Meditation on the Fly

Life is pressure and more pressure. Some believe they have no time for meditation. But not true.

Here's a way to fit in meditation without setting aside time for it:

Using your five senses can help you meditate on the spot. Quiet yourself. Sit and use your senses to observe everything around you. Listen to the noises of traffic, see the colors of people's clothes and trees, feel the wood of the bench you are sitting on. Notice how you feel.

Are there smells, such as coffee percolating? Flowers nearby? Breathe it in.

As you practice using your ears, eyes, fingers for touch, nose for smell, and overall sensation for feeling, your thoughts stop and your body relaxes. Voila! You are meditating.

As you practice, you experience more inner peace.

Topic: Meditation, Senses, Inner Peace, Practice

Thoughts are Powerful in Determining Your Destiny

Your thoughts are private. You experience up to 70,000 of them a day according to the University of Southern California Laboratory of NeuroImagery. Some positive and caring. Others negative and hurting.

Whichever they are, it doesn't end there. Each thought is sent out into your chemistry as a message. You and your body are constantly responding to these hormones or messages which circulate throughout your cells and brain. Your nervous system is directly impacted.

In response you might vibrate with hope and connection or shutter in fear and isolation. You might feel you're invincible or can hardly function. A good question to ask yourself: Which direction am I moving in? Positive and Upbeat or Negative and Pessimistic. Only you can make a course correction down the Mental Path you plod.

Famous Auto creator Henry Ford warned, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't -- you're right!"

Working with your thoughts and shifting your perspective is a challenge. It takes daily practice of reading or saying affirmations to overcome negative self talk. For instance, "Nobody cares about me and I don't care either," becomes "I know at least some people care for me and more importantly, I care about me and others. I can make a difference." (Journaling, professional counseling, prayer are other ways people have found to transform their minds.)

One way to identify negative thinking is to notice when your mood turns sour. Trust that you're thoughts took you there. The trick is identify those sneaky under-the-radar thoughts that take over and make your life unhappy. Look for the trigger that started the cascade of bad thinking. Such as when your boss suggested that a co-worker's excellent sales were making everyone else look like amateurs.

Next time you catch yourself thinking something like, "I am such a loser," take a break, sip some coffee and say to yourself, "I am not a loser. I am a winner and I will continue to be one. I refuse to let others bring me down." Being your own best cheerleader will help you cross the finish line!

The Wisdom of Being A Good Receiver

Have you a relative or friend who cannot receive a compliment. "Oh, it was nothing," they say. How about a friend who takes a gift and puts it in a back closet, never to be used or see the light of day. Maybe that describes you.

Let's face it. Some people are poor receivers. They might be generous at gift giving but as receivers they suck!

Consider how these kinds of actions and words affect the gifter. People who give like to know their generosity rewards the receiver. That their appreciation increases your self image and worth. They are encouragers and supporters. Their reward is to know you have benefited. No doubt some givers would be disappointed with these luke warm responses from those presented with their compliments and gifts.

So next time you receive a gift, think about how how your response affects the giver and how you can show that person appreciation.

For a compliment you might say, "Well, thank you. I never considered this. I am glad I could be of help."

For a gift when writing a thank you note, you can say (if true) how you used or will use the gift. "I'll be putting the hand soaps in the guest bathroom, thank you." In this season of presents kindly wrapped with bright paper and ribbon, being a good receiver can be a form of giving back to the giver.

Why I Practice Positive Thinking

I entered the realm of Positive Thinking at a Young Age due to a family crisis. The doctor diagnosed my mother with a brain tumor that was growing and changing her physical appearance. She happened upon a mind-body healing group and learned that positive affirmation and prayer could change her condition. And it did. The tumor went into remission and never returned. My mother went on to lead a happy healthy life and spread her cheerful attitude to others.

When people hear that changing their thinking can change their life, they often respond: "This seems silly?" They reject the idea their lives can improve with new thoughts.

For a time in my life, I stopped the practice of positive thinking and I found myself living a life I didn't want. So I began to work on my self talk and almost immediately saw beneficial changes. Many others agree with my assessment. The library shelves and Amazon are filled with books and products written by People who all say it transforms their life.

How do positive affirmation and self talk work? No one really understands precisely how though science is catching up. On a quantum level it appears that how we observe life makes an impact on how atoms respond--whether they are solid or energy.

One way to think of it is that God, The Ultimate Quantum Physicist, in His Creation designed the world with built in laws. One is the law of reaping and sowing. "You will always harvest what you plant. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." Galatians 6:7

So whatever you are thinking, feeling, believing is vibrating out from you and influencing your cells, your body, and those around you and gets returned to you in multiplied form.

If this is true, then the importance of right thinking cannot be overemphasized. New studies in quantum physics such those discussed in Biocentrism by Robert Lanza show that we are creating our lives by consciousness.