Quieting the Mind and Being Present by Gina Lake
The Self speaks to us primarily through intuition. It is the language of the Heart. The value of meditation and other spiritual practices that quiet the mind is that they make intuition more accessible. Most people need these practices to get over the hurdle of the dominance of the mind and into greater alignment with the Self.
Meditation, or any other activity that focuses the mind, causes the mind to become quiet because it keeps it busy with a task. Actually any activity that we are fully engaged in can serve as a meditation. When we focus all of our attention on something, the mind becomes quiet and serves us only when needed.
We tend to skim by on the surface of life, instead of diving into the moment and really experiencing it. The mind keeps us at a distance from the real experience and, instead, substitutes thoughts about the experience. It distances us from the present moment, where life is rich and alive. We can learn to be more present to the moment by just noticing what is going on. This is usually accomplished by taking our attention off of thoughts and putting it on whatever else is happening in the moment.
Exercise: Being Present: Being present means giving your attention to everything that is happening in the moment, not just to your thoughts. If a thought arises, notice it and then continue to notice whatever else is present. When you are engaged in a task and your mind wanders off of it, bring your attention back to the task, to the sensations that are present, and to the entire experience of that moment. Soon it will be natural to be present to whatever is going on in the moment.
Doing a more formal kind of meditation is another very helpful practice. When done on a regular basis, meditation helps establish a calm mental state, which makes the intuition (and the Self’s guidance) more accessible. It is the most effective spiritual technique available for shifting out of the egoic state of consciousness and into the experience of our true nature. It is also no more complicated or difficult than being present to an activity. Exercise: Sitting in Meditation: Set aside some time in a quiet place for this. Start by sitting in meditation for 10 minutes, and slowly increase this as your enjoyment of meditation increases. Be sure to make this as comfortable, enjoyable, and pleasant as possible so that you look forward to doing this. Try to do this daily, even if only for a few minutes. Choose something to focus on that you enjoy so that your meditation will be pleasurable. If you are auditory, you would probably enjoy listening to music or to the sounds in the room. If you are more kinesthetic, you would enjoy focusing on any physical sensations that are present and also on any subtle energetic sensations. If you are more visual, you might enjoy gazing at a picture of a saint, a work of art, colors, flowers, or something in nature. Whenever your mind wanders from what you are focusing on, gently bring it back. Also notice what you are experiencing as you sit in meditation. While the mind is busy with what it is focusing on, experience is still happening. This experience is who you are! As you practice meditation more, your mind will wander less and for shorter periods of time, and you will spend increasing amounts of time in the now.
Once you begin spending more time in the now, meditation becomes very pleasurable. The now is intensely pleasurable. It has everything: joy, bliss, peace, contentment, fulfillment, love, and wisdom. You will wonder why you ever wandered from the now, but then you will catch yourself doing it again. The mind is very seductive even though the now is so joyous and full. Even those who live mostly in the now find themselves wandering through the corridors of the mind from time to time.
Thinking can be fun. The Self enjoys thinking when it is appropriate, and thinking can serve the Self. Not all thinking is a problem. It is our relationship to it that causes the problem. When we become identified with our thoughts, we lose awareness of the now. It is possible, however, to think and not become identified with our thoughts. When we remain aware of the Self while we are thinking, then thinking is kept in its rightful place.
Thinking can be like any other activity we are present to. We can be present to our thoughts just as we are present to whatever else is part of that moment. When we are present to our thoughts, it doesn’t feel like we are thinking them but more like we are noticing them being thought, which is very different from the usual way of thinking. Exercise: Being Present to Thoughts: Notice whatever thought is arising right now. Observe it as if you were standing at a distance from it. What is the experience of thinking? Notice that thinking seems to be contained in your head. What is aware of thinking? Is this Awareness contained by anything, even your body? How big is it? Does it have a boundary? What is the experience of this Awareness? This is who you are. You are the Awareness that is aware of thoughts coming and going.
The thoughts that arise in your mind have nothing to do with who you really are. What arises in your mind is not up to you. It is just the conditioning you were given. Without following a thought, commenting on a thought, or holding an opinion about a thought, simply observe how your thoughts come and go: One thought replaces another. Where do they come from? Where do they go? Notice how little coherence there is between thoughts and how they jump from subject to subject. At times, it seems they are designed solely to get your attention. What else do you notice about them? Are there different voices attached to them? Do you notice certain themes? How true are they? Do they have an impact on this Awareness?
Being present to thoughts this way allows us to be objective about them. With objectivity, we can examine them in a way that is not possible when we are identified with them. Through this examination, a great deal can be learned about the nature of our conditioning, and this can free us from it.
This new relationship to the mind is very freeing. It not only frees us from our conditioning but it frees us to be aware of the fullness of the moment. Because the mind no longer has the power to draw us into identification, we are free to give our attention to the whole of life instead of only to our thoughts. What we discover is that part of what is happening in the whole of life is that the Self is speaking to us in its own way—through intuition.
Gina Lake has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and over twenty years experience as an astrologer and a channel. She is the author of several books, including Radical Happiness and Return to Essence. Gina is available for astrological and channeled phone consultations that support awakening and living a conscious life. For more info, to order her books, to read excerpts, or to download the free e-book: Radiance: Experiencing Divine Presence, please visit http://www.radicalhappiness.com.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Shifting Your Perspective Through Gratitude
Shifting Your Perspective Through Gratitude by Gina Lake
Gratitude comes from essence—your truest Self. It is not the ego’s nature to be grateful but quite the opposite. When you feel gratitude, it is coming from essence. When you are feeling gratitude, it is helpful to acknowledge the gratitude and really allow yourself to feel it and to sustain it with positive statements that express the feeling in that moment. Essence is in love with all of life and bursting with joy over the miracle that it is. The ego dampens this joy with complaints and ideas for how the moment could be better. We rarely stay long in gratitude because the ego is so quick to pull us out of it, but if we can learn to give our attention to the natural gratitude that arises from essence, that can become our ongoing feeling about life.
We are programmed to pay attention to the ego and its complaints about life, so to counteract this, we have to make an effort to give our attention to gratitude when we experience it and to create the feeling of gratitude when we are not experiencing it by noticing what is good and lovable about life rather than what the ego doesn’t like. The ego’s ongoing commentary is basically about what is wrong with something. If we give our attention to that, then that is what we will experience and give voice to. If you want to experience life as lacking, then listen to the egoic mind. The more you do that, the more you will find lacking. On the other hand, if you want to experience life as good, then notice the experience that your true self—essence—is having instead of the running negative commentary of the mind.
The experience of essence is one of love, acceptance, and openness to all life. This experience is ongoing and accessible in any moment; it just isn’t experienced through the mind. To be happy and feel the joy of essence, we have to turn away from whatever the mind is telling us to the experience of the moment, where that joy can be felt. Joy is an experience—not a thought—and it is only available in the here and now. You have to discover it in the moment, and once you do, you have to continue to give your attention to it, or you are likely to find yourself thinking again. Being in essence and staying there requires your continued attention to the moment rather than to the mind. Whenever your attention wavers off the moment, you will surely be back in the mind.
Whatever you give your attention to becomes stronger, so if you give your attention to what you are not grateful for, then feelings of lack, resentment, anger, disappointment, and frustration will grow. On the other hand, if you give your attention to what you are grateful for, then the feeling of gratitude grows along with other positive feelings: joy, peace, contentment, acceptance, and happiness.
Exercise: Increasing Gratitude
You can train yourself to be more aware and expressive of gratitude in any number of ways:
1. Write down all the things you are grateful for and recite them to yourself every morning and night.
2. Make a collage or picture of everything you are grateful for. This is a very powerful way of expressing and reinforcing your gratitude because it takes time, energy, and focus.
3. Bring gratitude to as many moments as possible during your day.
Doing these things to align yourself with gratitude rather than lack is a very powerful spiritual practice, which can change your life when done consistently. The reason gratitude can change your life is that it is a simple way to move from the ego to essence. All it requires is remembering to be grateful. You can reprogram your mind by using gratitude to replace any thought of lack, resentment, disappointment, frustration, or anger. Whenever a negative thought arises, replace it with gratitude. For example: If the thought arises “He shouldn’t have done that to me,” it can be replaced with “I’m grateful I have the strength and understanding to deal with this.” In doing this, you move from victimization to peace, personal power, and acceptance.
Statements of gratitude such as this are not only truer, but they eliminate the suffering created by negative and untrue statements. You have the power to change your experience of life by changing what you say to yourself about your experiences. Our initial response to any experience is likely to come from the ego because it is programmed to respond instantly, automatically, and negatively to whatever is happening. We have to learn to slow down our responses enough to allow for a different and more positive response. When we do that, we are reprogramming our mind and healing our conditioning, and that conditioning is less likely to arise again, or arise as strongly.
Because the egoic mind is so unrelentingly negative and because we are programmed to listen to it, we have to be unrelentingly committed to another, more positive perspective, or we will be left with the egoic mind’s perspective. Happiness doesn’t lie in the direction of negativity and lack of gratitude. No matter how wronged you may feel by someone or by life, the only way out of the suffering involved in that is to change your perception of the situation. Essence is grateful for all experience because all experience brings growth and learning and because certain attributes, such as compassion, patience, and perseverance, can only be developed through challenges.
Exercise: Being Grateful for Challenges
Although it may not be possible to be grateful for having had a particular experience, we can learn to focus on being grateful for the growth or other positive things that came from it. No experience is without benefit. These benefits may be difficult to see when we are in the midst of a particular tragedy, but as time passes, they become easier. Ask yourself: How did that experience serve me? What was good about it? How have I grown as a result of it? The more you can focus on how something served you, the easier it will be to forgive, let go, and move on.
We tend to focus on what we dislike about something, how awful it is, and how unfair it is, and other people are often happy to agree with us and reinforce this perspective. However, doing this is not healing and it doesn’t help us grow from the experience and turn it into the gold it can be. Every difficult experience can be transmuted and a means of transformation of ourselves and others, or it can be a source of ongoing pain and limitation. We get to choose what it will be. Gratitude is the key to shifting our perspective to one that will heal us and help us grow and be a positive force in the world.
Gina Lake has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and over twenty years experience as an astrologer and a channel. She is the author of several books, including Radical Happiness and Return to Essence. Gina is available for astrological and channeled phone consultations that support awakening and living a conscious life. For more info, to order her books, to read excerpts, or to download the free e-book: Radiance: Experiencing Divine Presence, please visit http://www.radicalhappiness.com.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Gratitude comes from essence—your truest Self. It is not the ego’s nature to be grateful but quite the opposite. When you feel gratitude, it is coming from essence. When you are feeling gratitude, it is helpful to acknowledge the gratitude and really allow yourself to feel it and to sustain it with positive statements that express the feeling in that moment. Essence is in love with all of life and bursting with joy over the miracle that it is. The ego dampens this joy with complaints and ideas for how the moment could be better. We rarely stay long in gratitude because the ego is so quick to pull us out of it, but if we can learn to give our attention to the natural gratitude that arises from essence, that can become our ongoing feeling about life.
We are programmed to pay attention to the ego and its complaints about life, so to counteract this, we have to make an effort to give our attention to gratitude when we experience it and to create the feeling of gratitude when we are not experiencing it by noticing what is good and lovable about life rather than what the ego doesn’t like. The ego’s ongoing commentary is basically about what is wrong with something. If we give our attention to that, then that is what we will experience and give voice to. If you want to experience life as lacking, then listen to the egoic mind. The more you do that, the more you will find lacking. On the other hand, if you want to experience life as good, then notice the experience that your true self—essence—is having instead of the running negative commentary of the mind.
The experience of essence is one of love, acceptance, and openness to all life. This experience is ongoing and accessible in any moment; it just isn’t experienced through the mind. To be happy and feel the joy of essence, we have to turn away from whatever the mind is telling us to the experience of the moment, where that joy can be felt. Joy is an experience—not a thought—and it is only available in the here and now. You have to discover it in the moment, and once you do, you have to continue to give your attention to it, or you are likely to find yourself thinking again. Being in essence and staying there requires your continued attention to the moment rather than to the mind. Whenever your attention wavers off the moment, you will surely be back in the mind.
Whatever you give your attention to becomes stronger, so if you give your attention to what you are not grateful for, then feelings of lack, resentment, anger, disappointment, and frustration will grow. On the other hand, if you give your attention to what you are grateful for, then the feeling of gratitude grows along with other positive feelings: joy, peace, contentment, acceptance, and happiness.
Exercise: Increasing Gratitude
You can train yourself to be more aware and expressive of gratitude in any number of ways:
1. Write down all the things you are grateful for and recite them to yourself every morning and night.
2. Make a collage or picture of everything you are grateful for. This is a very powerful way of expressing and reinforcing your gratitude because it takes time, energy, and focus.
3. Bring gratitude to as many moments as possible during your day.
Doing these things to align yourself with gratitude rather than lack is a very powerful spiritual practice, which can change your life when done consistently. The reason gratitude can change your life is that it is a simple way to move from the ego to essence. All it requires is remembering to be grateful. You can reprogram your mind by using gratitude to replace any thought of lack, resentment, disappointment, frustration, or anger. Whenever a negative thought arises, replace it with gratitude. For example: If the thought arises “He shouldn’t have done that to me,” it can be replaced with “I’m grateful I have the strength and understanding to deal with this.” In doing this, you move from victimization to peace, personal power, and acceptance.
Statements of gratitude such as this are not only truer, but they eliminate the suffering created by negative and untrue statements. You have the power to change your experience of life by changing what you say to yourself about your experiences. Our initial response to any experience is likely to come from the ego because it is programmed to respond instantly, automatically, and negatively to whatever is happening. We have to learn to slow down our responses enough to allow for a different and more positive response. When we do that, we are reprogramming our mind and healing our conditioning, and that conditioning is less likely to arise again, or arise as strongly.
Because the egoic mind is so unrelentingly negative and because we are programmed to listen to it, we have to be unrelentingly committed to another, more positive perspective, or we will be left with the egoic mind’s perspective. Happiness doesn’t lie in the direction of negativity and lack of gratitude. No matter how wronged you may feel by someone or by life, the only way out of the suffering involved in that is to change your perception of the situation. Essence is grateful for all experience because all experience brings growth and learning and because certain attributes, such as compassion, patience, and perseverance, can only be developed through challenges.
Exercise: Being Grateful for Challenges
Although it may not be possible to be grateful for having had a particular experience, we can learn to focus on being grateful for the growth or other positive things that came from it. No experience is without benefit. These benefits may be difficult to see when we are in the midst of a particular tragedy, but as time passes, they become easier. Ask yourself: How did that experience serve me? What was good about it? How have I grown as a result of it? The more you can focus on how something served you, the easier it will be to forgive, let go, and move on.
We tend to focus on what we dislike about something, how awful it is, and how unfair it is, and other people are often happy to agree with us and reinforce this perspective. However, doing this is not healing and it doesn’t help us grow from the experience and turn it into the gold it can be. Every difficult experience can be transmuted and a means of transformation of ourselves and others, or it can be a source of ongoing pain and limitation. We get to choose what it will be. Gratitude is the key to shifting our perspective to one that will heal us and help us grow and be a positive force in the world.
Gina Lake has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and over twenty years experience as an astrologer and a channel. She is the author of several books, including Radical Happiness and Return to Essence. Gina is available for astrological and channeled phone consultations that support awakening and living a conscious life. For more info, to order her books, to read excerpts, or to download the free e-book: Radiance: Experiencing Divine Presence, please visit http://www.radicalhappiness.com.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Friday, August 24, 2007
Are your Prayers For Healing Being Heard?
By Catherine Rauch
When Aretha Franklin crooned the words “I say a little prayer for you” in the hit 1960s song she probably didn’t imagine that the soulful pledge would become the stuff of serious science. But increasingly, scientists are studying the power of prayer, and in particular its role in healing people who are sick.
Most research in the field looks at how people who are sick are affected by their own spiritual beliefs and practices. In general, these studies have suggested that people who are religious seem to heal faster or cope with illness more effectively than do the nondevout.
But a few scientists have taken a further step: They’re trying to find out if you can help strangers by praying for them without their knowledge.
A recent, controversial study of cardiac patients conducted at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, concludes that this type of prayer — known as intercessory prayer — may indeed make a difference. “Prayer may be an effective adjunct to standard medical care,” says cardiac researcher William Harris, Ph.D., who headed the St. Luke’s study. The study was published in the October 25, 1999 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Harris and team examined the health outcomes of nearly 1,000 newly admitted heart patients at St. Luke’s. The patients, who all had serious cardiac conditions, were randomly assigned to two groups. Half received daily prayer for four weeks from five volunteers who believed in God and in the healing power of prayer. The other half received no prayer in conjunction with the study.
The volunteers were all Christians. The participants were not told they were in a study. The people praying were given only the first names of their patients and never visited the hospital. They were instructed to pray for the patients daily “for a speedy recovery with no complications.”
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