Meditation Part 1

What exactly is meditation?

Meditation is a state of mind – the same way people struggle to be happy when they are depressed, is the same way that we struggle to quiet the mind to get into a meditative state that is essential to healing.  It is the most important tool that we have on this planet as humans.  There are all different types of meditation.  Some may recall the Transcendental Mediation used by the Beatles.  It’s a personal journey and a personal choice to practice any mediation, just like anything else in life.  Most people shy away from it.  It is not powerful to be out of control of you mind and your thoughts. So, rather than taking a back seat and allowing it to have control over you, it is much more empowering to actually have access to the stability of living in the moment and not being distracted with things around you.  Focusing on awareness organically brings out positive affluences in your life.

It is said that praying is the act of speaking to the deity that you believe in, while meditation in making space for the answers to come through that you are seeking.  Why wouldn’t you want to mastermind with the universe rather than just being limited to the capacity of your own thoughts?  What level of growth and results are you looking for when you pray?  If you knew that there was another aspect of asking God for answers, wouldn’t you want to complete the task?  What good is asking a question when you don’t listen to the answer? And you continue to pay attention to your own thoughts instead, that are governed by your feelings that you are trying to move away from…

Focusing on the awareness of your breath is the best way to start meditating.  That simple act, can bring us into a present state of mind slowing down the thoughts.  Watching the sunset can bring you into a meditative state.  No thought involved, just awareness of the beauty that is in front of you.  When you take your focus away from your thoughts, they naturally will slow down.  They feed off of your momentum as to how much you are entertaining them.  This state of being is very powerful.  The only thing that stops you from mediating is your own impatience…. forcing it to happen quicker, feeling like you can’t do it, or not caring enough to try.  Like anything else, it happens more naturally with practice.  So if you eliminate the limits placed upon yourself that you cannot meditate or that it’s not for you, then nothing really should hold you back from practicing getting better at it.  Setting expectations on how meditating should be, is already not putting you in a state of just being.  Just being in the moment is a crucial part of being able to achieve a meditative state of mind.  This state is what helps change our perspective when we come back to regular thinking.  It slowly creates regular thinking that is more grounded and not as scattered.

Thoughts = things – therefore just thinking of thoughtlessness will get you just that! 🙂

I have been practicing the art of mediation for 3.5 years.  I am learning and expanding on it every time I do it.  If an athlete never makes it to practice, chances are they will not be the star of the game.  I will share my experiences and tips with you on every step of my own mediation journey so we can all be the stars at life together!

In Memory of Friends

When we are younger, we never really think about where our friend’s story will end…. Or how. We might fear our own deaths, but the feeling that you get when someone’s gone and not on this earth anymore, is something you cannot anticipate.

Each person’s legacy leaves an impact on so many people. And the feelings they bring up are different for each one of us.

While experiencing a new loss, I think about the person’s purpose. I think about the roles they played in the world. Why at this time, was it necessary for them to make a BANG, and shake up the lives of all of us that know them? What did they teach me, what are they still teaching me now? How did they feel… about themselves, about life and who they were. Is this what they see on the other side? Who they affected, and all dimensions of connections?

We are all family on this soul journey. Each and every one of us is important to each other. We all contribute to each other’s lives and shaping who we are by creating experiences that other people could not provide. We are all teachers, we are all students. Children to parents, parents to children, every relationship we experience with another person, no matter how long or short, is meant to show us something in life. It’s all relevant. Nothing is coincidence, everyone plays an important role on this earth, no matter how big or small. Keep positive, strong, healthy minded people close to you, and always try to lift up the ones that are struggling. They will teach you something too.

Let’s always help balance each other out, love and appreciate one another. Because one day, you might not be able to.

Drop In The Bucket

In a bucket full of love, do you want to be the drop that contributes to filling it up? Or the air the dissipates it?

Mother Earth is crying…  There are many of us out there that do things to make her feel loved.  Aligning crystals that come from Mother Earth, working on your energy levels and creating a new kind of energy that vibrates high are some of the ways to do so.  If each one of us is a drop in the bucket to make this happen, what are you doing to contribute?  What practices do you have to find balance in your space?  Physically, emotionally, mentally, in your home, within your body.  Imagine if you picked 5 topics that were really important to you, and you spent 5 to 10 minutes a day contributing thought to it, how would that make you feel?

So if you wrote down 5 things that matter to you most, what would they be?
Mine Are:
Yoga
Business
Meditation
My Relationships
Healing

So if I woke up an hour early, and did 10 minutes of yoga, read a book on business building the next 10, meditated on it for 10 minutes after that, spent 10 minutes writing out text messages to the people that matter most to me to catch up, and did Reiki on myself for 10 minutes, what would that achieve?
Well, after a week (6 days, take one day off) I would have done an hour of yoga practice, an hour of learning about business, and hour of meditation, an hour of catching up with my family and friends maintaining strong relationships, and an hour healing myself.
After a month it would be 4 hours of each, and after a year it would be 52 hours, so over two days doing each thing a year that makes you clear headed, keep positive and stay focused.  That’s a beautiful gift to not only yourself, but the people around you.  This is how we affect the world!

If this topic stirred up questions for you, great!  There are two books that I highly recommend that will answer them, so your next set of questions can be on the next level! 🙂
The first book is The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod – This book originated the concept of doing these things first thing in the morning so that you can lead through the rest of your day in the best mind set.  When you read this book, it clarifies all of the reasons why you should, as well as make you question why you haven’t already!
The second book is The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy – This book will give you principles that put into perspective how to shape your destiny with how small steps lead to much bigger things.
The two books go hand in hand together in my opinion, but if you only read one, do The Miracle Morning.  It’s a quick informative read that may change the way you wake up in the morning and start your day.  Be the drop in the bucket of love!

New Moon in Gemini

We tend to lay and bask in the sun knowing that there are harmful rays that need to be blocked.  It is proven by science that these rays can cause cellular mutation (cancer), as well as changing the amount of melanin released in our bodies, making the color of our skin different. We can see what the sun’s rays do to us on many levels.  What do you think about the moon?  Most of us probably don’t regard the moon in doing anything to us at all.  On a cellular level, mentally, and physically what does it do?  Well, I learned when I went on my Mayan tour in Mexico when visiting Chitzen Itza last September, a very fun fact that also gave me a lot of perspective.  Mayans regarded the moon very highly.  They knew that the way the moon raises the tide, it has that effect on all water.  And being that our bodies are made up of 80% water, when the moon is full and powerful, the water in our bodies gets pulled up towards our brains.  This is what they believe makes people “lunatics” (luna meaning moon), indicating that the moon affects our minds the way the sun affects our bodies.  Because our aquatic balance is thrown off and not being evenly distributed in our bodies, we act in ways that are not true to our balanced self.

Farmers use the moon as a guide, they know that the new moon is time for rest.  The time to plant new seeds and start new harvest.  The same is true for us and our intentions!  When we use the universe in our favor, things naturally come our way.  The pause in moon cycles during the new moon is the best time to create and manifest new opportunities and birth new projects.  This resting phase is the time to build up your energy so that we can draw the things we desire toward us, just the way the moon does.

My focus here is to let you guys know the significance of this moon and what to do to prepare or take advantage of it.  If you want to know specifics of the astrological cycles, the Jupiter and Saturn retrograde right now, as well the connection to the divine feminine, there is a great article put out by the DailyOM about this.  I would check it out!  For those of you that just want the basics, here is it:
Gemini represented by the “twins” is about partnership.  This is the time to reach out to people that share the same energy as you, are likeminded and are going in the direction you want – and collaborate with them! The sign of Gemini is said to be extremely intelligent and also great with communication, hence why this time of the year generates many social events and occurrences where you are coming in contact with a lot of people.  So take the time tonight to rest and reflect… What do you want to accomplish for the next couple of months to come?  Who do you need to approach or come in contact with to make what you want happen?  Is there a mentor or someone out there that can help you achieve your goals?  If so, reach out to them!  Spend tonight really thinking about what you need to bring into your life, to bring you peace and happiness.  And then go after it!  The universe can only provide for you what you set an intention on getting from it.  So if you ask to release anything that doesn’t serve you, it will guide you in that direction.  There are many things that hold us back, limiting beliefs in my opinion being the main thing, relationships, home life and jobs usually being the other main things.  Let them go. Make room for bigger and better things that are out there for you.  Just as people spend time praying for the sick to send them good intentional energy, spend some time thinking about you and what serves you to make you the best version of yourself that you can possibly be.  Everyone’s rituals will be different.  Mine include having my gemstones and crystals around me to draw in and transmute energy, as well as smudging or saging, lighting candles and setting goals/intentions with things like vision boards.  The things that I am able to accomplish in my life do not happen by accident.  They happen by intention, and the rest of the things that I don’t plan for (like this blog!) just come with the momentum of the energy I pull towards me.  Just as the things that do not serve me go with the momentum of away from me as I release.

Get a little journal for yourself, I don’t really care if its a tiny pad from the dollar store, and just simply write down tonight the following:
What is not serving you in your life that you would like to change
Who you are because of it
Who do you want to be and what do you need to get there
Visualize yourself being the person you want to be with the things you need for that, and start drawing it into your energy field.  Don’t be surprised if things start coming your way that you didn’t plan.  Most importantly, accept it with open and loving arms!

For all you crystal lovers out there, it is also important to know that when you want to transmute negative energy and draw it out of your gemstones and crystals, the full moon light is a much more gentler approach than the sun.  Much like the way the sun blanches out fabrics, the same can occur with the color in your stones.  I charge my crystals during the full moon each month, to transmute any and all negative energy I’ve picked up along the way, and clear it out to make way for positive vibes only!
Gemini crystals are as follows:
Agate, Aquamarine, Apophylitte and Moonstone

Release and Manifest

The full moons are always good for releasing out into the universe all of the things that you have accumulated that do not serve you.  While the new moon is for manifestation and attracting all of the things that you would like to invite into your life.
What does this mean?

The universe works off of intention.  Your thoughts are energy.  Putting that energy out there will call it to come to you or move away from you.  So if you sit in quiet thought saying to yourself all of the things that come to mind that you really want to release and not think about anymore, you will.  Regardless of someone apologizing or perhaps how the outcome affected your life, the point is for you to be ok with what has happened as well as ready to move on to bigger and better. The things that do not serve you, bring you pain, cause you grief, guilt or frustration, just accept it for what it is and release the control it has over your thoughts.  The more angry energy you put into a thought, the more you fuel it into existence.  So if you want something out of your life that is negative, ask it to be released within the universe.  The energy of that full moon will transmute the negativity into positivity.  The same force that rises tides, it is that powerful…
But really, feel in your heart that all is ok, and that’s when that energy will truly leave your body and move outwardly.  Try breathing.  Take in deep cleansing breaths and imagine a white smoke filling up your body from head to toe, and then as you exhale, visualize all of the black toxins escaping your body.  Literally push those emotions stored inside of you out through your mouth.  You can even do it with a sign of relief.  Notice how you feel…

Moving on to the manifesting part during the new moon (today), use the same concept but in another way.  Say all of the things in your mind that you desire.  Be more specific than “money”, “vacation”…. Actually think about why you having these things will make you a better person, so that that version of you is what’s portrayed into the world.  Think about it like this, if we are operating at 100% very happy and fulfilled, then that’s the energy that we spread to others.  This is why we are deserving of all great and glorious things. Because the happier and more fulfilled we are individually, the more it makes for a higher vibrational (positive) Earth to live on.  And just like negativity, laughter and love can also be contagious.  What do you want to spread? Anger, confusion and hate?  Or light, love and hope?  The more hope and faith we have in the world, the better its going to be for all man kind.

 

It Starts With YOU

Have you ever stopped and wondered how much you influence the world in a day?  What if everything you did had intention behind it?  Would it be possible to make every move throughout the day be purposeful? How much more effort would that really take?

A LOT…. but like anything else, the more you practice the better you get and the easier it becomes.  There were many times in my beginning stages of trying to learn how to do hair, that I had a lot of negative self talk. “I’m 30, I’m too old to not be established in my career”.  “This is taking me way too long to learn! I better quit while I’m ahead”.  “I should just go back to working in an office, at least I’m good at that”.  Because I was able to push through those instincts, and go AGAINST my gut, I was able to get to the point where it became easier to do blowouts. And formulating chemicals became second nature. That haircut didn’t take an hour to execute anymore, thank God!!  What if I would have quit?  Well, I wouldn’t live on Long Island, I wouldn’t know hundreds of people that powerfully impact my life on a daily basis.  I wouldn’t have my own businesses or live in a home and have the space to be creative and free. I was able to pull through and stick with the learning process enough to retrain my brain.  I retrained it from not knowing a thing about doing hair to having it become more effortless.

The same can be done with our intentions everyday!  We might not be able to change every single thought we have to be purposeful with pure intent.  Sometimes, we will be human and we will be reactionary. What harm could be done with practicing this everyday as much as we can, consistently? And when we fall off with it, just forgive yourself and bring it right back.  It’s a great exercise that may very well effect you in other positive ways.  You may not notice it right away, but any action you put forth creates a reaction.  Follow the laws of the universe, and you will be rewarded!