Thursday, August 29, 2013

Meditation and Stress


When life gets chaotic stress levels go up. Spiritual practice helps get us through the roller-coaster times of our lives.

Meditation has many benefits. Significant stress relief is among them.

Meditation helps with stress by giving us a bigger perspective. When we get good at it,  it gives us a break from the pressures of life. It can help us to to see what’s really going on. It can help us let go of our need to control things.

Much of the stress we experience is self-created. We pressure ourselves to be a certain way, or to perform at a certain level. Even when ideas are unreachable ideals, we strive for them anyway.

Pushing to make ourselves better is good. The issue is trying to mould ourselves into something we aren’t. Meditation can help us accept ourselves as we really are. We can see areas that need improvement. We can see the limitations of our biology  and experience.

Being at ease with your current state is one of the most powerful things you are ever likely to experience.

Take meditation practice slowly. Otherwise you may create even more stress. Start with five or ten minutes, then,  increase the time when you are feeling reasonably comfortable. Meditation is “practice”. You will always be able to improve. You can never do it perfectly. You can never do incorrectly either.

The technique I use is taught by Enlighten Next, and its founder Andrew Cohen. It is extremely simple, and extremely easy, but, only if you let it be.

The instructions are to: sit still; pay attention; and relax.

You can have your eyes open, or closed.

Sit upright in a position that you can be comfortable in for as long as you will be meditating. Stay as still as possible.

Be as alert as possible. Observe the thoughts, feelings, sensations, sights and sounds around you.

Stay relaxed. There is nothing to do. There is nowhere to get. Whatever you experience while you meditate is the point of that meditation.

Allow everything to be as it is. Don’t try to change anything. Don’t try to do anything. 

How was this meditation for you? Did you find it easy? I’d love to hear why, or why not.


Connect with Brian

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Ifa: The Existence of Good, and Evil.

How do the forces of darkness factor into a benevolent Universe? In this post we’ll explore the Aje, the “little mothers”,  or “witches” in Ifa.

I have no doubt that Olodumare, God, is a completely positive force. The benevolent We are on a course of development and growth. Why then would anything “negative” exist?

There are two reasons for this. The first, is the nature of Olodumare him/her/itself. The energy, and intelligence, that created the Universe, is oneness. The opposites don’t exist from the creator’s perspective. There is no darkness or light.

Separation began at the moment of the big bang. Suddenly, there was duality. Balance became the structure that holds the physical universe together. In our reality there must be darkness in order to have light. Order requires chaos.

Enlightenment is about balancing everything, until we have no preferences. No attachment to what is good, or unpleasant. We become a reflection of the oneness of Olodumare.

The second reason is that we are here to learn and grow. We need to experience things. Life comes with preferences. We choose comfort over discomfort, pleasure over pain. Without struggles, we would not benefit from what experience teaches us. Without chaos, we would never create higher order. Without seeing our darkness we would never build more good.

We need duality to complete our journeys, and achieve our destinies. Hardship was not created by a cruel entity who wants to harm us. It was not made by an ambivalent god who doesn’t care. 

We are the Universe awakening to itself. All it sees is an ecstatic movement forward. It invites us to get caught up in its positivity. From the Universal perspective the whole process is good.

Can you see how the challenges we face are part of a larger plan? I’d love to hear why, or why not.

Connect with Brian

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Success: Positively Charging your Values

This is the final installment in the success series. We’ll look at “away-from” values and how to deal with them.

An “away-from” value is any value in your values hierarchy that has a negative charge. That charge is an emotion.

We must clear the negative emotion in order to remove the negativity, and transform this value into a “towards” value. Any emotional clearing technique will work. One excellent approach is the Sedona Method. It is a simple technique that is very effective for this kind of work.

Here is how to clear an “away-from” value:

Get conformable, make sure you won’t be disturbed.

Have your list of “away-from” values with you.

Work form the top of the list down.

Get in touch with the topmost away-from value, and with the emotions associated with it. See if you experience a physical sensation.

Your awareness is important, it helps “light up” the issue to clear it.

Use your favourite process to release the emotions associated with this value.

Once you’re done it is very important to check the “away-from”.

Ask your unconscious mind if the value is moving 100% towards what you want.

Pay close attention. If you get even the most subtle inkling that there is something left repeat the process.

Keep repeating this process until the value is 100% positive.

You’ve just transformed a value. Work through the rest of your list, until all of your values are pulling you in the right direction.

Most people feel lighter, and less conflicted, almost immediately after cleaning up their values. Was this the case for you? I’d love to hear why, or why not.

This is the last post in the success series. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. The ideas and techniques I’ve shared with you are just the tip of the iceberg. If you’d like to explore how we can use Neurolinguistic Programming to move your life forward, click here, or contact me form more information.

Connect with Brian