Often people ask me, “Daisy, why are you so chill?”. They think it is because I am a hippy. But I am just a spirit embodied, just like all of us. Meditation is really the most important thing for maintaining chill equanimity.
Why do you Meditate?
For me, meditation is like brushing my teeth. If I don’t do it I just feel gross. I get too stuck to the little tiny details of this 3D world.
I have been practicing meditation in some form since I was quite little. Meditation allows me to pause my senses- to become senseless. That is to not simply focus on the sensory input of the 3D. And it allows me to connect to Spirit. To feel those feelings that exist and just let everything bubble up and process.
From there I can be CALM, and be inspired, through connection to Spirit.
What do you mean meditation allows feelings to bubble up and to process?
I think this is a vital piece for navigating the 3D world, this physical world our bodies and matter exist within. With meditation, you sit still and simply learn to be, focusing on breathing. This profoundly shifts your awareness from going about your day-to-day programming- the world outside yourself. The outer world. Shifting it inward. It’s all inside…..
They say that prayer is talking to God. And meditation is God (or Spirit whatever name you use) talking to you.
We often have an expectation that meditation is sitting in quiet bliss and thoughts simply fall away. And this is not always the case. This crazy, chaotic, beautiful and wild energy that is unleashed once you learn to jump into the infinite and begin to focus inward. This energy is a form of the intelligence of the universe. Of God and Of spirit.
With Meditation, you bring your awareness into your true and most genuine self- the spirit that is you. Connecting to your inner awareness of wisdom and truth. Uncaged
“And if the body does not do fully as much as the soul?
~Excerpt from the poem, I Sing the Body Electric by Walt Whitman
And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul?”
Connecting To Your TRUE SELF
Meditation allows us to connect to our true selves…to listen to that soft quiet voice within. A voice that we have actually been conditioned to silence. We have learned to honor other louder voices of this insane culture, instead of our own. Madness
When we do this we are acknowledging our true self. These suppressed thoughts and feelings must be respected, must be heard. If we choose to shut them out… they just might do tricky little quirky things to make us listen. Or things may happen around us to create what we want in a rather backwards and unpleasant way.
We can train ourselves to listen to that voice within. We just tune our inner hearing.
What you are saying is letting your feelings bubble up to be felt and heard is a major part of Connecting to Spirit?
YES. Since most of us do not learn how to work with the energy of emotion. And this is really a key part of being a spirit embodied. Emotions are quite powerful and can turn rather inverse if not welcomed in a powerful way. This is why often we are confronted rather inconveniently with feelings and circumstances that can be scary and painful. Our fear of emotions can allow others to control us. Since by ignoring ourselves we lose ourselves.
For me growing up I observed with others, that there was a colossal disconnect between being and feeling. And there was an even bigger disconnect from Spirit. To make it even more ludicrous I was told I was evil to my core, that humans just are bad- something like original sin. And that because of my memory of magic and my connection to Spirit and the universe, I was a heathen child.
I learned that to FEEL was weak. and spending idle time connecting to self…. that is fricking self-indulgent.
Also, the idea that I should already have things figured out and be some form of perfect. This is a delusion and another way we stay disconnected. As we’re always, growing, learning, and expanding.
The Human Perspective of God
But for me, I have healed that strange relationship with the human perspective of God (or religion). That disconnect with what people and religion say, and the knowledge of the embodied spirit remembering that I am. I have learned to not let the loud tyrannical voices who attempt to control and define my spirit shut out what is true.
Meditation is soothing and healing to your very soul. As it calms that turbulence we are thrown into. That noise that interferes with our connection to truth.
Feelings are Information
And processing feelings is amazing. If you are still and listen… memories and ideas will lift to the surface in perfect order. No need to dig and over think- simply allow your soul and body to speak. You do not engage with the information. You just observe this movie in your mind and with your felt-sense (internal bodily awareness) impartially. With love. A skill that gets stronger and makes more sense with practice.
And by allowing thoughts and feelings to be listened to and to be observed… any pain and hurt or confusion dissipates. We do not run from the pain or the intensity, We embrace it, We feel it, We hear it, We learn. Power is removed from things that had been holding us back for some reason. It is a great relief. A burden lifted. I know for me it has made me stronger, more empathic, with better boundaries and deeper understanding. In tune with the multidimensional world, I exist within.
A French philosopher Michael De Montague once said “The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to one’s self”
And what you are is magnificent.
Know Yourself.
What about the physical benefits of meditation?
So if we want to look at how meditation affects our senses and these 3-D particles that make up our body. There are, of course, many ancient sources and philosophies. THough really when it comes to the physical benefits, A great person to talk about is Dr. Herbert Benson the beloved late cardiologist from Harvard.
Dr. Benson wanted to understand our body’s healing capacity. This is our ability to heal ourselves. Healing ourselves is possible. We do it all the time. And it begins with what Dr. Benson calls the relaxation response.That is creating the conditions for healing. This can be more important than anything else we do.
Dr. Benson actually spent time with the Dalai Lama. He traveled to India and was able to study the most advanced monks. These monks could be considered to have superpowers.
It was from this experience and research that He coined the term the relaxation response– Dr. Benson’s studies began the creation of a bridge between medicine and spirituality in mainstream thought. And play an important part in something called mind-body medicine.
So what is the relaxation response?
Most of us humans live in some form of fear. As if we are constantly on the run from wild animals- oh and aren’t we though? This fear is manifested in our lives as stress. And stress is ubiquitous.
Now our fight or flight aka stress response is vital to survival. Not all stress or so called negative emotions are necessarily bad.
It is just that we are in a spot as humans where our over-amped nervous systems are stuck in the fight or flight mode. So stressed we don’t even know it. ANd it controls our thoughts and shifts our experiences in a less joyful or healthy way.
So many negative emotions cause the fight or flight response- this fear response. So anything that triggers chronic stress could be considered fear. Worry, anxiety, but also anger, frustration, jealousy….
If that makes sense to you. As you begin to notice your feelings and perceptions you will see that some emotions feel toxic and others feel good. This is not simply metaphorical. It is a real chemical response that has implications in the physical body that is more powerful than the drugs we ingest.
We Can Heal Ourselves
According to a study at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) that looked at participants in a relaxation-response-focused training program.
They observed that Relaxation-response techniques, such as meditation and yoga, and prayer, could reduce the need for healthcare services by 43 percent.
43%!!!!! If we could bottle the benefits of the relaxation response it would be a billion-dollar drug. This is so amazing yet challenging for people to realize the true power of their perspective.
Now with meditation, we are able to gain access to our true selves. And understand the implication of how we live and think and feel.
However, we are the gatekeepers of our mind, of our perceptions, and thus our body’s physical responses. The key is… Our conscious control of our breathing. This is how you shift your body’s habits of perception.
We can breathe fear and we can breathe healing. When we meditate we can work through our body’s fight or flight response so that we begin to notice the difference and to be able to shift into a more powerful state. Rather than be victims of our surroundings.
There are two important things to understand about our nervous system when it comes to stress. That is the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. In the extreme, the sympathetic nervous system is how we are able to have great strength and reactivity to respond to danger, And the parasympathetic is deep rest and calm.
What do you mean by, breathing is the key?
We breathe calm. Which is basically breathing LOVE. Since on the spectrum of energy and emotion, there is fear and there is love.
Love is the glue that holds the universe together.
……..the dominant theme of existence is love. One can love oneself, and all others, because one sees that all of everything is created from the same fabric … Love is the theme of God (source), the glue that keeps the universe together.
~ from COSMIC VOYAGE by Courtney Brown
Breathing is the key to shifting into calm. When we breathe exhaling deeply and inhaling fully into the lungs….. breathing in slowly from to bottom of our lungs… out to the sides… all the way to the top, it calms and shifts your mental, physical, and spiritual state. You breathe calm. This is actually an altered state of consciousness that must be evoked purposefully. And it is an advanced and empowered approach to being human. And to being your true self. Not who the world wants you to be.
When we breathe love it is very different from fear. With stress we hold our breath, we breathe shallow. Constantly on edge.
It is with our breath that we communicate to this physical body that all is well. No matter how things appear everything is well. It always is and always will be.
There are the phases of activating the relaxation response:
- A quiet environment
- A focus- such as breathing or a mantra (word or statement)
- A calm clear mind that does not engage in thoughts.
- A comfortable position
You must remember that an intellectual understanding of the stress and relaxation response will not change you. You must connect to your physiology in a language that it understands.
By practicing meditation on a regular basis you will begin to activate a different part of yourself. You will become more of who you truly are and less affected by outer things.
How can someone begin a meditation practice?
Please do not let strict rules make it difficult to begin and maintain a meditation practice. Make it your own. Any type of meditation you decide to practice is the best for you, There really is no right way. Even if a lot of people with sticks up their bum tell you otherwise.
I want to note that I mention feelings and emotions coming to the surface right away when talking about mediation. This is because many people including myself, have been surprised by this experience when they attempt to mediate. And it has stopped them from developing that skill.
Learning to Shift Awareness
When you sit in silence and attempt to not think it is a form of suppression for your spirit. Rather than forcing yourself to not think….You will learn to let your thoughts and feeling move by like clouds observing yet not engaging. This is an amazingly useful skill.
Any of us who have experienced trauma and have had to live in a fear state. With no true relief. Feelings and emotions are going to happen when we sit still and breathe. Memories are going to come to mind. Feelings held within your muscles are going to surface.
And this can feel very bad. It can be ugly and uncomfortable. At first glance.
Yet many of us who have lived in a fear state and experienced trauma are also aware that we must heal these internal wounds and reprogram these reactions and responses at their core. Most importantly to hear ourselves. We are often our biggest bullies.
We shut ourselves down. Feeling, emotions and trauma are inconvenient. These feelings are ugly. No one want sot to hear about them.
So this process in meditation is a way to heal… Self-healing. And really all healing at its core is self-healing.
Observing and Feeling is a Skill
Remember with mediation feeling and emotions will to the surface. You observe them as they happen,You let them pass by with out sticking, You do not engage, you do not hold onto them. Our physical bodies will hold on to patterns of fear. When those patterns are felt and released healing happens. In a way, you reexperience the trauma.
However, when you have set up a healing environment- as you do with mediation. You are prepared. You notice the sensations, feelings, and thoughts. You feel them and let them go. It is not meant to torture you. It is meant to allow you to truly move on from any hurt or pain. As well as a way to live life and to be able to hanfde whatever comes your way with calm, with peace, with a sense of ease knowing all is well.
Please if you feel in some form of danger and need help processing what comes up. Get help.
As you practice over time you will begin to experience more and more of that bliss state that is associated with meditation.
Meditation is Something that Must Be Experienced
I have posted a basic mediation practice to help you. I have created 3 meditation videos to help you develop a great meditation habit each one a bit longer- 5 min, a 10 min, and 15 min. These are meant to be very simple and to create an amazing foundation. The simplicity of mediation is what makes it so challenging. It is not from knowing the benefits of meditation, rather it is from the consistent practice that we gain the benefits.
It is like practicing a skill. If you have played a sport or instrument. You practice a bit most days. And your ability and your understanding changes from the practice. You will have a different pattern of responding to life once you have trained your nervous system you will increase your vibration. And that will change what is formed in your life and attracted to you.
Much Love
Thank you. I send you much love and appreciation. Be sure to subscribe to this blog and the Be.Wonder You Tube Channel, so you can see my content as I upload it. My content is all about the law of attraction and mediation. Plus, my spirit vlogs which are also all about a spirit rambling.
