Breath is Key to Life

Breath is Key to a Life Well Lived

Finding Space

Being aware of your breathing takes attention away from thinking and creates space. It is one way of generating consciousness. The breath is key to discovering inner space and connection to spirit. It creates gaps in the stream of thinking. Without those gaps, your thinking becomes repetitive, uninspired, devoid of any creative spark, which is how it is for most people on the planet. You don’t need to be concerned with the duration of those gaps. A few seconds is good enough. Gradually they will lengthen by themselves, without any effort on your part. More important then their length is to bring these gaps in frequently so that your daily activities and your stream of thinking become interspersed with space.

Be aware of your breathing as often as you are able. Do it whenever you remember. If you consistently do that for one year it will be more powerfully transformative then attending workshop after workshop. And breathing is free.

Be aware of your breathing. Notice the sensation of the breath. Feel the air moving in and out of your body. Notice how the chest and abdomen expand and contract slightly with the in – and outbreath. One conscious breath is enough to make some space where before there was the uninterrupted succession of one thought after another. One conscious breath (two or three would be even better), taken many times a day, is an excellent way of bringing space into your life.

Trees have space

Let’s now stop and do a short breathing exercise. Be sure you are sitting comfortably. Close your eyes and mouth. Place your hands over your belly. Breathe in with an internal count of five. Breathe out with a count of five. (Repeat for a total of five sets.) Relax and open your eyes.

Did you notice the natural pause between the inhales and exhales?

Even if you meditated on your breathing for two hours or more, which some people do, one breath is all you ever need to be aware of, indeed ever can be aware of. The rest is memory or anticipation, which is to say, thought. Another way to put it is the past or the future. Breathing isn’t really something you do but something that you witness as it happens. Breathing happens by itself in the now. The intelligence within the body is doing it. All you have to do is watch it happening. There is no strain or effort involved.

Many people’s breath is unnaturally shallow. The more you are aware of the breath, the more it’s natural depth will reestablish itself. This is like the breaths you see a baby taking.

Because breath has no form as such, it has since, ancient times, been equated with spirit. From the Bible: “God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature.”

The German word for breathing – atmen – is derived from the ancient Indian (Sanskrit) word Atman, meaning the indwelling divine spirit or God within.

The sky breathes

The fact that breath has no form is one of the reasons why breath awareness is an extremely effective way of bringing space into life, of generating consciousness. It is an excellent meditation object precisely because it is not an object, it has no shape or form. The other reason is that breath is one of the most subtle and seemingly insignificant phenomena, the ‘least thing’ that makes up the ‘best happiness’. Whether or not you practice breath awareness as an actual formal meditation is up to you.

Being aware of your breath forces you into the present moment – the key to all inner transformation. Whenever you are conscious of your breath, you are absolutely present. You may also notice that you cannot think and be aware of your breathing at the same time. Conscious breathing stops your mind. But far from being in a trance or half asleep, you are fully awake and highly alert. You are not falling below thinking, but rising above it. And if you look more closely, you will find that those two things – coming fully into the present moment and ceasing thinking without loss of consciousness – are actually one and the same; the awakening of consciousness.

Key thoughts from the book “A New Earth; Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” by Eckhart Tolle

Please join me Monday mornings and Wednesday nights. See calendar page for the dates. www.MeditationFromTheHeart.com

Six Healing Sounds

Six Healing Sounds

During my last Monday Meditation Class I had a student who inspired my heart to revisit a Taoist practice I have learned along the path of my meditation life. This practice is called the Six Healing Sounds. Part of the Sum Faht practice stems from Taoism. Though this teaching is not specifically from my teacher is is in alignment with the flow of energy within the body.

My research led me to working with this version created by Mantak Chia via Universal Tao Publications. I was tempted to break the information up between two blog segments, but have decided against it knowing that people who really want this information will want it all at once.

The Theory behind the Six Healing Sounds: Healthy Body 

Having assessed the knowledge of the universe through internal practices, the Taoist masters discovered that each healthy organ is associated with a particular sound, color and quality of energy. Emotional problems, pollution, poor food, injuries, and overly strenuous exercise can overheat the internal organs causing them to weaken.

This changes the state of each organ’s sound frequency, color and energetic quality. The Six Healing Sounds practice helps to restore, balance and cleanse the vital organs by correcting these factors. They also stimulate the chi flow throughout the body to enhance one’s overall health and vitality.

The Cosmic Six Healing Sounds helps to release any excess heat that may be trapped in the cooling sacs which surround each organ. As you assume the postures and produce the sounds sub-vocally, their vibrations redistribute any excess heat into cooler regions of the body where it can safely be stored or used. Once organ energies are balanced, you have a good foundation for establishing and nurturing the virtue energies. This will help to maintain the Chi balance throughout the system.

What causes an organ to malfunction? There are many causes. Urban society creates a life full of physical and emotional stresses such as overcrowding, pollution, radiation, junk food, chemical additives, anxiety, loneliness, bad posture, addictions and sudden or over vigorous exercise. Separately and together these stresses produce tension and start to block the free passage of energy flow in the body. In addition, the cities that we live in often lack the safety valves provided by nature: trees, open spaces, and running water, which give forth a cooling, purifying energy. Continued overheating causes an organ to contract and harden. This impairs its ability to function and results in illness. One of the surgeons working with the Universal Tao Center in New York reports that the hearts of patients who have died of heart attacks look as if they’ve been cooked! And the ancient Taoists have a saying, “Stress cooks your brain”.

Chinese medicine teaches that each organ is surrounded by a sac or membrane, called fascia, which regulates its temperature. Ideally, the membrane releases excess heat out through the skin, where it is exchanged for cool life force energy from nature. An overload of physical or emotional tension causes the fascia to stick to the organ so that it cannot properly release heat nor absorb cool energy from the skin.

The skin becomes clogged with toxins and the organ overheats. The Six Healing Sounds speed up the heat exchange through the digestive system and the mouth. The digestive system is more than 20 feet long and runs from the mouth to the anus as one pipe in the middle of the body. It helps release excess heat from the fascia, cooling and cleansing the organs and skin. When all these sounds and postures are done in the proper order, body heat is evenly distributed by the intestinal tract throughout the whole body, and each of the organs is at the correct operating temperature.

Daily practice of the Six Healing Sounds will restore and maintain calmness and good health. Greater sexual pleasure and improved digestion will occur. Minor ailments such as colds, flu and sore throats can be prevented or thrown off easily. NOTE: Typical side effects of these practices are yawning, burping or passing wind. All of which are beneficial indicators of moving energy. Once learned, the entire set takes only 10 -15 minutes - you are worth it.

 

Lungs

 First Healing Sound: Lung Sound 

 1. Sit with your back straight, your hands resting on your lungs, and your  eyes closed. 

 Smile down to your lungs. Be aware of the quality of the energy in your  lungs.

 Picture a white light, fresh and pure like the energy of the mountains. Imagine a metal sound like a bell.

2. Take a deep breath. Close the jaws so that the teeth gently meet and part the lips slightly as you slowly exhale through your teeth making the sound “Ssssssss”. At first you can produce the lung sound out loud, but eventually you should practice it subvocally. (Subvocally means that you are vocalizing so softly that only you can hear the sound and feel the vibration inside the lungs.) (Keep the subvocal instruction in mind for the following five more sounds.)

Feel that the sound starts to move the chi in the lungs. Know that any excess heat and toxins are expelled from the lungs as the sacs (layers of tissue called fascia that surround every organ) surrounding the lungs are compressed.

3. Nurture good emotions. This is the most important part of this practice. Take as much time as you need to get in touch with the organs. As the excess heat lessens and the white - metal energy expands in the lungs then positive emotional qualities will have room to grow. Concentrate on the feelings of righteousness and courage as you transform any sadness or grief. Sit up straight and tall so you can feel courage. Try to maintain the feeling of the Lung Sound for increasingly longer periods after each practice and throughout your daily life.

4. Repeat the Lung Sound three to six times. For sadness, depression, colds, flu, toothaches, asthma, emphysema or depression you may repeat this exercise 6, 9, 12 or 24 times.

Second  Healing Sound: Kidney Sound 

Kidneys

1. Sit with your back straight, your hands resting on your kidneys, and your eyes closed.

Smile down to your kidneys. Be aware of the quality of the energy in your kidneys.

Picture a blue light, like the sun shining on the deep blue sea.

2. Take a deep breath. Open the eyes and put your legs together, ankles and knees touching. Lean forward and clasp the fingers of both hands together around your knees. Pull your arms straight from the lower back while bending the torso forward (this allows your back to protrude in the area of the kidneys). Tilt your head up as you look straight ahead. Round the lips and slightly exhale with the sound “Chooooooo” as if you are blowing out a candle. Contract your abdomen on the exhale, pulling it toward your kidneys.

Feel the sound start to move the chi in the kidneys. Know that any excess heat and toxins are expelled from the kidneys as the sacs surrounding the kidneys are compressed.

3. Nurture good emotions. Sitting upright with palms over the kidneys radiate blue light, gentleness, stillness and alertness into the kidneys. Rest, close your eyes, listen to your kidneys. Smile to them and imagine that you are still making the Kidney Sound. Breathe normally and feel your fears dissipate as you transform them. Feel the gentleness also relaxing your lower back. Try to maintain the feeling of the Kidney Sound for increasingly longer periods after each practice and in your daily life.

4. Repeat the Kidney Sound three to six times. You may repeat this exercise 6, 9, 12, or 24 times to help alleviate fear, fatigue, dizziness, ringing in the ears or back pain.

Liver

Third Healing Sound: Liver Sound

1. Sit comfortably with your back straight, your hands resting on your liver, and your eyes closed.

Smile down to your liver. Be aware of the quality of the energy in your liver.

Picture a forest. Imagine the sun shining on the forest creating life force and green light.

2. Take a deep breath. Open the eyes and extend your arms out to the side, palms up. Continue raising the arms overhead, intertwine the fingers and rotate for palms up. Bend slightly to the left, exerting a gentle pull on the liver. Open your eyes wider because they are the openings of the liver. Slowly exhale with the sound “Shhhhhhh”.

Feel that the sound starts to move the chi in the liver. Know that any excess heat and toxins are expelled from the liver as the sacs surrounding the liver are compressed.

3. Nurture good emotions. Sit upright with palms over the liver and think to radiate green light, the forest energy and kindness into the liver. Rest, close your eyes, be aware of your liver. Smile at your organ and imagine that you are still making the Liver Sound. Breathe normally and ‘see’ your liver glowing with green rejuvenating light. Concentrate on the virtue of kindness and forgiveness. This will lessen anger, aggression and frustration energy. Try to maintain the feeling of the Liver Sound for increasingly longer periods after each practice and in your daily life.

4. Repeat the Liver Sound three to six times. You may repeat this exercise 6, 9, 12, or 24 times to help expel anger, clear red or watery eyes, remove a sour or bitter taste and to detoxify the liver.

Fourth Healing Sound: Heart Sound 

Heart

1. Sit comfortably with your back straight, your hands resting on your heart, and your eyes closed. Smile down to your heart. Be aware of the quality of the energy in your heart.

Picture a red ball as a sun setting.

2. Take a deep breath. Open the eyes and take the same position as for the liver sound. This time, however, you will lean slightly to the right to pull gently against the heart. With the tongue lightly touching the lower teeth open a rounded mouth and slowly exhale with the sound “Hawwwwww”. Feel the sound start to move the chi in the heart. Know that any excess heat and toxins are expelled from the heart as the sacs surrounding the heart are compressed.

3. Nurture good emotions. Sit upright with palms over the heart and think to radiate red light, love and inner joy into the heart. Rest, close your eyes, be aware of your heart. Smile at your organ and imagine that you are still making the Heart Sound. Breathe normally and ‘see’ your heart glowing with red fiery light. Concentrate on the virtue of compassion. Strengthening the heart for more love, inner joy, honor, respect and sincerity. This will lessen hastiness, arrogance and hatred in the heart; cooling any jealousy. Try to maintain the feeling of the Heart Sound for increasingly longer periods after each practice and into your daily life.

4. Repeat the Heart Sound three to six times. You may repeat this exercise 6, 9, 12, or 24 times to help relieve sore throats, cold sores, swollen gums or tongue, jumpiness, moodiness and heart disease.

Spleen

 Fifth Healing Sound: Spleen Sound

1. Sit comfortably with your back straight, your hands resting on your spleen, and your eyes closed. Smile down to your stomach and spleen. Be aware of the quality of the energy in your stomach and spleen. Picture the yellow of a beautiful field of sunflowers.

2. Take a deep breath. Open the eyes, move the arms to the front and place the first three fingers of both hands just beneath the sternum on the left side of the rib cage. Gently push your spleen to the back as you exhale a “Whooooooo” sound. This is more guttural or ‘throaty’ than the kidney sound. Know that any excess heat and toxins are expelled from the organs as the sacs surrounding them are compressed.

3. Nurture good emotions. Sitting upright with palms over the spleen and think to radiate yellow light, fairness, openness and stability into the spleen. Rest, close your eyes, be aware of your stomach and spleen. Smile to them and imagine that you are still making the Spleen Sound. Feel  the vibration of the sound moving and cleaning the energy in the stomach and the spleen. Breathe normally and ‘see’ your organs glowing with warm yellow light. Worries are lessened. Feel the fairness, openness, balance and harmony growing in the stomach and spleen; transforming any worry in them. Try to maintain the feeling of the Spleen Sound for increasingly longer periods after each practice and in your daily life.

4. Repeat the Spleen Sound three to six times. You may repeat this exercise 6, 9, 12, or 24 times to help eliminate indigestion, nausea and diarrhea.

Sixth Healing Sound: Triple Warmer Sound 

Triple Warmer

The Triple Warmer refers to the three energy centers of the body: The upper section (brain, heart and lungs) is hot; the mid section (liver, kidneys, stomach, pancreas and spleen) is warm; and the lower section (large/small intestines, bladder and sexual organs) is cool.

The sound “Heeeeeee” serves to balance the temperature of the three levels - bringing hot energy down to the lower center and cool energy up to the higher center.

1. Either lie on your back or sit in a chair. Smile. Inhale. Bring palms over face and exhale with a “Heeeeeee” sound.

2. Inhale fully into all three energy centers: Chest, Solar Plexus and Lower Abdomen. Exhale fully with the “Heeeeeee” sound. Imagine a roller pressing out your breath in all three areas. You can use your hands to help move your chi from above your head to your lower Tan Tien.

3. Rest. Focus on the entire digestive tract.

4. Repeat the Triple Warmer Sound three to six times. You may repeat this exercise 6, 9, 12, or 24 times to help relieve insomnia and stress. Note: The Triple Warmer can be done lying down in bed to facilitate falling asleep.

The Exercise Room

I am excited to introduce a new page on my Meditation From the Heart website called the         Exercise Room!  Currently there are two meditation exercises to be found there.

The first is the Sum Faht Mudra Meditation. Here you will find, in written form, the guide for the 16 mudras that make up this meditation.

Help prevent heart attack mudra

Mudras are specific hand positions which activate various energies within the body. (For example - the photo to the right depicts the mudra that will be helpful to someone who is experiencing heart attack symptoms.)

It is good to hold each mudra for a consistent amount of time. I use an app called 'Insight Timer' because it can be set to ring a 'singing bowl' chime at any interval you wish. If it repeats once a minute then the mudra meditation exercise will be 16 minutes long; or once every minute and a half it will take 24 minutes. Also, you could count your breaths. For example taking 5 deep breaths for each mudra. The idea is to spend equal time in each position.

The Sum Faht Mudra Meditation is good for people who want to have something for their mind to focus on.

The second exercise shown is still-shot video of the 12 Brocades. The 12 Brocades is a chee kung style exercise which will help a person to build up physical strength while boosting the body's many systems: The immune system, the nervous system, the musculoskeletal system, digestive system, respiratory system, and the circulatory/cardiovascular system, to name a few.

My cat, Dante

You will see my cat, Dante, joining me during part of the 12 brocades.

In this video you will see both the front view and the side view of each position and my voice will guide you through it..It is timed at 30 seconds for each brocade. This good for learning purposes.

Once you have the 12 Brocades memorized it is best to do the positions with your eyes closed. I like holding each position for a minute. But you can challenge yourself to increase your time to two minutes each (or longer :-).

After doing the 12 Brocades it is recommended to go into a sitting meditation - bringing all your good work into the meditation.

Life's Seven Challenges

The seven challenges to being a good human being are: Humility, Patience, Acceptance of Fate, Surrender, Simplicity, Detachment and Harmony with Nature.

The theme underlying all of the challenges is the basic struggle to be a well-balanced, good-hearted person. There is a story about two monks who are walking along when one asks the other about his goals in life. The one monk replies, "I'd like to be a saint. Why? What are your goals?" The other monk says, "I just want to be a good human being." The first monk responds, "You are very ambitious."

Humility: Whatever qualities or attributes we possess were given to us. They were not our doing. We didn't create our intelligence, competence with languages, artistic skills, or ability to deal well with people. These are, quite literally, gifts. As we develop spiritually, we increase our ability to help or heal others. We can become better vehicles for healing or helping, but we are not the originators of that energy. Part of the purpose of spiritual development is to help others, but that is not a way or an excuse for making ourselves more important or powerful.

Patience: Spiritual development takes a very long time and is a slow and painstaking process. It is work that does not end. There is no 'getting there.' There is only more insight, and the reward is more work.  Impatience merely hampers our progress. It is as inappropriate as standing in your garden screaming at a seedling to grow faster, to hurry up and bloom.

Blooms once a year

Acceptance of Fate: We can't control reality. But we can control the way we deal with whatever happens. We can feel defeated by a particular event and wail at the heavens, or we can choose to view the event as a challenge, a test of our ability to maintain faith no matter what the circumstance. But an understanding that some things are beyond our control is a wisdom and can simply be accepted as gracefully as possible.

Surrender: We want to naturally live on faith that our struggles have some meaning, that our efforts are not in vain. We must surrender have faith in the forces that impel our lives.

It is an excellent time to surrender in meditation. In particular, we must surrender the ego. We need to bypass the intellect and the ego so that higher spiritual forces can communicate with our Inner Selves. Having a fundamental faith in the power and benevolence of those forces are good to cultivate so that we can truly let go and surrender ourselves to their care.

Simplicity: One of the greatest compliments the Teacher pays a person is to say that he or she is 'simple'; meaning open, direct, or uncomplicated. In our culture we tend to respect complexity, and we use our minds to make things 'more interesting', that is, more complex. But in meditation the intellect and complexity frankly has no place. The Teacher said once that it is very difficult for a complicated person to become simple. It is much easier, however, for a simple person to become complicated. One just needs to learn to constantly ask, "Why?" 

Impartial Observer

Detachment: When we learn to accept fate and surrender our egos and intellects we learn to have more detachment in our everyday lives. This does not mean that we don't care about things, people, or our responsibilities. We still experience strong emotions and can be deeply involved in many areas. But we learn to maintain a certain perspective, to see things in context rather than merely from the narrow viewpoint of our own egos. When someone infuriates us, we still feel the rage. In addition, however, we learn to have the discipline to also view the situation impersonally, as if we were an impartial observer.

It is good to learn detachment from our past patterns of behavior. Many of us define ourselves as victims for whom everything seems to go wrong, or as scapegoats who are always hated and picked on, or as underachievers/overachievers. We may learn to not define or limit ourselves in terms of stereotypes or anything else. And we may learn to detach ourselves from our own destructive habits.

Harmony with Nature: The final challenge is to consistently harmonize and flow with what is natural: Both the natural flow of the Universe and the flow of our own Inner natures. In meditation we learn to 'go with the flow' and to blend with different energies. In day-to-day life we strive to live in harmony with nature, not upsetting the natural balance of our world. 

Summary: It is good to consistently try to master the Seven Challenges, and integrate these values into our everyday lives. True spiritual development is measured by the goodness of our hearts and actions, not in our accomplishments and fame in the mundane world. Nor in our ability to meditate well. This, however, does not minimize the immense value of meditation.

Headache Relief

Meditation from the Heart's Quick Tip for Relief from a Headache

Does your head ever feel like this?

Many years ago I learned this easy and effective way to help others to get rid of their headache. It is a technique from Polarity Therapy. A person does not need years of meditation cultivation; it simply works every time. Even a child can do it.

Human beings are chock full of positive and negative electrons. At times they seem to gather in an over abundance in one's head - causing a headache.

For ease of description, Person A - is the one with the headache. Person B - is the one who is helping to lessen the headache via this polarity technique. 

Polarize a Headache

Have person A sit comfortably in a chair. Remove any hat or glasses.
Person B (standing) rubs their palms together briskly for a few seconds. Approach the left side of person A. Ask them to close their eyes and breathe deeply. Their breaths should be audible.

Person B places their right palm lightly against the base of 'A's' neck and the left palm about an inch away from 'A's' forehead.

Hold this position for a minute or two while person A is taking deep breaths. 

When done person B should flick their fingers a few times and or run their hands under cool water.

This simple technique helps to re-align the positive and negative electrons and moves the painful stagnant energy out of the head.

Gratitude Offers Abundant Living

I love this acronym: G.O.A.L. 

   Gratitude 

Offers 

     Abundant 

Living

When times are tough it is good to get back to the basics by reminding yourself of the many things you have in your life for which to be grateful.

Do not take life for granted. If you look at your life you will see that you really do have all that you need. Appreciate the little things in life. And know it is the little things that you do for others that people appreciate most.

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough. It turns denia into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates vision for tomorrow." - Melody Beattie

Blessings: If they are not appreciated then they are not blessings. You are a blessing.

Do not take life for granted. Focus on the joy of life right here, now! For example; “Mmm this is a great cup of tea/coffee. J”

Don't Worry Be Happy!

Happiness is a state of being.

Being happy does not mean you need to deny everything else. 

Do things that make you happy and agree with yourself.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

If you think about it you will know that there is nothing outside of ourselves that has the power to make us happy.

For example: If I think, “That cup of coffee over there will make me happy.” And I go over and get it, I may find that I am feeling happy for a while, but then I get bored with it (and the cup is soon empty). 
Now, I think, “Getting a new pair of shoes (like so and so is wearing) would make me happy.” Poof! I have new shoes. After a while I find the ‘external happiness’ fades. I get bored again.

This is temporary happiness only. Permanent happiness comes from within and goes with me where ever I go. So, if you catch yourself saying, “I will really be happy when…” Perhaps stop yourself and say, “I am truly happy now.”

Love and Happiness in LA

Meditation in LA

My husband, youngest son and I had the opportunity to see our meditation teacher in Los Angeles over the
Valentine's weekend. Love and Happiness were two of the main topics.

During a weekend workshop we participate with 10 hours of being with the Teacher. This is spread over Friday evening, Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday morning.
We do not meditate 10 hours straight. Our time is interspersed with meditation, pearls of wisdom, other teachings and healing work. I have gathered for you many of the pearls that relate to the theme of love and happiness.

It is good to love - cultivate it. One of my initial challenging lessons from my first days of meditation was to understand how important it is to love yourself first and to love yourself from within. My upbringing was to do everything for others first and if I had the time, then do for me. It actually works much better the other way around.

Not feeling well? The expression is, "Feeling under the weather." How about changing that to, "Feeling over the weather or above the weather," when you are healthy again.

The Teacher was talking to one of the gentlemen at the workshop about needing both money and love. "Which one is more important?" When one is in the initial stage of love then the world is an absolutely wonderful place to be. You can breathe in lightness and air - live off love alone. It is so fulfilling and delightful.

Are you happy when you are on vacation? Why not take that happiness feeling and apply to your work when you get back home? Be happy at work like you are on vacation.

Strangely enough, looking at oneself does not always spark happiness within because human beings have a  habit of self-criticism. Be happy with yourself...one little thing at a time. What we have should make us happy. We must cultivate love to give happiness easily.

It is not easy to surrender. Who to? Surrender to yourself...the big SELF, i.e. the higher self that resides within. That kind of surrender allows your spirit to guide you to find your happiness. Just accept yourself. Your friends do!!!

Fun in Alaska

Wake up knowing, "This is a nice morning." Say out loud or inwardly, "This is a nice morning!" with your very first step out the door. Take fun with you wherever you go. Life is beautiful. It is a gift. Enjoy it!

"Life is like a meatball." Solid, but requires mixing all the ingredients including the spices to make it fun. Make sure your self-talk is full of positives. "I can do this." "I'm feeling good."

You don't have to go looking for love. It will be there. Accept all things with love. Love yourself to mend broken relations.

Last Two of the Six Common Meditation Mistakes

Previously, we have looked at four of  the six most common meditation mistakes. (#1: I'm trying to quiet my mind. #2: I'm just trying to feel peaceful and open during my meditations. #3: "I've been doing the same practice for months or years." #4: "I'm trying to reach enlightenment or a permanent state of bliss.")

 If you have tried meditation and have become frustrated either with maintaining your practice or with a lack of results, do not feel alone. At times, even the most ardent practitioner can be derailed by these snafus.  

Many faults are rooted in typical, fundamental, misunderstandings about what the purpose of meditation is. These can derail any human being despite the best of intentions. The good news is, the meditations taught by Meditation from the Heart and the way they are presented, side-step the common errors entirely, giving you a far more reliable and enduring experience.

As we reveal more common meditation mistakes see if you recognize your own meditation ‘block(s)’.

Meditation Mistake #5: "I use my meditation as an escape from the challenges of life." Some

I'm sure it will be better over there

people may use meditation as a refuge or 'spiritual bypass'. Escaping into meditation to avoid facing or dealing with uncomfortable feelings or issues. This approach does not lead to good results. Rather such avoidance could lead to less, not more, ease and ability to deal with life issues.

Meditation is more about being fully present with everything that is - including discomfort and challenges. If there were no tough challenges in life then our life would become boring. And we would naturally create a situation that provides difficulties for our-self just to shake things up a bit.

Your meditation practice can empower and strengthen you to face truth and reality without hiding. Most of us are human beings who live and work in the world and have not chosen the monastic lifestyle. Please don't use that as an excuse to wait to have a meditation practice until 'the time is right.'

Also, ask yourself, "When or where are you happy?" Is it on vacation? Do you lose that happiness when you come back home and to work? Then treat your work as though you are on vacation. Be happy at work.

Meditation Mistake #6: "I hop from one spiritual teacher to the next trying to find the one who will make me feel the best and fulfill my desires." "Danger Will Robinson!" No one can make you feel anything or fulfill your desires. Only you can do these things for yourself. It is easy to show powerful and wonderful mystical experiences. It is much harder to work at a gentle pace to build a strong foundation which builds a harmonious and contented life. 

Don't be a cyber-bot

Please, do not give your power away to anyone. You and the innate spirit that resides within are perfectly capable of leading you to live a fulfilled life. Let your teachers gently remind and nudge you in the direction that is right for you.

More than anything, realize that we live in an age of fast information, where we can look up something that is puzzling us, read about it and decide if it is helpful or not. The key here is one, not to forget to take the time away from technology to just be with yourself. And two, to remember to move at the pace of a human being - not a cyber-bot.

Two More of the Six Common Meditation Mistakes

Previously, we have looked at two of  the six most common meditation mistakes. (#1: I'm trying to quiet my mind. #2: I'm just trying to feel peaceful and open during my meditations.) If you have tried meditation and have become frustrated either with maintaining your practice or with a lack of results, do not feel alone. At times, even the most ardent practitioner can be derailed by these snafus.  

Many faults are rooted in typical, fundamental, misunderstandings about what the purpose of meditation is. These can derail any human being despite the best of intentions. The good news is, the meditations taught by Meditation from the Heart and the way they are presented, side-step the common errors entirely, giving you a far more reliable and enduring experience.

As we reveal more common meditation mistakes see if you recognize your own meditation ‘block(s)’.

Personal Plateau

Meditation Mistake #3 - "I've been doing the same practice for months or years." First, let's remember that there is no wrong way to meditate. Experienced meditators can hit plateaus. Rote repetition of a single approach can drive you into a 'meditation rut', where your practice has lost some vitality and dynamics you have experienced before. 

If you have been meditating for years (or seems like ages) but aren't sure why you are doing it any more, Can't think of any benefits you are deriving, dread the practice or simply treat it like a habit you are forcing yourself to maintain, then this is probably your issue.

Just like an exercise program you have for your body can get stale - you need to shake it up every once and a while. Introduce some new challenges to stretch yourself. For example go to a group meditation practice, sign yourself up for a retreat or schedule yourself for an all day meditation at your own home or favorite place (not recommended for beginners).

Meditation from the Heart teaches a variety of approaches that inspires you to use your awareness in different ways. Effectively giving you tools that will 'cross-train' your body, mind and spirit. Thus lowering your chances of getting stuck in a rut. Rather, helping your meditation practice to become an ongoing journey of deepening awareness and curiosity. 

Enlightenment

Meditation Mistake #4 - "I'm trying to reach enlightenment or a permanent state of bliss." Don't worry, there are many mini enlightenment's along the way, however, you will still be learning until the day you die. Achieving a specific dramatic state of being or having flashy 'spiritual fireworks' is not the point of meditative cultivation.

If one tries to hold on to or continually go back to an incredible or 'favorite' experience you've had then not only are you actively engaging your mind, but you are also, in essence, holding on to the past and effectively closing yourself off to potentially more magnificent and uplifting experiences.

All states of being have a natural ebb and flow. Let your meditation practice lead you to a great many experiences with balance and liberation from the past.