Ease Into Meditation

Do you feel overwhelmed daily? Do you look around and notice all the people in your life who are stressed out and wish you had a solution or a game plan to prevent stress from affecting you in a similar fashion? Don’t wait until the stresses of life weigh you down before you attempt to combat them. Too much stress in one’s life can take its toll and can negatively affect how you respond to difficult or trying situations.

One sure method to de-stress your life is to meditate. You can begin as early as today. There are no special tools required, just yourself. You can meditate anywhere at any time. However, it would be better to find a quiet, distraction free space where you feel at ease. It is now time to go on the offensive and learn how to keep stress at bay, or at least how to minimize its effect on your mind and body.

You can begin by sitting in a comfortable, cross-legged position. You can sit on the floor, on a cushion or even a chair. Rest your hands on your knees. You can place your palms down if you feel you need grounding, or palms facing up for clarity and understanding. Close your eyes and let your mind and body relax. Keep your spine long (as if a string were pulling you up through the top of your head) and your shoulders and face soft. Turn up the corners of your mouth forming a slight smile.

Breathe in and out gently through your nose, letting the air brush over the back of your throat. You should hear a soft nasally sound like slight snoring. Fill your stomach and then your lungs with air. As you exhale, empty your lungs first and then your stomach. This may seem odd or even difficult at first but will get easier the more you practice. Your exhale should equal the length of your inhale. The focus of your meditation should be on each breath. However, if your mind should start to wander, as it will want to do, allow your thoughts to enter your mind and then let them go. Do not attempt to “not” think about your thoughts. Accept them and then release them. Just remember to bring your focus back to your breathing each time this occurs.

There is no designated time frame for you to sit in meditation. Even if you invest two minutes per day to your practice it will be beneficial. However, the more time you spend in meditation the greater an impact it will have. Meditation is for everyone and there are no specific age requirements to start. In fact, the earlier you begin meditation in your life, the better equipped you will be to face the challenges that may come your way. Meditation connects the mind, the body and the spirit and the benefits of a regular practice are cumulative.

Meditation is not difficult. You do, however, need to give yourself time to have a consistent, regular practice. Meditation can help you live and maintain a life where stress does not weigh you down. Follow the simple steps listed above and allow yourself to, “Ease into Meditation.”

I’ve put writing on the back burner for quite some time. Years in fact. I let the responses of others, when I told them of my desire to write, to dictate how I moved forward. When I told someone close to me of my desire to write and that I had taken a test to join The Writing Institute and was accepted, their response was, “when did writing become your dream? That’s my dream!” I actually thought they would be happy for me and felt disheartened by their response.

Writing has always been something I’ve enjoyed. When I signed up to take the test, I had also given a test to this person to take, thinking it would be fun to do together. Even if writing had been a new dream, which it wasn’t, I felt unsupported. I no longer feel that way. I will no longer stand idly by and allow my dreams to slip away. I will no longer feel guilty for going after a dream when the same opportunities are available to others.

My desire is to live my best life and to help women along the way. I can only determine what my best life is and live it. I can help others realize what their best life is and help them achieve it. I will always lift up and support women in everything they want to achieve. I do not feel threatened by the success of others. In fact, I celebrate it!

I have my own dreams and goals. God given desires. I understand that just because God gives me a dream, doesn’t mean he’s told someone else about it. I alone am responsible for listening to the promptings of my heart.

Hauntingly Beautiful

The words hauntingly beautiful came to mind recently and I was reminded of the time my husbands paternal grandmother was in the hospital, prior to her passing. Her children and grandchildren had decided to take turns staying with her, so she wouldn’t be alone when her time came. The night my husband stayed with his grandmother, he took our youngest daughter (she was 14 at the time) to the hospital with him. She took her guitar along, as she wanted to be able to play for her GG (great grandmother) one last time. Our daughter sang softly, strong with emotion, as she played at different times throughout the night. The nurses working the nightshift were all moved to tears and told my husband how “hauntingly beautiful” it was to hear her sing and play for Mary, during the quiet hours of the night.

Yoga Teacher Training

In 2010, I made the decision to take my yoga practice to the next level and get my yoga teacher training certification. I knew I wanted to go to Bali, Indonesia to do an intensive program. An intensive program was my best option as I worked in healthcare (every other weekend) and couldn’t commit to a local program with training on weekends that weren’t designated at that point. The initial yoga teacher training program I was going with had to cancel the training, because their center in Bali, burned.

I almost gave up on going, but about a month after receiving the news that the yoga center had burned, I came across information on another yoga teacher training, also to be held in Bali, Indonesia. I reached out to Yandara Yoga for information on their program and made the decision to go.

The night I flew into Bali, I had no idea where I was going to stay (I was not meeting up with the shuttle to the Yandara training until the next day). This was a first for me, as I had never traveled alone and previously had only ever flown on direct flights. After receiving my Visa for the month and picking up my luggage, I ventured outside the airport. Here in the states, most airports have car rentals. In Bali, they actually have Villa rentals. To say I was relieved was an understatement.

I was in Bali for the entire month of July, 2011. We trained 5-7 hours a day with one day off during the week for site seeing. After the training was completed, I stayed in Bali and rented a Villa with some of my fellow graduates for a few days before flying home.

Receiving my 200hr yoga teacher training certification has been one of the proudest moments of my life. I am so appreciative to Yandara Yoga and to everyone who was part of my experience. I carry those memories with me and cherish them all! I look forward to taking the 500hr training with Yandara in the not to distant future.

New ventures are often scary. They pull us from our comfort zone and launch us into the unfamiliar. Do not be discouraged. This is where growth occurs. Be willing to learn and then to put what you’ve learned into practice. You may be on the verge of the greatest experience of your life. Enjoy the journey. Life happens in the midst of the journey.

To Live

So often, we let the daily grind of life weigh us down. We compromise our goals. We suppress our desires. We put others needs before our own. We walk through each day as if we have an endless amount stored up. Thinking, I’ll do it tomorrow or I’ll do it when… But, our time here is limited. We cannot hold blindly to the belief that someday will come. Someday never comes. We only have today. So, do that which feeds your spirit today. Do one thing today that will bring you closer to your goal. Offer forgiveness not because someone is worthy of it, but because none of us are. Give love freely. Lend a hand to a stranger. Be kind to every person you meet. Every day determine that today is the day you are going to live!

Among the Lotus

To move through this life unscathed, is to not have lived at all.

In the quiet of the evening he likened my spirit to the Lotus. The Lotus must find its way from the muddy earth up through the water into the sunshine to reveal its beauty. I too must work my way out of the hardships and difficulties of this life to shine bright for the world to see.

I’ve witnessed and experienced things that darken the soul. And yet, God! I have fallen face down, naked, crying out to God to mend what was broken and he did. I have been so lost I didn’t know if I’d ever find my way back to the person God created me to be. But, here I am. I am nothing without his grace and mercy and yet he calls me to be an encouragement and an inspiration to those he places in my path. He is the light. May he ever shine brightly from my soul.

I find myself among the Lotus.

Soar like Eagles

but those whose hope is in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be feint. – Isaiah 40:31

This verse gives me so much encouragement. An eagle can soar for a very long time. Whatever needs to be done, I have faith that I will accomplish it.

Staying on Track

Sometimes we desire something more in our lives. We set out on a journey to achieve it. Somewhere along the way we get derailed and we’re not even sure how it happened. We can either stay off the tracks or we can pick up our caboose and get back on track. Keep pushing. Keep showing up. Before you know it you’ve reached your destination.  Gratitude abounds and all is right with the world.