If adding meditation to your life has been something you’ve been meaning to get to for a while now, why not start today?
Whether your meditation is at home, school, work, or any other place you can take 5 minutes for yourself, the consciousness you’ll gain from centering your mind and focusing on nothing but the smoothness of your breath will benefit every aspect of your life.
The Clarity Mind State is a state where one resides completely and unequivocally in the present moment.
Life flows from moment to moment effortlessly and easily.
I’ve been contemplating my eyelids for over 30 years. It’s been a marvelous journey. The simple act of closing my eyes and emptying the mind has been completely life-transforming. While the benefits of meditation are truly astounding, there are certain pitfalls to be aware of.
I used to think way too much. I would continually ask myself questions over and over again and ponder deeply in a confused miasma of circular thinking. I was addicted to it. My wife would tease me, “Be careful — your head might explode!”
The mind is designed to generate thought, but sometimes we get into mental ruts of endless constant analysis where you never solve anything or reach a point of completion.
Automatic parenting strikes again. Within 5 hours I observed 3 incidences of parents running on “automatic” mode without any seeming awareness as to how crucial their words, actions and behavior are to their child. I am not looking for perfection but I do wish to see more and more parents operating from a positive parenting style. This means less use of profanities, less threatening children with spanking and less discouragement. It is parenting from an informed optimistic, encouraging and conscious place.
Such parenting I know is happening. More parents have also been coming into my purview that really are being “positive and firm” in their approach, which is evidenced over and over again as the most effective parenting approach. It only happens through reviewing your automatic parenting style, assessing what works and what doesn’t and then consciously seeking to parent in a fashion that supports your child’s unique development – now this is awakening parental awareness.
I think we think too much. Don’t get me wrong, I think the mind is an amazing tool to help us live and survive in this world, but sometimes it feels like my incredible thinking machine has a life of its own!
When I start thinking, thoughts seem to morph from one thought to another. “I need to mow the lawn” and suddenly the color green flashes before me. Now I’m thinking of “money” which leads to thoughts of retirement. Then I think, “who will care for me?” transforms to, “I wonder what it will be like to die alone?”
As a coach, I’m in the business of helping people find solutions to their lives. I’ve found that it’s not uncommon for clients to know what they don’t want but few know what they do want.
They tell me how unhappy they are in their current jobs or lives but they are unwilling to invest the necessary time to write about their passions, meditate or reflect on exactly what will bring them the fulfilling life they desire.
The other day my innovations coach asked me, “Out of all your varied interests, which bring you the most joy?” I had to stop and think. In fact I pondered on this for several weeks. I wrote extensively in my journal and I meditated about it.
It’s dawn and the world is waking up. Eyes open, still drunk from sleep, we stretch and prepare for the realities of the day. As day follows night, we move in tandem with the cycles of nature.
Birth and death, creation and destruction – these are the cycles of life. These cycles reveal themselves in nature, fashion, economies, civilizations, and in the life and death of a star. These contradictions support and relate to each other, in that one cannot exist without the other.
Knocking down the walls of conditioning and ego opens up new vistas. Your perspective widens. Expansion reveals a deeper intelligence, awake and alive, pulsating with loving energy. I go to this place when I meditate. It’s the Ground of Being, and this is my home.
Remembering the deeper states of awareness in your daily life and allowing it to infuse all you do makes life more joyful and effortless. Your life becomes a meditation. Being able to watch your thoughts as you think them enables you to actively see what does not serve you. In this observation, thoughts that don’t serve you, simply fall away.
Want to work with me?
404-NOW-MIND (404-669-6463)
Skype: kenlad1
