MB Day 16: Quantum Healing

by DoinTheGratefulDance

The first step in any healing process is acceptance. Once we accept this moment exactly as it is, we can heal. In today’s meditation, we’ll cultivate powerful acceptance of the present, opening to the experience of the wholeness, well-being, and love that awaits us in every moment.

“Every situation, properly perceived, becomes an opportunity to heal.”
~ A Course in Miracles

Quantum healing involves healing one mode of consciousness – our mind – returning to the memory of wholeness in order to bring about healing in another aspect of consciousness – our body. When we realize our true source, we see that we are not our thoughts and we are not our body; we are pure, unbounded consciousness. First, let’s accept this moment exactly as it is. Once we accept, we can heal. The key is giving ourselves permission to accept our constrictions.
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Our meditation guide today is davidji,

Close your eyes for one moment and listen to these immortal words from Judy Garland…”For it was not into my ear that you whispered, but into my heart…it was not my lips you kissed, but my soul”

This is what is understood as quantum physics and Judy Garland knew 60 years ago that we can heal our body from the level of the mind.  That is truly quantum healing.

It means that we can go deeper beneath the level of sensory interpretation.  Knowing that our bodies ultimately are fields of information, intelligence and energy.

Quantum healing involves a powerful shift in those fields of energy.  Quantum healing involves healing one mode of consciousness, our mind.  Essentially returning to the memory of wholeness in order to bring about changes in another mode of consciousness, our physical body.

The question is..how important is meditation in this process?  It is core…it is vital.  It allows you to experience your own source.  Your own stillness and silence that rests within.

When you experience your own source, you realize that you are not these behaviors and patterns of desire and memory that flow and swirl in your consciousness.    You realize that you are not your thoughts.  Although all of these thoughts, patterns, desires and intentions..they are the field of our manifestation.  We are not, in fact, these thought forms these fluctuations.  They are just thoughts.

When we can connect to ourselves, to our source, we will move away from our  alienation, our isolation, our fragmentation from the whole.  This is the driver of all of our dis-ease, our emotional and physical turbulence – the fact that we have moved away from the whole, from healing, to this personalized version.

When we can return to the whole, return to the oneness at the quantum level, we will experience that wholeness.  Once it is inside of our mind, our awareness, we can then flow it into our physiology.

In this meditation, what we want to do is truly become aware of our physical body, become aware of our psychological mind and very gently drift our awareness to any discomfort or turbulence that we may have at the physical level or at the emotional level.

Lets go there right now.  Very gently scan your body from your toes to the crown of your head, feeling around for any type of physical discomfort.

With your eyes closed, slowly scan your mind, finding any discomfort.  Are there any challenges that you awoke with?  Any conversations that had or didn’t have that you’re holding on to?

Accept this moment exactly as it is.  it is exactly as it should be because every moment leading up to it is exactly as it should have been.  Even all of the moments that we wish had not occurred, all of the moments that we claim are unfair, all of the moments that lessened us or hurt us.  They are as core to the structure as any brick or mortar piece of this growth.  Accept them.

During this meditation, bring your awareness to that space, that issue, and give yourself permission to become whole in that area.  The way we will ask is, Why am I constricted in this physical space, or this emotional space.  Dont worry about the answer, just ask yourself, “How can I be less constricted, how can I be more expanded”.

Start with a few deep breaths.  Let go.  Do it one more time.  Release.  Invite yourself to touch that physical or emotional constriction and make it a little lighter.  Ask yourself how you can become a little more expanded.

If you drift into thought or sound or physical sensation, that’s ok.  At some point you’ll realize you are not in your expansive meditation and then just drift back to that constriction and allow the quantum healing to soothe.

Take a long slow deep breath in.  Release.  Do it one more time.

Let’s heal and seal our quantum healing by chanting Om one time.  Deep breath in,  Om.

Wishing you peace and healing,

Namaste

MB Day 15: Connection

by DoinTheGratefulDance

My notes from Day 15 of the 21 Day Meditation Challenge
In today’s meditation, we will experience our body in its essential state . . . as pure consciousness, pure light, and pure intelligence.

“From the center of my soul a flower grows inside me, A love that makes me whole, a budding love that sets me free.”  ~ Marilyn von Waldner

he body is a self-repairing aspect of the field of intelligence. Its original state is perfect balance and order . . . it is pure consciousness, pure light, and pure energy. It is part of the extended body of the universe.

In today’s meditation, we will experience our light body and the extended body of the cosmos.
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Today’s meditation is led by Deepak Chopra, M.D.

Today’s meditation establishes your connect ion with your larger body, your cosmic body.  Start with So-Hum, the inbreath So, outbreath Hum, Repeat.  Do this for five minutes.

Let go of So/Hum.  Put your awarness in your whole body.  Feel your whole body all at once.

Your body is a self-interacting, self reacting intelligent field of consciousness.  Your body, in it’s original state, is perfect balance, perfect integration, perfect order, perfect harmony, pure consciousness, pure intelligence, pure light.

Feel your body with that one idea.  My body is a field of pure consciousness, pure intelligence, pure light.  Every cell in your body is bubbling with intelligent energy and light.

Experience your light body.  Know that your light body is one with the cosmos because the whole cosmos is the same field of intelligence, the same field of consciousness, the same field of light.  Become one with the light of the universe.

Keep feeling your light body with the light of the universe.  (God for me)

Let go of all ideas and relax into your body and open your eyes.

This meditation takes you further into what we call the unity and integration of your body with the cosmic body.

If you practice this more and more, your body will feel lighter and more energetic and return to it’s original state of wholeness.

MB Day 14: How Light Can You Get?

by DoinTheGratefulDance

How Light Can You Get?

Today’s meditation is all finding the bliss, comfort, and lightness of being that awaits us when we let go of everything that’s weighing us down.

“Bliss is not added to your nature; it is merely revealed as your true and natural state, eternal and imperishable.” ~ Sri Ramana Maharishi

Today’s meditation is all about finding the bliss , comfort, and lightness of being that awaits us when we let go of everything that’s weighing us down.

If we can allow our physical body to get a bit lighter, we will breathe easier. Our life will feel more fulfilling and we will experience greater happiness when we are willing to surrender and let go of some of the weight that burdens our body and our mind. We can do that every day through meditation! We could all probably benefit from letting go a little bit more, so let’s get started!

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Our meditation guide today is davidji, the Chopra Center’s lead meditation teacher, host of Live from the Chopra Center radio show, and Dean of Chopra Center University.  In apprenticeship to Deepak Chopra and David Simon since 2003, davidji travels the world sharing timeless wisdom on stress management, deeper life fulfillment, emotional healing, balancing business and wellness, getting unstuck, and taking your life to the next level.

We will fly.  We have explored all different ways for your digestive fire, agni , to truly digest, metabolize, absorb what serves you and what no longer serves you.  Since we have that opportunity to understand all of those different pieces, lets spend this meditation just getting lighter.  Allowing our physical body to get lighter because we know how intimately connected our physical body, our subtle body, our energetic body.  If we can allow all three of those bodies to get a little bit lighter, we’ll breathe easier today.  With that easier breath comes less stress and with a little less stress, we’ll have a little less introduction into our physiology of adrenal, cortisol and glucagon.  Those stress hormones that amp us up, making us more and more reactive.

Begin by getting as comfortable as possible, maybe lie down or sit on a cushion chair.  This meditation is all about comfort.  Take your shoes off if you like.  Close your eyes and place your hands on your heart and feel the rise and fall as you breathe in.  Let go.

With your eyes closed, feel the heart light go on, that sweet green radiance.  Right now, it may be very very soft but by the end of this meditation, it will be a b beacon.

Keep breathing in.  As you feel your heart rise up to meet your palm, notice how connected your physical heart, your emotional heart, your physiology and your emotions, how intertwined, interconnected and interwoven they are in each moment.

Keep breathing in and gently breathe out.  Use your breath in to actually allow you to lift off.  Allow your exhale to move you.  Inhale – defies gravity.  Exhale moves you around.  Define the laws of jet propulsion because you are truly in the quantum realm, truly in the realm where space and time have no barriers, have no separation.  There is total uncertainty and all communication is spontaneous and non local.

Get comfortable, take a long, slow deep breath in.  As you breathe in, feel yourself lift a couple of inches off the couch or chair.  Come back down.  Any time during your flight, if you feel anxious or uncomfortable for any reason, ever so gently, open your eyes, look from side-to-side, feel your tush or your feet resting on the ground and when that wave of uncertainty passes, close your eyes again, begin to breathe and elevate yourself up.

For now, feel the power as you begin to inhale and lift off the ground.  If you’re not lifting off the ground, maybe you’re feeling too heavy.   It’s not a function of how much you weigh, not a function of how big or little your body is.  It’s a function of you giving yourself permission to feel lighter than a feather.  Experience that right now.  Feel yourself.  Breathe in a little lightness – leg go of some baggage.  Do that one more time.  Release weight – emotional weight, psychological weigh, physical weight.  Feel yourself melt into the air.  Feel yourself surrender in the lightness of your being.

Breathe in.  Float above the room that you’ve just been in.  As you float to the top of the room, look down and see all of the things in that room where you were once hanging out.

Now move through the ceiling, to the roof.  Feel yourself ever so effortlessly, ethereally. ever so subtly, rise through each floor until you’re outside. Basking in the warmth of the sun – it’s warming you.  As you look around, there may be some trees, dogs, people, kids, cars driving around – it’s all well and good.  Keep going up.

Take a deep breath in.  Start to move up to the clouds.  Notice as you exhale you can maneuver forward, to the side, to the left, to the right.  You are melting into the molecules of the air.  Ever so gently drifting in and out of cloud formations, getting closer to the sun and feeling it’s warmth.  Turning your back on it and gliding away, feeling the sun on your neck.  The birds are checking you out – eagles, pelicans, any bird that you would like to accompany you on this journey.

Breathing in, keep rising up.  I believe there is an ocean over there.  Swoop down over that water, ride the crest of those waves without getting anything wet other than a few sprinkles.  Let’s  surf that curl with those pelicans.  Just swoop down as you breathe in and you breathe out.  Now go fly – float freely.

As long as you want to.  Then sit gently with your eyes closed.

Hum – you are the universe.  Right now, wherever you’re flying, if you’re resting on a cloud, soaring through the cosmos.  Maybe you’re about 2 inches off the ground going at light speed  Maybe you’re in the desert, maybe in Perth Australia, may be checking out polar bears at the North Pole.   Right now it’s time to return to the comfort of the room that you started in.  Lightening of that mind, body, load.

Inhaling will allow you come down a little lower.  And as you exhale, it continues to guide you on your journey.  So no matter where you are, no matter thousands of miles or light years you are from the space where you began, gently come back.  Notice you’ve come back to the country where you live, narrow it down to the city, the town, neighborhood, block, building, the room, the ceiling – come back into that space.

Take some time, ever so gently integrating, and with each inhale, bring your physical body back into your astral body and with each exhale, surrender to the process of integration.

By now you should be sweetly nestled back into your body.  Chant om one time.  Take a deep breath.

When it feels comfortable, wriggle your toes, your fingers.  Feel that sweet smile on your face.  Slowly open your eyes and look around.

I wish you peace,

Namaste

MB Day 13: Laughter

by DoinTheGratefulDance

My notes from Deepak Chopra’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge

Laughter

In today’s meditation we will experience the bliss of laughter and bring joy to our mind, body, and spirit.

“At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.”     ~Jean Houston

Laughter is a natural part of our being. During the first few months of life, a newborn will smile and laugh. As children we laugh freely, without judgment. As adults, however, we take ourselves more seriously and often lose that childlike ability to laugh heartily, even though we know it feels good.

Research has shown that laughter (both real and “fake”) can lower blood pressure, decrease stress hormones, and strengthen our immune system. These benefits complement our daily meditation practice and remain with us for twenty-four hours after just twenty minutes of sustained laughter.

In today’s meditation we will experience the bliss of laughter and release endorphins into our system, which will bring joy to our mind, body, and spirit.

Did you know that 15-20 minutes of sustained laughter will lower your blood pressure, reduce stress hormones and boost your immune system?

When we laugh, our bodies release an inner pharmacy of hormones and chemicals that have a positive effect on our total well-being.  Research has shown that laughter can also relieve pain, lift depression and burn calories.  Simply hearing other people laugh, or allowing yourself to chuckle lightly will also give you the same positive benefits.

Give yourself permission to laugh freely, like little children, without a care in the world.

Find a comfortable position, and let the laughter flow naturally through you.  At first it might feel forced so allow yourself to laugh without judgment and soon the contagious belly laugh will emerge.

Softly quiet the laughter.  Gently close your eyes, keeping a smile on your face and slowly bring your attention inward.  Take a few deep breaths in and out.  Check in with your body and notice how it feels now.. happy, relaxed.  You may have a surge of energy flowing through your body.  If you have a few giggles waiting to escape, let them out.  Laughing is fun and easy.

In this quiet space, take a moment to feel gratitude for this experience we’ve shared together and hold this thought throughout the rest of your day.

Laughter is a universal language available to any one at any time.

Namaste

MB Day 12: Daily Rituals

by DoinTheGratefulDance

My notes from Deepak Chopra’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge

Daily Rituals for Well-being

In today’s meditation we will focus on exploring rituals that we can incorporate into our daily lives to expand our health, joy, and peace of mind.

In today’s meditation we will explore rituals that enrich our daily lives. These rituals are important daily practices that allow us to connect with body, mind, and spirit.  Many of our rituals are automatic, such as brushing our teeth or eating breakfast. So often we go along without really stopping to think of what actions we can take on a daily basis that will add greater health, success, joy, and peace of mind to our lives. This meditation focuses on consciously creating rituals that will serve our body, mind, and spirit.

“The mystical possibilities of every moment are revealed to us in our intentional pauses . . . . Perhaps we can stop for a cleansing breath: Breathe in the spirit of the hour; breathe in gratitude and compassion for yourself; breathe out love and encouragement for your coworkers, friends, family members. . . . Throughout the hours of the day, whenever you feel stressed and overwhelmed, instead of pushing yourself to work harder and faster, remember to pause.”      ~Macrina Wiederkehr

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Today’s meditation is led by Erin Saimre, a certified Perfect Health and Primordial Sound Meditation instructor who teaches at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing. Erin is currently a graduate student in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California. Her daily rituals include meditation, yoga sun salutations, and spending time in nature.

Please sit comfortably and close your eyes.  Take a few deep breaths.  Notice any areas of tightness and tension in your body.  Send the breath to these areas and see if they can soften and relax.

As you continue to breathe, in your mind, imagine yourself moving through the activities of a typical day.  What time do you wake up?  How do you feel when you wake up?  What are your morning activies?  Do you eat breakfast, drink tea, brush your teeth, take a shower .

What are your afternoon activities?  Do you eat lunch?  Work on the computer? Exercise?

What do you do in the evening?  Do you spend time with friends?  Eat dinner?  Read?  Get ready for bed?

Think of a typical daily routine that no longer serves you.  Perhaps this activity has been a longstanding routine that served a purpose long ago.  Perhaps there are more than just one of these routines.  Which daily activities can you release and let go.  By letting these activities go, you create space for more nurturing, healthy, beneficial rituals.

Now that you’ve created space for adding something new, what type of rituals would you like to add to your daily life?  Daily meditation? Getting out of bed each morning with a smile on your face?  Spiritual reading? Exercise? Spending more time in nature? Listening to, or playing music?  Spending quality time with loved ones and family?  Do you want to think of three things that you’re thankful for at bedtime?

Now visualize how you’ll feel incorporating these new items into your routine.  Do you feel more lightness?  Do you feel more nurtured?  Do you feel healthier.  Just know that all of this is possible – just by setting this simple intention.

Let go of these ideas.  Know that the universe will work out all of the details.

Continue noticing the inhalation and exhalation of each breath and bask in the silence.

Now gently bring your awareness back to your breath.  Notice the flow of every inhalation and exhalation.  Know that your perfect daily rituals for well-being will emerge naturally and easily.  You have set the intentions.  Now allow these intentions to manifest effortlessly.

Now take another deep breath.  Sit silently for a few moments and then gently open your eyes before easing back into activity.

MB Day 11: Tapping in to the Energy of Food

by DoinTheGratefulDance

My notes from Deepak Choprah’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge

Tapping into the Energy of Food

In today’s meditation, we will focus on the gift of nourishment that is provided to us through our food.

“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”  ~ Hippocrates

In today’s meditation, we will focus on the gift of nourishment that is provided to us through our food.  By making conscious choices, we can tap into the healing energy and information of our food.  Our cells depend on the vibrant energy and information that healthy food provides.

Our bodies are simply comprised of molecules that temporarily make up our cells, tissues, and organs. We are constantly transforming these cells, tissues, and organs by exchanging energy and information with our food. In fact, our food is the most intimate connection that we have with our environment. When we begin to appreciate this constant exchange, we can become more mindful of the choices we are making.
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Today’s meditation is led by Sheila Patel, M.D., a staff physician and Medical Director at the Chopra Center for. Dr. Patel is a board-certified family physician and is also a certified instructor of Primordial Sound Meditation and Perfect Health/Ayurveda. She enjoys helping patients find balance in their lives through the integration of modern medical therapies and ancient healing wisdom.

Get into a comfortable position.  Take a deep breath and release any tension in your body and then open your mind to new possibilities as we explore today – tapping into the energy of food.

We’ll focus on the gift of nourishment provided by our food.  By making conscious choices, we can tap into the healing information and energy that food gives us.

Our cells depend on the vibrant energy and information that healthy food provides.  In reality, our bodies are simply comprised of molecules that temporarily make up our cells, tissues and organs.  We are constantly transforming these cells, tissues and organs by exchanging energy and information with our food.

Our food is the most intimate connection that we have with our environment.  What we take in becomes part of us for awhile.  When we begin to appreciate this constant exchange, we can become more mindful of the choices we are making.

Often, over time, we develop a negative relationship with our food.  This sometimes occurs because of external messages that we’ve received or our own internal messages.

When we can shift our perception of food to one that’s more nourishing, and think of food as our medicine, we begin to let go of those old messages.  We can begin to think of our food as a way of maintaining or achieving balance in our mind, body and spirit.  We can then begin to make healthier choices because we can understand that nature provides us with everything our body needs through healthy foods.

In addition, when we engage in mindful eating practices, we maximize our digestive fire, or agni, and we’re best able to enjoy the benefits of the food we are eating.

Paying attention to our food as we eat is one way of appreciating and honoring the benefits that the food is giving us.  Slowing down and minimizing distractions while we eat can transform how it’s incorporated into our bodies.

Try to eat in a subtle environment without a lot of noise and chaos.  Sit down and eat at a moderate pace, eating only when you’re hungry.  Sit quietly for a few moments after you eat, take a short walk, and allow your body to incorporate your food into your cells in a healthy way.

In addition, when we meditate regularly, we spontaneously begin to make more healthy choices.

When making food choices, fresh is best.  Incorporate a wide variety of whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors.  By giving your body a variety of foods and in a rainbow of colors, you’re giving your body what it needs to be healthy.  Incorporating herbs and spices into your food increases your enjoyment as well as making the food healthier.

Gently close our eyes and imagine that you’re sitting in front of a plate of freshly cooked, beautifully colored vegetables.  Imagine yourself seeing the beautiful red, oranges, yellows and greens.

Acknowledge the intelligence contained in the food.  Imagine smelling the aroma of the wonderful herbs and spices and the food that enhances the enjoyment of it.

Imagine taking a bite, placing your attention to every bite.  Feel the texture of the food and allow yourself to fully taste it.  Visualize yourself swallowing and feel the positive energy and information of that food, being incorporated into every cell of your body.  Imagine it circulating to every cell.  Sit quietly for a few minutes and allow your body to transform this nourishment into the molecules of your cells, tissues and organs.

Once you’ve spent a few minutes visualizing this, continue sitting and following your breath as the nourishment settles in.

Commit to a regular meditation practice so that you can maximize your ability to tap into that positive energy and information.

Commit to making healthier food choices so that you can increase the positive energy and information that you are exchanging with your environment.

Above all, remember to enjoy and celebrate food as an appreciation of the abundance of nature.

Namaste

MB Day 10: Digesting Our World

by DoinTheGratefulDance

My Notes for Day 10 of Deepak Chopra’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge.

Digesting Our World

In today’s meditation we will give new meaning to the word digestion, exploring how everything we take into our mind and our body affects our health and well-being.  We’ll learn how to make more conscious choices about what we ingest, including not only the food we eat but the experiences, relationships, sounds, sights, scents, and other elements we welcome into our lives.

“A person with strong digestive fires can convert poison into nectar,
while someone with weak digestive fires will turn nectar into poison.” ~ Vedic saying

Most of us think of digestion as simply the process of breaking down food within our bodies. Ayurveda takes this a step further and says that we not only assimilate food, but also our experiences, feelings, sights, sounds, and other sensations . . . basically whatever is in our environment. This is in congruence with the Ayurvedic philosophy that we are inextricably connected to our environment.

With this in mind, it’s important to begin cultivating a more conscious awareness of what it is you are taking in on a daily basis. It will also become important to begin noticing how you are metabolizing the energy and information you are ingesting from the world around you. Ideally, you want to extract only the most nourishing aspects and eliminate that which takes you away from a life of joy, vitality, and love. In our meditation today, we will explore how we can make the most life-affirming choices to nurture our body, mind, and soul.
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Today’s meditation is led by Rachelle Williams, a Vedic Master certified as an instructor of Primordial Sound Meditation, Perfect Health/Ayurveda, and the Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga. Rachelle loves to share the timeless Ayurvedic principles that have helped and guided her throughout the past four years she has worked at the Chopra Center for Well-being.

In today’s meditation, we will give new meaning to the word digestion.

Most of us think of digestion as simply the process of breaking down food within our bodies.  Ayurvedic takes this a step further to say that we not only process food but we process experiences,  feelings, sights, sounds.  Needless to say, we are deeply impacted by our surroundings.  This is accordance with Ayurvedic philosophy that states we are not only made up of mind, body and spirit, but we are also made up of our environment.

Ayurvedic is a consciousness based approach to health and wellness, a empowering approach that requires your present moment awareness and clarity of mind and body in order to make the most nourishing choices.

With this in mind, it is important to begin developing an awareness of what it is that you’re digesting from your environment on a daily basis.

In Sanskrit, the metabolic power of digestion is called agni or digestive fire, ogne being the root of ignite in English.

Good physical health is dependent on having a strong digestive fire burning brightly within us, extracting vital nutrients and burning off the waste.

How does one determine if they have strong agni.  It shows when we have a healthy and happy glow, when our eyes are sparkly and clear and when he seem to have limitless energy.

Signs of weak agni appears as the opposite – dull skin and eyes, feelings of stagnation and depression – all caused by improper digestion and the accumulation of toxins within the body.

Good emotional health is also dependent on this same digestive fire to take on the world around us.  Enveloping into our mind, body and soul, experiences full of sensory impressions and emotions.  This is where it’s important to have that strong agni, in order to have the power to say yes to those experiences that foster health and happiness – as well as having the power to say no to those experiences that lead to fear or anger.

How will you know when your emotional agni is strong, when your deepest desires start to become fulfilled, when your choices become healthier and easier, or when your relationships begin to blossom or deepen.

There is an ancient Ayurvedic saying that I love which states that “when digestive power is strong, like a roaring fire, we can convert poison into nectar and when digestion is weak, like a  smouldering log, a person can die from drinking nectar”.

This saying can be applied not only to food but to emotional well-being as well.  Imagine being able to turn any situation, no matter how difficult, into sweet nectar.

If your body could talk, what would it say?  If your heart could sing, what would it sing about?  Think about your relationships, your job, the sounds you wake up and fall asleep to.  The sights and smells, remembering that all of these are being digested by you and creating your reality.

I use this meditation that I use when I feel out of balance and I can sense that my inner fire has become diminished.

When we are stressed, our body and mind constrict, our breathing begins to shorten, blocking the flow of energy and information in the form of oxygen.  Oxygen breathes life into our cells just as it breathes life into fire.  By simply breathing, we begin to stoke our inner fire which in turn brings clarity of mind, rejuvenation of spirit and better functioning of the body.  It is in this heightened state of awareness that we can begin to properly digest and metabolize anything that comes our way.

Take a few moments to settle into a comfortable position, softly close your eyes and begin to bring attention towards your breath – breathing in through your nose.  Now begin to shift your breathing into a more expansive breath, by drawing in air and filling your belly full like a balloon and when you come to the top of your breath, slowly release and exhale all of the air out.  Breathing in and filling your belly full, and exhaling.

Continue with this cycle of breathing.  If at some point you find your attention has drifted to other thoughts, feelings or sensations, let those go and gently drift back to your breathing.

Allow your breathing to return to normal.  Take a few moments to observe yourself in this moment.  Allow the stillness to settle in, embracing any feelings or sensations you may be experiencing and when ready, softly open your eyes.

It’s amazing and powerful – the impact our breath can have on us.  At any point in your life when you might need an extra boost, when you feel you need to stoke your inner fire, take a moment and just breathe.

I leave you with one of my favorite ancient sayings as quoted by Dr. Deepak Chopra. “If you want to know what your experiences were like in the past then you can examine your body now.  If you want to know what our body will look like in the future, then examine your experiences now.”

Be ever mindful, loving and patient with yourself.

Wishing you peace and happiness on your life’s journey.
r

MB Day 9: Healing the Heart

by DoinTheGratefulDance

My notes from Deepak Chopra’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge…Healing the Heart

In today’s meditation, rather than sorting out all the ways in which our needs are not being met, let’s drift our awareness to our connection to spirit. From there, we will have a strong foundation for gratitude and healing to unfold.

“For it was not into my ear that you whispered but my heart; it was not my lips that you kissed but my soul.” ~Judy Garland

Healing the Heart

The four needs of the heart are attention, affection, appreciation, and acceptance. The heart is a perfect tool that lets you know how you are feeling and if its needs are being met. In today’s meditation, rather than sorting out all the ways in which our needs are not being met, let’s drift our awareness to our connection to source, spirit, the universe, divine awareness, God . . . or whatever term you prefer for the infinite realm of creation. Let’s bring some attention to all the needs that are being met in our life. From there, we will have a strong foundation for gratitude and healing to unfold.
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Our meditation guide today is davidji, the Chopra Center’s lead meditation teacher, host of Live from the Chopra Center radio show, and Dean of Chopra Center University.  In apprenticeship to Deepak Chopra and David Simon since 2003, davidji travels the world sharing timeless wisdom on stress management, deeper life fulfillment, emotional healing, balancing business and wellness, getting unstuck, and taking your life to the next level.

Today, we’ll explore the heart, healing our heart.  That will start with essentially four different needs.  They get progressively more complex and involve more and more aspects.  But they are a great gauge to tell us when our needs are being met and when they are not.

The four basic needs of the heart are attention, affection, appreciation and acceptance.

Attention – We all have the need to be seen, to be noticed.  Be recognized.  If  someone looks at us and their eyes smile, that is good enough for us.

A little bit deeper of a need is affection.  Affection is attention with a little bit of warmth, sweetness, a carress, a pat on the head, a hug.  A look that goes just a little bit beyond attention – sort of attention with sweet intention.

The third need of the heart is appreciation.  Once we have been noticed and once we have had attention, we want someone to recognize our contribution, our value, some aspect of our being.

And then, of course, there is acceptance.  This takes it one step further, to know you’ve been invited in, included.  You’re a part of something bigger than yourself.  This can be a club, a political party, a company, team, a group, any category.  Essentially a community.

Since we come from the whole and spend our entire lives personalizing, individuating, it’s so beautiful that the reason that we want to be accepted is because we’re looking for some way to return to  the whole.

We all want to be accepted as part of that wholeness.

When our needs are not met, essentially our needs for attention, affection, appreciation, and acceptance, respond with irritation, with anxiety, detachment, with lower self-esteem, with sadness, fear, anger.  So rather than have these emotions blanket us, ask yourself when you suddenly feel a relationship turbulence, challenge, difficulty or estrangement, ask yourself, what need is not getting met right now – attention, affection, appreciation or acceptance.

Then know, from what seed your dis-ease, discomfort sprouts from and then you can move that way in a more conscious communication, nonviolent fashion.

Express what is not  necessarily getting done, to express the need that is not being met, and from there, you and I have the ability to lead a more fulfilling, more heart-centered, more beautiful life.

So right now, rather than sort out all the ways our needs are not being met – you have the rest of your life to do that – close your eyes,  take a few deep breaths in.  Ever so gently let that out.  Do it one more time.  Gently release.

In this meditation, we will use the mantras attention, affection, appreciation, acceptance.  Attention, affection, appreciation, acceptance.

When you notice you’ve drifted away to sounds, thoughts, or physical sensations, drift back to those four needs of the heart and pay attention to all of the ways those needs are being met in your life right now.

by the time the meditation is done, our heart, your body and your mind will be so expanded and filled with gratitude for all the ways your needs are being met and all the ways you are connected.

Eyes closed, let’s begin….

I am the universe.  Attention, affection, appreciation, acceptance.

Right now your heart should be feeling pretty strong.  Your heart light should be shining brightly.  Place your hands on your heart and feel that expansion, that sweet green light glowing and radiating through every cell in your being.  Knowing that your needs for attention, affection, appreciation and acceptance in this moment, right now, are overflowing, sweet, divine flow.

As you move throughout this day, and every day, use this beautiful tool to determine when your needs are being met and when they are not being met.  And when you notice they are not being met, use conscious communication to share that with someone and explain which need is not being met and what your request might be so that person might help you meet that need.

Namaste

MB Day 7: Mind-Body Connection – Putting it All Together

by DoinTheGratefulDance

The Mind-Body Connection: Putting It All Together

As we explore the mind-body connection, today we will focus on letting go of constriction and opening to our essential unbounded nature. We are not our limited ego mind and we are not our body; we are an inextricable part of the infinite field of pure potentiality. Our true self is expressed in the ancient Sanskrit sutra aham brahmasmi (pronounced ah-HUM brah-MAHS-mee), which means “I am the universe.” When we can accept that we are the universe, we can transcend any limiting belief and any emotional turbulence.

When you feel grief, fear, anxiety or stress, pay attention, for your feelings are the universe speaking to you through your body and your mind. And the lesson or message that it gives is the one to follow. Trust, believe, and surrender as you let go of blame and criticism. Own your gifts and celebrate your impact.
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Our meditation guide today is davidji, the Chopra Center’s lead meditation teacher, host of Live from the Chopra Center radio show, and Dean of Chopra Center University.  In apprenticeship to Deepak Chopra and David Simon since 2003, davidji travels the world sharing timeless wisdom on stress management, deeper life fulfillment, emotional healing, balancing business and wellness, getting unstuck, and taking your life to the next level.

As we explore the mind-body connection, today we will focus on letting go of constriction and opening to our essential unbounded nature. We are not our limited ego mind and we are not our body; we are an inextricable part of the infinite field of pure potentiality.

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, and not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.” ~The Buddha