Six Facts about Meditation that aren’t True

If you have never tried meditation because you have some preconceived notion about beginning a meditation practice. It’s time to get the real facts.

Excuses to try or do anything in this life won’t serve you well at all. Don’t assume to understand something without having a clear understanding. You’ve heard the old cliche, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

peace, happy, love, joy

Also, preconceived notions never pan out to what you believe, chances are it’s something you’re hearing or fear. Either way, it’s terrible form to embrace the negativity.

Here are some misconceptions about meditation: 

  1. Meditation is a Buddhist religious practice, “I’m not a Buddhist.” 
  2. I have to chant or do another embarrassing ritual. 
  3. I cannot clear my mind enough to relax.
  4. I don’t have the time! 
  5. I’m not a religious person, meditation is spiritual.
  6. It’s “hocus-pocus.” 

You may have other reason to not try or think you cannot meditate. I’m here to tell you meditation can change your life. It’s easy to do and you can with practice you too can find yourself loving to meditate.

Now let’s talk about an easy way to get started:

  1. If you’re like me trying to quiet the mind can seem a daunting challenge. Try using headphones with meditation music. If you focus on the music, slow your breathing in through the nose out through the mouth. Finding tranquility is a few music bars away. 
  2. Finding good meditation music, I use YouTube®. 
  3. One of the best places to meditate is sitting or lying in a quiet area (don’t fall asleep). Choose a spot where there will be no disruptions. This can be a challenge with children. With younger children practice your meditation during nap times or after bedtimes. Older children let them know you need some time with no interruption, they can go out and play. 
  4. As you move forward, taking a minute in your office chair, sitting in the car, anywhere where you can have a few minutes to yourself. It’s not hard to find these moments. 
  5. When you begin, take a few deep cleansing breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Then breathe nice relaxed breaths filling your lungs with good and blowing out the bad. Focus on breathing until you can feel comfortable. 
  6. Be in the moment. Let yourself go. It may take some time, but don’t stress. It comes with time and practice. It’s not hard to master it will happen. Don’t act like your unique “It won’t work for me.” Yes, it will work for you! 
  7. I will lose my edge. “I need my pain.” No, actually you don’t! You won’t lose 

Meditation is the best way to connect yourself with you! Learning to quiet one’s mind allowing ourselves to connect with the Universe. It’s a blessing beyond any measure. You can focus your thoughts on your minds-eye.  Opening up a whole new world of favor in your life.

self help, happy, smile

When you can see yourself in the positive light, you want for your life. Oh my, a peace you have never experienced will come over you in waves.

The beautiful thing with meditation is that when you do stumble and fall. Meditation is a tool that will help you re-center yourself. The quicker you get back to the good you, the better.

You can meditate for so many things:

  • Good Health
  • A happy you!
  • The spiritual connection to God
  • Happy Relationship
  • Finding answers to life’s questions

How I involve my meditation practice into my life. First, I told myself this was more important to my growth than just about any other modality. My connection to God is how I like to see it. Seeing myself grateful for happiness, good health, and all that God has to show me in my life.

During meditation, I can feel more connected to the Universe than just about any other time. One huge benefit for me; being able to have the patience to allow my life’s destiny to unfold. No longer forcing growth. If you don’t understand that statement, you will.

You can find time to meditate. Before work, after work, in the car (not driving of course), kids nap time, when you wake up, when you go to bed, sitting at the park, sitting by a river, just find a moment and do it.

The optimal time is 20 to 30 minutes for me. You can also get in an excellent quick relaxing breathing exercise for sixty seconds. The more you think about time is lost time you could have been meditating. This is your meditation practice, so time is not relevant to your success. You can go for an hour or sixty seconds. Don’t worry about the time you’ll know when you’re done.

Consistency in your practice will dictate the level of success you have. Find time every day even when you have to steal the time.

Get started today! Don’t think, do!

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If you have questions, happy to answer:

Why Challenges are a Blankety-Blank

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”–Winston Churchill

Courage is where I believe we fail to achieve or overcoming challenges. When challenged in life obstacles can seem overwhelming, insurmountable to stifle our progress. In many occasions, we just give up and fail.

Learning to work through the pain of life is achieved through your own faith that all will work itself out as it should. Learning to accept that life will happen on its own terms. Learning to not push growth, but accept destiny unfolding on its terms. God does not need your help he needs your faith.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”–Martin Luther King Jr.

God, will unfold your destiny timely when you allow it to unfold naturally. His favor can move the unmovable. When you hold-fast to faith in the face of absolute ruin. On the other side of this faith held strong is destiny!

obstacle, hope, happy

Look at challenges as the gateway to your life’s destiny. Accept the trials and tribulations with faith, that once you clear the dark forest a beautiful life season is before you. Our lives are seasonal, just as nature. My thought is this to be the natural order of things. How our body and the soul are connected to the seasonal universe.

Stop looking at obstacles as a barb-wire fence. With care, you can cross a barb-wire fence. You may get a poke or scratch here and there. The crossing can be done safely. You arrive at a new destination.

Admittedly, I struggle with faith, but I believe we all are challenged with faith from time-to-time.

The good news. Keep holding onto faith even when you can’t see any hope. The pain you may suffer through pails in comparison to the happiness on the other side. Faith will become easier to summon when you condition yourself.

We tend to lose faith in the precipice of change. If only one step further were taken, don’t let one step more stop you!

Call upon God through prayer and meditation. Thanking him for the end result of the season you find yourself. Focus on the result not the how. God has the how you stay in faith with gratitude that it’s done. Do this and God will make the impossible, possible!

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Why Happies are the Secret Ingredient

“Happiness doesn’t depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude.”–Dale Carnegie 

To begin a real change in our lives the fact that happiness dictates all. Coming to terms with joy is a choice. If you want to be happy, then be glad it’s that easy.

Most of us struggle to be happy. My thoughts on this from my own experience, we have been conditioned to believe that if it’s too easy, it’s cheap, not real, not worth it. We all see things to good to be true usually are. So when happy is just a simple change in mindset, then I believe subconsciously we stray.

self help, peace

In my mind, you must recondition your mind to be happy. It’s what I work on daily. To be candid, it’s been a struggle. Part of it has been a lack of knowledge that happiness is a choice state-of-mind. It can rush upon you for moments, sure.

Here is some daily to-do’s to help find happiness:

  1. Change your thoughts (yes sometimes easier said than done) try and think about things that bring you joy. Make a conscious effort daily. Retrain the brain!
  2. Walk. Get out and walk even if it’s just down the street and back. Let your body let go of stress. Walking relieves tension.
  3. Breathe for at least one minute a few times a day. In through the nose and out through the mouth to relax.
  4. Make sure your body posture is shoulders back standing tall. Don’t slump.
  5. Meditate and see through your minds-eye yourself happy, smiling, and laughing.
  6. Laugh!!!

Do any number of these or all if you can. Daily! Set reminders in your phone to remind you of the activity. Then do it!

If you retrain your thoughts towards a happy state-of-mind, guess what? You will begin to call upon yourself to be satisfied. Yes, there will be times of stress, but training your thoughts will make them fewer and farther between.

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Keep Moving your Life Even when it seems You Cannot

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”–Muhammad Ali

 

self help, God, Prayer

Fight Through Even When you think you Cannot.

 

 

Many days are like training. I hate every minute, but I keep pushing through. Following God on my mind, but not really feeling him present. Life can kick you in the gut, we can choose to fall apart or just keep moving.

Keeping moving somedays takes every ounce of my strength. As I am sure to not be the only person on this earth that struggles through. Let us say that most of us are kindred souls when it comes to living life.

Do not stall when life just seems like “really” can’t catch a damn break! Scream if you have to but say “I am NOT LOSING this time.” Fight, fight, and fight through, you can do it. I do it most days you can too.

help, hope, happy

Tell the enemy NOT today asshole, you don’t get the satisfaction of bringing me down. Do this even if you don’t see hope. Fly on blind faith but fly. The reason that I am writing this article is today I am operating on blind faith. Many things have fallen apart, but I know that it’s a temporary problem.

The problem is I don’t believe that statement this moment, but what the hell else can I do but to keep moving forward. I can stop saying F’it. What would that do but make things worse!

So if I can do this, so shall you! We all get hit with life that hurts. Instead of giving up work through it even when your mind and body are fighting you.

God bless!

 

Does Your Life seem like a Shattered Glass?

Does your life seem shattered like a piece of glass? So many broken pieces it just seems hopeless to even try and clean it up.

Good news is that our shattered lives can be cleaned up just like a shattered piece of glass. Once you begin to clean up the glass (your life) keep in mind that glass is hard to clean up. Sometimes you will step on a sliver that was left behind.

self help, happy, joy

You pick up the sliver and throw it away. It may have cut your foot, felt like a setback. It too is temporary. The good news is the clean up is complete. It may have taken time to clean up the mess, but finally, it gets done.

So what can help with the clean up:

  • Acceptance that the glass is broken and YOU are going to be okay!
  • Let God know you’re ready to see what he has in store for you going forward.
  • Organize your day to allow for meditation, positive thought.
  • Begin to fill your mind with positive thoughts, read good books, watch real videos.
  • Yoga is a fantastic way to connect with yourself. Find a fun Yoga class. If you cannot afford a Yoga class, many hospitals, YWCA or community centers offer free or low fee classes.
  • Keep active. Walk, workout, visit the park, take your pets out, keep busy as much as possible. Activity keeps your mind somewhere else besides in the past. Dwelling on the broken glass just prolongs positive progress.

If you need to seek professional help, then don’t walk run towards the help you need. 

  • Local MHMR
  • Local Hospital
  • Pastoral Counseling Centers
  • Crisis Hotlines 1-800-273-8255
  • Online Counseling

Help is available no matter what your ability to pay.

It’s within grasp, a bright new life, NO more broken glass!

happy, new life, life

If you feel hopeless, life has shattered like glass just know. The glass can be cleaned up, and the New glass is better, more transparent, and beautiful to look through. So shall your life be it just takes you to make the first step?

I have walked in your shoes and continue to walk the path towards a new life. It’s within reach even when you don’t see a way out. Just over the hill is the life you dream of, hope, happy, fun, and the loving relationships we all deserve.

It’s your time, it’s our time, let’s get our new lives started. What do you say?

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