SOS: Stress Rescue Meditation

Relieve stress in 5 minutes

The first step to move away from stress and head toward success is to just STOP!  The Breath Rescue Meditation is a perfect tool to stop stress in its tracks and to create a path of least resistance. It allows your mind to clear, your body to relax and will help you get refocused on your intended goal.  Practice this meditation if you find yourself feeling tense, overwhelmed or irritable.

Find a quiet place where you are not likely to be disturbed. At home, you may shut the phone and find a comfortable chair. At the office, you might slip into an unused office or conference room. Even sitting in your car will do the trick. The most important part find place where you can sit in a comfortable position. Preferably, your feet should flat on the ground with your back straight to prevent your mind from becoming sleepy.

Gently close your eyes and turn your attention to your breathing. Just breathe naturally. It is best to breathe through the nostrils, but it is more important not to attempt to control your breath. As you bring your focus to your breathing, try to also notice the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. This sensation is your “object” or focal point of the meditation. It will keep you from being distracted by external noises. Optimally, awareness of your breath should be to the exclusion of everything else.

Initially, your mind will be very busy, and you might even feel that the meditation is making your mind busier. In reality, you are just becoming more aware of how busy your mind actually is. There will be a great temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise, but you should dismiss this and remain focused specifically on the sensation of the breath. If you discover that your mind has wandered and is following your thoughts, no harm, simply return your attention back to the breath. Repeat this as many times as necessary until the mind settles on the breath.

Do the Breath Rescue Meditation for at least one minute, but five to ten minutes would be better. As you regularly practice this exercise, you will find that your tension subsides more easily and you experience an immediate sense of inner peace and relaxation. You will notice that you are calmer, refreshed and more focused. Your attitude naturally feels uplifted. You will find that usual problems or difficult situations will become easier to deal with and you will once again be back on track with success!

Choosing to Transform Your Life

After entering my 48th year of this life experience, my world began to change. Not because outside forces presented circumstances that would change my life. The energy of this change began several years prior. It began when I started to get clear about my life. I focused on what I desired. I noticed what I did not like as well as what I liked. I paid attention to what was missing and what was showing up everyday.  I assessed it all. I reflected on it for a while. And then I made deliberate, decisive choices.

The first choice I made was to spend time each day in meditation. Not just the usual meditation I had done previously either. I had decided to try something different. I wanted something that would help me get the energy started. What I needed was to get out of my own way and let the Universe do the work. So when I came across a Kundalini meditation from JJ Semple, Golden Flower Meditation based on the Secret of the Golden Flower, it seemed like the right choice to make.  I sat for 20-30 minutes a day for more than a hundred days straight, breathing a rhythmic breath from my diaphragm. Just when I had almost forgotten about the effects of doing such a meditation, it happened. I activated the Kundalini energy within my Chakras.

That's when my life finally opened up and began to change for the better. This new energy within me cleared my thinking and offered the momentum I needed.  It has been a little over a year since this pure positive energy activated within me and now I have completely transformed my life. Not just one thing, but every area has been affected. For me, it is all good. And it is still underway.

I allowed for the release of old belief systems, thoughts, actions and choices that were toxic in my life, as well as opening up to new, unexpected opportunities that emerged from my new state of being. What I have also noticed is that my positive changes has seeped into the lives of others in my inner circle. Shedding the old and embracing the new...it is all part of the transformation process.

If you want to transform your life, you must first be willing to make deliberate changes. You must be willing to release the old and embrace the new. You must be willing to take time to be still, to get clear and to take action only when it is the next logical step on your journey.

The one thing I learned is that you must resonate with the changes you want in your life. For me, the best thing I have found to release resistance and to align with my heart's desire was to simply sit and breathe. Doing some form of meditation--breathing, Kundalini, mantras, affirmations, guided, brainwave therapy, nature walks--whatever your preference, is truly the secret to transforming your life.

Birthday Reflection

I turn 48 officially at 1pm today. My immediate reflection of my life is that I have done good. I could go to my maker today with a happy heart. Despite of and because of the challenges, I am the person I was meant to be... perfectly imperfect me. I love me that way. What lies ahead is unknown, but what is known gives me peace and a joyful flutter inside telling me, "It's all good, Margaret."

Happy Birthday to Me!

Mindfulness: 37 Everyday Places Where You Can Practice Enjoying the Moment

Mindfulness: 37 Everyday Places Where You Can Practice Enjoying the Moment  By BILL GERLACH

"Discovering the present moment changed my life.

It was one of those things that in retrospect you wonder how you ever lived without it. About three years ago, I was in the throes of starting my MBA, working full-time, and being a husband and dad to my wife and (at that time) two small children. Life was hectic. I still thought multi-tasking and spreading myself paper-thin was the surest way to succeed.

And then it hit me. I don’t remember how I actually stumbled upon it. But the whole idea of being in control of—and totally enjoying—the present moment instead of fretting over the past or future was eye-opening. I was a serial planner, an über-plot-it-out-and-execute-it kind of guy. I was so busy being busy that I was losing sight of what was right before me....more"

FACE YOUR TRUTH

These faces we wear are only masks of what we are in truth. Only love is real. But these faces tell a different story so we believe in the lie and live out the drama. Of course, you can always choose to walk off the stage and be who you really are.

Brief Meditative Exercise Helps Cognition

ScienceDaily (Apr. 19, 2010) — Some of us need regular amounts of coffee or other chemical enhancers to make us cognitively sharper. A newly published study suggests perhaps a brief bit of meditation would prepare us just as well.

While past research using neuro-imaging technology has shown that meditation techniques can promote significant changes in brain areas associated with concentration, it has always been assumed that extensive training was required to achieve this effect. Though many people would like to boost their cognitive abilities, the monk-like discipline required seems like a daunting time commitment and financial cost for this benefit.

Surprisingly, the benefits may be achievable even without all the work. Though it sounds almost like an advertisement for a "miracle" weight-loss product, new research now suggests that the mind may be easier to cognitively train than we previously believed. Psychologists studying the effects of a meditation technique known as "mindfulness " found that meditation-trained participants showed a significant improvement in their critical cognitive skills (and performed significantly higher in cognitive tests than a control group) after only four days of training for only 20 minutes each day... Read more from ScienceDaily.

A Visual and Sound Meditation Moment

Sit comfortably, relax your body, 

soften your eyes, breathe and enjoy!