Meditation

 Quieting the Mind

Meditation is one of the greatest, healthiest life habits you can give yourself.

Research has shown it’s benefits to include: stress reduction, improved circulation, increased clarity of perception and thought, and more restful sleep just to name a few. 

These are great things, but for those of us wanting to learn to improve our psychic skills, there's an even greater benefit.

Alpha state is a slightly slower brain wave rhythm than your usual waking state of consciousness. Normally, during the day, our brains activity is bebopping right along in Beta rhythm.

When we begin to get drowsy, sleepy, daydreamy (like the after lunch slump), when we apply hypnosis, or meditation, we slow our brain wave rhythm down to what’s known as alpha state.

As we move even deeper, closer toward light sleep, we transverse into theta state, which is also very highly psychically active.

Alpha and Theta are the states in which we are most psychically receptive and accurate! You might call these slower brain wave states the Holy Grail of meditators. It’s the state that many seek for enlightenment. 

It's the state that you will learn to move into and out of easily through a simple shift of focus to actively seek psychic/intuitive information.

That "simple shift" doesn't always come easily at first. For many of us, we have filled our lives with sound, and action, work, kids, chores, noise, doing, and lots and lots of clutter. 

When you have all that extra stuff filling in all the cracks and chinks in your everyday world, you become to overloaded to tap into the "quiet world." 

The realm of the psychic is easiest to connect to as you declutter your stressed and overloaded schedule. 

Anyway, decluttering your life, slowing down, destressing; meditating on a regular basis will help you with all of this as well.

For those of you who have never meditated before, I must first tell you....

There’s no wrong way to meditate!

You don’t have to get into any strange body bending postures, you don’t have to "Ommm" or contemplate your navel (although sometimes it’s fun).

All you have to do is get yourself into a quiet place, relax, and breathe.

Just breathe. Calm, deep, relaxed breaths.

Try to empty your mind so that the only thing left to focus on is your breathing. As invading mind clutter enters your head, one by one, gently remove these thoughts.

You can take care of the mind clutter in several ways. You can picture a high cupboard in your mind and store your thoughts away in there and shut the door.

You can encase your mind clutter in a soap bubble, and then as you exhale blow it all the way to the horizon in your mind so that it’s out of sight.

You can use the Star Trek method, and transport your invading thoughts out into deep space where they won’t bother your meditation. (You can always transport them back later if you really want to.)

If your body is having a hard time relaxing. If your legs are figity, or your fingers won't stop drumming, there are several things you will want to check on regarding your body:

1) Are you drinking too much caffeine?  Caffeine seems to excite your nerves and rob you of calcium (which calms and relaxes your muscles).  If you are drinking more than 2 cups (those are 8 oz cups folks) of coffee or 4 cans of caffeinated pop per day, I recommend you think about slowly beginning today to cut back to that level.  Benefits:  Better sleep, calmer days, less anger and stress, and better utilization of calcium so your bones will like you better when you're older.) 

2) Are you getting enough calcium? The only natural element in the known world that allows your muscles to relax is calcium.  Calcium is most usually thought of being found in dairy products, but as we age, many of us stop digesting milk and dairy products very well and then we don't have a good calcium source in our diets.  If you are not getting your calcium through dairy sources, please (check with your health care practitioner if you need to)  look into supplemental calcium, preferably a brand that ISN'T oyster shells (they absorb too many heavy minerals from the ocean floor) and get one that does have vitamin D and trace minerals.  Check the label for the correct dosage.  Remember, if you are drinking lots of carbonated beverages, this too will steal and bind up the calcium in your diet.  Keep carbonated beverages to a minimum!

3) Are you getting optimal sleep? Are you running on adrenaline everyday just to keep up?  This is NOT a good situation for your body.  If you are short changing your body on rest, and running on adrenaline to operate in "normal everyday" settings, what are you going to do when you really need adrenaline for emergencies. That daily adrenaline is not easy on the body and especially not easy on the digestive system (can we say acid indigestion?) Relax, slow down, do whatever it takes to stop the daily adrenaline operating mode.

4) To really relax before you meditate, try taking a hot bath.  The hot water will sooth your system, calm your muscles, improve your circulation and help you sweat out some toxins. I often do so with a handful of Epsom salts because for some reasons my body feels less "electrically buzzy" after an Epsom salts bath. If I couldn't take a bath prior to meditating, I went into the restroom and washed my hands and face. This small "cleansing ritual" helped me to wash off the day and begin my transition to calmer meditation.

5) Try burning a lavender or lemon balm (melissa) candle.  Lavender and lemon balm (also called Melissa) are herbs that help calm and soothe. I also have seen a lavender spray for your pillow that is light and pleasant. Remember, too much lavender will jazz you up. Easy does it.

6) Go somewhere where you won't be bothered or disturbed.  Turn off the ringer on the phone if you need to, or go someplace where you know you won't be pestered by anything...not kids or dishes or work deadlines. 

7) Try meditating to some soothing non-verbal music or nature sounds. 

Daily Homework: Practice your meditative breathing...full slow wonderful breaths for ten minutes each day this week. Don’t forget to take care of your mind clutter