The Word of the Week - Meditation

This morning as I pondered as to what I would write today, I was guided to discuss the most important factor of my tool kit that keeps me peaceful, happy and centred, which is that of meditation.  Now what I am about to say is without apology whatsoever and I stand by this statement forever.  In the quest to becoming a more joyful, happy and confident being you have to meditate. I know this statement comes off as a bit strong, as in most of my writings, I try to lead you gently to think and act in an alternative way to what you believe is your nature, but on this point, the edict is necessary.

 In my experience on this journey to my big self, I used to meditate every morning without fail. Very simply I would put a piece of relaxing music on my iPod and did what is termed as “sitting in the power.”  I would just quiet my mind, focus on my breathing and listen to the music.  That was it, I would have thoughts flowing in and out, usually about the things that I had to do that day or matters that were a concern to me.  Sometimes, I would slip up and create a dialogue with the offending thought, but I would catch myself and remember to focus upon my breathing and the thought would go away.  This meditation would last for the duration of the track that I had selected, usually for five minutes and then I would open my eyes and continue with my day.  Sadly, I stopped this practice and at the same time aborted the good progress I was making. 

 In hindsight, I now realise that this was truly the source of my power and I now meditate regularly, both in the morning and in the evening, sometimes more.  I would interchange between guided meditations, or just sit in the power.  I also pray during these times and open up myself for guidance from my higher self by just stilling my mind.  Further, I set my intention for the day too with an affirmation from one of my teachers (as all the authors that move me are my teachers), Doreen Virtue.  In her book, Daily Guidance from your Angels, I use the following affirmation every morning without fail and I will tell you emphatically that I have had not one bad day by doing this.  I am at least 70% happy every day and this is my wish for you too, actually, I wish 100% happiness for you each day.

 “I send love into the hours that lie before me, and I saturate the entire day with great joy.  Every moment is overflowing with love, harmony and cooperation.”

 When I say this each morning and without any effort on my part, I actually enjoy my day and my interactions, even when I have a little bit of road rage, which nowadays is very fleeting.  There are countless benefits to meditation, which I will go into detail next week, but for now do your big self the honour by trying to sit in the power this weekend for five minutes after you arise in the morning, say the above affirmation after you meditate and just go about your day. 

 The phrase, “Rome was not built in a day,” comes to mind here, however, the subtle shifts that you make in your daily practices will build you a foundation so strong that nothing outside of yourself will shake your centre. 

 So sit in YOUR power and shine your light!

 Nameste

The Word of the Week - Love and Kindness part 2 - Change your story

You have a story that you tell about yourself, which you identify as the truth for you.  This story could be about the way you feel about your body, for example “I have a fat stomach, or “I have flabby arms.”  Alternatively, it could be a story about your health, “I am always sick,” or “I have a low immunity,” or about your upbringing, family issues and the big one “Oh woe is me, my life is so hard and I have to struggle for everything.”  We all have a story about one thing or another of which we have now assimilated as part of our personality.  So much so, that if we were to change the story, you may feel as if you are losing part of your identity.

You will notice that I have used the word “story” with which to describe this condition because in truth that is exactly what it is. “Ahh,” you cry, “It isn’t a story, it is true, because I am fat and I do struggle with life because my reality tells me so!”  Well I cannot argue with that, your reality does tell you so, why, because you actually created it and this creation begins (and also ends) with the story that you first told yourself.  Your purpose on this planet is to create, you are in fact an AWESOME creative being and your creative process starts with the thoughts that you think about yourself which eventually turn into beliefs. When you tell yourself something enough times, you will actually start to believe it and this, in turn creates your reality.  Therefore, would it not be more beneficial to you and your reality if you were to delete your old story and replace it with a new one.  Now first let me state, this is NOT a magical process whereby you wake up one morning  stand in front of the mirror with your eyes closed and say I am no longer fat I am thin, then when you open your eyes you have this amazing body staring back at you. (If only :-) ) No, this recreating your story is primarily a deep acceptance of who you are right here and right now.  It is about accepting every single part of you, even the parts that you dislike and still learning to love yourself in spite of the story that you have told.

Your body has tantrums by making you ill or by not complying with your will when you do not give it the love and respect that it deserves.  You are first and foremost a spiritual being living a physical experience.  This means the spirit originates first and is housed in a physical body second, which you learn to honour so that your spiritual self can reside in comfort.  To take the tentative steps to change your story, find something that you say about yourself that is negative and you have said it repeatedly out of habit. As an example, I used to complain repeatedly about my double stomachs, yes, there were two of them, one that kept my boobs up and another that sat on my lap!!!!!! I initially struggled to say this, but I learned to say out loud whilst standing in the mirror “I love my stomachs (notice the plural here)” and I had to keep saying it, over and over and over again until I actually grew to love them.  As I grew to love my stomachs for the first time since having my children, they have, I am very proud to say, disappeared!  I have not dieted and I have not fasted, I have just learned to love every single part of me that I first disliked.

 So this weekend, find a story that you would like to change and take the first steps to liberation by using love and the expression of such to orchestrate this change. 

In the words of Marianne Williamson, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

So go on and be powerful,  change your story and use words that give you life!

Namaste

The Word of the Week - Love and Kindness

Today I would like you all to open your hearts to loving thoughts and kindness for the weekend.  Each and every one of you have a unique gift with which the world is waiting to receive, and in order to tap into this gift you need to learn to listen to that wonderful guidance system within that always encourages and loves you.  You know the ego will fool you into believing the worst about yourself.  It will highlight every flaw, make you feel less than you are and stifle your creativity with fears that are just stories that you have created in your head.  In fact, it keeps you from being your true self.  One who is ALL-powerful, unlimited, loving and kind.

On my journey, I have learned that I am not the flawed person that I thought I once was.  I have learned that I am loved and am lovable.  I have learned to be patient with my growth and development, trusting that all the experiences that I create can be changed with a shift of my thoughts.  I have learned to forgive myself when I make a mistake and in doing so I learn to forgive others and try not to hold any judgements. More importantly, I have learned to quiet my mind and sit in the stillness of my being that helps me to connect to the divine voice within.

To allow love and kindness to operate in you, you first have to be loving and kind to yourself.  Now, through my own experience I know that I would say I love myself, but I would act in unloving ways, thus there would be incongruence between my thought and action. I had to learn to say I love ME and mean it, by doing loving things for myself.  For example, I may run a warm bath with salts, essential oils and candles; give myself a facial then moisturise my skin with wonderful oils.  Now in the act of doing this, I would take my time to anoint my skin.  I would think loving thoughts about different areas of my body and really try to connect with it.  Our bodies are amazing works of scientific phenomena.  Dr Deepak Chopra states that the elements that make up a star in the sky is the same elements that are contained within the body, in fact 93% of the mass in our body IS stardust. Therefore, you are officially a star!!!!!   When you respect and honour your body, with the thoughts you think, the food you eat and the exercise you give it, the body responds by giving you a very healthy vessel with which to operate.  Your body remains amazing because when we do abuse it horrendously it still shows up for us!!!

Loving yourself means feeding your soul, feeding the Spirit first within which in turn reflects its light in the body that houses it.

So this weekend, honour your true self.  Stop the harsh thought that you have been accustomed to say about yourself and do something wonderful by learning to tap into the silence of your mind so you can hear what your body is trying to tell you.

Love and light to you all