Manifesting with the Law of Attraction

In its’ simplest description, meditation can be described as a process of quieting your mind so that you can come into contact with quiet and peace that is always available to you inside.

A regular practice of meditation offers many benefits including: overall stress reduction, activation of the parasympathetic nervous system (relaxation response), clearer thinking, more creative thinking, helps to quiet the mind, fosters an increased sense of peace and contentment, helps to balance the emotions, provides a connection to your Spirit. An ongoing practice of meditation also helps to provide a context for observing thinking patterns and emotions as well as an opportunity to cultivate peace and relaxation. Hundreds of modern research studies now confirm what the yogis new 5000 years ago!

There are various ways to meditate and they usually involve as point of focus such as your breath, a mantra or visualization. A variety of techniques are explained below.

Before you try them there are a few guidelines that are helpful to be aware of. The first has to do with time and place. It is ideal to meditate at the same time and the same place each time you meditate. In this way you create an association of meditating and peacefulness with the space you have chosen. Each time you come back to this space, you will anticipate the experience of meditation. Additionally, by using the same time and space, you will be developing a habit. This is important to nurture as the consistency of your practice is most important, even if it is just ten minutes a day. Dawn and dusk are traditional times to meditate, but anytime can work. Begin with ten to twenty minutes and work up to forty-five minutes if possible.

Another consideration regarding time is knowing when to stop. Some people just let their inner clock guide them while others prefer to use and alarm clock so they don’t have to be concerned about the time. If you practice regularly, you will most likely find that your sense of time becomes exquisite, and you will automatically know when it is time to stop meditating.

A comfortable and stable sitting position is also important. The classic meditation posture is the lotus position. The reason for this is that is quite stable and the spine held erect. However most people in the West are not comfortable in this position. The truth is that any stable seated posture can work – even sitting in a chair. Placing a folded blanket or meditation cushion under your sitz bones also makes sitting more comfortable. Some people find that their back muscles aren’t strong enough and begin to ache when they sit in one position for more than a few minutes. If this is happening to you then sit near a wall and when you feel you can no longer hold your back upright comfortably then move against the wall and you will get the support you need. Whichever way you chose to sit just make sure it is stable, comfortable, and that your head neck and spine are in one line, and erect.

As you begin meditate it is common to have any or all of the following experiences:

1.You mind wonders. This is quite natural and expected. Just bring yourself back to your point of focus.

2.You are not sure if you are doing it right. You are most likely doing it right. Meditation is pretty simple to do – more challenging to stay with.

3.You will have memories, images or thoughts that you may have not thought about in years. Just acknowledge them and bring your awareness back to your point of focus.

4.You start to analyze yourself. Remember this is a time for meditation not for psychotherapy. Analyze later, meditate now.

5.You have certain revelations. Again, acknowledge these and then bring yourself back to your point of focus.

6.A body part is sore or itchy. The first time you feel something in your body, just acknowledge it and bring your awarness back to your point of focus. Often, it will go away. If it continues to irritate you then change your body positions.

Meditation Techniques

Below are two classic meditation techniques. Feel free to try both and see which works best for you. Ideally you will want to start with ten to twenty minutes and overtime you can work up to forty-five minutes if you like. A daily practice yields the most benefit and progress. It is better to practice for fifteen minutes every day than to practice for one hour once a week.Your mind is like any other muscle - the more your exercise it the stronger it becomes!

Focusing on a sound or mantra

In this method a sound or “mantra” is repeated over and over and over again, either silently or outloud. The mantra becomes a point of focus or “object”. A universal mantra is “Om” which is said to be the sound of creation. Another is “Ham (pronounced “hung”) “Sa” which means “I am that” - referring to spirit. Ham is said as you inhale and Sa as you exhale. The breathing is relaxed and easy through your nostrils Just keep bringing your awarness back to the mantra as you find your mind wondering. Remember, there is no need to beat yourself up for this as it is a natural phenomenon . Overtime you will find that mind wonders less and less. Some people like to use their own words such as “peace”, “love” or “let go”. If you have a special word or short group of words that has meaning for you, try using it.

Focusing on your breath:

Breathing in through your nostrils and though your nostrils, notice the feeling of the breath at the very point it enters your nose and follow the feelings of the air moving into your nasal passage to appoint where it ends. As you begin to exhale, notice where in your nasal passages you first notice your breath again and trace the feeling of your breath to the point where it exits your nostrils. Continue to notice your breath in this way, gently bringing your attention back to your breath when you catch your mind wondering. Another version of this technique is focus on the feeling of your torso moving in and out as your inhale and exhale.

One last point. It is sometimes very helpful to practice with others. Consider finding a meditation class at a nearby yoga studio or parks and recreation department. Practicing with like minded people and a good instructor can be very inspiring!

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Howard VanEs, M.A. has been studying and practicing yoga for over thirteen years and is a certified yoga instructor teaching in the East Bay area of San Francisco. He is author of “Beginning Yoga: A Practice Manual”, co-creator of the audio CD “Shavasana/DeepRelaxation. Howard is also a former pscyhotherapist. http://www.letsdoyoga.com info@letsdoyoga.com

Increase the physical and mental performance of employees

Meditation is multifarious in its benefits and a person who practices, receives multiple advantages whatever is at home, outdoors, and even in the workplace. It has been noticed that both executives and employees gain comprehensive benefits from meditation, which automatically helps in creating a favorable work atmosphere in the companies and organizations.

Spiritual management and meditation are becoming the core subjects of management studies, and more and more managers are willing to explore its benefits for their business.They are open to the implementation of meditation at work and see what it can do to the whole work environment. The needs of business environment are fast demanding some techniques that can be incorporated to cater to the mental needs of the employees and executives. Tension, anxiety, and fatigue are common phenomenon that almost all the corporate sector is complaining about.The competition and market demand does not allow them to be moderate in their work. They need to work like machines.This is actually where the problem lies, and meditation at work can easily have its impact. Meditating at work can prove almost to be a panacea for work environment problems.

Let’s venture to see what perceptible benefits are gained from meditation at work:

Increases Productivity

Productivity is the factor that almost all the managers look at when they want to implement some new techniques in their work environment. Meditation at work helps in increasing the productivity, as it provides comprehensive benefits to individual executives and employees. It can be easily understood that individual benefits combine to make it happen for the whole organization. A sense of satisfaction dawns on the employees and executives through meditation at work, and the experience of rewarding work help in increasing the productivity.

It should be noted that as the organization or the team moves along with meditation at work, the effects are increased. It is like more you practice and more you develop yourself.

Creates physical and mental balance

It has been noticed that meditation at work brings a complete balance between physical and mental performance of the employees. The corporate performance is propelled by more rewarding work experience, which helps in minimizing the mental wear, and thus, helping meditation at work to bring out complete benefits. Employees and executives who practice meditation at work, enjoy dynamic but relaxed work-experience, and are not prone to anxiety, tension, and fatigue.

If we can gauge the potency of meditation at home, we can easily think about the behavioral changes and mental calmness that meditation at work can bring about. Meditation at work should be incorporated as a regular practice, and not as a one-off training session. Once meditation at work is implemented, work will be done with more fluidity, lesser problems, and in a manner that will benefit both individuals and the companies as whole.

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Spiritual Now is a guide to spiritual enlightenment and meditation at work to increase performance.

1. It’s relaxing.

This is a dangerous myth because people expect meditation to be like slipping into a hot tub. When they experience discomfort they think it’s not working or they’re not doing it right and they give up. In fact, it’s often not relaxing, at least not initially. In the beginning meditation is like exercise; if it doesn’t hurt you’re not doing it right. This puts off a lot of people right from the start. They’ve taken the odd Yoga class where you lie on the floor, close your eyes and let your poor body rest. Everybody loves this. You’ve been moving for an hour, your limbs are stretched every which way and you relish the opportunity to let gravity take your muscles and let them drop. Conventional sitting meditation may become like this over time but it probably won’t be right off the bat. When you sit down and face a wall or close your eyes and there’s nothing between you and the timer but your incessantly jabbering monkey mind it’s anything but relaxing. Horrifying and sobering are two more appropriate words that come to mind. Relaxing, it ain’t.

2. You need time to meditate.

You don’t need time to set aside time to meditate. You can meditate for 5 minutes, 2 minutes, in your car, walking or chopping onions. It isn’t a specialized activity which you have to do in a room with specialized equipment. Cut out 15 minutes of TV time and there’s your meditation block.

3. Bad stuff comes up.

Actually this isn’t a myth. Bad feelings or experiences may surface when you sit quietly and meditate. But, as my mother always used to say, better an empty house than a bad tenant. The bad stuff doesn’t materialize because your mind is quiet. It’s there when your mind is busy, too. You just can’t hear it. So – hear it. Listen to it. Acknowledge it and let it go.

4. It’ll slow me down. I need my edge.

Meditation actually hones your edge. If your boss is hyper, your workday is manic and your default mode is just south of Chaos you need to give your autonomic nervous system a rest every once in a while. Meditation will help with this. When you return to work mode you’ll still ramp up to speed pretty quickly but chances are you’ll be a little more focused and centered.

5. Meditation is Boring

What’s boring is back to back re-runs of “Cops” every night. Why? Because they have nothing whatsoever to do with your life. They’re pure escapism. Anything that comes up in, or because of, meditation is about you. Which means it’ll be helpful, interesting and instructive. How better to spend your time than to learn something about yourself and immediately put it to use in your life?

One Myth that is true about meditation is that it’s habit-forming. Once you let it into your life you’ll have a hard time doing without it.So, don’t just do something - sit there!

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Mary Rosendale is a Life Coach and Constructive Living Instructor who works with people who have an affinity for a Buddhist philosophy and way of living. She adapts the precepts to the marketplace and offers an Eastern sensibility for our busy Western lives.