Yes, I can do it!”  We can think thoughts that make us feel joyous. We can learn to think only about all the good in the world. We can lift our thoughts up. We can greet the day with a smile. We can let the world know that we’re happy to be alive. We can express gratitude at every turn. We can love our bodies. We can be our best friend. By our actions, we’ll be an example for our children. Just by watching us, they’ll learn how to create a happy and fulfilling life.

 Our reward is that we get to watch day by day as our lives turn into the most joyous, loving, healthy, prosperous, fabulous experiences. And this will last for all the rest of our days on Earth. So train yourself to think thoughts that make you feel good. That way, you’ll always be creating your life out of joy and in joy. Joy always brings more to be joyous about.

 Affirm: I am the only thinker in my mind; and I choose to think joyous, happy, loving, positive thoughts 24/7. I love Life and Life loves me.

Written at 11:05 AM by Andrea.
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