Before you dive into any endeavor, meditate on it first. Getting other people’s opinions about your new venture is fine. However in meditation…that is where you find the true answer to your question.
Mantra: I meditate before I act today.
Hope is the last thing to die. When all hope is gone, that’s when people check out of life.
Hope is the emotion that keeps us hanging on even when we are bone tired. When the money is gone, there’s no food in the house, addiction has us in it’s grip, grief has us crying every night, children are sick, collection notices are in the mailbox, or layoffs just occurred, we continue to have hope. Without hope, we wouldn’t take a chance on love, bear children, or continue to live. Hope is the belief that life will get better and improve.
Hope is a sister to faith which is the evidence of things unseen. Faith is a cousin to compassion which is seeing the God in the other person. Love is the parent of all three. If your hope is fading, contact someone you love, or who you know loves you. Trust and believe love will lead you back.
Challenge yourself to reach your fullest potential. Whatever your life’s condition (not circumstance, for that implies that life is series of accidents or happenstance), you have the power to change it. If you take deliberate steps toward your ultimate vision for your life, then life is not simply “happening” to you. You are the power you seek.
Mantra: I create my own reality today.
While I was on a break from blogging, I integrated meditation into my life.
Daily meditation forces you to:
Which in turn makes you:
What I mean by “quicker to bounce back” is that when you do get upset, meditation can bring you back to emotional balance. It reminds you that even when life is kicking your ass, you still have two things:
And even if you don’t believe in a Higher Power, believe that you have family and friends who love you.
I’ve taught yoga for 19 years and always dismissed meditation. I thought asana (the poses) and pranayama (deep concentrated breathing) was enough. They are not enough. Stopping amid life’s “daily-ness” and “busyness” is crucial for good mental health. I’ve even got my kids doing daily meditation.
Everyone thinks they are too busy to meditate, so I’ll share short guided meditations I’ve found on YouTube.
The easiest way to start: Go to YouTube and type “guided meditation 5 minutes.” A list of videos will come up. Pick whatever speaks to you.
My children and I do a 5-minute meditation together before they leave for school. I let them pick one. (And yes, they only do it because I make them. They have learned how to sit still with eyes closed for 5-minutes. That alone is a victory.) Below is a favorite from Honest Guys. Definitely check out their channel.
After the kids leave for school, I do a 10-15 minute meditation by myself. My two favorites are anything from the YouTube channels Great Meditation (10-20 minutes long) or Vipassana Meditation (15-60 minutes long). Vipassana meditation, also called Insight meditation, asks you to notice your thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judgement.
Me and the kids do a second 5-minute meditation together after they arrive home from school.
At bedtime, they listen to a sleep meditation. There’s also hundreds to choose from on YouTube. Lengths can be anywhere from 10 minutes to 11 hours. Some channels play live music 24 hours a day. Some are guided meditations. Some are music only. There’s enough variety for everyone. I choose 1-3 hours in length for the kids. My sleep meditations are 30 minutes to an hour. My favorites are Honest Guys and Jason Stephenson.
Let me know if these suggestions are helpful. Meditation was the missing piece from my life.
Love,
Althea
Ms. Mocha Angel 