Tip of the hat to Pregnancy Weekly

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An aromatherapy meditation can help you relax and unwind by keying to one of your most powerful senses. Get some incense and listen as I guide you through the experience.

Tip of the hat to Elizabeth Scott, MS

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After a stressful day at work, you can really feel anxious about the tasks you bumped to tomorrow’s to-do list. For me, this can cause such a restless mind that sleeping soundly becomes impossible. But meditation helps me immensely.

You can meditate at bedtime, lying down, which is a lot more comfortable than sitting, especially if you’re not in the best physical shape. Lie down on your back with your arms by your side and your legs extended. If this is uncomfortable try placing a pillow below your knees to relieve lower back pressure.

Close your eyes and take a deep inhalation. On the exhale allow yourself to become so relaxed that your hands curl up and your feet turn outwards. A lot can be racing through your thoughts at this point – what your boss said, a strange comment from a coworker, whatever. I clear my mind by closing my eyes and sitting back and watching. Watch your mind. If any thoughts arise, inhale and let them go on the exhale. Don’t allow them to engage you. Also try not to judge or identify with them. Just be a spectator and watch. You will soon find yourself waking up the next morning wondering why it’s been so long since you’ve slept like that.

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Try practicing one of the following two meditations before your next meal. Take a small portion of food, like a single strawberry, raisin or a slice of apple or orange, or a cracker.

Amnesia: Imagine you have never seen a strawberry (or any piece of food) in your life, and examine it the way a baby would examine something newly discovered. Look at the strawberry and try to notice something about it that you have never noticed before. This should be easy, as no two strawberries are ever identical. Now close your eyes and see if you can smell the strawberry. Lick your lips and rub the strawberry over your lips, massaging your lips gently. How does it feel? Now lick your lips. Can you taste the trace flavor of the strawberry? Hold the strawberry in your mouth, and roll it around. How does it feel in your mouth? As you chew, notice the immediate change in the intensity of the flavor. Slowly chew the strawberry while resisting the urge to swallow. Sit a little taller and notice if posture affects your appreciation for the strawberry. Breathe in deeply and let your breath go with long soft sighs. Does breathing help you enjoy the strawberry? Relax your face and smile. Notice how smiling improves the taste of a strawberry.

Sincere Appreciation: Eat a second raisin practicing Sincere Appreciation. Eating just as slowly and following the same instructions from the first raisin, but this time contemplate the many miracles that brought this raisin to your lips. The farmer who grew the grapes, the truck driver, the architect who designed the store where you bought the grapes, all of the people whose lives helped make this moment possible, including your parents for raising you, the rain and sun and the miracle of life present in a single raisin. Give thanks for the wonderful gift of taste. Students who practice this eating meditation are often amazed at how much better food tastes when they take the time to notice and appreciate the food as they eat it. You will notice that a single raisin, eaten with sincere appreciation brings more joy and happiness than a whole box of raisins swallowed unconsciously.

Tip of the hat to Charles MacInerney

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To practice the Tantra, first understand that  there are eight petals to the heart chakra as well as the chakra’s center. You must visualize a silver flame at the heart chakra’s center and recite the mantra of Zhunti Tathagata and Vairocana Tathagata going around the center with each chakra being the source of a sound syllable or word (AH, VIR, RAH, HUNG,CHIT, ….Namo, Sado, …). In other words, you visualize the heart chakra center point, and recite the jouint mantras going round it in a circle, always keeping your focus on the central channel. You recite the mantras along these chakra petal points in a circle to help send the chi there and open them. That’s one key point of the practice.

You can recite the mantras going clockwise around a chakra, counterclockwise, in a sphere on the point, or a circle traversing the zenith and nadir, and so on. Be creative. Someone will one day come along and say a particular direction is best or most efficient, but for now I’m saying try everything. You keep concentrating on the image of the flame so that it becomes stable, and you continue reciting the mantras on the chakra location, and on the bright points surrounding the chakra. That is the essence of the Tantra. Very simple, very easy, very quick, very clean, very effective.

Don’t furrow your brow when concentrating. Creating a stable image means that it’s always there in front of you in your mind without any effort. Think of an apple this moment – that’s it! Now hold on to that picture without pressure. So focus on an auspicious, bright silveryimage at the location of the heart chakra behind the breastbone, and frecite mantras from that location, and you’ve got the gist of the practice. Do so for the third eye location as well. Which mantras? You can try many, but focus on the Vairocana mantra and Zhunti mantra.

It helps if you have a picture of Zhunti Buddha (and Vairocana) to venerate and use as motivation for success because if you open your third eye and look at his picture, at times Zhunti will shine a bright point from the brow or heart chakra in the picture to show you where you shold be concentrating your cultivation that day/session. Zhunti is actually quite good looking, and  Vairocana is extremely awesome, majestic and regal in appearance as well. The shining of bright points on Buddha pictures only happens at very advanced stages of practice and you must have previously opened up your third eye somewhat to see it. Don’t think you can cultivate for a single week or month and have this happen.

You must also learn to be constantly reciting the VairocanaTathagata mantra “Ohm Ah Vi Ra Hung Chit” and the Zhunti mantra (see the website Zhunti sadhana for this) throughout the day, and of course especially during your concentrated hours of meditation practice for this Tantra. Always you must recite these two mantras on top of each other or one after the other — first the one and then the other … Om Ah Vir Rah Hung  Chit Ohm Zhurlee Zhulee Zhunti Soha, and vica versa. You recite them at the location of the heart chakra and brow chakra, and visualize a diamond flame or shining Buddha at those points. This is key — use these two Great Buddhas, use their mantras, concentrate on the heart chakra and brow chakra, use a diamond-silver-bright point visualization at these chakra points — recite the mantra from theses locations and rotate the mantra along the chakra point petals.  Be creative.

Tip of the hat to MeditationExpert.com

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Make yourself comfortable, sitting upright, with a straight spine. With your eyes closed, look at the point midway between the eyebrows on your forehead.

Inhale slowly, counting to eight. Hold the breath for the same eight counts while concentrating your attention at the point between the eyebrows. Now exhale slowly to the same count of eight. Repeat three to six times.

After inhaling and exhaling completely, as the next breath comes in, mentally say Hong (rhymes with song). Then, as you exhale, mentally say Sau (rhymes with saw). Hong-Saumeans “I am He” or “I am Spirit”. Make no attempt to control your breathing, just let its flow be completely natural. Try to feel that your breath itself is silently making the sounds of Hong and Sau. Initially try to feel the breath at the point where it enters the nostrils.

Be as attentive as possible. If you have difficulty feeling the breath, you canconcentrate, for a while, on the breathing process itself, feeling your diaphragm and chest expanding and contracting.

Gradually as you become more calm, try to feel the breath higher and higher in the nose. Be sure that your gaze is kept steady at the point between the eyebrows throughout your practice. Don’t allow your eyes to follow the movement of the breath. If you find that your mind has wandered, simply bring it back to an awareness of the breath and the mantra.

As you become calmer, be more aware of the breath itself, higher and higher in the nose. Be sure to keep your gaze steady at the point between the eyebrows throughout your practice. Don’t allow your eyes to follow the movement of the breath. If you find that your mind has wandered, simply bring it back to an awareness of the breath and the mantra.

By concentration on the breath, the breath actually diminishes; its gradual refinement leads naturally to an interiorized meditative state.

Practice this technique as long as you feel to. As a boy, Paramhansa Yogananda used to practice it for hours at a time, withdrawing ever more deeply into the spine until he found himself without breath altogether. He had ascended into soul-consciousness…and a higher reality took over…

Tip of the hat to Sangha

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Walking alone has always provided me with the time to mindfully quiet my thinking. Early morning is my favorite time to walk. I mean really early. The traffic sounds are at a minimum, the waking birds are at their most vocal.I begin by just being aware of the environment. I notice the color of the sky, the mood the trees set, the way the air touches my skin and certainly, the sounds.

I always take deep breaths as I start out. Big, steady strides- not necessarily fast, but steady. Then, when I feel like I’m in sync, I begin to consciously turn my mind off.

I concentrate on my breathing. I inhale for two or three steps then I exhale for the next. If thoughts come to mind I discourage them leading to solo conversation. I just ignore myself.

Before I know it I am engrossed in doing nothing but moving and I am as relaxed as if I were in my sitting meditation position. The pace matches the rhythm of my breathing. My pulse is slow and steady.

I thoroughly enjoy nothingness. Often my spirit will divulge important messages to me as if by osmosis; they just occur to me completely. Not as a thought; I am not thinking, but as a fact, a feeling, a sense. a sensation.

From these messages I may decide upon a few words to use repetitively. Invariably this phrase touches exactly upon what my spirit and soul know I need to address. I continue on until I know it is time to return.

Walking meditation has long been practiced by people who are both physically and spiritually enlightened. The two practices go together naturally. Each provides the time and space to connect with your soul. Silent or with music, anything goes.

Tip of the hat to learningmeditation.com

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Here is one meditation technique that will bring you closer to discovering the hidden powers of your Chakras. After you have grounded and centered yourself and are in a comfortable position, close your eyes and picture yourself. You can do this a number of ways. You can remember an actual photograph that has been taken of you and see it in your mind’s eye. You can look at yourself in the mirror before beginning this meditation and recall the image of yourself. You can visualize yourself floating up and out of your body and then look down at it. You will want to have pencil and paper handy to use following your meditation. This meditation requires two sessions, one to simply observe and note and the second to repair.

Session one:
Once you have the image in your mind, look at it without any analysis. If thoughts come note them and let them go gently. Focus on breathing from your diaphragm through the nose and just look at yourself head to toe. You are the observer and only need to gather information for analysis later; make no judgements and come to no conclusions at this point, just observe. Look for color and areas of darkness and light and remember where and what they are without becoming attached to what you see. In a deep relaxed state, you only need a quick glance to gather the information needed. Mentally note any areas that feel or appear disturbed or in turbulence or torn, or any areas that lack definition. During the process note any impressions you receive while quickly glancing at these areas, any thoughts that arise or any emotions may be keys to any imbalance.

After scanning your entire body and gathering impressions, gently end the process by counting to 10 and opening your eyes. Jot down your impressions, leaving nothing you observed and felt out. You will find that as you write, you know where the problem areas are and have some idea of how they were created.

Session two:
Begin again as before except this time add to your visualization a ball of pure white light/energy just above your head. Correct any disturbances and imbalances you see. If the color is muddy, clear it – draw clear brilliant light into that area. If an area is ripped or torn, mend it. Pass any excess into the earth. End this session as you ended the first.

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Try a new meditation technique to ground yourself and revitalize your energy.

“1. See yourself facing the tree and putting your arms around the trunk to greet it, but also, to reassure yourself that it is indeed a strong and firm leaning post that can support your weight.

2. Sit with your back to the trunk and let yourself be supported by the tree.
(You can sit against a wall and visualise it as the tree trunk if  you do this inside)

3. Identify with the tree, imagine roots coming from your legs and the bottom of your spine (tail bone) to descend deep into Mother Earth. These roots are your connection to the earth, they will help ground you and bring nourishment to you.

4. Imagine now, branches reaching up into the sky from your shoulders, and from the top of your head, reaching up and becoming one with time and space, to the Cosmic Father.
Draw from the air, energy, purity and light down into your body to connect you with the Source.

5. Breathe deeply, in and out, deep, slow breaths. In and out. Breathe in whatever you need right now…. love, affection, acceptance, understanding, compassion or anything else that you need.
Feel it enter through your nose and mouth, through the breath and spread to every cell and nerve of your body.

6. Breathe from both sources… the cosmos and the earth… you may specify what you want to be given. Allow all negativity to leave your body.
Breathe out any anger, resentment, upset, disappointment or anything else which is lodged in your body now… let it all just slip away.

7. When you feel grounded. You can ask your guide to show themself/itself to you.
It may come to you in any form.
Pay attention. It could be energy, an animal, a human, an angel, a symbol or anything else.
It may even be a mythological animal such as a unicorn, dragon, or minotaur.

8. Wait, if they don’t show themselves immediately it may be because they are not in physical form, or you are not ready or prepared to meet them yet.
Instead, focus on any messages you may be receiving.
Trust your intuition. There is always a purpose to this meditation, even if it’s not to meet your guide.

9. Breathe deeply and allow energy to flow easily through your body. When your guide approaches you, introduce yourself. (even though they know who you are)…
You may ask their name, get to know them.
This is a learning experience, and an introductory period. Be open to whatever you receive.

10. After a while, you may like to ask them a question,
or they may have a message for you. Or there may be nothing. It could just be a “getting to know you” session and that`s fine too.

11. When you are ready to leave, thank them for being there. Accept whatever you are given, and ask them to be present with you whenever you need them. (Angels in particular like to be asked…. they need to be asked, that is how they enter and help us).
You may ask them to help you with something in particular, like a healing, or finding a job, or studying for an exam, or moving on in your life.
The options are boundless, and they’re only too happy to help.

12. Now, feel yourself coming back to your body. Pull up your roots from the earth, thanking Mother Earth for her grounding and nourishment, and pull back your branches from the sky, thanking also the Cosmic Father.
Breathe deeply, and slowly and start to become aware of your surroundings….. the ground you sit on, the feel of the bark/wall against your back and your whole body, the smells, sounds and temperature around you.

13. Breathe deeply and open your eyes, becoming more aware of your surroundings and slowly stretch your limbs and body to come back to outer reality.

“

Previous Weeks’ Techniques:

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This week’s technique helps calm the soul by letting you project the best sort of love in the world – family love – onto everything you know.  Enjoy!

“Sitting comfortably, on the floor cross legged or on a chair with feet flat on the ground. Rest your hands palm down on your knees and connect the thumb and the index finger.

Take a look around the room and take a mental photo of everyone in the room,

 where they are sat, etc.

Close your eyes and take three consecutive deep breaths.
Breathe in deep, breathe out long
Breathe in deep, breathe out long
Breathe in deep, breathe out long
Return to breathing normally.

Be aware of the breath coming in and the breath coming out. Feel the air coming in through your nostrils and going out.

If thoughts arise, don’t fight them, just observe them as if they where distant clouds, and they will eventually fly by. Just focus on your breath, for 5-10 minutes.

Now, recall that mental image of the room. Visualize people’s faces.
Now bring to mind a person whom you love intensly, like your mum, your girl- or boyfriend, your husband orwife.

Think of how warm this person makes you feel, their kindness and their generosity.

Imagine that everybody’s face in the room, transforms into the face of your loved one.

The room is filled by loved ones. Imagine how nice the world would be if everyone was this nice, this loving, this kind.

Just, focus on your breath and sit in the company of your loved ones for a while.

Realise that everyone is capable of such love and kindness, for we are all equal. We are all made of the same vibrating energy that is the fabric of the universe.

You become aware that you can feel love towards anyone in the same way as you love your mum, dad, etc, for they are the same.

Sit, observing your breath come in and go out.

When you are ready you may open your eyes, and sit in quiet contemplation.

Hat tip to Ian Radcliffe for this great technique!

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