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Post by auntym on Jan 10, 2011 12:22:59 GMT -6
www.ufodigest.com/article/dreams-and-meditations-bring-buried-memories-encounters Dreams and Meditations Bring Buried Memories of Encounters?Submitted by Regan Lee on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 01:09 By Regan Lee The Orange Orb No idea why, but lately I've been thinking, very mildly mind you, of an old boyfriend of mine when I was a teenager. This is more than forty years ago. At the time, of course I was madly, wildly, deeply, subterraneanly deeply, in love. The breakup was awful, oh, it was the end of the world! Of course years later I realized we really had nothing in common, even then I remember, as in love as I was (or thought I was, being a teenager) that he was a bit of a stick in the mud and except for hormones and some shared skewed views on things didn't have much in common with each other. So, as I say, no idea why over the past couple of weeks this person has been popping into my head. Well, memories and all that; they come, they go, they revisit. Last night I had a dream, and this individual was in it. TO CONTINUE READING CLICK ON ABOVE LINK
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Post by auntym on Jan 10, 2011 23:12:10 GMT -6
Chief Golden Eagle requests all people of Light to spend time on 1-11-11 at 11:11 am and 11:11 pm, to pray for People of Earth to Wake Up!
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Post by auntym on Jan 18, 2011 11:59:05 GMT -6
www.ufodigest.com/article/using-meditation-constructive-toolUsing Meditation as a Constructive ToolSubmitted by Ron Murdock on Tue, 01/18/2011 - 13:18 No one group has a monopoly on meditation. To think otherwise is setting up an elitist mentality. Plus complying to any particular set way of doing something doesn't help a person in setting up their own meditation practice. As when starting a new thing in life there is always the initial excitement. It's like buying a toy of any size at any stage of a persons life, the novelty lasts for a short time then wears off as the emotional excitement loses its blinding effect. It may be just as wise to avoid commitment to any form of group activity until one finds the true essence of what they are looking for. There are times when one needs to look to see if they bringing about real change in their life or just changing costumes. No matter what, firsthand experience is a better teacher than just reading books, sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher or conforming to a set routine or pattern. TO CONTINUE READING CLICK ON ABOVE LINK
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Post by auntym on Sept 4, 2011 11:15:20 GMT -6
this is great....turn up the sound....kick off your shoes...close your eyes and jusT relax & listen..... Meditation. Instant effect, relaxation. blisscoded sound. [/color] Uploaded by marcusphotina on Jul 9, 2009 right now: 40% discount! www.xphirience.com**OVER 900.000 VIEWS , THANK YOU ALL, KEEP SPREADING THE VIDEO!** We also offer an affiliate system at xphirience.com with a 40% comission. No binaural beats or any other brainwave entrainment at all is used. This is based on a unique technology named Bliss Coded sound. High quality version: Please be aware: This sound can be very powerfull. experienced meditators are aware that repressed energy will be released by the effects of meditation and the charge in the energy block will be experienced before it lets go totally and leaves you free from it. This is a sign that things are working. This can be repressed memories, repressed emotions etc that you will go through and heal from sooner or later. Close your eyes when the sound starts. When it stops and the music takes over, you can open your eyes. This is a short sample of Bliss coded sound. When listening to this a little longer than in this demo, the thoughts and mind slow down very much and suddenly there is no awareness of time at all. You can get a total of 4h 41min of bliss coded sound in a special package from the website www.xphirience.com.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2011 13:11:43 GMT -6
Nice. I feel good... kinda like how I felt after the hypnosis sessions only not as relaxed... there's that "good" feeling there though. Interesting...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2011 14:02:01 GMT -6
I have some amazing binaurals that just leave you feeling relaxed and wonderful. Just about all that's on my ipod Before you start your day...try this simple 'prayer' "Beings of light and love please surround me (and my family if you like) with a bubble of protective light to shield me from negativity, fear and harm" Works wonders
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Post by auntym on Mar 16, 2012 11:56:56 GMT -6
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120314170647.htm
Evidence Builds That Meditation Strengthens the Brain[/color] ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2012) — Earlier evidence out of UCLA suggested that meditating for years thickens the brain (in a good way) and strengthens the connections between brain cells. Now a further report by UCLA researchers suggests yet another benefit. Eileen Luders, an assistant professor at the UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, and colleagues, have found that long-term meditators have larger amounts of gyrification ("folding" of the cortex, which may allow the brain to process information faster) than people who do not meditate. Further, a direct correlation was found between the amount of gyrification and the number of meditation years, possibly providing further proof of the brain's neuroplasticity, or ability to adapt to environmental changes. The article appears in the online edition of the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of neural tissue. Among other functions, it plays a key role in memory, attention, thought and consciousness. Gyrification or cortical folding is the process by which the surface of the brain undergoes changes to create narrow furrows and folds called sulci and gyri. Their formation may promote and enhance neural processing. Presumably then, the more folding that occurs, the better the brain is at processing information, making decisions, forming memories and so forth. "Rather than just comparing meditators and non-meditators, we wanted to see if there is a link between the amount of meditation practice and the extent of brain alteration," said Luders. "That is, correlating the number of years of meditation with the degree of folding." Of the 49 recruited subjects, the researchers took MRI scans of 23 meditators and compared them to 16 control subjects matched for age, handedness and sex. (Ten participants dropped out.) The scans for the controls were obtained from an existing MRI database, while the meditators were recruited from various meditation venues. The meditators had practiced their craft on average for 20 years using a variety of meditation types -- Samatha, Vipassana, Zen and more. The researchers applied a well-established and automated whole-brain approach to measure cortical gyrification at thousands of points across the surface of the brain. CONTINUE READING: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120314170647.htm
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Post by earthsong on Mar 19, 2012 1:02:21 GMT -6
Hi all, this is a great topic. I'm glad to see it here... I'll just briefly add that in my practice/view I put my own shield around myself and my children on a daily basis. You see, I am the one in control again.
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Post by skywalker on Mar 19, 2012 5:35:16 GMT -6
Welcome to the forum Earthsong.
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Post by auntym on Mar 19, 2012 10:25:42 GMT -6
WELCOME EARTHSONG.... .... how did you find out about us? ...
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Post by paulette on Mar 19, 2012 18:48:01 GMT -6
I am a bit confused about the use of the word "meditation" in regarding a visualization for safety. Meditation IMO is sitting and letting whatever is be as is. Not arguing with it or being reactive to it. Just sitting (or walking or floating) and dispassionately watching what comes and goes into and out of consciousness. It is not about being IN CONTROL. In fact, IMO and from what I've read and experienced in my whole life, trying to be IN CONTROL causes stress, sadness, fear, anger, etc. I'm not saying visualizations of white light may not be comforting and maybe they are effective. But this is NOT meditation.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 10:37:17 GMT -6
We can and often do without even thinking exercise our 'control' in many ways. How we conduct our daily lives raise our children and in what we choose to give that control to (God, angels, etc). Meditation it involves relaxing the self to receive messages and guidance from those sources. Or so I was taught by my guide. Meditation does have other uses though. Some use it to channel other spirits or entities some use it to direct energy to a source. I've done that before when someone is upset or needs a booster of strength..meditate and send a 'beam' of energy in that direction. If your purpose is a good one, it works. If a darker purpose then those dudes I stay well away from ;D Life must be balanced..if we open up to good we are vulnerable to it's flip side so protection is necessary too. Paulette I think you might enjoy this site there's a wealth of information here some I agree with, some I don't but there's a lot here for the 'traveler' I know you to be www.bibliotecapleyades.net/esp_2012_02.htm#2012: Ascension, Rebirth & the Dimensional Shift
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Post by earthsong on Mar 20, 2012 16:49:24 GMT -6
Thanks for the welcomes, found it by googling edge of reality to see what stuff might be there...lol And yes, the basic form of meditation is the stillness of the mind, but for the advanced methods you learn visualization and how to take action...most do not try to go to that level because they only need the release. But myself, being a healer it is a neccesary tool. I was trained to do this and it took a course of some years to master (though I do not consider myself a master, nor will I ever.) If interested I can share some techniques to help learn this avenuw of meditation...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2012 22:03:26 GMT -6
It's nice to meet you Earthsong..I hope you enjoy your time here
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Post by skywalker on Mar 21, 2012 19:48:33 GMT -6
Are you saying you use meditation to heal? How does that work?
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Post by auntym on Apr 5, 2012 14:11:27 GMT -6
www.unknowncountry.com/news/magical-cure The Magical Cure[/color] Thursday, April 5, 2012 Image Credit: Dreamstime Therapists used to think of meditation as nothing more than a fading hippie pursuit or a useful means of relaxation. But a few psychologists were secretly trying it out--and they found it to be an incredible healer. Whitley Strieber found it to be something even MORE: In "Solving the Communion Enigma," he talks about how meditation helped connect him to the Visitors. On AlterNet, Ronald Siegel writes: "The first use of mindfulness in psychotherapy to capture widespread attention among clinicians was introduced in the early 1990s to treat suicidal individuals with complex disorders for which little else seemed to work. "Today, the picture is dramatically different. In a 2007 survey, over 41% of the nearly 2,600 therapists who responded reported that they were practicing some form of 'mindfulness therapy.' Mindfulness-based treatments are now being introduced into graduate programs, are frequently discussed at academic conferences, and are a constant on the workshop circuit. Certificate programs are appearing. Books about mindfulness for the treatment of you-name-it are coming out weekly, and we've even gotten to the stage where we're beginning to see titles like 'Beyond Mindfulness.' "If we choose to use them this way, the array of practices gathering under the mindfulness umbrella can help us and our clients inch toward greater wisdom and compassion, with the ambitious goal of developing greater psychological awareness and freedom. This is the ultimate promise and challenge of the marriage between mindfulness and psychotherapy." You can be sure that Whitley will lead some great new meditations at our Dreamland Festival in May. He's found this to be the best way to get into contact with the Visitors, so whether or not you're a contactee--or want to be--come meditate with us in Nashville! And don't dread tomorrow--Meditate today! CONTINUE READING: www.unknowncountry.com/news/magical-cure#ixzz1rCLrwCYU
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2012 17:07:39 GMT -6
I think at one time people thought of meditation as some mystical tool without realizing that most of us meditate (we just don't give name to it). Being quiet, being within, taking a moment to be in your personal space, zoning out..are all meditation forms. The more we get in touch with ourselves the more we can use our inner selves and yes..even for healing
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Post by auntym on May 9, 2012 13:28:19 GMT -6
www.store.unexplainable.net/products/meditation.php Meditation is still an effective coping mechanism[/color] "Meditation is very important. It has a very high objective - to take us away from this world of suffering into the world of happiness, joy and Bliss. It is a method, a discipline, that we have to follow very discreetly and if we follow it properly we will find that meditation helps us to discover ourselves, what we really are. As we get deeper into meditation we come nearer to the Source of our Being." -Swami Nirliptananda Many practice "meditation," or focus their minds on an object while attempting to clear out conscious thought, but in order to achieve proper meditation, your brain must first remove all the blockages and disturbances you feel during your average day. We're trained from life that letting go and focusing on one object is a bad thing. Some of us surf the internet even as a television plays in the background, taking on two very attentive activities that divide our attention more than most people would have their entire lives just a few generations ago. If our minds require so much input just to be entertained, it clearly says something about our state of mind. How can we truly live and appreciate any single thing if we are so scatterbrained we can't even enjoy the simple things in life? Take it all back. Start fresh with our program by removing your mental blocks and showing your mind how to live without the chaos it used to crave. When we meditate, we are training the mind and body to reach a state of "ecstasy" or "gnosis." In this gnostic state, knowledge spills into our conscious minds from the unconscious as we lose ourselves in deep thought. In order to understand how our program will help you meditate more effectively, we'll look at the anatomy of a meditation session step by step. Meditation begins when you move from the Beta every-day state to the Alpha state where your mind takes on a more powerful role in calculating, higher language function, and higher cognitive understanding. This is where problems arise for many beginning meditators. The Alpha state isn't easy to just naturally "achieve" out of nowhere, unless you know how to do it consciously. The very act of raising to an Alpha level can take years of study to achieve unless you have a point of reference. We offer that point of reference with Binaural Beats so you actually go in the right direction when meditating, rather than just falling asleep. FOR MORE INFO: www.store.unexplainable.net/products/meditation.php
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Post by auntym on Jun 6, 2013 10:26:18 GMT -6
allabout-2012.com/120_meditation-at-home.html
Meditation At HomeMeditating at home is a convenient place to relax with meditation, but it also is an environment that can introduce the most distractions. Brainwave entrainment products and other tips and techniques can help you stay focused. Sleep The biggest challenge for many of us is trying not to fall asleep during meditation. The best time to do meditation is after a few hours of sleep. It is no fun dozing off just as you see a tunnel that you believe is your escape into the astral world. You had planned on flying over ancient Greece and maybe even dropping in on a lecture by Plato but instead you are deep in a dream state and being chased by dragons. To avoid sleep, find the right time of day for you to practice meditation. The mind is often the most at peace during early morning before the stresses of the day set in. Meditating with the sunrise is always a serene experience. An early meditation also helps you turn on a positive state and take on the world during the day with a positive mindset. Brainwave entrainment products are one of the most effective ways of introducing discipline to at-home meditation. If you do start to fall asleep, a change in tone will often return you to a state of wakefulness. Many meditators do reality checks, especially those who engage in astral travel and lucid dreaming. Most of us are less ambitious. We are focused on achieving a state of deep relaxation and entering the hypnogogic state between wakefulness and dreaming. Reality checks are useful at all stages of meditation. From time to time, press your thumb into the palm of your hand, or employ whatever reality check you choose. Discipline Most meditators find that the mind will wander more easily at home then in a more structured guided meditation class. Even experienced meditators appreciate doing guided meditation from time to time. There are many meditation recordings and brainwave entrainment products to keep your at-home meditation on track. Maintaining a regular daily meditation schedule will help you make the required adjustments to ensure the best meditation experience. Place and Position It is best to create one special place for meditation in your home environment. You will come to associate this place with a relaxed, tranquil meditative state and your state will begin to shift as soon as you enter the room. Be creative. Build a Buddhist alter if you so desire with icons that are meaningful to you. Or perhaps you want to recreate your favorite meadowland from childhood in your garden. At-home meditation should be comfortable but not too cozy. Do not try and do meditation in your favorite lounge chair or hammock in the backyard. Your spine should be straight, allowing energy to flow up through the energy channels aligned with the chakras. Do not confine your meditation practice to one place and one time during the day. You can take your at-home meditation with you during the day. When you reach a meditation state you like, anchor it. An anchor is any physical stimulus you choose. It may be as simple as touching your thumb and baby finger together. The next time you are stressed out by a work task – before leading a team meeting or delivering a speech, for example – call up your anchor, relax, smile and remind yourself that you are going to do great. MORE: allabout-2012.com/120_meditation-at-home.html
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niki
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Post by niki on Aug 6, 2013 6:09:58 GMT -6
If anyone is interested, Deepak Chopra has a 21-day online meditation course,available free of charge. Register with facebook, google or email. Each day contains a different spiritual message and intent. chopracentermeditation.com/about-us
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Post by auntym on Aug 9, 2013 10:30:03 GMT -6
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/meditation-for-beginners_n_3683131.html?ref=topbar 3 Meditation Techniques For BeginnersPosted: 08/09/2013 By Laura McMullen for U.S. News Gold stars to those who can make it through this article without wondering about dinner or unattended emails, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or scanning half a page before realizing you have no idea what the heck you just read. Amit Sood, author of the upcoming book "The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living," calls this autopilot daze, in which we're physically here, but mentally elsewhere -- our "default mode." And it's not a great place to be. We spend about half of our day in default mode, in which we're typically unhappy, he says, adding that too much time in this mode can lead to increased risk of depression, anxiety and attention deficit. Our brain's counter to default mode is its focus mode. Imagine if, as you were reading, a giraffe walked up to you. Chances are, you'd stop reading and thinking about emails, dinner and Instagram, and focus entirely on the giraffe. A perhaps more realistic example: You're driving home from work, thinking about who knows what, when a police car pulls up behind you. Even if you're obeying the law, your attention may now shift to the rearview mirror and speedometer, as recollections of the workday are replaced with silent urges for the police car to change course. We may not want a police car (or a giraffe) following us, but it is helpful to engage that focused attention these experiences beckon. Meditation is essentially the process of doing just that -- cutting through our brain's static and finding focus. The practice not only offers a slew of health benefits, from stress management, to possibly helping with high blood pressure, heart disease and depression, but it's also something you can weave into your everyday life. If you simply want to give it a try, there's no need for a trip to the doctor's office or a monastery. "Meditation is nothing mystical," Sood says. "It's basically your trained attention." Beginners can try the three simple meditation exercises below just about anywhere, at anytime. Before jumping in, here's a bit of advice from Catherine Kerr, director of translational neuroscience at Brown University's Contemplative Studies Initiative: "Go slow, and be compassionate and gentle with yourself." It's natural for your mind to wander as you try to focus, she says, so when it does, don't distress. CONTINUE READING: www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/09/meditation-for-beginners_n_3683131.html?ref=topbar
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Post by auntym on Jul 16, 2014 12:05:06 GMT -6
ufodigest.com/article/escalator-0715 DOWN THE ESCALATOR AND BACK THROUGH TIMEBy Dirk Vander Ploeg Envision yourself at your favorite shopping mall. Now imagine standing at the top of a down escalator. See the stairs moving: locking and collapsing forming new steps and then repeating. The black handrail seems alive rolling up to the top and then suddenly descending down. Your hand moves forward and hesitantly grabs hold of the handrail. Your body lurches forward with your foot unconsciously searching for purchase. Feel the shudder of this mechanical device as your body automatically adjusts to the movement. This escalator is your time machine allowing your mind to travel back to an unexpected yet welcome past. Your eyes are closed and your body is at rest. You are relaxing in a reclining chair or laying comfortably on your sofa. Calming words are directing your movements as you slip slowly under her control. The escalator is vibrating, hastening your descent. You are asked to look around and your memory provides glimpses of things remembered, signs, colors, and you feel assured. You have ridden many escalators and this is a familiar experience. The reassuring bottom floor is approaching. You hesitate, as always, cautiously but decisively, stepping from a moving platform to a still landing. There, you've done it. Feet firmly planted on the ground. You look around and see familiar kiosks and storefronts. You are ushered on, instructed to turn right and to follow the hallway leading away. You are told to look for a door and once found to describe its color. The door is green and you open it and enter the space behind it. You are told that you are in a beautiful meadow that has a pathwayleading to a forest and beyond. Following the path, you are reassured by its familiarity and enter the forest. It is reminiscent of forests you've seen. The trees are comforting and you stop at one point to rub your hands over the bark of an exceptionally beautiful tree. A few seconds later you exit the forest and follow the worn path around to the right where you are made aware that soon you will meet someone, someone familiar. And there, coming into view, is a woman with a young child. She is beautiful, tall, and slender with long dark hair. You have never seen her before, but you know her, and you know her name. It is Sarah. And the child, a boy five years old, lifts his head and looks into your eyes and you realize this boy is your son. This voice guides you back to the escalator and once again you step off but this time you are in a darkened room. The walls are made of huge rocks cemented into place. Filtered light is coming in through small, narrow windows. The floor and ceiling are hewn out of rough timbers and there before you is a table. The table consists of wide wooden planks, hand polished down to a semi-smooth finish and fastened together by pieces of iron. You are asked if there is anything on the table and you answer: "Yes." CONTINUE READING: ufodigest.com/article/escalator-0715
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sunbow
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Seeing, Dreaming, and Loving...
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Post by sunbow on Jul 21, 2014 11:51:25 GMT -6
I have meditated since tenth grade (over 40 years ago) and meditation has been with me my whole life. Last year I encountered a post about two dragons to each side of a temple in Japan: They are AH and OM. The same as the Taiwan dog dragons that guard so many entrances. You will find them in Tibet as well. Symbolically they guard the entry to the inner infinite world. So we all know that when we say Ahh, that is when something feels good. And we say MMM when we eat a good tasting bite of food, and if it is really good the M might descend into N. Therefore, healing sound is to breath with AHHH in our thoughts and breath out with MMMNNN in our thoughts. This can be continuous as AHHUMMMN blending inbreath into out breath with continuous thought vibration. Or this can be breathing in Ah and out Men as in Ahmen. This is common teaching from very ancient Hindu into more recent Buddhism and Christian scriptures. Here is my mantra page: Mantra Meditation
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Post by auntym on Jul 21, 2014 12:44:09 GMT -6
very nice sunbow...
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Post by auntym on Sept 27, 2014 14:54:45 GMT -6
www.stumbleupon.com/su/2vs0ug/?utm_campaign=how_meditate&utm_source=twitter_sup&utm_medium=em_inspo&utm_term=ALL&utm_content=ALLHow to meditateIdeas for how to begin daily meditation for people who've never tried it or feel like they couldn't ever get their mind to be quiet.By: Judd Handler Wed, Mar 09, 2011 Feeling scatterbrained? Stressed-out and overwhelmed? Depressed? It’s time to calm your mind. Here are some tips on how to meditate and the benefits you’ll receive from daily meditation. Warning: your life might change if you start meditating. Eventually, you may: *Develop appreciation for the mundane every-day tasks that bore you and keep you joyless. *No longer be bombarded by the constantly chattering “monkey mind” that’s been taking up residence in your brain. *Lower your blood pressure; perhaps you’ll be able to stop taking your meds. *Recognize the illusion of problems your mind spins out of control; learn how to see the hilarity of every-day dramas. *Attract more positivity in your life. You gotta believe! Can’t sit still for an hour while you’re in a position that seems like you’d strain your groin staying in it for any longer than a minute? Don’t let that dissuade you from giving meditation a try. You don’t have to be like Buddha and sit in perfect “lotus pose” with your ankles up into your hip sockets. You can be seated in a chair or even lying down on your back staring up at the ceiling or sky. Meditation doesn’t have to be an impossible spiritual pursuit necessitating pure stillness. You can try moving meditations like tai chi or qi gong. Yoga classes can be meditative. Some people even meditate while they walk. They concentrate on every step and attempt not to get distracted by their own thoughts. Instead, focus is put on the setting, which can be anywhere that’s quiet (even if it’s the garage or laundry room). Anywhere that’s quiet and has natural beauty is a bonus. Go for a walk and “be in the present,” paying close attention to the rustling of the leaves on a tree or a flock of birds flying overhead. While walking, also focus on the dynamic rhythms of the breath, with stomach and ribs expanding on the inhale and the deflations of the exhalations. However you decide to meditate, the first baby step — but a very important one on the road to a calmer mind and less stressful life — is determining that you are ready for a change in your life. Try telling yourself this: “I’m attracting peace in my life.” But don’t half-heartedly say it. You must truly feel that you’re going to be successful in focusing on the positive and calming the mind. If you’re meditating because you heard Dr. Phil say it’s good for you, but you have your doubts it will do any good, you’ve already set yourself up for failure to make a powerful, uplifting change in your life. CONTINUE READING: www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/how-to-meditate#ixzz3EYH6j6Zm
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Post by auntym on Jan 22, 2015 12:48:56 GMT -6
www.stumbleupon.com/su/88QUjr/QWSm8C3N:GCkHSl72/www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/britta-holzel-life-lessons_n_6459298.html Life Tips From The Ph.D. Who's Discovering How Meditation Changes Your BrainNico Pitney Become a fan / nico@huffingtonpost.com Posted: 01/13/2015 Britta Hölzel is not your typical yoga teacher. Or your typical Ph.D. neuroscientist. In recent years, during fellowships at Harvard Medical School and elsewhere, Hölzel has co-authored a range of studies focused on the intersection of two great passions of her life, how meditation and yoga affect the brain. Most notably, in 2011, she and her colleagues found that people “who meditated for about 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had measurable changes in gray-matter density in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.” Photo by Daniel OntanedaBrain scans of the meditators showed "increased gray matter in the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory" and "a reduction of gray matter in the amygdala, a region connected to anxiety and stress," the New York Times reported. "A control group that did not practice meditation showed no such changes.” The Huffington Post interviewed Dr. Hölzel for Sophia, a project to collect life lessons from fascinating people. Currently on parental leave, she shared practical wisdom about happiness, relationships, her daily routines, how to get started with meditation, and the books she's found most influential. She also discussed findings from her latest research on mindfulness and the brain. Have you had any recent realizations about living a rewarding life?I think I'm relearning many things over and over again, because it's so easy to lose all these lessons. Just these last days it has become clear again how important presence is to living a rewarding life, being aware of what's happening in the present moment and being mindful. It's like, whoa, it makes such a big difference. It's so easy to go on with your daily routines -- especially now, with a baby -- having your routines of doing the dishes, the laundry, and all that stuff, and forgetting about being present to what's actually happening in your life. It's so easy, really, to miss your own life. What I value are these brief moments when you wake up to the fact that you're actually living, that you're alive and healthy, and the fact that it is so easy to just enjoy it. CONTINUE READING: www.stumbleupon.com/su/88QUjr/QWSm8C3N:GCkHSl72/www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/britta-holzel-life-lessons_n_6459298.html
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Post by auntym on Jul 25, 2015 14:59:01 GMT -6
www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientist-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-it-literally-changes-your-brain/?postshare=4181432860835532Buddhist and meditation teacher Tara Brach leads a Vipassana meditation group at the River Road Unitarian Church in Bethesda. (Andrea Bruce Woodall/The Washington Post) Harvard neuroscientist: Meditation not only reduces stress, here’s how it changes your brainBy Brigid Schulte May 26, 2015 Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was one of the first scientists to take the anecdotal claims about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness and test them in brain scans. What she found surprised her — that meditating can literally change your brain. She explains: Q: Why did you start looking at meditation and mindfulness and the brain?Lazar: A friend and I were training for the Boston marathon. I had some running injuries, so I saw a physical therapist who told me to stop running and just stretch. So I started practicing yoga as a form of physical therapy. I started realizing that it was very powerful, that it had some real benefits, so I just got interested in how it worked. The yoga teacher made all sorts of claims, that yoga would increase your compassion and open your heart. And I’d think, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m here to stretch.’ But I started noticing that I was calmer. I was better able to handle more difficult situations. I was more compassionate and open hearted, and able to see things from others’ points of view. I thought, maybe it was just the placebo response. But then I did a literature search of the science, and saw evidence that meditation had been associated with decreased stress, decreased depression, anxiety, pain and insomnia, and an increased quality of life. At that point, I was doing my PhD in molecular biology. So I just switched and started doing this research as a post-doc. Q: How did you do the research?Lazar: The first study looked at long term meditators vs a control group. We found long-term meditators have an increased amount of gray matter in the insula and sensory regions, the auditory and sensory cortex. Which makes sense. When you’re mindful, you’re paying attention to your breathing, to sounds, to the present moment experience, and shutting cognition down. It stands to reason your senses would be enhanced. We also found they had more gray matter in the frontal cortex, which is associated with working memory and executive decision making. [Related: You’re missing out on your experiences: A meditation expert explains how to live in the moment]: www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/03/04/be-here-now-no-really-just-be-here-why-you-shouldt-bash-yourself-while-you-meditate/It’s well-documented that our cortex shrinks as we get older – it’s harder to figure things out and remember things. But in this one region of the prefrontal cortex, 50-year-old meditators had the same amount of gray matter as 25-year-olds. So the first question was, well, maybe the people with more gray matter in the study had more gray matter before they started meditating. So we did a second study. We took people who’d never meditated before, and put one group through an eight-week mindfulness- based stress reduction program. WATCH VIDEO & CONTINUE READING: www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientist-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-it-literally-changes-your-brain/?postshare=4181432860835532
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sunbow
Full Member
Seeing, Dreaming, and Loving...
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Post by sunbow on Aug 9, 2015 7:48:59 GMT -6
My job is taking my time, sorry to have gone quiet. Here is my meditation page. I live with meditation as a major part of my life since high school. Spirit in Service - Meditation
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 10:49:45 GMT -6
My job is taking my time, sorry to have gone quiet. Here is my meditation page. I live with meditation as a major part of my life since high school. Spirit in Service - MeditationI'm just always happy that you find time for us! It leaves me with the feeling that you are always with us "in spirit", no matter what's going on in your life. Hope everyone is doing well! Llamas and all! Thank You Be Blessed
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 11:09:41 GMT -6
www.spiritinservice.com/B00-04_Meditation.htmI am encouraged here with the thoughtfulness put into explaining how the different words/sounds come from the world of Faith. Not just one religion. Especially for the beginner: "We are beings of vibration. Our organ systems, emotions, and minds all vibrate at specific vibrations. A Mantra is a set of very specific vibrations that awakens our energy bodies. "Feeling one's own vibration, personal rhythm, and calming enough to just listen to one's breathe, is a start. I like the way this article also addresses how the "monkey mind" likes to intrude. Some people would not call this a part of meditation, but when I have silenced the "monkey mind", if a stray thought comes in about someone else, I take this as a "cue" to pray for them. If my meditation ends this way (for the moment), so be it.
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