Hobbies

When you are unhappy what do you do? Do you go out for a meal? Go to the cinema? The theatre, perhaps? Do you go shopping? Perhaps you like a drink to overcome your unhappiness. Or do you get a buzz from jogging or going to the gym?

Whatever it is scientist are in the process of proving that internal change is the only thing that can give you health and happiness. Everything else is an illusion.

What does this mean?

Your brain is the only thing that can keep you healthy and happy.

Richard Davidson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin and Jon Kabat-Zinn from the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre have just completed some interesting research that can actually be of benefit to you and me and the way we run our lives.

They took a group of 41 stressed, but otherwise healthy, individuals working in a biotechnology firm in Wisconsin. 25 were taught meditation. In this case: mindfulness meditation. The group met for a 2.5 to 3 hour meditation class each week. After six weeks they all attended a seven hour meditation retreat. In addition each member was asked to meditate, at home, for one hour a day using a guided meditation tape.

I’d like to share a little secret about relaxation techniques for athletes (or health-minded people that workout) and anyone that wants to feel more focused, calm, healthy and peaceful.

But first, let’s define relaxation techniques, or more specifically, meditation. To begin, it’s not necessary to be a Zen master to learn meditation. Anyone can jump-in at any time and start meditating. You should put any expectations aside; do not try to force the outcome; don’t try to over-analyze “what meditation is”; and in general, just turn-off the brain and be in the moment. When meditating it is not necessary to blank out your mind or chase thoughts away. You’ll learn that as you progress with meditation, your mind will become quieter. Sit comfortably, with your spine reasonably straight. You can rest against a chair, a wall or headboard. Your hands can rest comfortably at your side or on your lap. Your legs can also be in any comfortable position (crossing them or any complicated pretzel position is not necessary). Overall, allow your body to sit comfortably so your body-mind-spirit can be open to relax.

There are different types of meditations that you can use in your daily practice. Here are a few:

When I first started learning about deep breathing exercises and meditation I had this pre-conceived notion of sitting very still for long periods of time, my body like a statue, my breathing hardly discernable to an onlooker.

Little did I know that this was not the only way to achieve a meditative experience.

In my discussions with people they often deem meditation an activity for ‘hippies’ from a bygone era that is for those people who are essentially away with the fairies! However, this could not be further from the truth!

You see meditation comes in all forms and guises. Yes, sometimes it does consist of silent, still, contemplation. Nothing wrong with that at all. What I also discovered was that it can come in a very energised form, a meditative experience yes, but one that blows the cobwebs out of your mind and body and provides you with the impetus to take action!

I have become a firm believer in such types of meditation. Ever heard of the saying "movement is superior to meditation"? Well this is a means to combine the two and create a wonderful way to increase focus on goals while energising the body.

What kind of picture comes to mind when someone mention the word "meditation?"

I don’t know about you, but for me, I use to get a picture of some real, health food nut, with a white beard, sitting Indian style with his eyes closed, palms facing up and making weird sounds. Didn’t seem like anything I thought I’d ever do. In fact, they looked sort of crazy to me and I didn’t really understand it. In fact, I never bothered to try to understand it either.

That is, until I started learning about meditation.

The reason I decided to start learning about meditation is because every single self-development book, seminar or workshop I would read, hear or attend, always mentioned meditating.

No matter how many times I heard the word meditation, I simply ignored it because it was not for me. I simply wasn’t "corny" like that. You would never catch me sitting down Indian style and moaning-naannn, not me.

But one day, I decided to read a book on meditation.

I’ve tried to remember the name of the book, but for some reason the name escapes me right now.

Breathe in through your nose and draw your breath down into the area just below your navel, allowing your stomach to expand as you breathe (Baby Breath) and filling your lungs entirely with each breath before exhaling through your nose. Breathing is the most important part of meditation and Kundalini Awakening.

From our birth until death we breathe more or less continually, yet for the most part we do it without any awareness of our breath and its effects on us, and believe it or not most people in the western world do it wrong!

Take a moment right now and feel your breath. Pay attention to the air as it flows in through your nostrils and down into your lungs. Don’t think about anything or do anything other than just breathe.

1. Are you taking a relatively shallow breath and just filling the upper lobes of your lungs?

2. Does your stomach move out as you breathe?

3. Do you feel the bones of your ribcage expanding and opening with each breath?

For most people the answer to 1 is YES and the answers to 2 and 3 are NO so lets expand this exercise a bit.

Now that you’re comfortable working with your breath it’s time to bring the rest of the body in. Continue breathing as I’ve outlined in my article on Breathing. Now in addition to feeling your breath flow and your stomach and ribs expand, I want you to feel the energy that flows into your body with each breath. For me it feels like a lightness, or a very light feeling. It may feel different for you so take some time here and just open up and feel the energy.

Now when you draw the energy in can you feel it pooling at your center of gravity just below your belly button? Now as you breathe just let that pool of energy expand throughout your body. Can you feel it flowing down through your legs and up your back and down your arms? Take some time here and practice this feeling that energy pool expand through your whole body. Later we’ll expand it out even further, but for now just let it flow.

This exercise should help you to feel rejuvenated and refreshed as you’re drawing energy from an infinite pool. Do this exercise whenever you’re depressed or down, and eventually as you progress you’ll learn to do it all the time. It’s a habit that you have to grow into.

It’s important to establish a daily practice and then stick to it. This doesn’t mean dedicating 12 hours a day to meditation, it just means creating a space in your home where you can take a few minutes and meditate and do the exercises. I advise people to start with some of the basic exercises and devote 10 -20 minutes a day as they develop their physical and mental abilities. Many people quite simply overload themselves and expect too much too soon, then get discouraged when they don’t see the results they thought they should see.

Getting Started

Set aside a corner in one of your rooms. You can stock it with whatever accoutrement you wish. Many folks have cushions, candles, incense and a small CD player for music or guided meditation CD’s. Use whatever tools and accessories you want to, as there’s no right or wrong at this point.

Once you’ve created your ’sacred space’ then all you have to do is use it. Set aside a few minutes each day and begin working on your breathing and Full Body Awareness. Don’t worry at this point about how long you meditate, just get into the habit of doing it. The effects of meditation are cumulative, so 5 minutes a day everyday is better than 20 minutes once a week.

Instant Past Life Regression - No Trance Required

I was in the employ of a UK adult education college at one time and was asked to do a course on Hypnosis ? BUT I was not to do any hypnosis with anyone, nor hypnotise anyone because that was too dangerous and they didn’t want to take the risk. It was also something to do with the very strange regulations that exist in the UK for the use of public buildings for hypnotist performances and group hypnosis; either way, I was faced with the bizarre challenge how to conduct a hypnosis training but without hypnosis.

So what I did was to teach all the hypnotic inductions, from relaxation to guided meditation and then also rapid inductions as "self hypnosis" ? I taught the class how to do it for themselves whilst I stood and watched them do it.

They got very good at it and we would then play with the trance phenomena and had a great time, until one stormy night, with Past Life Regression on the menu, the door opened and a number of principals from the college walked in and told me they had come to observe the class to make sure that absolutely no hypnosis was taking place, even by accident.

Artificial sweeteners are developed in organic chemistry labs. Stevia grows wild in the rain forests.

Finally, a sweetener that I think has yet to show any real toxicity. It has been used for centuries by the Guarani Indians both as a sweetener and a medicinal. It does not have any calories, is suitable for diabetics and does not cause cavities. It is obtained from the leaves of the stevia shrub which grows wild in the Amambay Mountain region of Paraquay.

Introduced in Japan in 1970.

Stevia was first introduced to Japan in 1970 and by 1988 it represented 41% of the sweetener market in Japan. To date, there have been no ill effects or health related problems. It is also used in Japan, to sweeten other foods such as ice cream, bread, candy, pickles, seafood, vegetables and soft drinks. The safety of stevia is accepted in Japan. Besides being grown in Japan, it is now grown in China, Germany, Malaysia, Israel and South Korea.

1991 Stevia Banned by the FDA

Meditation students often come to me and ask what they can do to improve their meditation. Success in meditation is not the result of any one single factor but depends on sustained and systematic effort over a period of time. However, there are a few tips for meditation, that will help you to improve your performance, regardless of the meditation method that you follow.

1. Prepare your body for meditation

Your physical condition has a tremendous influence on your mind. This is true for your day to day activity, but even more so when it comes to meditation. You can prepare your body for meditation by eating the right food, and by coming to meditation with an empty stomach. Eating the right food, means food which strengthens the body but doesn’t have any adverse affect on the mind. If you consume products that make the mind dull or over-stimulated then it will be much harder to meditate. And whatever your diet is, when you sit down to meditate, it should be on an empty stomach. That is why one of the best times to meditate is in the morning, before you have had your breakfast. Another good time is in the evening, before the evening meal.