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.

Related Posts:

• Embracing Your Shadow Self
• the Gift of Anger
• the Wacky Magickal Power Of Being Yourself
• 5 Creative Things for the New Year
• the Blessing of Uniqueness

photo credit: Rietje Swart

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!

Related Posts:

• What I Am Grateful For