Lesson 3: A Single Point of InfluenceOnce you understand the ubiquity of vibration and the role that it plays in the world around you, it follows that your primary responsibility is the maintenance of your own energy field. Consistently maintaining your state of vibration is your single point of influence over every experience that happens to you. It effects not only how you approach your circumstances, but how those circumstances manifest for you. While your overall vibration is determined by a number of different factors, from triggers in the external world to the constant internal dialogue that ping-pongs back and forth in your mind, you only need to focus on three primary areas in order to maintain influence over that vibration. Your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions, form the seat of your power. These are the three areas you can most easily and most consistently control, using them as a leverage to change your entire vibrational state and to impact the world you experience. Understanding this point is key to becoming a conscious creator of your experience. Thoughts, beliefs, and emotions are intricately linked. Understanding the interplay among them can go a long way towards helping you control your state of being. Deliberately managing this trifecta is the cornerstone you will want to develop in order to maintain a sense of security and well-being, as well as to propel you to higher states. As we move throughout the course we’ll be working with each of these areas individually, as well as integrating them holistically to see how they fit together. In this lesson, we’re just going to have a brief introduction to each, in order to understand the core framework we’ll be using as we continue. The Thought-Belief-Emotional SpectrumLet’s take a moment to consider each of these three areas in turn. Of them, thoughts are the most prevalent. Thoughts form the link between your conscious mind and your vibrational state of being. Whereas beleifs and emotions generally develop over the long term and often subconsciously, thoughts are instant, they’re fleeting, and they’re consistently running through your mind, even if you aren’t aware of all of them. Developing an awareness of your thoughts and the habit of deliberately choosing your thoughts is one of your most important tools as you’re learning to gain control over your vibrational state. Developing this habit is essential, because thoughts play a major role in determining your beliefs. A belief is simply a thought that is repeated over and over again, often over many months or years. By the time a thought coalesces to the point of becoming a belief, it plays a strong, dominant role over your vibration. Understanding the beliefs that you hold and how those thoughts relate to those beliefs is an important tool. Whereas beliefs can might be considered repeated thoughts, emotions can considered intense thoughts. When a thought goes up against a belief, it triggers an emotion. Emotions can easily perpetuate themselves and take over your vibration. Think about it: when you’re angry, every little thing just makes you more mad, but when you’re in a good mood, you let the little things go and retain your good mood. This is a perfect example of the energy creating its own self-fulfilling prophecy, its own cycle. A thought goes up against a belief, which triggers an emotion; the emotion then causes you to think more thoughts in line with it, which continue to go up against your beliefs, which then trigger more of the same emotion. This can be a vicious cycle when it’s on the negative end of the scale, but an incredible, joyful cycle when it’s on the positive end of the scale. Learning how this system works and how you can influence it is going to be an important tool. Vibrational AnchorsAs you gain a deeper awareness of your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions, you may realize that you have a number of vibrational anchors keeping you in place. Most people tend to take their vibrational cues from the world around them. They look at their physical circumstances and they allow that to dictate the overwhelming majority of the energy that they hold. They’re consistently reacting to whatever is going on in their life. When it’s good, they’re in a good mood. When it’s bad, they’re in a bad mood. This is that standard view of the world that we talked about in the introductory course. Shifting from looking at just the physical world to looking at the energetic world means letting some of that control fade away and not allowing these vibrational anchors to have such a dominate influence over your state of being and your state of energy. This focus often falls into one of three categories. The first category is things that are happening right now, current situations that do not live up to your expectations or for whatever reason aren’t what you want. Because you don’t have exactly what you want, you allow that energy to bring you down and you rest in a lower vibrational state because of it. The second category is from things that happened in the past, whether that was this morning or twenty years ago. It is the reflection upon these events, often in the negative way, that causes your vibration to diminish and to not be fully present in the energy you are holding now. This could be good or bad, and while we can allow good memories to positively influence our vibration, more often than not we allow negative memories to influence our vibrations more strongly, and we do this unconsciously. The third category focuses on things that might happen in the future and our worries, hesitations, and fears about it. Whenever we’re preoccupied with how things might turn out, we’re taking energy that could otherwise be used to reinforce a positive vibration, and we’re diminishing that energy to retain the current state. The result is an experience of life that barely, if ever, changes. Your experience becomes very static, just like the person listening to the same radio station over and over again. When we do change, we tend to think that the change has to come from physical, linear action, and that’s not necessarily the case. We don’t realize that changing our circumstances is as easy as turning that knob on the radio station, moving up to a different level of frequency and a different experience of the world. Exercise: Thought TriggersIn the first exercise of today’s lesson, I want you to reflect on the ways in which thoughts, beliefs, and emotions interact with each and often occur simultaneously. One example of how this happens for a lot of people has to do with financial stress. I want you to think about a time when you made a purchase and a thought went through your mind about whether or not you should actually be buying that item. Did you have enough money for it? Was it justifiable? Did you really need it? Any of those thoughts can trigger beliefs about your relationship to money and the role money plays in your life: how much of it you have, how easy it is for you to get, how it flows through you, etc. If this is a sensitive topic for you, those thoughts and beliefs may have triggered an emotion. Maybe by thinking about this one item, you started to stress about money and stress about whether you had enough. Maybe you even became fearful and began to fret about whether you’d make it through the next month. The point is not the specific way in which the thoughts and beliefs play out for you, but to notice how just having a thought — even a short, passing thought — can trigger a belief, and trigger an emotion. Another example might be an interactions with other people. I want you to think about a time in which you were working with someone, and for whatever reason you didn’t live up to your own expectations of what you wanted. You didn’t think that your own actions were good enough. Think about what that thought implies. It implies a belief about needing to be good enough. It also brings up questions about who you need to be good enough for, and why. All of those are fundamental beliefs that you hold that were triggered by your thought. If the situation is related to a sensitive relationship or an important relationship for you, whether that’s a friend or family member or whomever, maybe it brought up insecurities and fears that led to stronger emotional actions. Maybe you start to fret about whether or not that action has harmed your relationship with that person. Again, the specific scenario is less relevant than noticing the pattern of how ven a passing thought can bring up very strong beliefs and very strong emotions. I encourage you to work through a few examples of your own in a variety of scenarios, especially in relation to the areas that are stressful for you. That’s where it’s easiest to see how these trends play out, and it’s important to take the time to realize that in order to be able to work with it as we move forward. Exercise: Uncovering Vibrational Anchors
Specifically, you can start to see your anchors. Remember the three categories we discussed: For this exercise I want you to create a list of 5-10 vibrational anchors that you think may be keeping you down vibrationally, things that consistently lower your energy. These anchors may be simple, or may be very complex. For example it might be something as simple as noiticing: I often reflect on things my boss mentioned yesterday; I often worry about the fact that I won’t have enough money when I retire; I am often disappointed by the circumstances that happen to me (but list the specific circumstance). By creating this list, you can start to be able to see what some of your patterns of thoughts, beliefs, and emotions are. We’ll dissect these later, especially when it comes to the core beliefs that keep you down. For now, just reflect on common scenarios of how your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions weigh on you and form vibrational anchors that are keeping you down. The post Lesson 3 appeared first on The Joy Within. from http://thejoywithin.org/courses/the-world-you-attract/lesson-3
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In this video I want to give a brief introduction to The Law of Attraction. We’ll be working with The Law of Attraction throughout the course, so don’t feel pressured to understand every single idea related to it in this one lesson. The Law of Attraction is a governing force that brings you experiences based on the energy you emit. This is often simplified to the idea that good thoughts attract good things. While that statement is true it can be very misleading and is often oversimplified. A lot of people have a misconception of The Law of Attraction as something where they can sit and meditate and think about having a hundred million dollars, and without doing anything a hundred million dollars is going to fall into their lap. That is very much an oversimplification and not at all what I want to imply when I talk about The Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction is simply something that is responding to the energy that you hold in order to determine the quality of the things that happen to you. You have to think about this in the context of The Law of Vibration. I like to think of The Law of Vibration as the framework, the range of vibration of possible experiences for you. As your energy exists in a certain range of vibration, a certain set of experiences is available to you. The Law of Attraction then brings you those experiences based on where your specific energetic state falls within that range. Working With The Law of AttractionThe Law of Attraction is constantly bringing you your experiences and circumstances based on the energy that you hold. Let’s think about how this works for a moment. A lot of people when they’re first exposed to this idea think about it in terms of sending out thoughts and then those thoughts go out into the world and somehow bring them back the things they have in their life. What’s actually happening is that your range of vibration is actively dictating what is or is not available to you. In order to achieve any desire, any specific circumstance that you want, you have to match your vibration with the vibrational framework in which that desire already exists. This is a fundamental concept. You aren’t creating anything new with your thoughts in this realm of vibration. Instead, you’re moving into a new framework of vibration in which the goal, the desire, is already present. There are lots of examples using this principle that you already use every single day of your life. Cell phones, tv, radio, all work on this principle of vibration and the idea of changing frequency to change what you receive. If you’re listening to one radio station and you don’t like what you hear on that station, you simply turn the knob and change to a different frequency. You change what your radio receives, and therefore what you experience. LOA Reflects Energy, NOt WordsOne of the things that is really important to understand as you’re beginning to work with The Law of Attraction is that The Law of Attraction works according to the overall energy that you hold, not the words that you say. This is a common misconception and is something that throws a lot of people off as they’re first getting started. They think they can just think and say the idea of what they want, but they don’t actually change their underlying energy. The result is that they’re just paying lip service to the idea of the desire, but never move the needle in the way that it counts to make any real progress towards their aim. It’s important to remember that The Law of Attraction brings you the energy you emit. This means that as you’re first getting started you’re already in a state of being and in order to move to another state of being you first have to build some momentum towards it; you have to break out of the inertia of where you currently are. This is why progress at first can feel slow, but then gets exponentially faster as you move along. This is because as you begin to accelerate your energy you start to see more and more things related to that energy in the world around you. This observation allows you to continue to accelerate towards higher frequencies. When you’re at a high state of vibration it is easier to maintain that energy than it is to get to a higher state from a lower state…especially when you’re just starting out. This is easy to see when you think about examples from the physical world. Think about the last time someone screamed at you, whether it was a boss or a child. It’s really easy to fall into a defensive mode and respond with anger or frustration when someone is screaming at you in anger or frustration. It’s a perfect example of how we often respond to energy with similar energy. Another great example has to do with the physical objects we see on a day to day basis. There’s a mechanism in the brain known as the Reticular Activating System. This system takes all of the information your brain glimpses throughout the day and determines which aspects of that information you’re going to consciously process and think about. We actually take in an immense amount of information each day, but we discard most of that information and only focus on a small range of things as we move throughout the day — the range of things our brain thinks is most relevant. You’ve already had the experience of this system in action. Think about the last time something seemed to appear seemingly out of nowhere, and then all of a sudden you would see it all of the time. A common example is when you buy a new car, and as you’re looking at a new model, you suddenly begin to see that car all over the place. Before, you knew it was around, but you didn’t think about, you didn’t process it. After you buy it, however, your Reticular Activating System kicks into gear and starts showing you examples of the car every time you see it. The car is at the forefront of your mind, so your brain keeps showing you examples of it. Your Entire World Is Just a FrequencyAs you begin to play with these concepts, eventually you will realize that your entire observable world is just a frequency. It’s easy enough to understand that physical objects are just vibrations that are constantly moving, or that there are invisible vibrations in the air that we come into contact with, but it’s a little more difficult to wrap your mind around the fact that everything, quite literally everything, is nothing but an aggregate vibration of everything you perceive put together. Having this realization is really important, because it allows you to intuit a little more strongly that when you shift that vibration you literally shift into a different experience of your vibration. Shifting your vibration means that you shift the composite vibration of everything that you experience. If you shfit that range enough, you will have a completely different experience in your day to day life. One of the best analogies to conceptualize this idea is to think of a radio, so take a moment to imagine the universe as if it were an infinite radio. You’ve spent your entire life listening to the same station, the same twenty songs over and over again. Your frequency, your vibration, has remained very constantly within the same range. All it would take to change the frequency and shift stations is to get up and turn the knob, but you don’t take that step. When you start to realize this, you realize that everything that you experience is a choice, but you haven’t consciously been making that choice. You haven’t realized how to consciously and deliberately how to take control of your frequency. You haven’t learned how to turn the knob and listen to a different radio station and a different song. This is the power of The Law of Vibration and The Law of Attraction, when you learn how to use them. Exercise: Thoughts Attracting ThoughtsIn order to intuit these concepts, we’re going to do an exercises in which we sit into a thought and a range of thoughts in order to feel the energy behind it and how that energy can multiply. We’ll do one example here, but I encourage you to practice this technique with thoughts that trigger different ranges of emotion, in order to get a sense of what this energy really is, and how it pulls in similar energy to whatever it is that you’re thinking. Sit back, relax, and listen to the short meditation. The post Lesson 2: The Law of Attraction appeared first on The Joy Within. from http://thejoywithin.org/courses/the-world-you-attract/lesson-2 Note: This course may be taken as a standalone course, with no prerequisites required. Additional modules referenced may be found in the starter course: Quiet The Mind in 30 Days. In the last module we focused on the energy of joy, looking at how this energy can be viewed from a number of different perspectives. Now we’re going to turn to the mechanics of vibration so we can understand some of the scientific principles that underly this energy and learn how to apply them to our daily lives. We’ve already talked about the fact that everything is energy, but I want to go into a little more detail about what, exactly that means. When we talk about the state of energy of an object, what we’re really talking about is that object’s frequency, it’s rate of vibration. Energy is vibration. There is fundamentally no difference between what we call energy and what we call matter. Einstein proved this to us over a hundred years ago. It’s just that when something is outside of the realm that we can perceive with our five senses, we call it pure energy. You can think of UV light condensing down to visible light. Another good analogy is to think about water and steam. It’s the same basic “stuff,” it just vibrates at a different rate. You can then extend this analogy to include everything in the universe. Every physical object, even the densest objects, are nothing but this vibratory energy. They are particles bouncing around inside atoms. Within those atoms is immense space — you can compare it to the space between planets and stars in the universe. There’s more “nothingness” even in very dense objects than we often believe in day to day life. The integration between matter and energy is even more closely linked than that, because these quantum particles are constantly bouncing in and out of existence, moving between a state of energy and matter. This is known as the wave-particle duality in quantum physics. The act of observing an object collapses the wave function, forcing this energy into a state of matter than can be observed by the physical senses. Without this observation, the particles would continue to dance back and forth between matter and energy. This dance happens with every single thing in the universe, every object you’ve ever seen or could ever imagine, constantly bounces back and forth between these states. The point here is simply that this dance always occurs within a specific range of vibration. You Are Always Receiving VibrationWe spend our entire lives operating within this field of vibrations. The principles we just talked about apply as equally to the human body and mind as they do to a chair or a beam of light. You are constantly interacting with this field of energy, and as we saw in the last video with the collapse of the wave-function concept, you are constantly influencing this field, just by existing. Just by observing objects you are influencing the form that this vibration takes. All vibration you experience exists within a certain range. In order to observe an object, that object has to exist within the range of vibration that your physical senses can perceive. This is a very simple concept, but it isn’t something that we’re usually used to thinking about. Think about how sound works. We’re already used to thinking about sound as a vibration, and even though we don’t think about it in a day to day context, it makes sense that when we hear something — whether that’s music or someone speaking — we are really doing is interpreting a vibration that comes to us. There’s a vibration of sound in front of us, it comes towards us and we have a mechanism through our ears and our brain to understand and process the information that’s coming through that vibration. The example of sound also helps us to realize that even though this vibrational field is constant, it is never static. When you listen to someone speaking or listen to a piece of music, there’s a flow that happens to the sound. Even though there’s constantly a push of vibration to you, that vibration is constantly fluxing, constantly moving in different forms and waves as it shifts among various frequencies. This happens all of the time, regardless of whether or not you are consciously aware of it. You Are Always Emitting VibrationThis interaction works both ways. We’re not only receiving vibration, but we’re emitting it as well. This works on many different levels, only a few of which we can perceive with our physical senses. Think about how cell phones work or other wireless technology: there is obviously a signal out there that we can’t perceive with our physical bodies, so we developed tools to perceive and interpret the information for us. One of the biggest categories of vibration with which we constantly interact is thought vibration. As we receive vibrations from the world around us, our brain processes them and interprets them as thought. Though we can’t perceive it with our physical senses, it is no less poignant. When you think something, you can then manipulate the range of vibration that that thought has. Again, let’s use the example of sound to illustrate this. What happens when you speak something is that generally you’ve received some information from the world around you, you have thoughts about that information, all of which occurs as vibration, through different frequencies of thought. Then you condense that thought into speech. When you speak, you change the frequency, the rate of vibration, of a thought, into a rate of vibration that you can perceive with your physical body…into the range of sound, in this example. This process is constantly happening. You are constantly receiving and emitting these thought vibrations regardless of whether or not you perceive. It’s then only some of those vibrations that we receive and interpret through the senses. Exercise: Noticing Subconscious PerceptionsThese concepts can seem a little abstract, since we’re not used to thinking about our interactions with the day to day world in terms of vibration. It can be difficult to wrap your mind it. In this video I want to give you a thought exercise that will help to put this in perspective and help you to realize that you are already moving through the world in this way. Example 1: Getting a Bad Vibe All that you’re going to do is think about the last time you got a bad vibe from someone. This can be incredibly simple. Maybe you were walking down the street and — without really thinking about it — instinctively crossed to the other side of the street. Though you might not have realized it at the time you crossed, half a block or a block later you saw someone who was really off-putting. Maybe they were aggressively selling something or begging for money in a way you didn’t like. They would have been in your path, but your instinct told you to move to the other side of the street first. This is just one example of how you’re constantly receiving, processing, and even acting on information in ways that you don’t always perceive consciously. Example 2: Trusting Your Instinct Another example is a time when you trusted a gut instinct not to work with someone. Maybe you were in a business or an academic situation and planning to work on a project with someone. On paper, everything looked good, but there was some reason, maybe something that you couldn’t quite articulate, you felt it wasn’t right for you. There was something about the other person you’d be working with that stopped you from moving forward. On some level, even if you weren’t consciously aware of it, you received information (you received a vibration) telling you not to move forward with that person. This actually happens all of the time. It’s only in somewhat extreme examples that we’re able to put it into context and realize that we are moving through this field of vibrations, we are constantly processing this field of vibrations, using that information to influence how we act and there influence how the world around us results. Exercise: Noticing Energy HabitsFor the last exercise of today’s lesson, I want you to start to notice your state of vibration as you move throughout the day. Simply notice the energy, the state of being, the emotion that you have at various points throughout the day. For example, maybe when you get up you’re a little sluggish and lethargic. Then you take a shower, have some coffee and feel ready, raring to go. Then as the day moves on you might get tired, and your energy lowers a little. It’s a really simple flow of how the energy is moving, but the key is to start noticing that energy and to pay attention to how it shifts. Begin to think of it in terms of the vibration that you hold as you move throughout the day. The post Lesson 1: The Mechanics of Vibration appeared first on The Joy Within. from http://thejoywithin.org/courses/the-world-you-attract/lesson-1-mechanics-vibration Mastering The Laws of Vibration and AttractionEverything is energy. From the chair you’re sitting in to the thoughts you think, everything you experience exists in a state of vibration. As you move throughout your day, you emit energy. Everything you do impacts this energy and influences the way in which life unfolds before you. The key to manifesting anything you desire is to gain control of your vibration. When you do, life unfolds effortlessly before you. In this course, we’ll explore how The Laws of Attraction and Vibration work, and how you can use them to live the life of your dreams. Course SyllabusWeek 1The Mechanics of Energy Week 2Why Joy Creates Prosperity Week 3:The Form of Abundance Week 4Manifestation Through Attraction Everything
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Lesson Number | Idea and Concept | Details and Insights |
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1 | Nothing I see in this room means anything. | View Lesson 1. |
2 | I have given everything I see in this room all the meaning that it has for me. | View Lesson 2. |
3 | I do not understand anything I see in this room. | View Lesson 3. |
4 | These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room. | View Lesson 4. |
5 | I am never upset for the reason I think. | View Lesson 5. |
6 | I am upset because I see something that is not there. | View Lesson 6. |
7 | I see only the past. | View Lesson 7. |
8 | My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts. | View Lesson 8. |
9 | I see nothing as it is now. | View Lesson 9. |
10 | My thoughts do not mean anything. | View Lesson 10. |
11 | My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world. | View Lesson 11. |
12 | I am upset because I see a meaningless world. | View Lesson 12. |
13 | A meaningless world engenders fear. | View Lesson 13. |
14 | God did not create a meaningless world. | View Lesson 14. |
15 | My thoughts are images that I have made. | View Lesson 15. |
16 | I have no neutral thoughts. | View Lesson 16. |
17 | I see no neutral things. | View Lesson 17. |
18 | I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing. | View Lesson 18. |
19 | I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts. | View Lesson 19. |
20 | I am determined to see. | View Lesson 20. |
21 | I am determined to see things differently. | View Lesson 21. |
22 | What I see is a form of vengeance. | View Lesson 22. |
23 | I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts. | View Lesson 23. |
24 | I do not perceive my own best interests. | View Lesson 24. |
25 | I do not know what anything is for. | View Lesson 25. |
26 | My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability. | View Lesson 26. |
27 | Above all else I want to see. | View Lesson 27. |
28 | Above all else I want to see things differently. | View Lesson 28. |
29 | God is in everything I see. | View Lesson 29. |
30 | God is in everything I see because God is in my mind. | View Lesson 30. |
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Insights on Love: A Complete Guide to ACIM.
In this course, which should be taken leisurely over time, we’ll explore the key principles of ACIM, with practical tips, advice, and guidance on how you can apply the teachings in the modern world.
This course is appropriate for students of any religion. We use an easy to follow, non-religious approach that teaches you how to create more peace and love in your life.
Course Contents
Chapter Insights
Understand The Meaning of Love
* What Meditation Is, and What It Isn’t * What To Expect from Meditation * Breath Techniques to Quiet The Mind * Tips for Making The Most of a Meditation Practice * Common Myths and Pitfalls When Beginning Meditation
Daily Lessons
Build a Habit of Joy and Peace
* The Role of Meditation - Beyond the Breath * Observing Your Natural Energy of Joy * The Rise and Fall of the Solar Plexus * Stepping Back from your Thoughts * Joy-Bliss-Love-Light Always, Already Is
ACIM Audio
Listen At Home or On The Go
* Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation * Isolating and Expanding Sensory Perception * The Power of Mantras * Traditional Sanskrit Mantras * Using Simple Affirmations as Modern Mantras
Video Explanations
Take Your Study To The Next Level
* Bringing Meditation Into Your Daily Life * The Practice of Stepping Back * 30-Second Shifts: Quick Tricks to Gain Control of Your Energy * Exercises To Take With You On The Go * Recap: You Don’t Have To Be A Monk
Living from Love
A Course in Miracles is about shifting your perspective to love, peace, and the joy inherent within each and every moment. While the book is technical and difficult to understand at times, the primary meaning is actually quite simple.
In this course, you’ll learn how to dramatically increase the amount of love you experience every day. As you share more love, and learn to give ever more of yourself, you’ll find that the universe consistently provides you with a life overflowing with beauty, happiness, and abundance.
What's Included
About The Instructor
Related Courses
Quiet The Mind in 30 Days
This 30-Day Introduction to Meditation provides a clear, modern approach to quieting the mind and experiencing bliss. You’ll learn easy techniques to help you focus on your breath and tap into your natural energy. By following along with simple daily exercises and guided recordings, you’ll learn how to make the most of your practice, step back from your thoughts, and center in your natural, peaceful energy.
The Energy of Joy
Joy is your most natural state. It is the energy of existence, and permeates every area of your life, even when you are unaware of it.
For most of us, we block out this sense of joy as we move through our day to day lives. We focus on the problems before us, and forget that happiness is a choice we make in every moment.
Modern Paths to Enlightenment
Enlightenment is achievable for everyone. You don’t have to resign from the world, become a monk, or spend decades entranced in meditation. It is available to you right here, right now.
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Are you interested in meditation, but the thought of sitting cramped into a lotus position scare you off? Are you worried that you’ll never be able to sit cross-legged for an hour straight?
We’ve all been there. For most people, the thought of meditating immediately brings up ideas of toned yogic masters that can contort their bodies into all sorts of positions that – let’s face it – just aren’t natural for the rest of us.
Fortunately, your meditation posture is only one part of your practice, and is arguably the point about which you should be least concern. In this post I’m going to lay out a few guidelines and suggestions for how to sit while meditating, even if you’re not flexible, not experienced, or…you know: just a normal human being.
What Is the Best Posture for Meditation?
First of all, I want to make it clear that there are no hard and fast rules about how to meditate properly, or how you “must” sit in order to have the best experience.
Yes, it is true that certain schools of meditation, including some traditions that have been around for thousands of years, encourage you to sit cross-legged on the floor or in a lotus position, but these are by no means the only meditation poses around.
Whether you’re a complete beginner or have been practicing meditation for years, the most important meditation pose is always the one that balances your personal comfort with your ability to relax.
Above all else, sitting comfortably is the name of the game.
- When you’re comfortable will you be able to relax and have a deep meditation practice.
- When you’re comfortable will you actually be able to stay put for the duration of your practice, and remain focused on your breath.
- When you’re comfortable, your body will begin to align naturally over time, meaning that your best meditation posture may change the more you practice.
That said, once you’re comfortable, you can start to think about some other considerations. Some common rules of thumb include:
- Sit up with a straight spine.
- Align your spine over your hips, neither leaning forward nor back,
- Rest your shoulders back and down slightly, opening your chest,
- Keep your feet firmly planted on the floor,
- Place your palms open on your legs, or bind your fingers in a mudra, and
- Lift your head slightly by raising your chin.
These common practices can help to ease the flow of energy through your body, but you should only think about them after your basic seated position is comfortable. You should be able to remain in your seat without any major movements – and without undue pain or discomfort – for the entire duration of your practice.
Easy Meditation Positions for Beginners
When you’re just starting out, sitting in any one position for a long time can feel overwhelming. For many newbies, it’s easy to become fidgety during your first few (or few dozen) meditations. Suddenly, it seems, you just have to scratch your face, stretch out your neck, or move your foot to keep it from falling asleep.
When you are distracted by these movements, it is very difficult to enter into a deep meditation. If this is the case for you, practice for shorter periods of time at first, trying to sit still for just 5 minutes, and then gradually increase the amount of time you spend in that pose.
Alternatively, you might want to experiment with a few different variations. Here are 5 common meditation poses for beginners.
- Sit In a Chair. The first, and probably the easiest position for most people, is to sit upright in a chair. This is a great posture to use for two reasons. Firstly, it is fairly comfortable for most people, and you are already used to sitting in this way. Secondly, you are unlikely to fall asleep in this position, or to fidget unnecessarily. When you sit to meditate in a chair, make sure you sit with an erect spine, moving forward so your butt is only halfway into the seat. Plant your feet firmly on the ground, and use the counter-force of your feet pushing into the floor to help you lift your chest and head. Relax your shoulders, and breathe easily.
- Sit Cross-legged on a Couch. If you want to sit cross-legged, but find that it doesn’t quite work for you, experiment with sitting up off the floor. I like to sit with my legs crossed on a couch, using a pillow between my back and the back of the couch. This helps to support my back and keep it from hunching over. Sitting up on the couch (or perhaps even sitting on a pillow on the couch) will raise your tailbone, allowing your knees to drop more easily to the side. Between the extra back support and hip-relief, this is a great option for anyone with back or knee issues, or for anyone practicing to sit cross-legged for longer periods of time.
- Use a Meditation Cushion. If you’re ready to take the next step with your seated posture, but still aren’t ready to sit on the floor, try using a meditation cushion. Many people don’t realize that cushions designed for meditation are different than most pillows. They help to raise your bum, making it easier for your hips and knees to open. Additionally, they help you to keep your tailbone tucked in slightly. This, in turn, causes your spine to lengthen, and makes it less likely you’ll hunch over halfway through your practice.
- Kneel With a Meditation Stool. Another great option for many people is to kneel on the floor, using a meditation stool to support you. The kneeling position will naturally align the spine, but for many people, sitting back onto their hind is uncomfortable, and this is where the stool comes in. Place the stool between your legs and lower yourself onto it. Most meditation stools are angled forward slightly, to help support your spine and keep your back aligned over your hips. This position may feel awkward the first time you try it, but after one or two attempts, many people find it natural, light, and easy.
- Lie Down. Lastly, if none of the above postures feel right for you, you can always lie down while you meditate. Be advised, however, that many schools of meditation advise against this position. When you are lying down, you’re more likely to fall asleep, which, while relaxing, certainly defeats the purpose of sitting down to meditate in the first place.If you do decide to lie down, consider lying on the floor on a yoga mat, rather than on your bed. I encourage you to lie down in your meditation only if you are confident you’ll remain awake throughout the practice.
Finding The Right Pose For Your Body
Of course, there are as many different meditations positions as there are people meditating. No one position is the be all and end all seated postures, and no single tradition or school of meditation has “the one right way” that things “should” be done.
I encourage you to take a playful approach to your practice, including how you sit while meditating. Experiment with different postures. You may find that some days you’ll find some postures more appealing than others, and, as I mentioned earlier, it’s very common to change your posture gradually over time. Your body is immensely versatile, and with practice will open into any natural-feeling posture, allowing you to go deeper. Don’t be surprised if a pose that seemed impossible when you start becomes accessible and comfortable a few months or a year later.
The post How To Find The Right Meditation Pose For You: 5 Easy Postures Anyone Can Do appeared first on The Joy Within.
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The So Hum mantra (also called the Soham or So Ham Mantra) is one of the most popular mantras. The phrase has been used for thousands of years in many Eastern religions and meditation practices, but has recently gained popularity in the Western world as well, thanks to its simple structure and easy pronunciation.
Om So Hum: How To Use The Mantra
This mantra is used in two basic forms. The first is simply to use the ‘So hum’ words repeated many times in a cyclical structure throughout your meditation practice.
The second style is to incorporate an ‘Om’ sound in between the ‘So hum’ cycles. Either approach can be a very powerful practice.
The word Om refers to the sound of the universe. It is the most basic sound that, according to Sanskrit traditions, represents the entire universe in a single world. Using this word in a meditation or mantra can invoke the feeling of unity and oneness with All That Is.
So Hum literally translates to “I am that.” Thus, repeating the phrase in your practice helps to center you into the feeling of interconnectedness even further. This is why the two phrases are often used together, and create a unifying effect.
When using the sohum mantra in meditation, play with the idea of connecting the two halves of the phrase to your breath. For example, I like to inhale to the thought of so, and exhale to the thought of hum. I find this allows me to engage with the words in a nice, even rhythm. After a few breaths of this, my mind relaxes, and I allow my breath to flow evenly, regardless of the word I am repeating.
You can also use this mantra outside of the context of your meditation. As you go about your day, take the time to center yourself in your breath, step back from your circumstances, and remind yourself that regardless of what appears to be going on around you, on a very real level, you ARE the thing that is happening.
You are one with the universe. You ARE the person in front of you in traffic, the angry boss and the screaming baby. By repeating this mantra during the day, you remind yourself that you are connected to everyone, and you can more easily remain in a state of peace, joy, and bliss, despite the challenges you may be confronted with throughout the day.
Why Use This Mantra?
So Hum and Om So Hum are great beginner’s mantras for anyone new to working with repeated phrases. It is short, easy to remember, and easy to pronounce, which makes it a great phrase for people of any language. There’s no need to work through complex Sanskrit spellings or pronunciations.
That said, no mantra is a “beginner’s only” idea. Ancient yogic and Buddhsit traditions assert that any single idea, when repeated, has the power to unlock the secrets of the universe. Since this mantra translates to repeating that you are One with All That Is, it’s a great phrase to help you towards your enlightenment.
Like any mantra, the power of this mantra comes through repetition. Using it in one meditation and then never coming back to it is a sure sign of failure, or distraction. At first, using the mantra may feel awkward or perhaps even uncomfortable, but when you repeat it over time you can allow yourself to receive the full benefits.
Since this phrase has such an ancient history, there is a lot of energy connected to it. That’s why I often recommend that people invoke the original Sanskrit, rather than the English translation (I am that.) The literal sound of the word includes a specific energy with it, and that’s the energy you want to access through the Om So Ham mantra.
Video and Audio Recordings
There are many great recordings of this mantra that you can access for free. Finding the right meditation audio is about finding the sound that works for you. I’ve included two of my favorite recordings here to get you started. The first is a beautiful, elongated chant sung by a full choir and set over a lush string background sound.
The second is a guided meditation that walks you through using this mantra in a seated meditation practice. They’re both great backgrounds for meditation, so I hope you enjoy them!
Choir Sings a Beautiful So Hum Chant
Guided Soham Meditation by the Deepak Chopra Center
So Hum Meaning: Hindi and English
As mentioned earlier, the translation of So Hum comes to “I am that.” So translates to “I am,” while Hum translates to “that.”
There are several variations of this phrase, including: So Hum, Sohum, Soham, So Ham, Saham, and is sometimes inverted as Hamsah. When the phrase is altered slightly, it can also translate to: “I am the Swan,” as is the case in so ‘ham hamsah. In this variation, the Swan refers to Atman.
The phrase is originally found in the Upanishads, such as Verse 16 of the Isha Upanishad, which reads:
(…) तेजो यत्ते रूपं कल्याणतमं तत्ते पश्यामि योऽसावसौ पुरुषः सोऽहमस्मि ॥१६॥
tejo yat te rūpaṃ kalyāṇatamaṃ tat te paśyāmi yo ‘sāv [asau puruṣaḥ] so’ham asmi
“The light which is thy fairest form, I see it. I am what He is“
Soham Mantra Benefits
There are many so hum meditation benefits. In a single session, practicing this mantra can cause you to feel centered and in touch with the world around you. It can be used to clear negative health problems, or to help you to focus on your aims and make important decisions.
The real benefits of soham meditation, however, come over time. When you practice this mantra consistently, you empower yourself to begin to notice the intricate connections that exist in the world around us. You will start to see yourself as a part of all those you come into contact with, and, as a result, can become more compassionate, more understanding, and more loving.
Furthermore, you can use this mantra outside of your meditation in order to cultivate a renewed sense of peace and oneness anytime a stress trigger arises in your environment.
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