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Restore your body, your heart, your mind, and your spirit to their natural state of peace and love. Remember who you are. Be one with yourself.
Know that you are deeply loved and wisely guided.
Breathe in... Breathe out.... Bliss Out...
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Loving Affirmations:
I am free, now.
I surrender to what I cannot see.
Kwan Yin (through Marjorie - mykwanyin.com)
I am open to receiving love and to extending it.
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Easy short cuts to Serenity. One very powerful way of learning to hear beyond the noisy chatter of your mind is through the practice of meditation. Hold on! Don't run off. Meditation doesn't always mean people sitting in strange cross-legged positions repeating "ohm." There are other easy and effective alternatives.
Meditation can mean simply familiarizing yourself with your own mind and thoughts. Meditation allows you to see that there is no need to control your thoughts or attempt to stop them. Thoughts are just thoughts. They come and they go. Yet, beneath those thoughts is an inner guidance that is stronger, kinder, and more soothing than your mind's typical worry and stress. Meditation is a tool that you can use to learn how to stop being so overly involved in your mental thoughts and instead connect with your serene inner core.
If you are attempting to recover from stress, depression, a food addiction, binge or emotional eating, or other addictive behaviors, you need the ability to connect with your inner resourceful state of calm, love, and creativity. Meditation is one way of changing your relationship with the thoughts that typically drive you crazy. When you learn how to connect with your inner peace, then you will have an effective alternative to using eating or addictive behaviors to calm down. While meditation alone isn't the magical solution to all of life's issues, it can be a powerful tool to reduce stress and worry, and decrease the negative effect of mental chatter.
The Sky and the Clouds
Meditation helps you learn that thoughts are always going on, and that you do not have to grab onto them. You can learn to let them drift away without generating drama around them. In meditation, you can watch your thoughts passing by us like cars on the highway, or clouds in the sky. Teachers of mediation often describe thoughts by using the metaphor that your inner peace is the sky, always present, and your thoughts are the clouds which simply float on past. The clouds may change and sometimes even cover up the entire sky, but the sky itself is never changing and always present. No matter what thoughts, feelings, or emotions come, a peaceful calm is always present beneath. You just have to know how to find it.
Simplified Meditation
Meditation does not have to involve a detailed, disciplined, or complex practice. It can be as simple as learning to stop, breathe, and center within your self for a moment or two. Recall how you typically start each morning or how you end each day. Now imagine how your life would benefit if you allowed yourself a few moments of quiet. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you took a minute or two to center and achieve more relaxation, greater calmness, and useful insights? Meditative practice is a technique for connecting with your inner spirit. It allows stress reduction, relaxation, healing, problem solving, visualizing, and the ability to imagine positive outcomes. Taking the time to create a few moments of stillness allows you to move beneath the eternal chatter of the mind and listen to your inner knowingness.
When you first begin to meditate or seek quiet, it can seem quite difficult or even pointless. You are probably used to the constant chatter in your mind. However, if you continue to set aside a few moments each day to pause, breathe, and relax, you will notice it becomes easier - and enjoyable! - to engage in this new habit. Listed below are six easy suggestions to help quiet your mind - and they don't require much time or learning ability. Try one or more of these ideas if you do not know how to begin, or swear that you are just so busy that you could not possibly create a moment of silence for yourself. Enjoy!
1. Sitting in Silence
One method to discover your inner peace is to simply sit in silence every day for about 1 to 20 minutes. Sit quietly, take a deep breath, and simply ask, "What is it I need to know?" Then listen. Don't force yourself to come up with answer and avoid getting frustrated if you don't get an answer. Just notice your top layer of analytical busy thoughts. Learn to let those busy thoughts go by imagining placing them on clouds and letting the wind blow them across the sky. Ask your question, "What is it I need to know?" and let yourself take a deeper look.
2. Easy Walking Meditation
A simple way to bring more awareness to your life is to practice a walking meditation. In walking meditation, you use the experience of walking as your focus. You become aware of the process of walking and notice your body and the movement of each step. Instead of walking as a way to burn calories or loose weight, you use the action of walking to relax, and become centered with yourself and everything around you. During walking meditation, you pay close attention to your movement, to the muscles of your body, your feet, balance, and breathing. You notice your body, your tensions, and your connection with the ground. You body loves movement and loves when you pay attention to how you feel! Paying attention to your body as you walk will help you enjoy being alive.
3. Simple Breathing Meditation
Giving yourself a few minutes of conscious breathing can clear out tension and stress, and allow new vitality and healing to take place. Lie on your back with your hands resting below your navel. Breathe evenly and gently, focusing your attention on the movement of your stomach. As you inhale, allow your stomach to gently expand your hands to rise. As you exhale, let the air drain out, and feel your hands and stomach lower back toward the floor. Aim to make the length of your inhale match the length of your exhale. Your goal is to release stress and relax, so forcing your breath defeats the purpose. Allow your breathing to gently soften your body.
4. One Minute Meditation
Each morning, before leaving your house, find a minute to sit down. You don't need a special position or reserved place. Just sit somewhere comfortable. Keeping your back straight, slowly take in one full breath. Imagine yourself filling up with energy that flows throughout your whole body. At the end of your inhale, wait to exhale for about three seconds. Then exhale, releasing your breath slowly, imagining that you are releasing from your mind and body all that is negative or heavy. When you believe the exhale is complete, push a little more air out of your lungs. Repeat for about one minute. Lastly, while you are resuming your normal breathing, remain still for about five more seconds.
5. Photo Meditation
One easy way to achieve relaxation and a sense of calm is to focus on a picture that is relaxing and calming. Select a picture or photograph that evokes a sense of calm within you. Stand and take a nice stretch. Then sit comfortably with your spine straight, and begin to relax by breathing gently, slowly, and calmly. Focus on your picture, imagine yourself living that calm experience, and allow yourself to feel good. Allow your imagination to take you into a more and more relaxed state.
6. Basic Meditation
Meditators focus on three different kinds of things:
Some people focus on a phrase - for example, "I am peaceful."
Some people focus on an object - for example, a religious symbol or a candle.
Some people focus on breathing.
Find a quiet place. In the beginning, it is easier to meditate in a relatively quiet spot. This will help you "turn off" internal stimuli as well as external distraction.
Sit so that your spine, neck and the back of your head are in a straight line Sitting in a chair with feet on the floor is a good position. You can also sit cross-legged on the floor or in a traditional lotus position.
Close your eyes. This is the best way to begin controlling your wandering mind.
Breathe naturally. Sit quietly for a minute or two and relax your body. You may focus on your breath, mantra, or object. A mantra is a sound, word, or phrase that is repeated to yourself. Some people think that the best mantras are sounds that have no clear meaning such as 'ohm'. A mantra is used as a way of displacing usual thoughts and moving awareness inward.
Allow thoughts and feelings to come and go with detachment. Don't try to control them in any way. Just note them, and when you realize that you are not repeating the mantra, gently return to the mantra. Do not try to force yourself to think of the mantra to the exclusion of all other thoughts. You may experience a deep state of relaxation but it is OK if you don't.
Continue this for about 20 minutes.
When done, take a couple of minutes to slowly return to normal awareness. Be gentle with yourself when opening your eyes or coming to stand after a meditation. Allow your body and mind to readjust.
Meditation is a tool that you can use to help you figure out how to find your way back into your own inner peace. Don't worry about finding the perfect meditation practice or achieving technique perfection. What is most important is your decision to feel more calm and centered, and then taking action to achieve your goal. Try one of the above techniques or try them all. By breathing and sitting still you can reduce stress, calm your mind, and develop inner peace. and mind to readjust.
Copyright 1997–2008 Annette Colby, PhD. All rights reserved in all media. |
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Bliss Tips for end of day.
Find bliss in being grateful and end your day with a thought of gratitude. You will find there are many things in your daily life to be grateful for.
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30-minute Pantry Bliss
If you think this is about a 30 minute chocolate chip cookie binge, you may be disappointed but then again you may be pleasantly surprised. I wrote this with a different sort of indulgence in mind.
There is something sacred in gently taking care of your body, after all caring for your body is a big part of the human experience and doing so can give you some inner peace. There are beauty rituals as old as the practices of yoga, tai chi and mediation and they do not require the discipline and training these other marvelous practices may. Yet they have similar power when it comes to quieting down the inner conversation that seems never-ending.
As a spa maven and professional I can say that receiving a treatment from a passionate therapist is unparalleled and I highly recommend it. Doing a spa treatment out of your bathroom is something entirely different but not less sacred and since it is not always convenient to schedule an appointment at the spa, why not start a new ritual at home to help create that inner space.
I will give you a ritual that is with and without the use of a tub, this way you can spa at home when you are short on time as well.
This simple but all encompassing ritual starts with a face mask, is followed by a body scrub or soak and can be finished with a hair treatment when you plan on washing your hair. No matter which recipes or products you decide to use, this is always a fun combination of treatments. For ease of flow I advise to apply your face mask on freshly cleansed skin before your body treatment and rinse it off during your shower or wipe it off with warm wet face cloths after your soak in the tub.
Preparation is key to a relaxing experience. The first thing to do is to prepare your products. Please avoid using glass containers in your bathroom, since slippery hands and glass are never a good combination.
Next, set the mood: relaxing music and candles. It sounds so cliché, I know, but they are at the spa for a reason. Do not forget to make sure your bathroom temperature is to your liking.
Your Face Mask recipe can start out simple; just apply some plain yoghurt (2tbs.). When you have dry skin, you could try some whipped cream instead. If you want to take it up a notch, you can add some ground oatmeal (1/2 tbs.), this will give the mask a little more of a scrub-like function, without becoming abrasive. You can also add one tbs. of fresh pureed papaya or pineapple. Both of these fruits contain protein digesting enzymes (papain and bromelain respectively) so they will make your skin smooth. Omit ingredients you are sensitive or allergic too. People with hyper-reactive skin usually do well with just yoghurt but you may want to do a 24 hour patch test behind to ear if you are concerned.
Body Scrub recipe: Mix 1 tbs. of sea salt with 1 tbs. of brown sugar, in a separate bowl put 1 to 2 oz. of vegetable oil, great oils are: grape seed, sesame or light olive oil. First you massage the oil liberally all over your body, and then you step into the shower with the cup of sugar and salt and apply it in circular motions towards the heart. Turn on the faucet and shower as usual. For added benefit you can add essential oils to your basic oil (10 drops should be plenty). With a body scrub I usually choose something detoxifying or invigorating, since you are working on stimulating blood flow anyway you may as well use oils that help you. Good examples are grapefruit, rosemary and juniper or just choose a blend at your health food store.
Moisturizing Bath Soak recipe: 1tbs. of honey, 1 cup of whole milk, ½ a cup of oats in a muslin bag. If you can, hang the muslin bag under the faucet so the water runs through it when filling the tub. Mix milk and honey together before adding it to the water. A few drops of essential oils can also make a world of difference here, my favorites for this soak are a blend of lavender, tangerine and vanilla, or look for a premixed blend for relaxation.
Hair Tonic: 1 cup of rosemary, apple cider vinegar, water. This hair tonic needs to be prepared one week ahead of time. Chop up the rosemary and put it in a container pour enough vinegar to cover the rosemary. Keep this mixture in the refrigerator for 1 week, giving it a vigorous shake once a day. Use about 2 ounces of the vinegar with 8 ounces of water. Use this mixture as a rinse after shampooing. You may use a conditioner after that or just leave as is, should you find the smell of the vinegar too overpowering you may rinse the tonic out.
I wish you blissful relaxation and connection to the flow of life.
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