Meditation Made Easy!
Special Offer from Creative Living Institute
Experience the ease of Meditation with Creative Living Institute's excellent Guided Meditation CD. Living In Light includes guided meditations for Balance, Letting Go, and Relaxation. Guided Meditation is a wonderfully easy way to revitalize your spirit, to let go of tensions, and to promote mental and physical well being. Sit back, make yourself comfortable, engage your imagination, and allow the gentle voice to lead you into a relaxed and regenerative space.
Guided Meditation CD's
Meditation Music CD's
The Journey to Wild Divine
Meditation Books
Hemi-Sync®
*the following is an excerpt from the soon to be released CLI Home Study Series
What Is Meditation?
The root of the word meditation is similar to the root word for medical or medicate. It implies a sense of attending to or paying attention to something. In meditation, you pay attention to dimensions of yourself that are seldom observed or known—that is, your own deepest, inner levels. Meditation involves an inner attention that is concentrated, quiet and relaxed. There is nothing strenuous or difficult about creating this inner attention. There are only two requirements: intention and sincerity.
Why Should I Meditate?
Meditation does something that nothing else can do. It introduces you to your self! For if you don’t know Who you are, it is impossible to know anything else. Meditation is one of the most powerful techniques available to improve mental, emotional and physical well-being.
How Can I do This?
What do you think of when you hear the word meditation? Do you get an image of a person in the lotus position with palms turned up on their knees, humming or chanting Ommmmmmm, mind drained of all thought, approaching a state of nirvana? This is a common stereotype when it comes to meditation. If you are an experienced meditator this may be a common and comfortable position to be in. However, if you are a Westerner it may be very difficult to achieve this when you first begin to meditate.
We hear from students and clients all the time that they can’t meditate. They don't have time. They don't have a 'quiet space.' When you get to this point it's hard to realize any benefit from doing something that feels so frustrating.
Forms of Meditation
There are two different forms of meditation: active and passive.
Passive Meditation: Very similar to our stereotype of meditation.
- Eastern form of Meditation
Remember that people from the East are experienced meditators who have been meditating since they were small children. It is a part of their culture to practice meditation. They are considered lazy if they don't meditate!
Active Meditation: You may not recognize this as a form of meditation.
- Deep breathing techniques
- Utilizing active and creative visualization
- Engaging your imagination
- Western form of Meditation
Most of us live in a very busy hustle, bustle state of being. Telling you to relax and quiet your mind is like asking you to speak in a foreign language you haven’t heard before. Fortunately, there are many ways to overcome this state of being that we have gotten used to and become excellent meditators in a very short time.
Let’s work with the active meditation. The really great thing about this technique is that passive meditation will naturally occur as you master the art of active meditation. That means you get to participate in your meditation and not focus on quieting that very active mind of yours.
There is a secret to making this simple, easy and effective! Start by preparing for meditation.
- Get Comfortable. We don’t suggesting lying down to meditate as your body is programmed to go to sleep when you lay down. Begin breathing deeply.
- If your back hurts, move into a position that supports it, otherwise all you will be thinking of is how uncomfortable your body is.
- Say a short prayer of intention. Intention is very important in meditation, it lets your body and mind know what it is you want to achieve. Example: Surround yourself in a bubble or a cocoon of white light, then say out loud or softly to yourself—“my desire and intent is to relax and allow my body to let go and move into a state of relaxed beingness.” Keep it simple, add or take away whatever you are most comfortable with saying.
The Golden Key to Meditation!!
BREATHING
Of course you know that breathing is very important to anything you do, but without the right amount of oxygen in your brain you can try all day to relax and meditate and you won’t get the benefits you are looking for. Meditation requires an altered state of mind. Your brain can’t go there without the right amount of oxygen. Oxygen slows down brain wave activity and magically makes it easy to quiet your mind and relax. Before you know it you are having a ‘meditative experience’.
Here are two simple breathing techniques that will move
you into an altered state within a minute or two. You
don’t have to focus on quieting your mind because it will
naturally happen. Your body will be busy with the
breathing and your mind will quietly follow.
Start by finding a comfortable position. Good posture is
important because you need to breath from your
diaphragm (all the way down to you belly). Sit with your
back erect, loosen any tight clothing or belts, and most
importantly, make sure that your body is comfortable.
Technique #1
1. Now that you are comfortable, take a deep breath through your nose and bring it all the way down to your diaphragm. Hold that breath for a count of 4 and then release it through your nose and let it go. Do 2 or 3 repetitions. These are warm up breaths.
2. When you’re ready, take another deep breath through your nose, hold for a few moments, and this time you are going to purse your lips closely together and release that breath through your mouth creating back pressure and resistance as you do so. Kind of like blowing up a very difficult balloon, you should get big cheeks and you should feel like you have to force that breath out. Try forcing your lips together just a little bit more. You will immediately feel a rush or a little light headed. That is because you just forced oxygen into your system and flooded the brain with it.
3. Do 3-4 more of this of breath. In deeply, then out in a very controlled resistant way. Don’t be afraid to practice this technique. It may sound strange when you do it, but you will definitely feel much better.
4. Notice how your body and mind feel after this technique.
5. Don’t over do it or do it for extended periods of time or you may feel faint or dizzy.
Technique #2
1. Take a deep breath, just like in technique #1 only this time you are going to release this breath as slowly as you can through your nose. Pretend you have a feather in front of your nose--you are releasing the breath so slowly that you don’t even see it move.
2. You may have to practice this technique as it may feel uncomfortable if you aren’t used to deep controlled breathing.
Do both of these techniques 3-6 times and you will notice you feel much different. The first thing you will notice is that you didn’t think of anything else while you were focused on your breathing. Your mind may feel much calmer, quieter and relaxed. Notice how your body feels as well. Pay attention to tight and worried muscles and see if they have relaxed a bit. Maybe a pain or your headache has gone away.
All of this was accomplished through something as simple as oxygen. It is why you will always see deep breathing as a part of meditation. At this point you may feel like you can stay in that state for some minutes and enjoy the feeling you get from it. Continue to practice controlling your breathing techniques and you will continue to increase you meditation abilities.
Guided Meditation
Guided Meditation takes 'keeping your mind busy' one step further. This is a form of active meditation where you utilize creative visualization via a 'story'. A moderator, either in a meditation class, or on a CD will lead you through the meditation. Most meditations will start with deep breathing techniques allowing you to alter your brain waves. Once this is accomplished you will be lead through a very visual experience on any number of different subjects. You may be asked to surround your self with light and work with that light to relax. You may be asked to visualize a beautiful meadow where you will be lead through a task. There are an endless number of Guided Meditation CD's available.
Special Offer from Creative Living Institute
Creative Living Institute is pleased to offer several limited time
Meditation CD specials:
Offer #1: Meditation Made Easy + your choice of 1 Guided
Meditation CD from Creative Living Institute for $19.95
Offer #2: Meditation Made Easy + all 3 Guided Meditation CDs
from Creative Living Institute for $39.95
Offer #3: For a limited time each of Creative Living Institutes Guided Meditation CD's can be purchased for $3.00 off the suggested retail price.
Journey to Wild Divine Biofeedback Software
The Journey to Wild Divine is an "inner-active" computer journey that integrates the power of the spiritual quest with an innovative biofeedback interface and high-end multimedia production. The result is an unparalleled and fulfilling interactive experience. On your Journey to Wild Divine, you’ll take an adventure of both mind and body, made possible by technology, both ancient and digital that carries out your quest for transformation. You’ll enjoy hours of imaginative entertainment and learn techniques for improving your mind/body mastery. The spiritual power of this mythical journey is unlike anything you’ve ever seen on your home computer. More Details. . .
Hemi-Sync®
Hemi-Sync® is a patented process that helps you safely alter your brainwaves with multi-layered patterns of sound frequencies. When you hear these through stereo headphones or speakers, your brain responds by producing a third sound (called a binaural beat) that encourages the desired brainwave activity.
Hemi-Sync® can help you experience enhanced mental,
physical, and emotional states, by combining verbal
guidance, music, pink sound and/or other audio effects
with the binaural beats.
Metamusic® is more than music. From soul-stirring New
Age to the timeless popularity of classical, Metamusic®
combines delightful musical selections with renowned
Hemi-Sync® sound technologies to entertain and benefit
the listener.
