“There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.”
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 18th-century German Writer & Philosopher

Someone says “Meditation.”

Do you think “Om?”

No fault there, most of us think of sitting quietly in the sun next to a placid lake when we hear about meditation. This is normal considering the big bucks that go into the “Feel good and escape the rat race” industry nowadays.

They want you to believe that meditation requires a perfectly peaceful, luxury-filled lifestyle, a highly organized and beautiful environment. They are setting you up for failure.

But why would they do that you ask?

Because it is simple monetary psychology.

People are willing to pay for that which they believe they do not or cannot have. Why spend money to achieve a feeling or a reality that you believe you already have?

Make Yoga or Pilates or Meditation seem appealing to the masses and then convince those masses that they NEED certain THINGS in order to have that appealing reality in their lives…instant rags to riches story.

But what if the truth was that you can be active and be busy and get things done and still achieve the benefits of meditation?

That would make it so much more convenient wouldn’t it? If you needed only your mind and nothing else to meditate…I bet you would do it more often.

You would?

Well good! Because that is the truth of it, meditation is free for everyone, no glitz, no gimmicks just your own mind required.

Meditating sitting down in a quiet, peaceful, beautiful, epic environment is optimal of course. But you try and get that in today’s world on a daily basis.

What is more likely is that you can fit in a few minutes of “you” time when you are up to other things.

Walking the dog is a perfect time for meditation.

Knitting a baby shower gift is great too.

Washing the dishes? Again, get in a short meditation.

Paying bills? Meditate on drawing prosperity to you.

Painting the bathroom can be an excellent time for meditating on beauty or on change.

Jogging in a 5k? Then tie on those trainers for inner peace.

Cooking food is a fantastic occasion for meditating on health and connection to nature.

What elements do you need for your activity to become a meditation?

Well, to be honest meditation, even in its highest form, is a simple thing. We meditate to calm our mind, to connect our spirit to our body, to our actions. We meditate to honor breath and aliveness, connection to spirit and nature.

Mindfulness, ie. putting spirit and intention into each and every small movement, small thought of our life, is the main goal of meditation.

So, focus your intent on being a spiritual being who is carrying out a physical activity, and Voila! You have meditation.

If you shake cinnamon into your recipe, make yourself aware, peacefully, of your connection to the country and the plant and the human being from which that cinnamon is sourced.

If you are rollerskating in the sun, consciously connect yourself to each stretch and twitch of muscle as you move. Purposefully set-up a give-and-take of energy between you and those sun rays.

Know that every activity has an element of growth, of energy, of awareness within it.

By allowing yourself to be a mindful participant in these exchanges, you are strengthening your awareness as a spiritual being having a physical experience.

You are strengthening your true self and allowing that inner person to fill the moment of even the most mundane activities.

By all means, if you get the chance, then say “Om” on the beach in Tahiti.

But know that the tranquility is from the beauty within you, not from the beautiful view.

“We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.”
~ Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

Sadhana is a Sanskrit word that pertains to spiritual practice. It has been translated and used in many different ways but, in the modern Western usage, it has come to mean a dedicated spiritual practice, something done mindfully with the object of achieving a specific result. Most often this takes the form a 40-day practice involving certain mantras (words), mudras (hand gestures) and yoga poses.

At the beginning of August, I was inspired to join in a global sadhana being offered by Ramdesh Kaur at Spirit Voyage. The aim of this sadhana is Transforming Negativity Into Love, something we can all use, both personally and globally. I have never taken part in something like this before. Of course I have had personal spiritual pursuits that involved carrying out a certain meditation or dedication every day, but I’ve haven’t ever joined others in a sadhana of this type.

This 40-day sadhana consists of two different practices. The first is a series of four kundalini poses, each of which must be held for at least 1 minute. The second practice involves reciting an affirmation designed to bring about self love.

The affirmation, recited with hands clasped gently over the heart centre, is:

My heart, I love you.
My body, I love you.
My mind, I love you.
I forgive myself for any words or thoughts I have made about myself which were unkind.
I release any emotional attachment to the unkind words others have said to me.
I forgive myself for anything that needs to be forgiven.
I recognize my own beauty.
I believe in myself and in my dreams.
I am bountiful.
I am beautiful.
I am blissful.
I am.
I am at peace.
I am whole.
I am loved.
I rest in the light of this truth.

The process of allowing this sadhana into my life has been loving and transforming on the most gentle and subtle levels of my being. I have been surprised by it’s energetic effects, so light and inspiring.

Some of it has been new to me, such as physical Kundalini poses and hand mudras, but some of it is familiar and comfortable, such as soft music and verbal affirmations. It took a few days to figure out the process and memorize all of the practice, but it quickly became a happy, soothing part of my day.

For myself, I chose to complete my sadhana in the evenings, after dinner and after my young son had gone to bed. Taking this time for myself and using it to connect with others around the world who I knew were doing the same practice really brought more light and peace into my life.

Today is day 37 of 40 and, as we are now coming to the end of this particular sadhana, I am reflecting on the practice and what it has brought to my own personal and spiritual development. Firstly, it has taught me to embrace whatever makes me feel good in my spiritual pursuits, as opposed to being locked into one belief structure or one way of doing things. It has also shown me, by utilizing the affirmation during various ups and downs, that taking a few moments to love oneself every day really can make you express your love to others more easily. And last, I can palpably feel how increasing your own vibration and mood will, collectively, increase the joy and happiness of humanity on a much larger scale.

Sadhana is not just for hindus or yoginis, it can be utilized as a growth tool by anyone, of any belief structure and for nearly any purpose. Sadhana can be any number of days and any practice that feels right to you. For more about the many ways to use sadhana in your life please check out this article at Yoga Lunchbox.

Now, having approached this 40-day sadhana through the ease and serenity provided by Ramdesh Kaur, I am hooked on the practice. I am looking forward to the next global sadhana and in the meantime will ask my guides for a suggestion of a personal sadhana that I can embrace for continuing the uplift of my own personal vibration.

Goodness spreads itself far and wide, plant one seed with love and watch it reach for the sky.

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”
~Margaret J. Wheatley, Writer and Management Consultant

Meditation is a contemplative state which one enters in order to relax the waking consciousness. There are many reasons that people take up meditation and there are numerous benefits to incorporating a regular practice of meditation.

Meditation can be used to cultivate a deeper awareness of one’s relationships and surroundings. Calming the ego-consciousness (the judge) that lives within our waking mind and opening ourself up to receiving peace, allows us to recognize and, with diligence, to access a higher state of consciousness.

Why should you want to reach higher consciousness?

That is a very good question and yet, one that is very difficult to answer. You may want to reach higher consciousness for the changes that it makes in how you use your life. You may want to reach higher consciousness to develop new abilities. Or perhaps you would enjoy having a higher consciousness because of the differences your actions may make in the lives of others.

What can be said is that, through the regular practice of meditation, you will come to realizations, values and talents that you are very unlikely to arrive at without the aid of meditation. I say unlikely, I do not say never. Meditation is a tool, like a key to a door. It is not the key that makes the wondrous thing behind the door exist. That thing always existed, all that the key did was make it easier to reach.

The realization and changes that develop in you over time, while practicing meditation (things like, mindfulness, calm, spiritual oneness, empowerment) are subtle shifts in your level of awareness that will help you to, among other things:

-Form more healthy romantic relationships
-Fulfill your internal life purpose
-Expel toxins and illness from your body
-Speak and act with true integrity
-See the beauty in all things
-Cope better with change and challenges in life
-Build self-esteem
-Look and feel more youthful
-Gain spiritual awareness / inspiration from the divine
-Walk lighter on the Earth
-Appreciate the gifts that you have in your life
-Serve yourself and others with deep kindness
-Channel positive creativity through your unique self

So I suppose that the question is not why you should want to reach higher consciousness, but why you should not want to?

What does meditation mean exactly? I have heard so many different things about it.

Meditation means many different things to many different people. There are several approaches to meditation, several layers of consciousness to explore and different levels of difficulty.

There are those who follow an accepted course of some kind, like Kabbalistic meditation or Transcendental meditation. And there are those who are more drawn to moving forms of meditation, such as Yoga or Tai Chi. Most are just looking for more inner peace and a connection with the natural world in which we live.

It would take pages to list here the myriad forms that meditation can take. Some examples are: breathing meditation, walking meditation, guided meditation, trance, sound healing, affirmation, tantric, chakra, crystal, visualization etc, etc…

What is common to many forms of meditation is the component of sitting and maintaining a relaxed pose in a place of silence. This, of course, is an oversimplification, but it is not as simple as it may sound. The difficulties that people tell me of, and that I myself am no stranger to, are the very reason that meditation can be so life-changing for us.

The realization that staying mindful of our walking, or maintaining mental silence for a few minutes, is so difficult, when we humans are supposed to be the masters of our physical world, is one that leads many people to realize their own potential for growth. This is why acheiving the simple acts of maintaining silence of the mind and awareness of our reality, empowers us and shows us our connection all other life.

Gaining this place of silent connection is the true meaning of meditation, no matter what form that meditation takes.

How do I learn to meditate?

Ah. That is the question!

The approach is a very easy one. The mastery is not always so.

To begin with, you need to find a comfortable position that you can rest in. Most people use a cross-legged position. Lying down, though comfortable, is not the best position for learning meditation. Lying down signals sleep to your mind, and if you try to relax the mind in this position, you will inevitably end up asleep.

I always suggest that beginning meditators sit on the floor, this helps to ground you and also to release any fears that you may relax too much and fall off of your chair.

So, you are most likely to begin by sitting cross-legged on the floor (or on a nice cushion, on the floor.) I always begin this way, with my back straight, supported by a wall.

The intention here is to relax your muscles, rest your eyes and release all worry from your mind. There may be an overall intention to astral project, meet your spirit guide or gain psychic abilities, but that is not the point of each individual meditation. Release these desires, be the beginner, be the student.

Doing meditation is called “practicing” just as in Yoga or in doing magic. That is because we are always the student, these are abilities that have no end, that continually grow and evolve, presenting new challenges along the way. We are always learning.

So now you sit in quiet contemplation, keeping your mind empty (or focused on your own inner body perceptions and mental perceptions) for as long as you can.

A fifteen or twenty minute meditation can change the entire energy and outcome of your day. But in the beginning, allow yourself to practice for only three, four or five minutes. Do not worry if you cannot stay still or carefree for longer than that.

If you have thoughts come barging in during your meditation time, simply thank your mind for its contribution and then release the thoughts and return to clear mindedness.

Once you become comfortable with the general concept and practice of meditation you can feel free to try adding instructive aids of some kind. These may be counting techniques or similar approaches learned from a book. They may be sentences or affirmations that you say to yourself repeatedly throughout your meditation. You may also find guided meditations, either audio or video, quite helpful.

I myself learned meditation, guided by a friend, using the simple tree meditation, which I eventually memorized and I still use variations of it regularly.

But I can’t meditate, I am so frustrated by my failed attempts. I thought this was supposed to be relaxing!

It is indeed meant to be a relaxing and comforting activity. If it isn’t, then it is probably one of three things… let’s look at the three most the common roadblocks to successful meditation.

I can’t sit still: You are most likely a person with high levels of energy (ie. anxiety) and teaching your brain that it is okay to relax and not be always doing is something that will take time. Begin by setting a stop watch and observe how long you can sit still for. Then slowly increase it in ten-second intervals. Force your body to just BE. Eventually you will not need the stop-watch or the forced increases anymore. Go slow and you will get there.

My mind will not stop thinking: This is the most common reason that people decide they are unable to meditate and give up trying. They can only seem to keep their head clear for 30 seconds or so, but the minute that they begin to relax into a meditative state, another thought pops into their mind. When this happens ten or more times, each and every time that they attempt meditation, it is not surprising that they become frustrated.

I was this person! I swore to my meditation teacher that I would NEVER be able to meditate, and I was truly convinced of that fact. But it wasn’t a real truth for me. And it isn’t for you either.

Perhaps, you are dragged out of your meditation by every creaking floorboard, passing ambulance siren or barking dog. I was too. But I promise you that this is just a stage. Your conscious mind, the ego, does not want to release control and will amplify every thought, worry, sound and itch to try and maintain that state of control. But it does eventually loosen its grip, if you stick with it. You will not fail, unless you give up and stop trying.

I don’t think that I am doing this right. I don’t feel anything: You have probably come to meditation with some unrealistic expectations of what you would experience. There is no wrong way to meditate.

The intention with meditation is to build a stronger, more open connection with your true inner self. There are as many methods for achieving that connection as there are individual people.

If you feel like this time is your own, than that is enough. What matters is that you take the time to stop, be at peace and listen to yourself. If you are giving time to practicing meditation, you are already doing it right.

So what does it all mean?

Well, as you can see, meditation is not just about the health benefits. The process of learning to meditate also involves developing patience and perseverance, two skills which we as modern humans tend to have less and less of. This benefit alone is worth the early struggles.

But you are also making time for yourself. Taking a few minutes to spend with yourself everyday (even if you never meet Elvis on the astral planes) has been shown to lower your blood pressure, relieve anxiety, heal depression and cure insomnia. And these are just some of the benefits that meditation can have for you.

If it benefits each individual practitioner in such meaningful ways, imagine what your own self-improvement can do for your friends, family, colleagues and the planet as a whole!

“The greatest stories are those that resonate our beginnings and intuit our endings, our mysterious origins and our numinous destinies, and dissolve them both into one.”

~Ben Okri, Nigerian Poet and Novelist

I get so many requests to write more guided meditations like Reading the Trees. Sometimes the muse just will not descend. Of course, I write a lot of targeted meditations for my own spiritual path. But very few of them are appropriate for others. We are all on our own unique journey.

In response to the level of requests, as well as to a directive from the universe, I have decided to try my hand at visual meditation. Please go easy on me as its my first foray into such territory. Also, email and let me know if it works for you. If a lot of you like it, I will try to make it a regular feature here at Awaken to Light.

Of course, you can tell by watching this what my story for the meditation is. But I thought it might be fun if you make up your own story to the images. Include them in your comments. Or if you have a similar video of your own, feel free to include a link in your comments. A little bit of thought-sharing never hurt anyone.

So without further adieu…

Universal Soul:

The groves were God’s first temples.

~William Cullen Bryant, “A Forest Hymn”

A tree is an interesting entity in the realm of creation and in the realm of nature. It is a living being, an energy form that, more than any another, records within itself the knowledge and history of its surrounding environment.

A tree begins from seed, embodied within which is its own original energy. But then it amasses its self and its mature energy from the environment around it.

The trees are the books of time, just as their wood may provide fodder for the books of mankind, so, too, does the environment provide fodder for the books of the trees. The trees are like braille waiting to be read, like a musical recording waiting to be played.

The trees are all-absorbing, whether good or bane, and do not judge what is to be left behind or discarded from what is to be retained and preserved. The trees stand for lengths of time, comparable, but often longer and more robust than those stood by man.

Just as the tree’s rings can be read to discern the history of the environment and the weather patterns, so, too, can the tree’s energy be read to discern the history of human development in their life spans and even before, as they are informed by the ancient dirt from which they grow. Ask a tree on a battlefield for the truth of the battle, ask a tree on a Lovers Lane the truth of romances past.

The trees are impartial, but feeling, taking their very bark and internal fluid of life from the air, ground, rain and energy of the living environment around them. Many annals of human life are recorded within the sentient and sacred trees.

So it is that the scrolls of the Akashic can often be more easily touched in this world and on this plane by the simple knowing of a tree, ancient and wise.

A tree meditation:

Place oneself at the foot of an ancient tree, whether physically or mentally.

Begin with slow, deep breaths.

Do not focus on the world outside, but, instead, close one’s eyes and follow the path of the breath as it rushes into the mouth, flows down the throat and fills the lungs. Follow its swirl there and its easy and cleansing path back out from within.

Do this several times until you feel yourself calmed and focused.

Lean back against the literal or metaphorical tree which you have chosen.

Tune in and feel its energy mingle with yours, acceptingly and peacefully, without expectation.

Imagine yourself to have roots, growing from your bottom and reaching into the rich, fertile ground of Mother Earth.

Feel, at the same time, ethereal roots of sparkling energy extended from the top of your head and connectimg you with the bright, spiritual ground of the cosmos above you.

Breath deep and let the energy from each flow through you to meet one another at your core.

Use this conduit to pull energy from above and pass it through to the roots below.

Do the same again, pulling energy from the roots below and passing it through to the etehreal roots above.

Say aloud: As above, so below.

Feel yourself to be one with the tree, you within it and it within you.

Say words of welcome and words of greeting to the tree.

Give it honor for its beauty and strength.

Now, having reached a balance with this living tree creature, you are free to ask it questions.

Trees are more apt to answer questions about the self, the wise path, about energy work and about the human past, specifically the human connection to the divine.

When you have finished your tree work, thank your sibling tree for its wisdoms and energy.

Ask it if you may come to it again another time. Give it honor and say your farewells.

Breath deep and balance in your center.

As you are breathing in, see your roots being drawn back down from above and carrying their energy back into your self.

Do the same for the roots below.

When you are whole and contained again, balance your inner self and then stand.

Leave a gift at the base of the tree. (You may do this by pouring a glass of water or leaving a strand of your own hair as a token of kinship and of thanks.)

For a little bit of inspiration and some great visuals of ancient trees, try either of the following fantastic books:Remarkable Trees of the World or Tree: A New Vision of the American Forest.

Blessings to you all!

~Vera Nadine

“I am convinced that there are universal currents of Divine Thought vibrating the ether everywhere and that any who can feel these vibrations is inspired.”
~Richard Wagner, 19th-century German Composer

The divine self is your inner life force, your true motivation for living. The divine self is what powers you and makes you wonder. It is the soul light at your core that chose to be incarnate at this point in time.

The divine or higher self is that part of you that is ever-aware. The divine self has been aware and thinking since your birth in this lifetime and since your birth in every other lifetime. The body and the physical realm, in which we dwell, are but a vehicle for the higher self.

You are here because you have chosen to be here and because the energy force, that is life and awareness, has lessons to learn and exchanges to make that can only be accomplished by taking human or manifest form.

All that is, is light.

Though it may seem as if the physics of incarnation, of being born and of living in the busy, colorful, physical world of manifestation would cut us off from knowing the divine self at our core, it does not have to be so. You may chose for it to be otherwise.

Here is how we can begin to acknowledge our divine and true core and, by so doing, begin to draw closer to our own higher self:

The first step is to embrace the existence of the divine self.

Try this exercise.

Turn off your waking mind by calming and quieting yourself.

Remove all external distractions to the best of your abilities. No radios, televisions, lawnmowers, screaming children, telephones, alarm clocks, music… nothing.

Now seat yourself comfortably and chose one of the following, either a lit candle or a mirror.

If you choose the candle, you will stare directly into its flame. If you choose the mirror, you will stare into it, scanning your whole face… You will not stare into your own eyes and you will not let the flame make your eyes unfocused (as you do with those Magic Eye puzzle images).

Instead, remain aware of you, in your body, and remain relaxed, but with the eyes still maintaining relative focus.

The candle flame is light and light is the force of all life. Everything that we think is animate, and therefore alive, is powered by light. Everything that we know to be solid, material, and therefore provably real, is only perceivable due to its reflection and absorption of light.

Mass is matter, matter is energy and energy is light. So all that is, is light.

In the case of the mirror…The image of the self is one that we both embrace and avoid.

We avoid it because we compare it to the beauty and perfection that we would hope to find in the natural world. We avoid the supposed imperfections in our physical bodies, because they make us feel unlovable, unworthy.

We never realize that imperfections are what life’s purpose is all about. Sentient energy is in its whole essence perfect and choses to be incarnate, in order to experience not only the joy and sorrow that is physical reality, but also, most purposefully, to experience the joy and sorrow that is imperfection and to learn to give off and believe in the bright, universal light of unconditional love, in spite of the sorrows and imperfections.

Only by this process can true lessons be learned and one come closer to ascension or reintegration with the ALL, an infinite and sentient energy form which all that has been, and all that will ever be, is derived. The ALL is the “Creator”, the “Source”, it is neither male nor female but simply IS. The ALL is ever-present, as are all light beings that derive from its source. That means you and I, our light and our awareness, are ever-present and that we are all siblings in the Family of Light.

What we often miss is that the many things and people that we, in this physical realm, think to be perfect manifestations of the creative force of nature, have often been altered to appear perfect and are actually no longer natural. The ideal of natural perfection is an unnatural lie.

Alternately, we embrace the image of self because we have ego, because we KNOW that we are manifest in a body and that this body has eyes, a nose, a mouth, a face and a shape. We know this is true, because we can see and feel it.

Now, looking in the mirror, we might look at ourself as simply a physical thing, a manifest object comprised of matter, just like the candle or the match that we used to light the candle. We are just matter and we will eventually die and decay. But, hang on. WE can make choices, can lay up late at night thinking, can reproduce, can form religions, can create with our hands, we can cry and love and feel anger.

Then are we really just matter? Are we not something more advanced, a spirit, a personality incarnate?

Personality and thought are not physical functions. Yes, they are powered by physical functions, but this is only to bridge the gap between the spirit and the body. How does gas power a car? By combustion, which is achieved by a physical process that changes the state of the gas. The brain is the method of conversion for the fuel that is the spirit, but the spirit is always the necessary fuel for life. When our engine gets clogged we need only look at the poor state of a neglected spirit to find the cause.

So now that we can look at ourself in the mirror and see ourself as more than simply this flesh, but as a sentient spiritual being moving about in a living phyical body, we can begin to value our connection to things beyond the physical realm.

Look into the mirror and scan your visage, see the light within the body and the light, the lifeglow, surrounding it.

While doing this exercise with the candle, or the mirror, embrace the light of life, the energy of creation and your connection to all that is. Now repeat: “I believe in my divine self, I know of it, because I can feel it within me, because I can see its presence in my life.”

Repeat this phrase, but not mindlessly. Repeat it while feeling the truth of it well up inside your heart. Feel the energy of the divine self and the energy of your connection to the universe and all creation buzzing around the surface of your skin.

Repeat the phrase, or modify it if another, more suitable, phrase comes to your mind. Think to yourself of your divine self making contact with your manifest self.

Open yourself to the reality of your divine self and open your heart to the possibility of communication with that higher self, and see what comes of it in your life.

You may repeat this exercise every moon cycle, best at the new moon, for as long as you feel it is necessary to build this relationship with the higher self and to draw it closer to your waking understanding.