Live Consciously
Written by Jerry on January 30, 2010 – 1:08 am -
Have you ever seen ants searching for food? They just follow one another in an almost endless game that seems to drone on and on. Are you living ants life – going from day to day, doing the same thing, the same way, and nothing ever changes?
If so, you’re not living consciously.
Conscious living is being aware of your life and the things you’re doing, moment by moment. It’s about taking the time to stop and smell the roses so you can see where you fit into the big picture. Besides adding more beauty and peace in your life, living consciously helps you live with a passion and purpose that few ever realize.
Small Steps to Living More Consciously
Transforming your humdrum life into one filled with passion is easier than you may think! There are dozens of little things, you can do almost effortlessly and that take just a minute or two, to live more consciously starting today!
Here are a few:
1. Stop. Take some time to stop throughout the day and look around. Be aware of where you are and what’s around you. Become conscious of your surroundings and notice how you fit into them.
2. Notice. Really see the details such as the green leaves on the trees, or the condensation dripping down the side of the cup.
3. Feel. Get in tune with what your body feels and actually search out the sensations of your fingers touching a glass or your toes touching inside your socks. Feel your chest rise and fall with each breath.
4. Be in the Now. Take deep breaths and be in the moment. Don’t think about what you’ve done or what you still have to do, just take a minute or two to just breathe!
5. Learn. Take a few minutes each day to try something new. Pick up a book you’ve always wanted to read or learn a new skill. You will find yourself being more conscious when trying something new than when doing something you already know very well.
There are so many things you can do to create a better life. Living consciously is one of the easiest changes to make because it takes so little time, can be done spontaneously and has great rewards. Take a few of these ideas, add a few of your own, integrate them into your routine, and begin enjoying the benefits of living consciously today!
Never Stop Exploring Life!
Jerry L Saunders, RM
Tags: Ants, Better Life, Big Picture, Chest Rise, Condensation, Conscious Living, Deep Breaths, Drone, Endless Game, Green Leaves, Humdrum Life, Many Things, Moment By Moment, Passion And Purpose, Rise And Fall, Sensations, Small Steps, Socks, Taking The Time, Toes
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Who Am I?
Written by Jerry on January 23, 2010 – 3:19 am -Who am I?
What comes to mind when you ask yourself this? How many different memories, ideas, and things seem like a part of you? What do you identify with? Does this process of identification help you, or cause suffering? Get ready to find out.
Maybe when your favorite baseball team loses, you suffer as though YOU lost. When your bank balance is low, you feel low. When somebody attacks what you say, it seems as though they actually attacking your true inner self.
How can you escape personalizing everything?
By seeing who and what you are not. Understanding the process of identification clearly can free you from the ego attachments that cause you to suffer. Meditation that can help you with this.
"Who Am I" Meditation
Sit or lay comfortably in a quiet place.
Relax, close your eyes, and take several slow deep breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, eventually letting your breathing fall into a natural pattern. Let breathing just happen on its own now, but pay attention to the air moving in and out of your lungs. Let the tension drain from your body.
Ask the question in your mind. "Who am I?"
Then ask, "What am I?"
Just let these questions rest for a moment in your mind.
Become aware of your body, and consider your leg. Would you cease to exist if you lost it? Are you your leg?
Continue through several parts of your body, asking of each part, "Is this what I am?"
Then open your eyes and look around. Are you any of these things? You might feel mental pain when your favorite CD breaks, as if it were you, but you are not that CD. Are any of the things you own YOU?
Ask, "Am I this?"
Now close your eyes again and say your own name in your mind. Is there a sense of identity? And if you had no name? Would you still exist if you had no name? Ask yourself "Am I really…" and say your name again. Consider the answer.
Try saying "I am…" and insert any other name. Note how, when you call yourself by another name, you feel differently.
Let feelings arise, and ask "Am I this fear?… this pain, desire, pleasure, or anger? You can see that your feelings are not you – they just pass through you.
Clothes, body, reputation – none of them are your true identity, is it?
Take a deep breath and get up, noticing if you feel different – maybe less worried or less attached to things, feelings and thoughts.Try this meditation for 5 or 10 minutes the few times and when you are comfortable with it continue this meditation for twenty minutes or so.
After you have done this meditation maybe a dozen times over a week or two, you might want to practice this meditation about one a month just to remind you of what you are not.
By the way, you really don’t need to answer the question, "Who am I?"
Never Stop Exploring Life!
Jerry L Saunders, RM
Tags: Attachments, Bank Balance, Deep Breaths, Ego, Favorite Baseball Team, Lungs, Meditation, Memories, Quiet Place, Quot, Sit, Tension Drain, True Inner Self
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Attracting Your Million Dollar Idea
Written by Jerry on January 1, 2010 – 1:09 pm -So many of us struggle day after day. We are so caught up in the rat-race that we can barely come up for a breath of fresh air. But, there is hope. I want to show you how to attract your Million Dollar Idea.
And, yes you DO have one!
We all are here for a reason. We all have something unique that only we can offer the world. We are not here to fear, struggle, or suffer. We are here to live life to the max! You may disagree but, according to Wallce D. Wattles, you need money to enjoy life to the fullest.
So, let’s discover Your million dollar idea now.
The Old School Way
Make a list of things you know about and traits you have. You can list things that you have specific knowledge about and things you have general knowledge about but, a keen interest in. You try to narrow the list down into some things you think are worth money in the market place.
The Easier Way
I want to show you a way that is even simpler, but you must be willing to put in the effort and remain alert for the answer to show up.
Choose a time when you can spend about 30 minutes alone. Choose a nice quiet place and sit down. Relax. Close your eyes and breathe deeply and slowly for about 2 or 3 minutes.
Once you are relaxed say out loud, "I have a million dollar idea, right here and right now inside me. I am ready for my million dollar idea to reveal itself to me." Take 3 slow deep breaths and repeat the statement with emotion. Take 3 more slow deep breaths and repeat it with even more emotion. Finally, take 3 more deep breaths and whisper the statement aloud. Relax for a few minutes and then go back to your daily life.
You have put your positive intention out into the universe. Now become aware of the little details of your life that might reveal your million dollar idea. Pay attention to conversations. Pay attention to books or articles you come across. Pay attention to opportunities to serve others that you may have missed before. PAY ATTENTION! Your idea could show up at any time in many different ways.
Keep a little notebook with you to jot down ideas. Have you heard somebody complaining that they can’t seem to find a particular product or service? Do you hear people saying things like "I wish I could find a good…."? You never know what might be a clue. Look for a pattern based around a certain idea or need that others have, even if you don’t know how you could fill that need yet.
You see, some of the best million dollar ideas may not be cool or trendy stuff. Millions and millions are made every year with boring stuff like light bulbs, toilet paper, pencils, coat hangers, place mats, staples ect. They are just simply things that other people need or want.
The simplicity of this exercise is deceiving and it’s very powerful! Try this for 30 days and maybe you won’t come up with a million dollar idea but, what if you came up with an idea worth $50,000 or $100,000? Not a bad way to spend your time, right?
Never Stop Exploring Life!
Jerry L Saunders, RM
Tags: 30 Minutes, Abundance, Breath Of Fresh Air, Conversations, Deep Breaths, Discover, Dollar Idea, Emotion, Few Minutes, Focus, General Knowledge, Intention, Keen Interest, Nbsp, Old School, Pay Attention, Quiet Place, Rat Race, Relax, Success, Universe, Wallce, Wattles, Worth Money
Posted in Secrets of Attraction | No Comments »
Keep Your Peace
Written by Jerry on September 26, 2009 – 4:51 am -Reasons Why We Lose Our Peace
Inner peace is something we all hope for, but like anything else it takes some work to achieve. Peace is waiting within all of us, but unfortunately we often lose our inner peace and let destructive emotions take over.
If we know what to look for, we can stop these negative emotions in their path and keep peace as a part of our daily lives.
Here are some of the reasons why we lose our peace:
• We Expect Perfection. Sometimes we do this without realizing it, but we always seem to be striving for perfection to an unnatural degree. You need to allow yourself to make mistakes and move forward, instead of kicking yourself for making a mistake you think you could have avoided.
• Being Afraid. When we allow fear into our lives, it disturbs the peace. We need to conquer our fears – or accept them for what they are – in order to restore a peaceful balance.
• Anger and Resentment. Some people don’t realize that strongly negative emotions like anger and resentment are detrimental to your health and well-being. If these emotions arise, it’s important to take a few deep breaths and release them.
• Being Too Busy. In this fast paced world, it’s easy to take on too much. If we start to feel too stressed out, we lose our interior freedom. Sometimes busyness and stress are unavoidable, which is why it’s important to take frequent breaks.
• Accept Challenges. Accept challenges and accept your situation. Once you surrender and deal with the situation you’re given, you’ll no longer have to deal with the negative emotions that might be fighting with you. If you can accept the worst-case scenario, then there’s nothing to worry about!
• Regrets. Regrets can cloud your current thinking with thoughts of the past that are unchangeable. When we regret the past, we lose the opportunity for peace in the present moment.
Everything Happens For a Reason
You have to remember that everything happens for a reason and everyone has a purpose. Think about everything in your life that you’re happy about and things that make you proud, and allow that to bring you joy. Remember that peace usually accompanies positive emotions.
You might regret a decision or a certain thing that happened to you. However, those negative things had to happen in order for you to be given the life that you have now. The positive things would not be there without the negative ones too. You can find peace again by remembering that everything balances out.
Meditation
If you’ve lost your peace and negative emotions are the culprit, try meditation. You can discover many things about yourself and achieve inner peace by using this simple practice.
The heart of meditation is accepting things as they are. Meditate on the fact that you need to accept all emotions in order to become free.
Achieving Inner Peace
Inner peace doesn’t have to be achieved by any set rule. The most important thing to remember is to find something that works for you personally.
Set a certain amount of time each day that you can dedicate to maintaining peace. It could be meditation, listening to your favorite music, or taking a bath. Whatever it is, when you take these simple steps, you’ll achieve an unshakeable freedom within you!
Never Stop Exploring Life!
Jerry L Saunders, RM
Tags: Anger, Busyness, challenges, Deep Breaths, Destructive Emotions, Everything Happens For A Reason, Fast Paced World, Fear, Fears, Freedom, Inner Peace, Mistake, Negative Emotions, Peaceful Balance, Present Moment, Resentment, Stress, Striving For Perfection, Surrender, Worst Case Scenario
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How to Zone Out in the Dental Chair
Written by Jerry on May 14, 2009 – 7:00 pm -Guest Article
And so the therapy began.
My next appointment was the following week for more root canal and the week after that also. Not only that my newly filled tooth was now even more painful than before so more work on my filling ensued (as well as more root canal). To cut a long story short I then chose to have a crown in place of a filling that may, or not, have lasted very long.
By now I was helping myself to their filtered coffee and newspaper on arrival.
So today, as I again sat in the dental chair I was prepared. I made sure I was sufficiently relaxed, centred and in the present moment before I turned up.
What did I do? I meditated before my appointment and then meditated through my appointment!
As the shrill piercing sound of the drill reverberated through my head and my face sprayed with water, I simply drifted away to somewhere else – somewhere peaceful. The dentist and the assistant continually asked me if I was okay – I’d slowly nod then zone out again, drifting away and closing the door to the sounds and movements of where my physical body was.
And then it was all over!
The next time you visit your dentist, it really pays to zone out during your procedure (if possible even before you get there) – especially if you’re nervous about any dental procedure at all like I am.
7 Steps to help you Zone out
1. Get a meditation session in before you arrive for your appointment. If you’re not sure how to meditate, do some slow, deep breathing exercises. I generally take around 4 to 5 slow deep breaths, focusing on the outward breath.
2. Be in the present moment. This is when you’re not thinking anything about the future – even 3 minutes into the future! Nor are you thinking about the past – not even 3 minutes ago. The present moment is now whilst you’re sitting in the dental chair, staring at the ceiling becoming aware of and concentrating on the rhythm of your breathing.
3. Once the procedure starts close your eyes and take your mind within. Focus straight ahead – wherever you perceive straight ahead to be once you have your eyes closed – and think of nothing – just blank – the void – staring at the colours and patterns you can see as you sit in the chair with your eyes closed.
4. If you’re about to receive an injection – as the needle goes in, breathe into that area and continue to concentrate fully on your slow breathing until the injection is over.
5. Once that’s over, resume staring into the blank void that is the inside of your eyelids!
6. If you find it challenging to think nothing, focus on a visual image that makes you feel really, really good about yourself then have a look around and see where you are.
7. Whenever you sense you’re starting to again focus on the drilling or whatever else is happening in your mouth, breathe in slowly and deeply focusing on the rhythm of your breathing and allow every single muscle you become aware of, to deflate and relax.
Meditation is a great ‘self help’ tool and when applied during a visit to your dentist – it makes the experience if not enjoyable, at least bearable!
Michaela Scherr Transformational Coach
http://www.michaelascherr.com
Never Stop Exploring Life!
Jerry L Saunders,
Tags: Appointment, Coffee, Deep Breathing, Deep Breaths, Dental Chair, Dental Procedure, Dentist, Guest Article, Meditation Session, Nbsp, Piercing, Present Moment, Root Canal, Sat, Sounds, Staring At The Ceiling
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