I know a lot of people who have considered meditation, have spoken about it and really felt they wanted to try it and just never got around to it and that is fine. The thing about meditation is if you had any idea just how powerful it actually is and just how it can help you, not only to connect in with yourself, but in with all aspects of your life, me thinks you would start it straight away.
You see meditation is not just a tool for those who are “Spiritual”, or those who are going through a hard time, it is for everyone. If you were to meditate everyday for 3 months the difference would amaze you. This difference I speak about would be across the board in all aspects of your life. Meditation brings a sense of peace to your life. Even when you are not meditating, if you have a regular practice you are going to feel a lot more chilled during your day and better able to handle whats going on around you. Some of the benefits of meditation are
- You feel revitalized and refreshed after meditation,
- It helps you identify how you truly feel on the inside,
- Stress reduction in all aspects of your life (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual bodies),
- You’ll be better able to sleep,
- You’ll feel better able to cope with whats happening in your life,
- There will be a noticeable reduction in agitation, frustration and anger,
- You’ll have a sense of peace/ease/calm in your life,
- You’ll feel healthier and have a stronger immune system,
- Long term benefits are stronger sense of purpose and direction in life,
- You’ll have more clarity and focus,
- You’ll have more energy,
- Meditation helps you feel more connected with yourself and what’s going on in your life.
- Your intuition will become stronger,
- You’ll feel more supported by life,
- Symptoms and feelings of depression, loneliness and isolation decrease and with a regular meditation pattern after about 3-6 months they may disappear altogether,
- Feeling more present in the moment.
- Reduction in blood pressure
Initially when I began to meditate I did it to reduce stress. Life at the time was stressful to say the least, I had a young baby and full time job and typical struggles of young mothers. I’ll admit it wasn’t exactly plain sailing along and I knew I needed to find something to help me. I was encouraged to do breathing exercises for stress. I had absolutely no idea that I was meditating and would at the time probably have been very resistant to the idea! The thing is though within a few days I felt a definite difference, nothing I could put my finger on but better.
Over the weeks my resolve grew strong, this new breathing thing was really catching on for me! I began to notice that stressful situations in work didn’t get in on top of me the way they used to. My sleep patterns had changed and I no longer lay awake for hours at night time willing myself to sleep or being eaten up by worries and fears. I felt calmer, more at ease, peaceful even and the odd thing was nothing in my life had changed at all only that I had started these new breathing exercises!!!
The other unusual thing I noticed was that I began to feel strong from the inside out, like somehow unexplainably I wasn’t on my own. This wasn’t in a freaky kind of “I’m being stalked” way, it was more that I knew something stronger and extremely protective had my back. It was an amazing feeling and one I couldn’t explain as it was all so alien to everything I’d known before.
My health really started to improve. I’d suffered for years with irritable bowel and headaches and in recent times it had gotten particularly bad and I was prescribed medication which I was told I would have to continue to take. As the weeks went by my irritable bowel improved dramatically to the point where I no longer had to take medication for it. I also noticed that I became very happy with my own company. Don’t get me wrong I love people and am very sociable, however being by myself was something that had challenged me. I found now though that I would actively look forward to the time in the day when I got to meditate and be by myself. This all didn’t happen overnight, in fact it happened so slowly that I barely noticed it and yet when I looked back I was amazed at how my life had changed.
There was one more side effect which surprised me completely and for which I had not envisaged in any way.I had always had a fascination with spirit (spirit, astrology, 6th sense) but was always way too terrified to ever contemplate looking into it. As the weeks wore on and my meditation became more ingrained in my life I found myself being inexplicably drawn to angels. I knew nothing of angels and as far as I was aware my breathing exercises had nothing at all to do with anything else only stress! How wrong I was! I remember being in a book shop about 3 months after I’d started meditating and being inexplicably drawn to angel cards. I couldn’t fathom it as I’d never consciously been remotely interested in them before (although in hindsight I’d always been clairvoyant and had seen them many times as a child but didn’t understand what I had witnessed ). This was the beginning of my journey as healer and teacher and one that has been the best journey of my life.
From the very beginning I made a conscious decision that no matter what happened I wasn’t giving up the meditation and its one decision thankfully I’ve stuck to. Meditation for me is the time out during the day when I get a chance to disconnect from everyone and allow my head to clear. It is such a healing thing to do, to sit back close your eyes and dedicate that time, no matter how much time you have to yourself. By doing this you’re building a much stronger connection in with yourself on all levels. Meditation allows you to give back to yourself.
For those who work with angels, God, Spirit(whatever you call it yourself) it gives you a chance to connect to that energy. To lift the heavy burdens of worry and fear, to surround you in the most healing love energy and to bring peace into your heart. For those who don’t consciously connect in with anything the benefits are the very same, your allowing your energy to lift and clear and become peaceful and balanced.
With a regular meditation practice you will find that you naturally feel drawn to people and situations that lift you. Synchronicity happen a lot more frequently and you will be drawn to make life changes that are more authentically true to you. For me personally meditation led me to where I am today working (if you could call it that as it’s a joy!) as a holistic teacher and healer.
When you meditate it gives your physical body a chance to speak to you. Most of the time we give little thought to our actual physical body unless the body kicks off with an ache or a pain, or is tired, we will continue to push it to its limits. Meditation allows your mind to go calm and still so you become more acutely aware of your physical body. You give it a chance to rest and rejuvenate. You may become aware of an ache or pain, you may feel to go a little more gently with yourself and begin to really engage with and listen to your body.
When you meditate it gives your mind a chance to clear. I always think that meditation is like a shower for your mind. Some of us will go from day to day working stressful jobs, hearing stressful stories, dealing with whatever life throws up and not for a minute stop and try and clear this stress from our minds. From my own experience it was because I didn’t know any differently. When you meditate you are giving your mind a chance to calm. Initially it’ll be challenging. The last thing a busy chattering mind wants to do is stop chattering. Persevere though because even if it is just for a few seconds, this will make a difference and don’t worry that you’re doing it wrong or that you can’t relax, the main thing is your trying. It also gives you a chance to release and let go of those heavy negative thoughts. You don’t even need to do this consciously because by meditating you will tune back into your own natural alignment. Your body, mind, spirit will natural align you to calm, peace, ease and you will start seeing this in your life. The calmer you become on the inside the calmer life becomes on the outside. Over time and as you begin to operate from a place of peace and calm, you will reflect this in how you deal with situations and relationships in your life.
You see meditation gives the body, mind and spirit a chance to take a breather as it where (excuse the pun!). Its effects aren’t only felt on one part of your life but on your entire being, encapsulating your physical body and any imbalances therein. Your emotional body and any emotional upset or trauma. Your mental body gently allowing you to heal and release those heavy burdensome thoughts. Your spiritual body allowing you to connect in and feel that unending support that is all around you in whatever a word you wish to call it (universal energy, angels, God, spirit etc.). It is an invaluable life tool. The best part is it’s not expensive or difficult to learn and do. The only thing you really need is time.
How to meditate
It’s simple and easy to do, it doesn’t cost any money and you can do it anywhere, it couldn’t be easier. In saying that if you have never tried it before it can be challenging to quiet your mind so bear with it. A lot of people find it easier to listen to guided meditation, indeed this can be a very good way to start allowing yourself be guided into a deeply relaxed state. I really would recommend you also try and meditate in silence or with soothing calm music allowing your mind to clear.
1. Find a comfortable position. This could be on a favourite chair, sitting up on your bed etc. It’s important though that where ever you choose is nice and quiet and you’re not going to be disturbed and I’d strongly advise that you put your phone on silent.
2. Ensure that you are warm as it can get very cold when sitting still for periods of time, there is nothing more off putting than being freezing cold.
3. Uncross your legs and arms.
4. Now close your eyes and breathe long slow breaths. Try and breathe as deeply and slowly as you can holding for a few seconds on the intake and releasing long and slow out.
5. Consciously give yourself permission to relax. This may seem like a strange thing to do but what you are doing in essence is acknowledging to yourself that this is your time and its ok to relax.
6. If your mind is full of chatter and is refusing to quiet try and imagine as your breath in you are breathing in pure illumined white light. You breath that gorgeous white light right in holding it inside you for a few seconds and then as you exhale imagine you are breathing out that inner chatter. Imagine you are breathing out all those worries and fears and negative thoughts. Imagine you are breathing that pure healing light right into your very core or right into the very source of your chattering mind.
7. It would be good practice to try and do this every day. Initially for 5 to 10 minutes but aim to get it up to 20 to 30 minutes. I realise that this may seem like a lot but when you begin to see the benefits and you will see the benefits it’s well worth it.
8. When you are finished bring your attention to the earth beneath you. You could imagine lovely golden roots growing from your feet and going right down deep into the earth. With each breath you exhale imagine those roots growing deeper and deeper and you are feeling more and more grounded and connected to the earth. With each breath you inhale feel yourself draw that lovely earth energy up into your body and feel yourself be nice and present in your body.
There is no right or wrong time to meditate, it’s a very individual thing. I know people who find that they meditate best first thing in the morning and that this sets them up for the day nicely. I’d advice if you were going to do this that you would maybe set your alarm a little earlier and sit up in bed and meditate in the comfort and warmth of your own bed. I personally meditate best at night just before sleep. I find that this helps clear my mind of anything that happened during the day and also I get into a deeply relaxed state. By doing this just before you go to sleep chances are you sleep a lot deeper and better.
For anyone who is interested in listening to guided meditations I have a lovely guided meditation album currently on iTunes and other online stores see Healing Angelic Meditations , these meditations are designed to assist you to release stress and conflict, guiding you to connect in with peace and calm working with the gentle angelic energies. In particular the last track “Inner Peace” is great for releasing stress from the entire body leaving you feeling calm, refreshed and at peace.
I hold regular angelic meditation classes every week. These classes are designed for those who wish to develop a regular meditation practice and also includes working with the angels, for more info please meditation page under courses. I will be starting introduction to meditation classes in the near future.