Meditation is a powerful, spiritual practice that does not require you to practice a particular faith, religion or philosophy. Anyone can meditate.
Meditation aims to relax the body both mentally and physically and this is achieved by focusing on letting go of the mind chatter (or reduce or eliminate the conscious thought) and bring the mind to stillness or rest.
Meditation is about practice and finding the right technique that suits you.
The benefits of meditation vary for each person, however common benefits are:-
- heart rate and breathing slows down
- blood pressure normalises
- our mind becomes clearer
- our creativity increases.
- it can help reduce our stress levels
- think clearer and therefore make better decisions.
- improve our powers of concentration
Meditation is about practice and finding the right technique that suits you. If you are completely new to meditation, try sitting quietly doing nothing for 5 minutes each day, as you become better at it, increase the time to 7 minutes, then 10 minutes etc. Alternatively use guided meditations whereby someone verbally guides you through the steps of your meditation. Start slow and forgive yourself if you have difficulty following the guide. Be patient with yourself as it is about practicing.
When you meditate, you create your own sacred space and honour yourself. Namaste!
Relate Posts
During our Virtual Book Tour promoting our journal, Journal for the Modern Goddess, I created four affirmation video. Here is the first video. Please enjoy!
Relate Posts
As a ’wannabe’ artist currently learning how to paint, I’m always in awe of talented artists.
Tara, my journal business partner has been busy painting. We are in our final stages of designing our next journal, Journal for the Pregnant Goddess. This journal has five different images with the fifth image going to be part of our third journal, Journal for the Mother Goddess.
I’ve loved watching Tara’s paintings evolve because I can actually see where she’s come from to where she is now, and every now and then I get a glimpse of where she is going. You can see a sneak peak of the journal cover painting on our website, Journals for Empowerment.
Tara has not only been painting for our journals, but she has also been painting for her business, Nirvana Visions. I love one of her recent paintings of her daughter, aptly named ‘The voice of the toddler‘.
Another artist who has been busy is Jenny over at Jenni’s Papercraft Designs. Jenny is a keen cardmaker and in between running her business and making cards, she has been learning to paint. She has combined her cardmaking and artwork to offer a set of 4 notecards in her online store.
In my post, Business Success Factor #1 one of the factors is to evaluate your personal goals and consider if they suit the lifestyle of a small business owner. What these women have in common is that they’ve successfully combined their passion with business.
Looking for something that you enjoy or are passionate about is a step in the right direction forumlating a business idea. Of course there are other factors, but doing something you love is a good start.
What are you passionate about?
Relate Posts
I love my notes and here is a recent one I wanted to share with you.
***
Ever have one of those days, Nicole, when you’re feeling so good, crossing a street, driving your car, shopping at the mall, when, from a distance you see a complete stranger, with a kindly face, and you simply can’t help yourself from whispering a silent “I love you…”?
Oh, cool, because there has been many a time, in many a place, when some unknown face whispered the same to you….
Love you,
The Universe
Relate Posts
I’ve been catching up on my emails after being away over Easter and last week. This email was sent to me by an old school friend who is a mother of 5 children including twins. Each day I’m amazed by her ability to manage a busy household as well as deal with her youngest being ill.
Enjoy this story!
***
I’m invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, “Can’t you see I’m on the phone?” Obviously not. No one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.
I’m invisible.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, “What time is it?” I’m a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?” I’m a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.”
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.
She’s going… she’s going… she’s gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.
It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, “I brought you this.” It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: “With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.”
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life- changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:
- No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
- These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
- They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
- The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.”
And the workman replied, “Because God sees.”
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cup cake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.”
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.
When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, “You’re gonna love it there.”
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Author Unknown
Relate Posts
Blog Against Sexual Violence
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and this year Abyss2Hope is coordinating this years “Blog Against Sexual Violence” on Thursday, 3rd April 2008. I invite you all to consider participating.
Edmund the Explorer
I love the creativeness of people… and I would like to introduce you to Edmund, who’s mum is Denise. Edmund is preparing for an expedition to the Arctic, to raise funds for the children’s unit at St. Theresa’s Hospice in Darlington, UK. The unit is especially for the children who have lost parents to cancer. He needs to raise 1,000 pounds for the Hospice before he can go on the expedition. You can read about his antics over at Edmund (the Explorer) Nesbitt’s blog.
Knitting for HIV Positive Babes
Imagine having a passion for knitting and living in a tropical environment where your skills are seldom required. Now imagine HIV positive babies being born in hospitals all around Africa and most of the babe goes home basically naked without much hope of living.
A lovely Australian woman, we’ll call her Mrs L has found herself a reason to knit. She now passionately knits tiny woolen vests which are sent to the babes in Africa. Mrs L loves to receive wool donations, so if you have some old wool at home and want to re-gift it for a good cause, please leave me a comment.
- An Australian story and images - Knitting for the worlds aids baby orphans and others in need
- Charties in the US that accept knitted items
Relate Posts
As mentioned in my previous post, I’m reading ‘A New Earth’ by Eckhart Tolle. I’m finding the book very inspiring and it really gets me thinking. I love that Eckhart Tolle said that instead of asking ourselves “what do we want to do in life?” we should ask ourselves, “what does life want me to do?”.
The book has me pondering my place in the world and how I am living it.
Today while visiting Working Solo, I came across her post called Friday Inspiration. It definitely was inspirational! Leah highly recommended that her readers take 18 minutes out of their day and have a watch a presentation by Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained Brain Scientist.
I did as Leah suggested and wow… I was really touched. Now I’m highly recommending you take the time to watch the presentation aptly named, My Stroke of Insight. It is pretty amazing!
Relate Posts
Most people probably know about the 10 week webinar that Oprah and Eckhart Tolle are conducting about Eckhart’s book, ‘A New Earth’.
The organisers of the webinar thought it would be a great idea to involve the community and have asked a number of people to lead discussion groups. I was very honoured to be asked and if you are looking for an online discussion group, please check out, A New Earth Discussion Forum.
The online discussion forum will be discussing each chapter based on Oprah’s program (outlined below). It does not matter if you do not start the same week as Oprah’s webinar or read a chapter per week. The benefit of the discussion forum is that you can join in whenever you can.
The schedule is:-
Monday, March 3rd – The Flowering of Human Consciousness
Monday, March 10th – Ego: The Current State of Humanity
Monday, March 17th – The Core of Ego
Monday, March 24th – Role Playing: The Many Faces of the Ego
Monday, March 31st – The Pain-Body
Monday, April 7th – Breaking Free
Monday, April 14th – Finding Who You Truly Are
Monday, April 21 – The Discovery of Inner Space
Monday, April 28th – Your Inner Purpose
Monday, May 5th – A New Earth
If you are not from the USA, living on Chicago time, please visit www.oprah.com to find out when the program will be shown. For those in Hong Kong the time for us is on Tuesday at 10am and those in Sydney, it is at 12am or 1pm based on whether you’ve changed over for Daylight Savings.
Feel free to join in. We look forward to seeing you!
Relate Posts
I stumbled upon this while searching the Internet. The author is LindaL.
As women we are a tapestry - thousands of threads woven together creating who we are in this moment. So many threads and fibres of different colors, textures, and lengths. They cover all apsects of our lives - the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, social beliefs. And yet we are a work in progress - never fully complete as long as we are breathing and making choices.
Our roles are also part of the tapestry - mother, sister, friend, mentor, co worker, lover, neighbor. It is important to create and nurture the relationships with our “sisters” who support, love, play, share, and work with us. I also believe the women in our lives have played a strong part in creating our tapestry.
I love it… what do you think?
Relate Posts
Last year I was blessed to be able to attend private yoga sessions that helped me hone some basic yoga techniques. This year I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and joined a 1.5 hour class on Mondays. Yoga not only stretches me physically and mentally, it also brings a calmness to me that lasts all day. The favourite part of the yoga class is at the end when we do a short meditation.
What I’ve noticed since regularly attending yoga class is that the benefits are much greater than I first thought. If I had of felt or understood the benefits earlier in life, I would have consistently attended classes rather than picked it up every now and then. Some of the benefits I’ve become aware of are:-
- Increase in Flexibility - I spend a fair bit of time in front of the computer and what I have found is that by doing yoga it has helped with the flexibility of my shoulders and arms. Instead of staying stiff, I do a couple of upper body movements and the stiffness goes away.
- Releases Tension - I find that the stretching that is done in yoga really helps me release tension in my back and shoulder muscles.
- Improves Posture - It is good to be aware of how we hold our body and yoga continues to remind me to sit and stand properly.
- Toning of Muscles - It definitely helps with definition of muscles, I’ve noticed it more so with my arms than anywhere else but I’m sure over time that will change.
- Breathing Deeper - shallow breathing is not good for you and yoga helps you breath deeper so you are using your stomach rather than your chest.
I would actually like to be attending yoga twice a week but due to my yoga teacher’s schedule and my own, I’ve had to look else where. Instead of heading to another class I’ve decided to try using a book as well as online video classes, and do the yoga workouts at times that suit me from the comfort of my own home.
The book I bough recently is called Chakra Yoga: Balancing Energy for Physical, Spiritual, and Mental Well-being
If you’ve got kids, maybe you could try yoga together. While over at My New Shiny Shoes, Michelle writes about yoga books and dvds for kids.
I wished someone had said to me “do at least 8 classes before giving up because you will reap the benefits.”
Do you attend Yoga classes or something similar?