Meditations – Inspire Love Serve

“The mind and body are not separate. What affects one, affects the other.”

The beginning of a new year is when most gyms are packed, everyone is purchasing new memberships to health and fitness clubs, attendance in yoga classes is on the rise, resolutions of all kinds are made, and new sorts of diets seem to be the “trend du jour.” However, studies show that within the first couple of months everything falls by the wayside. Why? Well, in my humble opinion, it is because it’s just that – a trend – as opposed to being a “lifestyle.”

Routine, practice, patience, wisdom and consistency, as well as willing to do the work of inner reflection, are the keys to living a healthy life of balance and well-being. It’s really a lifestyle. If we don’t deal with the gunk that is clogging our energy channels, and deal with the emotions that are the “root cause” of the unhealthy life style, all the resolutions and hours at the gym will not do a thing. Yes, we may see the scale drop a bit; however, before long, it will climb right on up there and may even surpass where we started. We may even burn out along the way. If you aren’t sure where or how to start the inner work and self-observation, I invite you to check out my previous blog, End of Year Review & Rituals. It contains some good questions for reflecting and writing.

True transformation begins from the inside out. And while a new year is the perfect time to start a transformation process, just remember that transformation does NOT occur overnight. It is a journey of sorts. There will be the highs and the lows, the twists and the turns, the pretty and the ugly, and the comfortable and uncomfortable feelings that are sure to arise. Stick with your commitment to your Self, and please don’t short change your Self! Remember, we are all here to learn the necessary lessons that will help us to transform into the highest and best expression of our true Self. These lessons will be physical, mental, emotional and spiritual ones, so addressing one with out the other is fruitless. That is why so many people give up those first few months of the new year. They approach the physical aspect of the journey and ignore the other important components of their being.

It is my belief that, in addition to becoming the best version of ourselves, we are here to also help others do the same. When I look back at some of my journals from years ago, one of the things I would sometimes end my writing with would be “Inspire Love Serve.” Is it a coincidence that I chose that as the name of my blog? I think not! It was part of my approach and purpose in my quest for being of service to myself and to others.

If you’ve been following my blog, you can see I have been trying to do just that – Inspire. Love. Serve. If you are new to my blog, Welcome! Since I started blogging in September 2017, I believe I’ve written over 40 pieces. It really brings me joy to know that in some way, shape or form, someone reading the blog may be touched, inspired or impacted by something I wrote or shared. I write from a personal perspective and also include lots of “tools” and resources available for us to use in our quest to truly transform from the inside out.

Mantras and affirmations are powerful tools when stated and released with purpose and intention. They key word here is “intention.” Resolutions are typically punitive and restrictive, whereas intentions are pleasurable for our mind, body, soul and our senses. By shifting our perspective and operating from a place of intention, we have a better chance of adhering to our desires.

As I was looking through some of my notebooks, I came across mantras for perfect health from a meditation series I did a while back. I believe it may have been from one of the early Oprah and Deepak Chopra 21 Day Meditation Experiences. Below, I will list for you the different aspects of perfect health that were featured and a Mantra / Affirmation / Intention to go with each one.

The Journey to Perfect Health: “I commit to living perfect health.”
The Nature of Perfect Health: “Balance is my true nature.”
The Intuition of Your Body: “My Mind and body are in perfect health.”
The Wisdom of Your Body: “I trust the wisdom of my body.”
The Rhythm of Your Mind & Body: “My actions are blissfully free from attachment to outcome.”
The Perfection of Your Body: “I am perfection. I am healthy. I am strong.”
Honoring Your Body: “My body is a magnificent vehicle that connects me to spirit.”
Restoring Balance: “With awareness, I create healthy habits.”
Creating Balance: “My outer world reflects my inner world. Existence, Consciousness and Bliss.”
Breathing for Balance: “I am one with the breath of life.”
Eating for Balance: “I choose foods that help me thrive.”
Connecting for Balance: “I cherish my every connection. I am the other in myself and myself in others.”
Moving for Balance: “I am flexible, powerful and balanced. My life is in balance with cosmic law.”
The Balance in Silence: “I intent to take steps each day toward perfect health.”
Living well: “My little changes amount to big benefits. Everything I desire is within me.”
Living Nature: “I am an exquisite expression of nature. I am absolute existence. I am a filed of all possibilities.”
Living Creatively: “Through rest and play, I open my creative channels.”
Living Passion: “I live my life with passion and enthusiasm….How can I help? How can I serve?”
Living Optimism: “My life unfolds in Divine order. My actions achieve maximal benefit with minimum effort.”
Living Agelessly: “I am ageless and timeless.”
Living Perfect Health: “I create my perfect health.”

I hope these are helpful to you in some way. May you find comfort and ease, and may these mantras / affirmations help guide you through your own transformation throughout 2018.

Here’s to a New Year and a New You…Now let’s go out and live with intention!

Inhale love & light…Exhale grace & gratitude, JTC

Security…it’s simply the recognition that changes will take place and the knowledge that you’re willing to deal with whatever happens.” Harry Browne

The month of December can really mess with people’s emotions for a number of reasons. Between preparing for the holidays, hosting parties, going to parties, shopping for the “perfect” gift, decorating, and dealing with work and family chores and obligations, we are sometimes left feeling depleted and perhaps even sad. For many, the memories of loved ones long gone, perhaps the recent crossing over of a family member, or the ending of an irreparable relationship makes getting through the month of December a little more challenging to say the least. These circumstances and events leave us needing some major grounding, clarity and stability.

Guided mediations are a wonderful tool for cultivating a feeling of grounding and stability. They are also helpful in making us feel safe and secure. I sometimes envision myself as a tree with deep roots in the ground. It gives me a sense of unshakable energy, strength, inner fortitude and protection from destabilizing forces. This visual also allows me to maintain that “calm in the chaos” and readily go with the flow with whatever is happening.

There have been many times in my life, especially at work, when someone has looked to me as the calming, sensible voice in a confusing and chaotic situation. During my time as a school administrator, I wanted to “lead from the heart” and be an exemplary role model of what it is like to maintain “calm in the chaos.” It is a gift of balanced strength. And it is something we can all achieve with the help of the many tools that are so readily available to us today – guided meditation being one of them.

If we hold the vision of that state of grounding, clarity, stability and trust the process, our sense of security will feel effortless and unshakable. Guided meditations that connect us to the earth element do just that. With time and practice, you will feel like a huge, unshakable oak tree….just hold the vision…and trust the process!

The following guided meditation will enhance your sense of support and stability. You can have someone read it to you, voice record it so you can listen to your own voice, or just glance at it, close your eyes and be with the vision and the feelings for however long. Sit comfortably on the floor and, if you would like to add a hand gesture, you can make peace signs and touch your index and middle finger to the ground alongside your body (Bhu mudra). If sitting on the floor is not an option, sit in a chair (or in bed) with your palms face down on your lap.

As you hold Bhu mudra, take several natural breaths to attune to all the feelings and sensations evoked by this gesture.
Visualize your body as a mountain with your legs as the base, your arms as the slopes stretching out to the sides, and the crown of your head as the mountain peak rising into the sky.
With each inhalation, your spine lengthens naturally, and with each exhalation, the base of your body connects to the earth more firmly.
Sense breath flowing up and down your spine, creating space between each vertebra, cultivating a sense of alignment and stability throughout the entire structure of your body.
Resting in your mountain’s stability, take some time to notice how the pause at the end of your exhalation is lengthened gradually, allowing you to experience the earth’s deep serenity.
Attuned to the earth’s stability and serenity, you naturally receive all of its healing qualities.
Begin by taking several breaths to receive the earth’s minerals in the exact quantities you need to support the structure of your body, cultivating optimal bone strength and density.
With a greater sense of support, you naturally inhabit your body more completely, experiencing all areas of your being integrated as a seamless unity.
As you inhabit your body more completely, the serenity of your mountain naturally permeates your thoughts and feelings, allowing you to experience absolute security at all times and places along your journey.
With a deeper sense of security, a feeling of oneness with the natural world infuses your being, allowing you to feel completely at home within your surroundings.
One with the earth, and infused with its healing qualities, you rest within your mountain of stability, allowing its absolute stillness to permeate your entire being.
Deeply attuned to the earth, repeat the following three times, aloud or silently: “Embodying all of the earth’s essential qualities, I experience complete stability.”
Slowly release the gesture, taking several breaths to integrate all of the earth’s healing qualities.
When you are ready, open your eyes, returning slowly and gently, continuing your journey with a greater sense of support and stability.

If you are interested in adding another tool to your “toolbox” and want to explore mudras, guided meditations, energy centers (chakras), doshas (constitution), balance, and health conditions more in depth, Mudras For Healing and Transformation, by Joseph and Leslie Le Page, is a spectacular resource. It’s a wonderful compliment for anyone wanting to expand their spiritual practice(s) as well. This book is perfect for Yoga students, teachers, and/or anyone in all types of healing professions……and makes for a great, meaningful holiday gift.

Attuned to the earth’s stability, may you move confidently throughout the next few days, weeks and months!

Inhale Love…Exhale Gratitude, JTC

Tag: Meditations

A New Year…A New You

Hold the Vision…Trust the Process