Blogs

How to Calm Your Mind and Soul

I know that many of you may have misconceptions about meditation. This word alone conjures up images of a guru chanting from the top of a mountain or a monk sitting in a sacred temple, surrounded by incense smoke floating in the air. Some people believe that meditation is as simple as closing one’s eyes and going into a trance, or at the most basic level, that you only need to let your mind go totally blank to be able to enter a meditative state.

During these uncertain times when many of us are having trouble sleeping as our minds race over the current headlines, let’s take a closer look at this ancient method of stillness and guidance of the soul.

Meditation is merely a state of being, in which your active mind slows down. It can bring you to a place where you can actually silence your mental chatter, and in doing so, become increasingly aware of the subtle, shifting energies within you. It may seem impossible, but you can actually train yourself to watch your thoughts come into your mind and go right out again, much like flowing water. Soon these same thoughts will lose their power to influence your conscious mind.

I like to make two important distinctions for the intention of meditation.

Transcendent forms of mediation are designed to return us to Oneness. The Heartful Harmony system emphasizes body awareness and the experience of oneness in the Unity of many forms.

The Seven Skills of Harmony is a simplified system of Heart centered meditation distilled from decades of practice. The intention of this heart focused meditation is a complete experience in Harmony. In being aware of your heartbeat and breath, you can live in the Source of your Being.

THE SEVEN SKILLS OF HARMONY

1. FEEL YOUR HEARTBEAT
2. Be aware of your breath
3. Rest into calm
4. Posture and Beditation
5. Full Breath
6. Refined Breath
7. Rhythmic Breath

CAN YOU FEEL YOUR HEARTBEAT? Try it right now.
Your heart is an untapped super power. Breath is life giving and our heart is life living.

If You Want to Change, Start from the Ground Up

By Deepak Chopra, MD and Anoop Kumar, MD

When people seek personal change in their lives, they often don’t get very far. Even in this day when online advice is bewilderingly abundant and self-improvement books are at our fingertips, change eludes us. One way to remedy this is to start from the ground up. Normally, we feel compelled to start where we are right now, and that’s a tremendous problem.

No matter how different people are, each of us woke up this morning to the same situation. We are constantly involved in thinking, feeling, and doing. No one starts this activity afresh. Instead, we are heavily invested in habits, beliefs, opinions, hopes, dreams, and fears collected from the past. So our thinking, feeling, and doing is entangled with the past even when we want something new, better, fresh, and different.

You can’t always use will power or desire to cut the ties that bind you to the past, but you can do something that will lessen the influence of the past: You can start to see yourself clearly. With that one intention, you are starting from the ground up, because seeing yourself clearly happens here and now.  You detach yourself from your story, which is the accumulation of your past. You take a fresh look at what is generating all this thinking, feeling, and doing. The process has to have an origin, a source, a wellspring that sets the active mind going every minute of the day.

Normally, if we try to see ourselves clearly, we are actually looking through a lens. We filter and arrange our experiences. Some experiences we reject, ignore, judge against, or censor. Other experiences we encourage, value, appreciate, and allow to enter our minds. The lens you choose is critical, yet people often don’t realize they have a choice. It doesn’t strike them in the first place that they see themselves—and everything around them—through a lens.

The lens you see through can also be called your mindset, worldview, or simply your state of awareness. Your perspective, on life, family, relationships, work stem from it.  Things become confusing because we are caught up in the conflicting stories, explanations, and belief systems that everyone gets exposed to. This confusion can be sorted out once you start to see yourself clearly. Cutting through all the clutter, you discover that you actually know what’s going on. Deep inside, you are fully aware already.

It’s a Vital Time to Feed Your Soul

Now that we’re staying at home, it’s getting harder to find peace and contentment.  I believe, above all right now, it’s most important to continually feed our souls.

When the outside world becomes so stressful that your anxiety starts to overwhelm you, stop and ask yourself: “When was the last time I checked in with myself?” You’ve got to learn to pull back from the stresses and strains of our current situation and make time to seek out that inner place of silence, calmness and peace.

Meditation can do all that! It can also positively affect your health, which I call the extra benefit.  For instance, the sense of relaxation and calmness that results from meditating can enhance your immune system, as well as reduce your blood pressure. Additionally, it can increase your physical energy as well as your overall well-being.

The 3-Minute Quick Meditation Guide

I want to teach you a simple 3-minute meditation that will help you quiet your mind and become more centered and present in the moment – no matter what is happening in the world around you.

Despite meditation being such a powerful and important success tool, a lot of people are wary about meditation. They’re either skeptical of the benefits or they worry that it might go against their own personal religious beliefs. 

The reality is, anyone will benefit from meditation if practiced regularly—both in their mental and physical well-being.

Getting Started With 3×3 Mediation

Meditation, while it can be used with a spiritual intent, is simply a matter of learning how to quiet the constant “monkey-chatter” in your mind and allow you to consciously think better thoughts. 

My friend Dina Proctor encourages people to try what she calls 3×3 meditation, which is doing a 3-minute meditation three times a day. 

Most people, when they start to meditate have difficulty sitting for longer than three minutes at a time. When you begin the 3-minute meditation it can be hard to just meditate.

A 3×3 meditation is simply breathing and being with whatever thoughts you’re having for 3 minutes at a time, 3 times a day.

Beditation and the 7 Skills of Harmony 

Have you ever had a light bulb moment when a fresh new idea came to you? My favorite time of day for Aha! moments is first thing in the morning, laying in bed, calm and supported. Resting in a receptive atmosphere, observing my thoughts, feelings and sensations without resistance or judgement.

The first three skills of Harmony are,
1. Feel your heartbeat
2. Breathe
3. Rest into calm

This is what I call a Harmony Refresh. It is the foundation of everything I do in the Heartful Harmony System. This creates a fertile environment for every heart desire.

The Harmony Refresh skill is easy to learn. For a free pdf guide and more information Click Here

THE FOURTH SKILL OF HARMONY is the first of four power boosts to amplify the effects of a Harmony Refresh.
I have simplified decades of meditation practice into the Seven Skills of Harmony.

How to relax with all that's going on!

If you want to become more aware of your inner guidance system, you must first learn to relax your body as well as your mind. When your physical state is one of calmness, your mind will become still, and clarity will follow. You’re probably saying: “But John, how can I relax with all that’s going on in the world right now?” My best advice: Meditate!

I know, you’ve heard me say this before, but it’s worth repeating since meditation will help you feel calmer and more balanced during this pandemic.

So, here’s the deal. I want to challenge you to meditate every day, even if it’s for only 5 minutes. You’ll feel more capable of dealing with being stuck in your house and handling your anxiety. Plus, it will ultimately build your immune system and alleviate some of these tensions you’re holding inside your body. Once that stress is released, some associated minor ailments may disappear as well.

Stand on the Ground of Your True Self

Our sense of self -- the way we experience ourselves -- is very much connected to the widely varying states of emotional energies that come into us and that seem to shape the nature of our individuality. But the fact of the matter is, there is no such separate self, at least not the way we presently experience it. There are just these ceaseless states of energy and the fleeting sense of self they produce as they pass through us. And because these widely varying states don’t belong to us -- in effect, they’re just "passing through" -- the moment their nature moves on, goes with them the sense of self we had derived from their presence.
 

This knowledge has great meaning for anyone who wants to be free of useless negative states and more, including this: When you don't -- when you consciously won't -- express some negative state, you are literally asking for awareness of a higher self. Here's why. As you don't express that state, you become conscious of yourself as the ground upon which it is breaking as well as the presence of that visiting state. In this moment of new awareness there is something there inside of you, with you, that won't change when the state changes.

A Guided Meditation for Happiness

With all of the anger, strife, and anxiety in the world today, it can be difficult to find the joy in life, but that is where meditation for happiness can help.

With so much suffering and conflict, sometimes it might seem like the world has no joy to offer.

You might ask yourself, “How can we be happy when others have it so bad?”

Other times, we’re so focused on the negative things that are happening in our own lives, the challenges we’re dealing with, and the potential catastrophes that could arise at any moment, that we simply block our capacity to feel joy. 

But joy is what gives your life sweetness and meaning. If you want to fulfill your destiny and become your best version of yourself, it is imperative that you take the time to cultivate your joy.

So today I’d like to share a simple meditation that you can use at any time to create the experience of more joy in your life.

Getting Deeply in Touch with the Divine

When I read the morning news, most of what I see are stories about people wanting to move past the pandemic. They’d like things to return to normal; they’d like things to be the way they were before. 

This is true even for people who were terribly unhappy with their lives, because for them the comfort of the known far outweighs the fear of the unknown.

But there are others who see a gift resting quietly in the misfortune and sadness that enfolds the Earth. 

Certainly, those who feel there’s a gift within this crisis also hold great compassion for those in pain, and they lovingly appreciate the souls who, on some level mysteriously unknown to us, have agreed to leave the planet during this pandemic.

But there is more going on than the universal opening of hearts to others. Much more.  

How to Use Mindfulness to Improve your Emotional Wellbeing

Are you full of worry, anxiety and stress due to uncertainty, causing your emotional wellbeing to suffer? Resulting in your health deteriorating from a lack of sleep, poor diet, no exercise and being emotionally exhausted. An easy solution to this is mindfulness to improve your emotional wellbeing, replenish energy and help you relax.

Mindfulness and meditation are terms thrown around lightly.

However, they are powerful activities you can easily integrate into your daily routine. Research has shown numerous benefits of mindfulness and meditation which makes them great tools to take advantage of right now. Additionally, the mind-body connection is very powerful and putting the work into your mind can improve all areas of your health.

With global closures and lockdowns, the usual solutions to your stress and anxiety may not be available. Therefore, activities that you can implement right now and easily are important to improve your emotional wellbeing and health.

What is Emotional Wellbeing and Why do You Need it?

Coping with the Pandemic: 7 Steps to Mindfulness Meditation — Tonglen

Mindfulness and meditation are both great tools that can help us cultivate calm amidst chaos. For those who are new to mindfulness practice, it is not uncommon to mistake mindfulness for a form of meditation. If fact, it is a different practice altogether. Mindfulness is the practice of honing your focused attention and choosing what you wish to focus attentively on. Meditation takes many forms, from movement meditations to seated or even laying down meditations using the anchor of attention on the breath, a word, a phrase or a visualization. Some formal meditations have no anchor of attention, inviting you to notice your thoughts, feelings, and emotions and then practice noticing what comes up without judgement, allowing yourself to let the thoughts drift past without attaching to any story lines. This form is called open awareness meditation.

Resources for an Inspired Life

Our world is created by a continuous flow of dynamic energy. We are constantly sharing, receiving, and evolving in spirit, including our bodies and minds. This concept once was considered new thought, and now it’s widely recognized.

Ask yourself, are you enjoying the flow of new energy, or struggling with change?

Each of us has the ability to manifest our dreams and enjoy a positive flow in life. To master this, we come into this world with assistance from the unseen world. We have Angels and Guides that are always with us. Ultimately, with their help, our life is inspired and sacred.  We achieve awakening as we learn how to communicate and co-create with our Universal energy, Angels, Guides, and all that is.  The crux is discovering our unique life directory and language.

Regardless Of Circumstance - And The Everything All-New

It’s a wonderful thing to know that what we see outside us, is not the only reality, that there is more than one perspective to take when viewing both external and internal conditions! In fact, it’s a wonderful thing to know, that God and the Universe, HAVE YOUR BACK!

Can’t wrap your head around that? That’s just it, one can’t! But we can open our hearts and merge with what is currently shaking humanity to its core! And what is shaking humanity to its core is LOVE!

I sense we each have been presented with an extraordinary chance to cut our cord with separation!  Floating weightless in zero-gravity consciousness, we have a chance to make the jump to hyper-space, the quantum-leap from duality to Oneness, from the lie into the Light, from asleep to awake, from broken to whole.

With Spring’s natural turn just under our belts, we have nature on our side REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCES! As the sun grows brighter and the days longer, we begin the mythical journey of recreating life over again either in fear and reaction to external conditions or with a new, natural courageousness, confidence and intuitive creativity perhaps unknown to us before as it rises from a deep, inner knowing we have carried with us for our whole lives. This is but one opportunity these Viral Times are gifting us!

Listen To The Great Calm

I had a vision of the GREAT CALM on March 14, 2020 which is posted here on SoulSpring. Click Here

I am grateful people around the world are recognizing the Great Calm. It was reassuring when I received an invitation the next day to join the daily Call to Calm meditations with Panache Desai. 

~~~

The stock market crash in 1929 was part of the trigger that shifted the world into a reaction of fear and lack, leading to the Great Depression.

The Great Calm is a wave of Peace.

This global reset is restoring the natural state of Harmony.

When the original Great Calm post came out, friends requested a meditation audio version.

You can listen to the complete Great Calm audio recording and a short meditation by Clicking Here

~

Do you see signs of the Great Calm in your life?

Have you felt greater expressions of harmony?

When I focus on peace, my experience of Peace expands.

We are drawn together by our Unity. Our natural attraction is to wholeness not repair.
Drama is not necessary when we have calm awareness. It’s okay to feel happy, calm, and grateful.

~~~

Preparation for Gate #3 - The Way Home

On the dawn of a new world in 2020, with a knowing that the time is here, now, for us ALL as an entire civilization on Gaia comes online for an upgrade in the Golden Age and I find myself in practice for entering “gate 3”; my perceived last level of this game. Gate 3 in the book is called the No-Key-Gate; a keyless door made of Fantasian selenium that responds to the desires of those trying to pass through. Only those that don’t want to pass through, can. The more you desire, the more locked it remains.

So, how did Atreyu do it?
 

He was on a quest of a lifetime! But in the previous mirror-gate, he dropped his identity, he had no memory of past, he had no desires, he had only the present moment experience of being in pure joy. And so he passes through the final gate and he meets Uyulala, the voice of wisdom, in other words, he gains access to divine knowledge. Upgrade! Expansion!

Silence & Stillness – The Final Frontier

Take a moment and raise your point of view to the thought that during this pandemic, from a more ‘cosmic standpoint,’ we have actually done everything right! In fact, some would argue, it could not be any other way!

In the same way being in a boat on the surface of the ocean during a great storm, one would never be able to know the stillness that lies beneath the surface of the waves as they bounce you around demanding your full attention for fear of capsizing, for fear of dying! 

Below the waves of this pandemic that have kept our attention bouncing so completely and often in fear-based thinking; there has been taking place a great Stillness, impregnated into every nook and cranny of earth, human activity and all of life Itself!

This Stillness has been yearning to be recognized for eternity and whereas some have made the superficially perilous journey inward to this magnificent place of peace and silence: many more than not have put it off for a time when it would be ‘right’ for them to do so. 

And now, this ‘Stillness,’ this ‘Silence,’ has weaseled its way onto earth, for good. While no one was looking and everyone was busy being distracted by the pandemic, the Spirit of Love, Truth and Peace may just have settled Its way into the collective unconscious of humanity forever, awaiting Its sacred time and moment to subtly, overtly, gradually or explosively shatter the old ways of being and doing while replacing them with sustainable frequencies and forms as the foundational building blocks of the long anticipated New Earth!

From an adrenaline-based system to a heart-based system: Anchoring the Deep Heart

As I now awake to the melodious sound of happy birds instead of rushing people, to the Earth taking a deep breath, the Sun rising up on a new changing planet, I am in gratitude. We have all known that the pace and the impact of humanity without connection consciousness, without care to all beings or one another had to cease somehow. Little did we envision it would come in the form of a tiny particle. Yes there is tremendous hardship and for that my heart goes out. As we deepen together and awaken to the always connected universe, we are transitioning in force and unprecedented collective from normal to natural, from adrenaline-based stress-based living to a true sense of the underlying connection, love and universality based in the heart, our portal of oneness, of love at its highest singularity. We have the opportunity now more than ever to step out of normal which was devastating the planet into a more natural connected, radically inclusive, resonant relationship with our world, all of Creation and the Cosmos.