Meditation for the Meditation Challenged – part 2

In the last newsletter, we began an overview of ways to adapt various meditation techniques to your own personal style, time constraints and enjoyment. Here is the second half of that article.

Mantras & Chants

Spoken-word meditation is the ideal solution for some who have difficulty releasing or calming their thoughts. Focusing on a word or phrase repeatedly, coupled with rhythmic breathing creates the vibration that draws in and anchors spirit, or creates a peaceful space for your soul to express itself.

Try some of these:

  • “I am” phrases…I am love, I am joy, I am peace, I am a gift, I am healthy, I am beautiful, I am worthy, I am loved
  • Breathing in and out one single word: “peace” for instance
  • Repeating phrases of oneness: “I am That;That I am,” “God and me, me and God are One” 
  • Recommended by authors Peter Cole and Daisy Reese: “I am always connected” (in breath); “Spirit guides my path” (outbreath)
  • Chanting the sacred Sanskrit mantra “om”
  • Chanting various other mantras considered powerful aids in manifesting dreams and engendering enlightenment: The Sanskrit chant Aum Namah Shivaya or the traditional Buddhist chants Nam Myoho Renge Kyo or Om Mani Padme Hum
  • Do these chants while fingering sacred strings of beads 

Eyes Open/Focused Meditations

Where many meditators prefer to keep their eyes closed and shut out the outside world, others prefer a focused eyes-open approach. One of the goals of such a practice is to

join your essence with whatever it is that you are intensely gazing at. You will be merging and exchanging energy and creating the opening for spiritual inspiration.

Among these:

  • Candle flame, which is the spark of life, purifying all things
  • Flowers, which represent beauty and the female essence of the planet
  • A picture or image of Buddha or Quan Yin, the goddess of compassion
  • A crystal or sphere, which embodies certain properties for healing or growth
  • Sacred designs that have special meaning to you, sacred geometry or perhaps mendalas
  • A card drawn from a “divination” deck, which points the way for your spiritual expansion
  • A photograph of someone who’s traits you aspire to attain

Sound Meditation

Audio inspiration is a nice addition for meditators. While silence is golden, sound can be a doorway to heightened awareness and elevated states of consciousness. Some meditators also prefer to listen to guided meditations as a way to relax and bring themselves to a fully present meditative state.

Here are some of the options for Sound Meditation:

  •  Singing Bowls—The vibrational sounds of singing bowls are soul stirring and powerful
  • Music—New Age, Healing and Spiritually Inspirational music is the perfect accompaniment to meditation, taking you deeper into a peaceful state
  • Chants—Recorded chants from Buddhist and other enlightened cultures
  • Drums—Sounds of Native American, Asian and other culture’s drumming circles can be a meditation aid for people who wishs to lose themselves in the beat
  • Recorded Meditations—There is a wide variety of guided meditation CDs available on the market, many of a general nature, but others which are designed to help facilitate growth or healing in a specific area of one’s life
  • Recordings to Change the Brain Rhythm and Consciousness Level—A growing number of companies are offering special meditative CD’s or downloads designed to change your brain wave pattern and take you deeper into altered states of consciousness. What might take you an hour to do on your own, these products can do in a few minutes, especially if played regularly. 

Visualization

 

As a Conscious Creator, you no doubt know the power of visualization for manifestation, but visual images can be used for many meditative purposes. To help open you to guidance, to purify, to imbue yourself with some desired trait or state of mind, or to relax.

Here some ways to practice visual meditation: 

  • Sacred Scene—Imagine yourself in some beautiful natural place or a golden temple in the presence of God, guides and angels. Transport your mind and heart to a place of wisdom, grace and love.
  • Chakra Clearing—Imagine each individual chakra, the beautiful vortexes of energy along your center meridian in their individual radiant colors (red/root chakra/your place in the world; orange/second chakra/sexuality, money, creativity; yellow/third chakra/self-esteem and emotions; green/heart chakra/love; blue/throat chakra/speaking your truth; indigo/third eye chakra/intuition, purple/crown chakra/your spiritual connection to Source). Carefully and intentionally clear each one of any blockages so that it can spin easily and efficiently to support your physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.  
  • Color—See yourself swathed in colorful energy emanating from the Universe in a pyramid of light, saturating every cell of your body. There are a number of books in our ManifestBooks.com inventory which provide guidance on the various colors. Here are the ones I use daily: golden light for empowering Source energy, a mix of sparkling silver and gold for manifestation, sparking pink for love, sparkling peach for joy, yellow for wisdom, green for health, blue for calmness and serenity, purple for spirituality.
  • Love Meditation –To increase the love in your life, create a meditation where you are surrounded by love in all ways in all places from all sources. See yourself receiving love. Then also see yourself flowing that love to others.
  • Meditation for Health—To improve your health or address a specific health consideration, imagine a little candle flame of spark of vibrant energy illuminating each and every cell that needs healing. Imagine yourself fully healed in all ways, doing the things that your perfect health affords you.

So let me close with two thoughts about meditation. One of the blessings of meditating is that you are letting go of the past and the future, and you are letting in the truth of NOW in this one peaceful moment. The other is a reminder offered by author Caroline Reynolds in her book Spiritual Fitness: “The important thing to remember is to meditate not with your mind, but with your heart.”

jackie

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