Balance The Waves

Hello Everyone, I hope your doing good today. Don't our lives tend to ebb and flow. Moments, days, or even a couple of weeks at a time can challenge us to keep a sense of stability, emotional well being. Recently on World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, they had a segment on the benefits of meditation. Doctors are now able to see from a medical standpoint the benefits of meditation. Even if it is just a few minutes a day, sitting in your chair, or a full practice, when your feeling out of sorts, close your eyes and say these simple loving kindness meditation practices to yourself, or chose whatever words you want to help restore you to a better place of being. In the long run, a little meditation will do you a lot of good.
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Love ya,
Janet :)



Balance The Waves
Finding balance may at times feel like a struggle. Life is filled with extremes, some painful and others pleasurable. You might be grieving over the death of your beloved grandmother-and a few days later be surrounded by family and friends as you celebrate your birthday. How can we hold these two extremes without shutting down? The Buddha said the greatest happiness is to know peace that is unchanged by changing conditions. With this inner stability you can ride the waves of contrasting emotions and experiences without losing your balance. The next time you're overwhelmed by the contrast of joy and pain in your life, simply say these phrases to yourself:

"May I ride the waves of pleasure and pain with ease"
"May I be peaceful and at ease"

It's possible to experience happiness in the midst of pain and sorrow. It's possible to be happy and sad at the same time. This is part of the balance of life, and practicing acceptance of this pleasure and pain dynamic helps us let go of our need to control our experiences. Accepting this duality is the birthplace of balance.

Self Accecptance

Hi Everyone, I hope you are doing well. I am doing good, I think this meditation is a critical step on the road to self improvement and spirital growth. I have sturggled with this, although I find as I get older I have become more forgiving towards myself and accepting of my faults. I wake up everyday teachable and hope to stay that way. Weather you take time each day to fully meditate, which would be considered formal meditation or you simply speak these words to yourself informally to change the old tapes in your head, the next time you feel unhappy with yourself for one of your shortcomings that leads you to feel inferior to others and may lead to isolation and a feeling of being seperate from the world, relax take a few breaths and focus on what aspect of yourself you have trouble accepting. Maybe you have trouble making decisions, or you keep making excuses not to exercise! When you bring your shortcomings to mind, try to surround those thoughts with a feeling of loving kindness. You should soon begin to feel the warmth of loving kindness melt your feelings of aversion and dislike, as you begin to accept these parts of yourself. Simply say, "May I accept this part of myself", "May I love myself just as I am." Eventually what you thought was so unacceptable about yourself will turn into more self love and a better state of self worth.
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Love ya,
Janet :)

Three Paths Of Letting Go

Hello, How are you today, Good I hope. I decided to get back to some of the Loving Kindness meditations I use to share. I just came across this overview of LK meditation and I thought it is a good way to reintroduce the meditation. We do have the power to change our patterns of thinking, and feeling towards ourselves and others around us. If you find yourself at a point in your life that your tired of carrying the baggage of the past, tired of feeling anger and judgement towards others around you and yourself, try these LK meditations, even informally, by just simply saying the simple words and doing the practices for yourself. From my own experience, I can honestly say they have helped me to let go of a lot, with more and more ease. Most of all I have learned that it is so true, that "we are as happy as we make our minds up to be". Nothing or no one can do it for us, but us!
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Love ya,
Janet :)

Three Paths Of Letting Go



Forgiveness has great power. In this meditation you will ask for forgiveness from those you have harmed; you'll forgive those who've harmed you, and last but not least, you'll learn to forgive yourself. Either formally (full meditation pose and breathing) or informally by simply closing your eyes and saying to yourself "To those I have harmed, knowingly or not, I ask for your forgiveness". Now think of someone who has harmed or hurt you, don't be surprised if you find it hard to feel an immediate sense of of love or even kindness for this person. You are setting your intention and having faith that you are capable of forgiving this person. It may not happen right away, but in time possibly. Use the phrase as you did above, but simply change some of the words to "For any harm that you have caused me, knowingly or not, I forgive you" Then think of yourself, how you have not been true to yourself, hurt yourself, and or not lived up to your own expectations (don't a lot of us need this one!) and simply picture yourself, as you did above to others, and say "May I forgive myself". It may sound too simple or dumb to some people but words really do have power, and if you never work on forgiveness, you will never achieve a life full of loving and kindness and who really wants that?? Not me :)

An Overview of Loving-kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness meditation can be brought in to support the practice of 'bare attention' to help keep the mind open and sweet. It provides the essential balance to support your insight meditation practice.

It is a fact of life that many people are troubled by difficult emotional states in the pressured societies we live in, but do little in terms of developing skills to deal with them. Yet even when the mind goes sour it is within most people's capacity to arouse positive feelings to sweeten it. Loving-kindness is a meditation practice taught by the Buddha to develop the mental habit of selfless or altruistic love. In the Dhammapada can be found the saying: "Hatred cannot coexist with loving-kindness, and dissipates if supplanted with thoughts based on loving-kindness."

Loving-kindness is a meditation practice, which brings about positive attitudinal changes as it systematically develops the quality of 'loving-acceptance'. It acts, as it were, as a form of self-psychotherapy, a way of healing the troubled mind to free it from its pain and confusion. Of all Buddhist meditations, loving-kindness has the immediate benefit of sweetening and changing old habituated negative patterns of mind.

To put it into its context, Loving-kindness is the first of a series of meditations that produce four qualities of love: Friendliness (metta), Compassion (karuna), Appreciative Joy (mudita) and Equanimity (upekkha). The quality of 'friendliness' is expressed as warmth that reaches out and embraces others. When loving-kindness practice matures it naturally overflows into compassion, as one empathises with other people's difficulties; on the other hand one needs to be wary of pity, as its near enemy, as it merely mimics the quality of concern without empathy. The positive expression of empathy is an appreciation of other people's good qualities or good fortune, or appreciative joy, rather than feelings of jealousy towards them. This series of meditations comes to maturity as 'on-looking equanimity'. This 'engaged equanimity' must be cultivated within the context of this series of meditations, or there is a risk of it manifesting as its near enemy, indifference or aloofness. So, ultimately you remain kindly disposed and caring toward everybody with an equal spread of loving feelings and acceptance in all situations and relationships.

How to do it . . .

The practice always begins with developing a loving acceptance of yourself. If resistance is experienced then it indicates that feelings of unworthiness are present. No matter, this means there is work to be done, as the practice itself is designed to overcome any feelings of self-doubt or negativity. Then you are ready to systematically develop loving-kindness towards others.

Four Types of Persons to develop loving-kindness towards:

• a respected, beloved person;
• a dearly beloved - which could be a close family member or friend;
• a neutral person - somebody you know, but have no special feelings towards,
• a hostile person - someone you are currently having difficulty with.

Starting with yourself, then systematically sending loving-kindness from person to person in the above order will have the effect of breaking down the barriers between the four types of people and yourself. This will have the effect of breaking down the divisions within your own mind, the source of much of the conflict we experience.

Ways of arousing feelings of loving-kindness:

1. Visualisation - Bring up a mental picture. See yourself or the person the feeling is directed at smiling back at you or just being joyous.

1. By reflection - Reflect on the positive qualities of a person and the acts of kindness they have done. And to yourself, making an affirmation, a positive statement about yourself, using your own words.

3. Auditory - This is the simplest way but probably the most effective. Repeat an internalized mantra or phrase such as 'loving-kindness'.

The visualisations, reflections and the repetition of loving-kindness are devices to help you arouse positive feelings of loving-kindness. You can use all of them or one that works best for you.

There are as many different ways of doing it as there are levels of intensity in the practice. This introduction is intended to help you familiarize yourself with the basic technique, so that you can become established in the practice before going on, if you wish, to the deeper, systematic practice - to the level of meditative absorption.

The Book I use and recommend

Spiritual Consciousness

Hi Everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I was searching the Internet for the principles of Kabbalah for beginners to share with all of you as I said I would in a previous post. There is so much to it that it may take me some time to simplify it for you and for myself. I have one book on it, but of course I can't find it now!! As I searched I came across this article. I can't even explain in words how happy I was to find this. This is exactly what I am working on in my life right now. And as it mentions in the article, practicing Loving Kindness Meditations is the gateway to higher levels of consciousness, which I have been practicing and sharing with all of you for about two years now. This awareness is key for any of us who feel that there is something missing in our lives, you have not attained the happiness you have always wished for. Key if you are like me and find yourself reexamining your life to understand why you kept repeating certain behaviors that only lead to pain and despair for yourself and others around you. Today I have reached the 4 month mark in my recovery and I feel better each and every day. My mind is clearing more and more, and I am reaching higher levels of spirituality by truly walking the walk. It hasn't come easy, as you can tell by reading my posts these past couple of months. Each time as I am working through the pain, by feeling it, crying it out, letting go of it a little bit I am discovering a new sense of self. It is still a work in progress, but I couldn't be more grateful that I am here today to be doing the work. Personally I feel I am between a level 5 and 6. Where do you feel you are at? I hope this helps all of you who are searching for that higher level of Spirituality in your lives.
Thank you for visiting my blog,
Love ya,
Janet :)



Spiritual Consciousness

You don't have to be a missionary to have a mission

In my mind, the true meaning of the word "missionary" is someone whose mission in life is to do good, someone who is determined to make the world a better place. Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875 ~ 1965) is an example of a true missionary. His mission wasn't to convert, but to heal, and his purpose wasn't to teach doctrine, but to teach love.

We can learn a lot from him. Our challenge is to let go of the person we are today and become the person we were meant to be. We don't have to go to Africa to change the world, we can do it right where we are. And the best way of doing that is by changing ourselves.

How should we change ourselves? We can begin by understanding the eight levels of spiritual awareness. Once we understand them, we can check where we are, and work on raising ourselves to the next level. The higher we climb, the greater our impact on the world. Now, let's take a look at the eight levels (nine if you count Level Zero).

LEVEL ZERO: People at this (low) level care only about themselves. Completely selfish, they are not concerned about the consequences of their actions. They do whatever they want, and if others get hurt, so be it.

LEVEL 1: People at this level are nearly as bad as those in Level 1. But the difference is instead of being INDIFFERENT they are THOUGHTLESS. It's not that they don't CARE, but that they don't THINK about their actions. But they are guilty of abrogating their responsibility to consider the consequences of their actions.

LEVEL 2: At this level people are beginning to experience a spiritual awakening, for after doing something wrong, they later regret it. Yet, despite their regret, they do nothing to make up for the harm they have done.

LEVEL 3: This level is a giant step forward, for after misbehaving, they not only later regret what they have done, but also later apologize or try to make up for their misconduct.

LEVEL 4: At this level, the gaps between misconduct, regret, and apology diminish, for IMMEDIATELY AFTER doing something wrong, the perpetrator regrets it and apologizes or makes restitution.

LEVEL 5: At this level, people are still tempted to say or do something nasty, but as soon as temptation arises, they STOP and THINK. They make the conscious choice not to hurt others. Therefore, there is no need to apologize.

LEVEL 6: At this high level, there is virtually no temptation, for the people at this level see good in all. They love life and are happy with the world.

LEVEL 7: Although they love life and are happy with the world, people at this level also feel the pain that others are experiencing and do whatever they can to lessen the suffering of others.

LEVEL 8: Lessening suffering becomes the only concern for the people at this level. They lead exemplary lives of service. Dr. Albert Schweitzer and Mother Teresa (1910 ~ 1997) are examples. People at this level love all, including those at Level Zero, for like Lao Tzu (6th century BCE), they say, "I find good people good. And I find bad people good when I am good enough."

Most of us are at levels 3 ~ 5. In real life, we occupy different levels with different people. For example, one may be at Level 5 with their spouse, Level 4 with a friend, and Level 3 with a coworker. On reflection, it becomes clear that we have ample room to grow and make a greater contribution to the world. Raising our level of consciousness is not a trivial matter, for as Ram Das says:

"Remember, we are all affecting the world every moment, whether we mean to or not. Our actions and states of mind matter, because we're so deeply interconnected with one another. Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment." ("Ram Das" is the spiritual name of Richard Alpert, Ph.D. The name means "Servant of God" and was given to him by his Indian Guru, Neem Karoli Baba.)

Familiarity with the degrees of spiritual consciousness allows us to find out where we are and to set goals to move upward. As we do so, we will experience at least three benefits. First, we will have fewer and fewer problems with life. This is because focusing on ME instead of WE is the cause of most problems. When we cooperate with others things go smoothly, but when our only concern is our own interest, we create friction.

The second benefit is, we will gain more and more power. After all, people are the source of our power, so the better we get along with others, the greater our power. And the third benefit is, the higher we climb the stairway of spiritual awareness, the greater our happiness, for we will be free from conflict and delighted by life.

The gateway to higher levels of consciousness is your heart. When you open it to others, you also allow the love of the universe to pour in. But how can we learn to open our heart to others? One excellent method is by practicing the easy-to-do and powerful Loving-Kindness meditation. The original name for this meditation is "mettabhavana," which is Pali for "love" or "kindness" (metta) and "cultivation" (bhavana). To learn how to cultivate love and kindness with the Loving-Kindness meditation, please visit: http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/bms/1227

Here's a question posed by Richard Bach, "I gave my life to become the person I am now. Was it worth it?" When you are on your deathbed and ask yourself the same question, what will your answer be? If you practice a life of loving-kindness, your answer will be a resounding YES!

Written by Chuck Gallozzi

Forgive Those Who Trespass Against You

Hi Everyone, I bet this title grabbed your attention LOL! I hope your having a great weekend. I was thinking today about sharing another LK Meditation with all of you. As I picked up the book "The Gift of Loving Kindness Meditation" this page just opened up to me. My Higher Power must truly know me and what I need. Right now in my life I have so much anger and hate towards a few people because of the way they chose to deal with me. I don't like feeling this way, but I feel I was handed a punishment way above and beyond for what my actions were. I was in a blackout for the most part to be honest with all of you, ya about 99 percent of the time, I know it's no excuse, but it is the truth. I would have never done the things I did if I was aware of what I was doing, and I know that because I have not repeated that behavior since I got out of rehab. I have truly never wanted to do anything but love and forgive others that have done wrong by me, so I may receive the same in return. I was raised Catholic, that was instilled in me from a very young age. Of course life does not work out that way for the most part. So this is for all of you too who are working like me to get rid of that hate and anger and move towards forgiveness of others in your life for your own sense of peace inside. I will need to practice this a lot, I know I have a way to go before I get to this place, but at least I'm trying. God knows I have nothing but time to try!!
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Love ya,
Janet :)

Forgive Those Who Trespass Against You

Behind the harmful actions of another person is probably a person in pain, someone whose beauty is eclipsed by inner turmoil. A life story you don't know, for you have never walked in their shoes. You don't know how their life experiences have challanged them. When your in a place of being unable to forgive them try either a formal or informal way of meditation. Simply say to yourself "I just wish others would forgive me for any harm I have caused them, I wish to forgive those who have harmed me" That we may cultivate a kind and loving relationship here in the present." These phrases are meant to arouse the feeling of living-kindness in you. Once the feeling arises, switch from saying the phrase to just simply feeling the loving kindness. If your not in a place yet to fully feel this way towards the ones that harmed you, simply return to the phrases and try again, or try again another day. Progress my friends, not perfection:)

Enlightened

Hi Everyone, Hope all is well with all of you. Today I am reading my books, 365 ways to live the Law of Attraction and The Gift Of Loving Kindness. I truly feel Enlightened when I read and I grow Spiritually. That Spirituality leaves me feeling peace with everything in my life,no matter what the situation is. As Eckhart Tolle say's in his book A New Earth, it is time for a shift in consciousness for our world. I truly agree with him. All over the world we are conditioned to old tapes and ways in our heads to respond to life's situations, and when you really think about it, obviously those responses are the wrong way to go about reacting, otherwise we would not keep finding ourselves with the same ol, same ol issues. I still have to finish reading his book but I found it to be a very good read, I highly recommend you read it if you find yourself looking for a new way to deal with certain issues in your daily life that keep hitting a "brick wall" so to speak. As with any teaching take from it what you need and leave the rest. We all need to find what works for us. Personally I have found that in my recovery working on my spirituality is a better way to maintain my sobriety instead of attending AA meetings. It is a great program and I am in no way shape or form putting it down, I use some of their principles in my daily life, but I just found I would rather focus on getting better as a person than sitting around talking about myself with a label. I still feel torn too between if it really is a disease or just a learned behavior. I don't feel diseased so to speak from Alcohol, I do not crave it since I got out of the habit of daily drinking. They found that to be somewhat of a miracle in AA, so that is why I lean more towards a learned behavior. Sorry I have gotten behind on sharing these practices with you. I hope they do the same for you as they do for me.
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Have a Great Day,
Love ya,
Janet :)




Meet Anger with Love
The goal of loving-kindness meditation is to have a river of compassion withing you that is so deep and so wide that if someone were to pour his hostility into your river of compassion, it would just drown in your waters of kindness. If someone were to throw anger and resentment toward you, you'd be so immersed in compassion that the emotional outburst wouldn't cause a negative reaction in you. The next time someone tries to toss his anger into your waters, simply think to yourself.
"I don't accept your Anger, The Anger still belongs to you"
"I will respond to your Anger with Kindness"
"May the love within me nourish the souls around me"

Laws Of Attraction
#16 The Law Works When There Is A Vacuum
If someone wants to manifest something in his work or life experience, he or she may first have to create the space for it. In other words, tear down, remove, and otherwise clean and clear a space to make it ready to receive the object or create the right climate for getting a new job, raise in pay, loving companion, or new group of friends. The ancient Chinese tradition known as Feng Shui emphasizes the clearing of space and the art of placement to attract the things you desire to have in your life. Clutter impedes or blocks energy flow and when you are trying to bring something good into your life, you certainly don't want to block its arrival. You can use the principles of Feng Shui to enhance your intentional work with the Law of Attraction, especially if you are seeking harmony,peace and prosperity in all areas of life. One of the major maxims of Feng Shui states, "Less is More"

#18 Dare to Join the Dance of Transformation
Like the Hindu God Shiva Nataraja, who dances the universe into creation and destruction, you can change your destiny by destroying patterns of negative thought and replacing them with positive thinking and feeling. Shiva's dance destroys ignorance and awakens the latent divine force of kundalini, the sacred energy that conveys mortal consciousness to a state of enlightenment. Through your powerful intentions and aligned with the Law of Attraction, perhaps you, too will awaken from the dark slumber of unintentionally attracting what you don't want to, instead, drawing into your life what you do want. There is enormous power in every moment of every day to change your patterns of thinking, and thus, the potential future karmic ramifications of your thoughts, words, and deeds.

I found these sayings around the internet, thought I would share them with you as well :)

There comes a point when you have to realize you'll never be good enough for some people. The question is...is that your problem or theirs?

Once we learn to see a person for who they can be, as opposed to who they are, then we truly are connected to who they will be. ~JPMJ

Meanings of Enlightment
# Enlightenment A philosophical movement of the 18th century that emphasized the use of reason to scrutinize previously accepted doctrines and traditions and that brought about many humanitarian reforms.
# Buddhism & Hinduism. A blessed state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains Nirvana.
# Enlightening - uplifting so as to encourage intellectual or moral improvement

Things That Make You Feel Good

Hi Everyone,
Happy Friday!! I am so excited that Tiger is going to be speaking out his ass today! Sorry, he is just sorry he got caught and he needs to get back to golfing for the money. I think I will keep on the movie channel today. I have been hypnotised by the bollywood music. Now I cruise to it, the only problem is I want to start doing the moves, I have to work on that. I have a great boss, she gave me the whole weekend off and today as well and I didn't even ask for it, I need this break after Wednesday's counseling appointment, I posted about it on SNM. This weekend I will be going to the Y and getting my grove on. Lisa who hired me is going to join me too, we get along great, she is a hoot! I wanted to share with any of you who are out there and struggling to quit smoking. I used the patch and I got a e cigarette. It is organic. The combo worked great for me. I have been trying to quit for good since I saw Wendy and Elsie suffer and die from lung cancer. I quit, then I slip up but this time Pete has quit too so I truly feel I will not go back. Plus I feel so much better when I work out and can breathe so much better. I will get rid of the stick eventually too. Yesterday was nice out and between the boys of summer being back and getting to walk Abby around the nook, a beach area close to my house, it helped lift my spirits back up. I wanted to share this loving kindness meditation with you. I hope you all have a great day.
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Take Care,
Janet :)

Things that make you feel good
Cultivating positive emotions can prepare us for the hard times to come. By finding more ways to let happiness in, we strengthen our heart muscle and find that when the tough times come, as they inevitably will, we can deal with them more skillfully. Spend some time thinking of things that truly make you fell happy. Make a mental list or write these activities down. Not only can you experience joy in this moment by thinking of these things, you can also go out and do them! The next time you're down in the dumps or dealing with a particularly challenging situation, you can call on the strength you developed from doing things that make you feel good. So starting today, think of those things that make you happy and tomorrows issues will be all the easier to deal with. Always live, laugh and love and you will send it out to those around you. In even the smallest of smiles you bring joy and happiness to others. What a good thing!

The Mindful Minute

Hi Everyone,
I hope you are doing well, I am doing good. I had a great Christmas with my family. I bought Briana a princess castle pop up tent and we played and laughed in it for most of the day. I wanted to write another loving kindness meditation today and when I went through my book I found this picture of Elsie in her garden with this loving kindness meditation. So I took it as a sign or message that I should share this with you today. What a beautiful garden she had here on earth. I am sure she is still surrounded by a beautiful garden. Thank you for visiting my blog,
Take Care,
Janet :)

The Mindful Minute
The real mindfulness practice is being present in your daily routine and actions. The goal is to cultivate mindfulness in any enviorment. You can learn to artfully create a spacious stillness in your mind, a radiant calm that allows you to be fully present as the world around you shifts and tilts.
As you walk through your day today see if you can repeatedly return to the present moment. While you're working, can you bring your attention to your breath? If your body begins to ache, can you take a moment to stretch and breath? As you're talking to others can you remain aware of your own inner dialogue and quiet it down so you can truly hear the other people?
Start today and commit to twenty four hours, one hour or even a minute of mindfulness. Wherever you are right now, choose to pay attention, on purpose, to the world around you. When your attention begins to wander say to yourself, "May I be calm and at ease." "May I be peaceful" Don't try to fight or change your experience: just stay in the moment and see what comes.
You might be surprised to find that the more you're able to calm your inner chatter, the more your senses and awareness will come alive. You'll be able to see the world as it is, not as you think it should be. Not only will you benefit, but everyone in your life will benefit from your increased awareness and calm presence.

Balance The Waves

Hi Everyone,
I hope you are doing well. I am doing good. Had a great Thanksgiving with all of my family. I hope you did too. This loving kindness meditation is very helpful to me at this point in my life. I often feel I am balancing grief and true happiness. Layers of grief have been peeling which is therapeutic. I find myself lately having those "moments" about my mother in law Elsie. I have not really grieved for her, it was to much too soon after losing my mother. It's as if I blocked her death out completely, just went through the motions. The mind is kind and can only handle what it can to survive. I hope this meditation helps you to balance what you need to in your life.
Thanks for visiting my blog.
Take Care,
Janet :)

Finding balance sometimes may at times seem like a struggle. Life is filled with extremes, some painful, others pleasurable. You may be grieving over the death of your beloved Grandmother-and a few days later you may be surrounded by family and friends celebrating your birthday or a holiday. How can we hold these two extremes without shutting down?
The Budda said the greatest happiness is to know peace that is unchanged by changing conditions. With this inner stability, you can ride the waves of contrasting emotions and experiences without losing your balance.
The next time you're overwhelmed by the contrast of joy and pain in your life, say these phrases to yourself either formally or informally.
"May I ride the waves of pleasure and pain with ease"
"May I be peaceful and at ease"
It's possible to experience happiness in the midst of pain and sorrow. It;s possible to be happy and sad at the same time. This is part of the balance of life and practicing acceptance of this pleasure and pain dynamic helps us let go of our need to control our experiences. Accepting this duality is the birthplace of balance.

Only Boring People Get Bored

Hi Everyone, I hope all is well with you. A teacher once had this to say, "Only boring people get bored". This loving kindness practice will help you if you find yourself in that place of boredom. Using this practice you will increase your sense of Joy, wonder and appreciation of the world. The next time you feel dull, and lifeless, simply say to yourself, "May I increase my appreciation of the world around me," "May I be conscious of the complexity and wonder of the world", "May I be fulfilled and at peace". Hopefully these words will transform your mindset of boredom into a world of wonder. When we pay attention to the little things in our life everything around us can begin to look magical and renewed. I used a facebook quiz today" What is your Spiritual Personality?" and the results were Buddhism which is truly the basis of my beliefs, then it hit me that is why I was drawn to these meditations. So for anyone who is new to these meditations and to those of you who follow these here I decided to share the history of this meditation. Metta is the Pali word for friendship or lovingkindness. It is taught as a meditation that cultivates our natural capacity for an open and loving heart. With its roots in practices said to be taught by the Buddha himself, metta is traditionally offered along with meditations that enrich compassion, joy in the happiness of others and equanimity. These practices lead to the development of concentration, fearlessness, happiness and a greater ability to love. There is no one posture in which you cannot send thoughts of metta. In intensive metta exercises, one radiates loving kindness all the time in whatever position one is in, standing, walking, sitting and if not sleepy lying down.
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Take Care,
Janet :)

Break Old Habits

Hi Everyone,
I hope you are doing well. I am doing good. This is a good loving kindness practice that I personally can appreciate. We all find it hard some days to accept ourselves unconditionally without wanting to change or fix a shortcoming. I often find myself not accepting life on life's terms. The world is just not the way we want it, our bosses, you know what I mean! Our bills, our siblings etc. Most of us are conditioned not react to pain by closing down our hearts. The common response is to react with unkindfullness, aggression and hatred. These eventually as we learn time and time again are nonconstructive and never change anything. Try these loving kindness phrases instead and it will help you to bring up positive feelings and help break old habits. "May I be held in compassion", "May I free from pain and sorrow." "May I be at peace". And to those who challenge you to abandon your heart and turn to anger simply say the the same phrases to them, "May you be held in compassion" along with the other phrases. I know it may take a while to truly break these habits, myself included. Even at 45 yrs of age my self development is like the saying, "Progress, Not Perfection". When I think of that saying in my head it allows me to take a deep breath and start over.
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Take Care,
Janet :)

Balance Your Emotions

Hi Everyone, I hope you are doing well. I am doing good. The world is filled with magic and it is also filled with sadness, with this loving kindness practice you may find a way to cultivate a sense of stability in yourself that allows you to accept sadness and not just cling to joy. Dealing with difficult emotions are hard for all of us and it is easier to focus on joy and happiness. When you do this practice find that good feeling in your heart and try to feel it throughout your body. Then think of a sadness inside you, Don't try to control it or change it. Let both feelings of love and sadness pass through your heart like waves, don't grasp onto one or push the other away. Continue in this way until you feel a calm balance between these feelings. As you go about your day this practice may help us to find balance in the mist of our chaotic, every changing emotions. You may not feel that the first time you practice it, but keep trying and it will come to you.
Thanks for visiting my blog,
Take Care,
Janet :)