the Bend Your Reality Project

photo credit: Joel Bedford

I have always wanted to meditate.  I read many self-help books that suggest meditation as part of everyone’s spiritual practice.  However, my attempts to sit still whilst thinking nothing proved to futile.  I could no more get my mind to shut up than I could shepard a herd of cats.  Frustrated with my lack of progress, I stopped.  Until I heard of a new meditation programme that promised I could meditate like a  zen monk

Huh?  And how, exactly, was I going to do that?  I couldn’t get my mind to sit still; it was as restless as a four-year old child on a sugar high.  How was I going to achieve that impossible goal?

Enter Holosync

In late 2008, I found Holosync.  I read and read the website at least seven times before I ordered the free demo.  I was impressed enough with the demo to order the first programme in the Holosync series, Awakening Prologue.  The Holosync programme uses binural beats to slow down the brainwaves to the Alpha levels where, it’s believed, that the mind is in a more resourceful and relaxed state.  Free of the clutter and shatter of the wakening state; aka, the Beta level.

And, I’ve got to say, that I am loving it.

First of all, my busy bee of a mind can buzz all over the place without me resisting it, and I still feel myself gradually relaxing to the point that I feel my mind let go.  Brilliant!  And wicked, besides!

That was about 2 years ago, and I have progressed to the next level, Awakening Level One.  Which is also wonderful!

However, I am not writing this post as an endorsement for Holosync.  Because I believe that Holosync is not for everyone.  Any more than any other system of meditation is for everyone.

Whether you choose to work in your garden, take walks on the beach, surf in the early morning hours, or just take a walkabout round the neighbourhood.  Meditation takes as many forms as there are people populating the Earth.

Please do not feel the need to force yourself to sit in the lotus position for hours while chanting some mantra, if you don’t feel any joy at all doing it.  Meditation is supposed to be restful.  And if you are not feeling relaxed and peaceful then you are practicing a form of meditation that’s not for you.  I encourage you to cease and desist right now, if you like.  Explore and discover other form that might appeal to you more.  Transcendental Meditation, Holosync, Mindfulness meditation, or Japa meditation (a form of mantra-based mediation) are all great starting points.

You can even tool about in your garage, fixing things if it quiets your mind and lets you hear the voice of your spirit, intuition, or Inner Authority.  Or whatever you desire to call it.

The point is, that meditation has many wellness benefits that are helpful on all levels from the physical to the spiritual.

7 Reasons to Meditate

1. Decreases the negative effects of stress. In a University of Massachusetts study, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D recorded the brain waves of  employees of a Madison, Wisconsin high tech firm.  These employees were highly stressed.  The employees were split randomly into two groups with 25 of them being trained to meditate for eight weeks.  Whilst the other group of 16 were left alone as the control group.  The participants had their brains scanned three time during the experiment; in the beginning of the study, at the eight week mark (the end of the study), and four months after that.  The researchers discovered that the mediators were calmer and happier.  (Psychology Today, April 2003, Colin Allen).
2. Leads to greater physical relaxation. Did you know that when you are in a state of enhanced stress all of the blood in the body tend to flow towards the arms, legs, heart and lungs; whilst a bit less to the digestive system? This is because the body believes there is danger, and you need to run away when in danger.
3. Decreases muscle tension. A reduction in muscle tension means more blood and oxygen flow to the muscles, making them more relaxed.  And creating a happier body experiencing less pain due to muscle tightness.  And when the muscles relax so do the joints, ligaments, and bones.
   
4. Lowers heart rate. Meditation slows down the brain waves Alpha (the relaxed brain waves) from Beta (the more stress-inducing waves, depending on how high the Beta waves are).  Lower heart rates (in healthy people) can result in less adrenaline and cortisone hormones in the blood stream.  With less of these hormones in the system, you don’t over eat to medicate yourself.  Or run down your immune system.  And a lower heart rate (in healthy people) can be beneficial to the cardiovascular system; for example, an athlete in peak physical condition (such as Lance Armstrong) can have a resting heart rate of 47 beats per minute.  This is helpful because it means that the heart doesn’t have to work so hard to circulate blood, nutrients, and oxygen to the body.
   
5. Gives your immune system a boost. The immune system get repressed sometimes when we maintain overly stressful states of being for long periods of time.  This sometimes the reason why you might be prone to catch a cold more easily when you are experiencing more stress.
   
6. Produces beneficial changes in brain activity, harmonising the endocrine and nervous systems. This is because the brain switches over from the busy right frontal cortex to the calmer left frontal cortex resulting in calmer and happier brains and emotional states.  When you are relaxed and calm, your body’s systems tend to work more in harmony than in more stress-inducing states.
   
7. Increases creativity, focus, and concentration. Have you ever been fixing a car, planting in a garden, walking along the beach or your neighbourhood and noticed all the really wicked ideas that occur to you during these times?  While the mind is occupied consciously doing another activity, your subconscious mind gets a chance to come out, talk to you and play.

10 Minutes Per Day to Increased Creativity, Focus, and Concentration, etc..

As you can see, you don’t have to retreat to a Buddhist monastery and devote 30 years of your life to the solitary pursuit of enlightenment while meditating facing a bare wall.  You can just go to your garden or other sacred place (even if it’s your favourite meditation chair) and reap the benefits of meditation.

It only takes about 10 minutes per day to enjoy increased creativity, focus, and concentration.  You’ve got nothing to lose, and everything to gain by taking the first step.

Start right where you are.  Go out in the garden.  Go to the beach.  Get out in nature and take a walk.  Let your mind clear.  And I’ll see you right back here to tell me what you got out of meditating.

Let me know about your meditating experiences in the comments.

Vibelicious comments: Be excellent to each other.  Only kind and respectful comments are welcome.

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photo credit: WTL photos

One of the most difficult things to do, in my experience, is to release the idealise version of ourselves that most of us keep stored in our heads.  We can’t help ourselves.  It’s unconscious.  Most of us are completely unaware that we have ideal selves.  We might even imagine that we can’t live our lives without this vision.

This idealised self was created partly by ourselves and partly by our families and friends.  It’s the shining beacon we hold aloft when faced with the dark nights of the soul.  It can be a source of tremendous pain and suffering as well.  Because whilst we are always trying to be this perfect person, we lose sight of who we are and what we want.  It becomes easy to deny or ignore certain inner promptings that tell us we are on the wrong track as long as we choose to live our lives the way a concept of fiction would live.

Did we intend to do this to ourselves?

More than likely not.

Did our family and friends intend to cause us pain by conditioning us to go on a never-ending quest for perfection as daunting as the quest for the holy grail?

More than likely not.  But it doesn’t matter now.

What does matter is what we are going to do about it.  And  I have a suggestion.

Release your ideal self, and come out of the closet about who you are.

Oh, but how do we do that?

Here are a few tips that may help.

Find a quiet place where you can relax.  Bring some paper and a pen. Take some deep breaths.  And write your answers to these questions:

1. Who would you be if you let go of your Mr/Miss Perfect, your ideal self?
2. What would your life be like to live without the expectations of living up to this ideal self?
3. What expectations could you get rid of now?
4. What would your life look like when you are free to be you?

Feel free to write as long as you feel you need to become as clear as possible.

Next, write a list of every criticism you or someone else has ever said to you.  For example,  you never listen.

Take your time and write as many criticism as you would like.  If you wish to stop after ten, trust that insight and stop.

Now burn or tear up that list!  Throw it in the rubbish bin!  That was the old you; the you that chased a mirage all of your life.  It’s time to say hello to the new you; the one that is okay with other people thinking you’re crazy for not trying to live up to some unattainable you.

Is this going to be easy?  No.  You might have to practice letting go every day.  But the wonderful thing is: you don’t have to do this perfectly.  You get to opt-out of the perfection game, and get to know you.  The real you.

Right now, I am on this journey with you.  I have a quiet, obedient self that conforms to other people’s expectations of me.  I learned this from the personality critiques of friends and family just like we all do.

The wonderful thing is:  I now get to opt-out and get on with it.

What about you?  How would you answer that questions above?  If you do answer the questions above, what did you learn about yourself?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the vibelicious comments below.

Vibelicious comments:  be excellent to each other.*

Rude or mean comments will be deleted without exception.

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photo credit: werkunz1

Have you ever sense home was somewhere else?

Do you feel drawn to a specific location that you’ve had no previous connection with?

Have you ever felt you were living in the wrong time and don’t belong in the present?

Past life regression can be very helpful in allow you to recall experiences from the past.  It can open doors to deeper levels of the mind where communication takes place on mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual levels.

What is Past Life Regression?

It’s based on the theory of  reincarnation. It is believed that a soul survives death to be re-born in a new body with new opportunities for growth, and reconnection with our true selves.  You can change gender, vocation, and social status from lifetime to lifetime.

Of course, there are other forms of reincarnation.  This is likely due to the various cultures and religions on the planet at this time.  But here are a few terms on the subject worth noting:

• Transmigration:  the belief that the soul can choose to return in the form of a plant, animal, or other material form.
• Karma: this is also known as the “law of cause and effect.”  It states that the continued cycle of birth and death is necessary and helpful so that our souls can learn how to apply the universal laws.  However, the purpose of karma isn’t to punish us at all; contrary to the doctrines of the major religions in the world.

Deja-vu

It is believed in recent years that the concept of deja-vu could be an inkling that there’s a past life to be explored.  Perhaps.  Or  perhaps not.  I don’t really belief or disbelief.  I choose to remain open to the fact that the universe is a very mysterious place that is too vast for me to comprehend all that it is in one lifetime.

Our ability to recall past life inklings could be due to cell memory.  Cell memory is the the knowledge and memory of our cells.  It’s possible that they may contain every soul experiences in this lifetime and many others.  By accessing cell memories, we can release trauma, pain, and other issues.

Past Lives & Present Issues

Have you ever experienced an injury or chronic illness that seems to defy the conventional treatment?  Have you ever a health practitioner tell you it’s “all in your head?”

If you have, it’s possible that the current illness or injury has it’s roots in a past life.  And past life regression could be very helpful at exploring and revealing any “root causes” of present symptoms.  For example, a fear of water could be related to a drowning (or any other traumatic event)  in a past life.

Birthmarks and deformities could be the physical point of reference from a stabbing or gun shot wound at the time of death in a previous existence.

This isn’t to say that all birthmarks and deformities are proof of past lives; instead, I’m suggesting that these marks could be the suggestion of reincarnation.

In the case of “root causes,” a person interested in past life regression could help themselves release the issues, and begin, the sometimes, long-delayed healing process.

Case in point, I know a past life regression therapist whose client had an extreme fear of water; the phobia was so powerful, he couldn’t take bathes or showers without anxiety.  He was unable to attend beach trips with his family because just seeing water brought up such feelings of terror that he would be unable to stay.  He felt he was missing out on life with his family.  Until, he had his first regression session with my colleague.  Turns out, he drowned in a past life while with his fiance.  After the seeions, his wife rang to ask my colleague what she had done to her husband; he wouldn’t get out of the bath, and insisted on taking the family to beach outings so often that they were getting annoyed with him.

You can be regressed to the beginning, the middle, or the end of the event, pain or emotional attachment and regress further back to a past-life cause.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What energy are you still holding on to?o
• How is it serving you in this lifetime?
• If you didn’t have this problem, what would your life be like?

Physical Symptoms As Clues

It’s important to keep in mind that many current physical symptoms may have started in a past life.  The body can be extremely literal.  Finding out what the symptoms are, and reviewing the connections for emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual trauma.

Such examples include:

Recurrent ear infection in the present could be interpreted as an unwillingness to hear things you’d rather not hear.    In a past life, you might have experienced false accusations such as heresy or witchcraft.

TMJ. cancer sores, dry mouth, etc. could suggest a connection to a past-life in which you had self-esteem and/or self-expression issues.  Perhaps you were falsely accused as a witch or were not allowed to express your own personal truth through censorship.

The subject of past life regression is a broad subject, the point of this article is give you a taste of past life regression and what you can do with it; should you choose to explore further.

In follow-up articles, I intend to delve more deeply into this fascinating subject.  But for right now, I hope to open minds to the idea.

It’s important to replace negative experiences with a greater understanding of knowledge gained.  The purpose isn’t to focus on our challenges, but to allow ourselves to heal.

Peace & Healing, fellow travelers!

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Many a post has been written lately about the subject of gratitude. Each one alleges that gratitude is rather like a magick bullet, a cure-all that can cure the blues, the doldrums, and the need to complain all in one go. In short, a superpower rather like invisibility or the ability to fly.

But is it really the superpower it is claimed to be?

With this article, I’ll put in my five cents on the issue.

I believe gratitude can be a wonderful thing if you are having a rather blue period, and nothing seems to be going your way lately.  Sometimes the harshness of life can throw a learning and growing soul off course.  At times like these, gratitude can be a wonderful tool; it can help you remember that you have alot going for you.  That all need not be lost.

However, I don’t believe that gratitude is some sort of cure-all.  For example, if you are experiencing the blues for longer than three or more months, gratitude will be of no use to you.  But help from a trusted person in the field of psychology or psychotherapy might be.  Whether that takes the form of drug therapy, talk therapy, or cognitive therapy is a choice you and your health care practitioner must decide.

The pros and cons of gratitude are very few; but there are some.  So follow me, fellow travelers! Here we go.

Cons of Gratitude

• Gratitude isn’t a great replacement for proper health care when it’s needed.  I know that this may seem like common sense that everyone knows.  But let’s not assume that everyone is on the same page.  I have encountered people who were suffering from chronic and acute illnesses who thought that all they had to do was be grateful to get well.  Rubbish!  Be grateful for all you have in life, and get medical attention!

• It can be used as a servant of denial. Example: a close friend is in an emotional abusive relationship,  and decides to not complain and be grateful for the fact that she has a relationship.  Gratitude, in the place of helpful action to get to a safe place when it’s needed, isn’t useful if you are in any sort of danger.  Emotionally, physically or otherwise.  Get support, and hie thee to a nunnery, a support group, your best girlfriend’s house if necessary.  You can be grateful that you had the sense to get out before things become more toxic to your and everyone else around you.
• It can be used to suppress emotions that could be helpful if looked at squarely. When I expressed gratitude in the past, it was usually to suppress any feelings that I had not learned to be comfortable with.  So if I were upset that I had to work on a gorgeous day instead of enjoying in whatever way I saw fit, I would say, ‘I should be grateful I have  a job.’  The point of this was to cover up any feelings of guilt for wanting to just hang about doing nothing instead of being productive.  I don’t believe I am alone in this, fellow travelers!

Pros of Gratitude

• It makes you feel good when you feel overwhelmed by your reality. As stated above, sometimes it can be helpful to remind yourself of all the good in your life when you are experiencing a blue moment.

• It can keep you healthy. Feeling good actually helps boost your immune system.  An immune system overtaxed by stress or powerful emotions like worry can make you more susceptible to illness.  I don’t advocate using gratitude instead of cold medicine or alternative healing methods when you are physically ill, but it’s an excellent preventive measure!

• It helps you stay clear and focused on what’s (and who’s) important in your life. Life moves very quickly.  On occasion, counting your blessings will recentre you if you feel like you’ve wandered off course in life. Life moves quickly; treasure everything.

As I said, it’s short list of pros and cons, but I was attracted to the idea of seeing gratitude as a helpful tool instead of the magick bullet/superpower I’ve heard it described as in the Secret: the Movie.

I must admit I have never been brought to tears of gratitude (as have the producer and a participant of the Secret have); however, I will say that I have managed to pull myself out of a dark night of the soul several times.  And I have used gratitude to avoid taking action when it was necessary in my life as well.  Like all good things, moderation and application are the keys.

Send a transmission out from your corner of space if you have any insights, thoughts, or ideas on the subject.

Peace & Healing, fellow travelers!

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