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: r-z

I was over at Summer Plum’s blog having a look around, and generally being as inquisitive as possible.  I happened upon a post called the Rules (have a look if you like).  This got me thinking about all the rules I have followed…that we all have followed.  And I thought, ‘That’s bloody good idea!’  Couldn’t I make up my own rules for living?

Summer’s rules are about happiness.  My rules are about freedom.

Trap me into rigid thinking or situations, and I am guaranteed to run off screaming.

However, Summer has a mantra she uses that goes like this, Be what makes you happy.  I’ve decided to adopt this mantra until I come up with my own guiding mantra because I think it applies to my 2010 adventure; it’s all about freedom, baby.  The big F.

The Stargazer’s Rules of Freedom

1. Speak your truth. No sense in pretending you think, feel, or believe something you don’t.  All that creates is a sour stomach and sour feelings.
2. Allow yourself to feel what you feel. Laugh if you wanna laugh.  Or as Chris Cornell sang in Soundgarden’s, Get Off My Wave, cry if you wanna cry.  Amen to that!
3. Make mistakes. Mistakes are not the end of the world; you can survive them and grow!
4. Make space for yourself. It’s not always necessary to fill every moment of your days with activities and people.  Sometimes you need to create space for yourself so you can hear your intuition/inner voice telling you the visions of your soul.
5. Practice gratitude. The operative word here is practice.  You don’t have to do it perfectly every day for the rest of your life.  You simply turn up, and give the best that you’ve got.  Granted, sometimes that will be alot less than you hoped for.  But that’s okay!  Just turning up is most important.  It’s the intent that counts.
6. Release the need to be perfect. Perfection is rather like looking for the Holy Grail; it’s a lifetime quest (as Sir Perceval discovered) Release the need to associate being a good person with being perfect.  It’s possible to be a good person who is in the trenches each day, practicing the business of healing, peace, and love.
7. Live from your spirit. In my experience, my mini-me (my conscious mind) is more interested in conformity, safety and security than in fun, magick and adventure because the latter three look dangerous to it.  However, as a newly minted renegade with a purpose, I understand and believe that a little discomfort can open up doors (and windows) of opportunity that I might have missed if I was “playing it safe.”
8. Embrace your renegade. Live out loud.  Be uncompromisingly you.  And be at peace with the fact that “those who mind, don’t matter; and those who matter, don’t mind.” (I forgot who said this.)  Not everyone is going to get on board with your new intention to be daring, bold, courageous, risk-taking, and wild.  That’s okay!  They can watch from a distance on the sidelines if they prefer.

What are yours?

Vibelicous comments:  Be excellent to each other.

Rude, mean comments will be deleted without exception.

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I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving (I’m English); however, I appreciate the sentiment behind the holiday.

This isn’t going to be a long article. I simply wanted to give thanks for all of the good I’ve enjoyed this year.  I’m not some Pollyanna-ish new age person who only sees the good in things, and chooses to deny the bad.  I am a person who realises how different a person I have become since January 2009.  And I want to take the opportunity right now, in the spirit of the holiday session, to look back on this year with a sense of wonder.

So, without further ado:

photo credit: eschipul

My 2009 Gratitude List

1. I am grateful for my new job working at a massage therapy clinic.  Due to this experience, I now know that working for a large massage therapy centre isn’t for me.  Also, I am more committed than ever to having my own alternative healing practice.  And, in the future,  my own healing arts studio.
2. I am grateful that I wrote my first e-book.  I had no ide,a when I started,  how to do it.  But I appreciate the fact that I didn’t make excuses for my lack of knowledge, or let fear stop me.  I simply turned up every day in front of my computer and wrote.  This made me more courageous when I decided to participate in  the National Novel Writing Contest this year.
3. I am grateful for participating in the NaNoWriCo 2009.  I didn’t cross the finish line this year with the goal of 175 pages (50,000 words) this time.  What I did get out of the experience was the freedom to write badly!  When I allowed myself that freedom, I could write and edit it later.  This experience opened me up to new adventures as well.  I feel more flexible, open, and ready to explore whatever opportunities may turn up along the way.
4. I am grateful that I finally licenced to drive.  I used to have panic attacks whenever I got behind the wheel of a car, I was so nervous.  This year I conquered this fear, and it feels lovely.  Yet another way in which I have bent my reality.  Once, I was a person “who didn’t drive.”  Now I am a person who drives.  Another added plus to this is I get to stop feeling ashamed.  Brilliant!
5. I am grateful for starting this website!  I actually had no idea how to install WordPress at the beginning of this journey.  I muddled about for weeks on end without knowing what to do.  Then I happened upon a DIY guide to WordPress installation, and, as fast as you can say, ‘Bob’s your uncle,’ I had WordPress installed and was writing articles.  It didn’t hurt that I conveniently forgot that LivingDot would have installed it for me for free!  If that hadn’t have happened, I wouldn’t have the lovely joy and freedom of being more internet savvy. Which leads me to:
6. I am grateful for discovering new ways to express my creativity.  Before I began my journey, I had very limited beliefs on what being creative was.  Painting, sculpting, writing, dancing, etc.  However, I now see that creating a website can be just as creative.  After being introduced to artists who use multi-media and digital to create and post on the internet, I can safely say you can be an artist without using oil-based paint or clay.
7. I am grateful for seeing an Xbox 360/Xbox Live game with zombies (Left 4 Dead 2)  and thinking, ‘That looks like fun! I need to get an Xbox 360!’  Instead of, ‘Boring!’  Now I am wondering to myself,  who are you?  Wicked!

That’s enough for me now.  How about you?  What changes, challenges, or opportunities do you feel grateful for?  And how have they bent your reality?  Did you feel more free, open, or what  emotion/feeling you want to feel more of?

Let me know your thoughts…

Peace & Healing All

Related Posts:

• Gratitude: Is It Really A Superpower?
• Personal Update: National Novel Writing Contest 2009