My mind has not been racing or pondering about anything in particular when I go to sleep, but it takes me a long time to fall asleep. It had started to bother me, until I realized one thing that I was not doing consistently…at least as consistently as I used to be. I’ll get back to what that is in a minute.

The mind if a funny thing. Consciously, everything could be fine. But, the subconscious could have all sorts of things that it’s dealing with that you’re not aware of…and most of the time, that’s a good thing. Take, for example, the beating of your heart. It is the subconscious that drives that function and all bodily functions that you’re not consciously in control of.

Imagine if you have to consciously regulate all the bodily functions and let alone add day-to-day tasks in order to live? I’m not sure any of us could handle such a responsibility. I’m very happy that I do not have to worry about that. There are enough things to deal with living as it is.

I saw this quote earlier today from someone on my twitter list and it read:

“All symptoms are important attempts by the body to communicate…They are signals to change.” ~Percival

I can tell you right now that there are probably a lot of things going subconsciously that I’m not yet consciously aware of. But I’m starting to see a glimmer of my mind and body telling that they’d like to communicate with me and that I better pay attention.

Are you experiencing some things in your life that you’re not quite sure about? Are you feeling any physical or emotional stresses that are causing you to worry?

I think these are important questions to consider if you are experiencing some issues that you don’t currently have answers for. By asking questions, the subconscious mind if forced to work on answers on our behalf, without delay. But the thing is, will we be ready to receive the answers to the questions that we receive.

By ready, I mean will we be consciously aware of the synchronicities or “coincidences” that surely will cross our paths.

Back to what I realized I was not doing consistently much of…meditating. Meditation allows you to drop the mind. It’s a concept that hard to explain, but it’s something that you’re never going to forget once you experience it.

So, if you’re dealing with issues in your life that have you unable to sleep like me, start asking questions. Your questions will eventually get answered through people, situations, and events that cross your path. Ensure that you’re conscious enough and “awake” for the answers. Also, incorporate meditation to your life.

Let me know if that approach does the trick for you.

Namaste!

The reason I ask is because I’m looking to see if people may be experiencing the same thing that I have. I spend a lot of time in the bookstore reading or doing some internet marketing training, all in silence, not saying much to anyone else there. I have found solace in my aloneness even though I have people around me who are in conversation.

In those moments, I’m not thinking of anything, so mind my is just synthesizing what I’m seeing. At that moment, there is no ego, no personality, except peace. That peace is love. I find comfort in that space where I just am.

I believe that to be our true nature. But we’re so afraid of it because we’ve always been around people starting from birth. We’ve not been able to stand alone or have not made it a bother to stand alone. Most are unable to be alone and mistake being alone as loneliness. Why are most afraid to be by themselves? There is a big difference between being lonely and being alone. Unless you have spent time with yourself and gotten to know yourself, you’ll think they are one and the same. They are not!

I have learned so much in my aloneness. The peace I feel is total and the knowing that I talked about in my previous post is absolute. One can most feel what I’m talking about by experiencing it through meditation. By just sitting and doing nothing, zazen, you can experience the peacefulness, this aloneness, that is the real you.

Namaste!

I want to first define what meditation is and then provide one simple method to help you.

This is taken from one of my favorite teachers, Osho.

Meditation, in its essence, is the art of being aware, aware of what is going on inside you and around you.

I have been meditating, not religiously mind you, for about five years. I have been able to experience the most wonderful things. Some of these things some people would call weird, supernatural, or whatever. But they are experiences that make meditation a very important part of my life and as you take to incorporate it in your life, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Here’s another insight into meditation that will help clarify your thinking on the subject, as well as, provide a different perspective from what we’ve been taught.

Most of us have been taught that in order to be successful in life we need to struggle, to fight, to focus, to concentrate. The trouble with this approach is that the more we struggle, the more tense we become. And the more tense we are, the worse we perform. The meditative approach is to understand that in order to be at our best, in order to give each moment our best – and to receive the best from each moment – we need to be as aware as possible. And to be aware we need to be relaxed.

Usually we think that in order to relax, we have to go out. Meditation offers another possibility: to go in to relax.

Can you relate to the above quote? What do you do you relax, destress, or “calm the nerves”? How would you like to get on the path of a peaceful life?

There are many methods that can be used for meditation, only because each individual is different and may require a different method. But, to keep things simple, only one will be covered in this post.

I think this quote is very on point:

Meditation is based on simple understanding: Rather than fighting with darkness, which is impossible anyway, switch on the light. Rather than fighting with ourselves, trying to improve ourselves, trying to live up to others’ ideas of who or what we should be, we can start by simply accepting ourselves as we are now.

This is not to say that you should not work on yourself. But first, you must learn how to just be. Being is being aware, where your center is undisturbed.

So, the method is a simple one. You only have to focus on the breath – with eyes open or closed, it does not matter. Your goal, if you will, is to focus on the breath – the inhalation and exhalation. Once you start, you’ll experience your mind wandering to the different thoughts you have going on in your head. You are not to fight trying to keep thoughts out of your mind. You are to just bring your attention back to your breath.

Thoughts are like the clouds in the sky. The sky is the real you and the clouds are the thoughts. The real you is covered by the clouds. Eventually, however, the clouds do dissipate to reveal what’s behind. Starting out, you will have lots of clouds, but by and by, they will lessen.

I would not recommend doing this for more than 10 minutes the first time you do it. There are some who will get frustrated by the constant barrage of thoughts that come in to disturb their meditation. However, by and by, you will be able to meditate longer and with less thoughts intruding on your focus.

You should have no other goal in mind when you do it other than bringing your focus back to the breath when it wanders. You might want something to happen while doing this and it may be in the back of your mind while meditating. I would recommend against such goals when meditating and to just focus on the breath.

As you can see, this is a very simple method that anyone can do. I look forward to hearing of your experiences of being on the path to awareness.

Namaste!