Take A Breath ...You are still alive.

There is a breath meditation that takes the time to really fall in love with your breath with your life, with your moment. It is the BREATH MEDITATION.

The breath and the body are interconnected, as is seen from the fact that the breath is calm when the body is calm, and agitated or labored when the body is agitated or labored. The heavy exhalation made when feeling exhausted and the enthusiastic inhalation made when feeling energized or exhilarated establish the same fact.

The breath and the emotions are interconnected, as is seen from the fact that the breath is calm when the emotions are calm, and agitated and labored when the emotions are agitated or out of control. Our drawing of a quick breath when we are surprised, shocked, or fearful, and the forceful exhalation done when angry or annoyed demonstrate this.

The breath and the mind are interconnected, as is seen from the fact that the breath is calm when the mind is calm, and agitated, irregular, and labored when the mind is agitated or disturbed in any way. Our holding of the breath when attempting intense concentration also shows this.

Breath, which exists on all planes of manifestation, is the connecting link between matter and energy on the one hand and consciousness and mind on the other. By sitting with closed eyes and letting the mind become ease fully absorbed in observing and experiencing the movements of the breath we enter into the consciousness from which it arises–the eternal Witness Consciousness.

font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The practice of Breath Meditation

1) Sit upright, comfortable and relaxed, with your hands on your knees or thighs, palms up or palms down or resting, one on the other, in your lap.

2) Turn your eyes slightly downward and close them gently. This removes visual distractions and reduces your brain-wave activity by about seventy-five percent, thus helping to calm the mind.

3) Your mouth should be closed so all breathing is done through the nose. This, too, aids in quieting the mind. Though your mouth is closed, the jaw muscles should be relaxed so the upper and lower teeth are not clenched or touching one another, but parted.

4) Inhale and exhale slowly and deeply three or four times, feeling the inhaling and exhaling breath moving in and out through your nostrils.

5) Now breathe naturally and ease fully, keeping your awareness on the tip of your nose, feeling the breath as it flows in and out of your nostrils. (Some people become more aware of the half-inch or so at the end of the nose, others the very end of the nose, and others remain more aware of the nostrils. Whichever happens naturally is the best for you. So whenever this book says “nosetip” it applies equally to these three areas.) Do not follow the breath in and out of your body, but just be aware of the breath movement sensation at the tip of your nose.

6) Keeping your awareness on the tip of your nose, breathe naturally and calmly, ease fully observing the sensation of the breath moving there throughout all your inhalations and exhalations. This enables you to enter effortlessly into the Witness Consciousness that is your true nature.

7) Do this for the rest of the meditation, letting your awareness rest gently on the breath at the nose tip and feeling the sensations of the breath moving there. After a while it may feel as though the breath is flowing in and out the tip of your nose more than the actual nostrils, or you may not feel the nose at all, but just the breath moving at the point in front of your face where the nose is located. That is perfectly all right, but the focus of your attention should be only at that point–not somewhere else either outside or inside the body.

8) Let the breath be as it will. If the breath is naturally long, let it be so. If it is short, let it be so. If the inhalations and exhalations are of unequal length, that is just fine. Let the breath be natural and unforced, and just observe and experience it.

In time your breath will become more subtle and refined, and slow down. Sometimes your breath can become so light that it almost seems as though you are not breathing at all. At such times you may perceive that your inhaling and exhaling are more like a magnetic pull or flow in and out instead of actual breath movements. This occurs as the subtle life force (prana) that produces the breath switches back and forth in polarity from positive to negative. It is also normal for your breath awareness to move back and forth from more objective to more subtle and back to more objective.

Sometimes the subtle breath is silent, but at other times you will inwardly “hear” the breath making sounds as it moves in and out. These will not be actual physical sounds, but very subtle mental sounds. They may be like the sounds made by forceful or heavy inhalation and exhalation–except softer–or they may be quite different. Whatever they may be, just be calmly aware of them while staying centered on the nose tip and breath.

The breath is a kind of barometer of the subtle energies of body and mind. Sometimes it is very smooth, light and easeful, and at other times it feels heavy, even constricted, or clogged, sticky, ragged, uneven, and generally uncomfortable and somehow feels “not right.” When this occurs, do not try to interfere with it or “make it better.” Rather, just relax and be calmly aware and let it be as it is. If you do this, the problem in the subtle energy levels which the breath is reflecting will correct itself and the breath will become easy and pleasant.

9) In Breath Meditation we only focus our awareness on the breath at the nose tip/nostrils, and not on any other point of the body such as the “third eye.” However, as you meditate you may become aware of one or more areas of your body at different times. This is all right when it comes and goes spontaneously, but keep centered on your nose tip and your breath.

10) Thoughts, impressions, memories, inner sensations, and suchlike may also arise during meditation. Be calmly aware of all these things in a detached and objective manner. Let them come and go as they will, but keep your attention centered on the tip of the nose and your breath moving there. Be indifferent to any inner or outer phenomena. Breath Meditation produces peace, awareness and quiet joy in your mind as well as soothing radiations of energy in the physical and subtle bodies. Be calmly aware of all these things in a detached and objective manner–they are part of the transforming effect of meditation, and are perfectly all right–but keep your attention centered in your breath. Even though something feels very right or good when it occurs, it should not be forced or hung on to. The sum and substance of it all is this: It is not the experience we are after, but the effect.

11) If you find yourself getting restless, distracted, fuzzy, anxious or tense in any degree, just inhale and exhale slowly and deeply a few times, feeling the inhaling and exhaling breath moving in and out through your nostrils, at the same time feeling that you are releasing and breathing out all tensions. Then resume meditating as before. Relaxation is the key to successful meditation practice.

12) Keep in mind that Breath Meditation basically consists of being aware in a relaxed and easeful manner of your breath as it moves in and out at the tip of your nose. That is all!

At the end of your meditation time, keep on being calmly aware of your breath moving in and out of your nose tip as you go about your various activities. In this way you can maintain the calm and clear state of meditation.

The Breathe is the first action in life. The Breath is the last action in life. So every breath in-between remember you are still ALIVE........Pause and smell the roses.

Warrior Spirit Sunday....To all my sisters.

Tis a journey in every moment in every breathe, remember to honor all of it and everything in-between.

Meditation For the Sisters.

We all go through times of despair, and being out of balance. Life is supposed to be that way. What experiences would one truly get if the road of life was straight, no bumps, always smooth and never a up or down twist or turn? Life just isn't meant to be that way.

 The truth is, we are on a road that changes constantly, it never repeats the same way twice. So how does one maintain balance when the surface is constantly moving? There is the first lesson. Everything and everyone is constantly moving everything is in flux. Things come together and fall apart and then they come together again and fall apart. It is constant and every lasting in this time and place. This what being a soul in a meat skeleton is all about. The experiences that we get to participate in all the craziness and absurdity all the love and joy bliss and peace these are all abundant and it is us who must continue to purge and plow through it all with the best attitude we possibly can muster.

How does one have a good attitude? It starts from the inside. Meditation allows us to dive deep within to find the strength the power and the infinite love that surrounds us every moment of our lives. It provides solutions to the internal and the direct result of that is solutions then become available for the external. The true eternal light that resides in all of us requires us to our part, to stay connected to the divine for that is salvation.  No matter what is going on in one's life, there is a meditation for that purpose, just as there are plants for every ailment and light in every dark corner.

Meditation is the key to understanding and loving oneself through it all no matter what. It is about seeing what you are truly made of and also will guide you to the a path of purpose and passion. We are never broken this is what meditation tells us. We simply need a little mending now and then. Meditation brings forth all the pieces that make one unique and just like a patchwork quilt all the pieces will fit together in a natural order and process go with it, flow with the energy and see what beautiful pieces of YOU come forth. Mediation is the road map we are given to navigate this space we occupy for this lifetime the next be something different. Meditation the calming of the mind, and body and spirit, it aligns all three to be in perfect harmony with the cosmos after all that is where we all came from. The line we are all made of stardust is beautiful but true. Meditation does that it allows one to see truth as beautiful that includes the inner workings of oneself.  Meditation creates a new outlook a new path and in that one's attitude is adjusted just by a few simple moments of being still.

Stillness is the key to quietness of heart. Meditation leads the way to this occurrence. To be still and just breathe is a automatic gear for attitude to change like having a car in neutral and then all of sudden it reeves up and you know you can go anywhere and do anything. Mediation brings one closer to that which is and that which is not, and in some cases that which might be. Meditation allows you to manifest everything you need from the highest source by the way that source is in US not out of us. It builds from the inside and leaks out to the outside. The balance in mediation is the Yin and Yang of life. One is Yang most days operating in the big big world, Yin is the moments you stop and breathe and connect to source. Meditation is it's name.

Over the next few days meditations will be posted on a variety of subjects. The invitation stands to try one or try them all, and of course feel free to share meditations that have successful worked. Take a moment and drift away, sit, breathe, check the attitudes and then meditate  it all away. Seek balance in all things and meditation is the first tool one will use and it will be the best tool one will have to walk this path of human existence.

Full Moon..Feminine Power To It's Height.

We have said goodbye to January and I welcome the Imbolc

 time of February. It is still a time of hibernation but with a hint of spring soon arriving. Our little groundhog shadow spoke of six more weeks of winter. In this season I have experienced a huge transitional life stage and one of those that come out of nowhere kind of season. I mention this only because as this new time with a full moon on the rise, I remembered the beginning of this was also at a time of the full moon cycle.

Feminine energy the goddess divine, the power of the tides, the moon, the daughter of Mother Earth, each of us, burning, rising, burning and rising again and again leaving us to know that we truly are of spiritual wonder and magic. We are the creatures that bear life just as the essence of this universal creation. We nurture and balance out the Masculine side of our opposite and loving partner. We are of genuine grace and senses above and beyond the basic day to day realities. We born of water, and our bodies rock the cycles of waves and hurl with pain as the hurricanes, and we lay calm as the stillest body of water. We were born of this magic and celestial wonder.

On this Full Moon, let us all take a moment as gaze our eyes onto Her delight, let us think of a sister or sisters near or far, at hand or risen out this world. May we see the faces of the Feminine divine and bow our heads to show grace and to our knee to honor the SHE in each of us. Breathe in all the glory and light for this shall help guides when we are one step shy of complete darkness. Each breath taken is a ray of divine light that ignites as it enters us. As we exhale in her bounty of light, let the breath taken be freeing to all our souls across the universe, and may all those that are burning, show us the way, and all those that rising carry us along.

Peace love and light to all my sisters, all my feminine divine souls, all those that carry this energy more than masculine. A burden sometimes but a gift indeed.