Memoirs and Meditation

Writing can be a great method of meditation whether it is free, unfocused, stream-of-consciousness writing or it is a reflective piece of writing that is focused on one particular concept such as 'peace' or 'hope'.

Writing about significant episodes in your life can be a meaningful act of reflection.

When you review your life through the written word, it is often surprising to discover how much you have gone through, how much you've achieved and survived, how far you've come and how far you've got to go.

Taking pivotal moments from your life and freezing them like written snapshots just for yourself can open you up to important insights about yourself, your relationship with yourself and your relationships with other people.

Some of us spend so much of our time on a treadmill in an endless repetitive cycle of of work, home, TV, hobbies etc. lost in the everyday details of our lives that we don't get to see the big picture.

Writing about aspects of your past life can highlight where you are on your current journey giving you a new perspective and vision of your future.

Sometimes it is is good to stop, notice and reflect, to pause and evaluate without judgement or criticism, just to observe with an impartial eye what has happened, what is going on and what sort of future you are creating for tomorrow.

Read more about Free Writing or Reflective Writing.

The So-Called "Secrets" of Success

The main "secret" of success is perseverance.

So continuing with this month's theme, here are nine secrets of success whose origins range from traditional sayings to anonymous authors.

When all put together, they read like an inspirational poem:

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. ~Buddhist Saying
Be not afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still. ~Chinese Proverb
Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. ~Robert Schuller

Some people dream of success... while others wake up and work hard at it. ~Author Unknown
All the so-called "secrets of success" will not work unless you do. ~Author Unknown
The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen. ~Sarah Brown
Success is a ladder you cannot climb with your hands in your pockets. ~American Proverb

The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. ~Author Unknown
Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat. ~Ann Landers

Anonymous Voices on Perseverance

Continuing this month's theme, here are three pearls of wisdom on perseverance from 'Authors Unknown':

Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer.
~Author Unknown

When your dreams turn to dust, vacuum.
~Author Unknown

Don't be discouraged. It's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.
~Author Unknown

Health Benefits of Meditation

Here are a couple of articles detailing recent medical research into the health benefits of meditation.

Click to read full article: Meditation Fools The Brain

This article outlines recent research studies carried out by universities in the United States into the health benefits of meditation which include boosting the immune system, improving memory, controlling binge eating (and increasing happiness!)

Click to read full article: Transcendental Meditation and Congestive Heart Failure

This article discusses a study carried out by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine with African American men and women in their sixties. The study demonstrated that Transcendental Meditation significantly improved the quality of life and emotional state of the participants as well as reducing the physical factors that contribute to heart failure.

More about the benefits of transcendental meditation on the Creative Healing Meditation website.

Two Thoughts on Perseverance

Saints are sinners who kept on going.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

***

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Perseverance Wins

This month's theme is Perseverance.

Here is today's thought of the day.

When the world says, "Give up,"

Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

~Author Unknown

Visit this blog again for more reflections on Perseverance for encouragement, inspiration or food for thought.

Words of Wisdom

Here are some imaginative and inspiring speeches, addresses and general words of wisdom for the young and young-at-heart.

Click to read this speech: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."

Click to read this speech: "Pursue joy, not happiness"

Click to read these lyrics: 'Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)'

Meditation for Beginners

Meditation, like any new skill, requires practice.

Just like when learning to play a musical instrument, you may have to practise scales before you can play sonatas, or a dancer has to train at the barre before becoming a ballerina, meditators may have to practise breathing exercises and relaxation techniques before they are able to reach anything resembling a continual state of bliss.

It is much easier to meditate when you are on a yoga holiday or a retreat or sitting on a mountaintop. It's a bit more of a challenge when you live in the middle of a city, have a stressful commute to work or a young family to take care of or both.

Small steps are recommended if you are starting out on a meditation practice. It is better to allot a few minutes a day to centering yourself and then gradually extend the time as it becomes easier.

One day something clicks and everything falls into place. Other days you find it hard to reach the same state of peacefulness again.

Every meditation session is different and brings something new. Even if you don't notice any change at all. Meditation has an accumulative effect on the mind and body. Changes are going on in the background, unconsciously.

If you are used to filling your mind with clutter, decluttering it can sometimes be a shock to the system. So if you have started meditating and are thinking of giving up, keep at it for a bit.

Remember all the benefits of meditation.

Remember there are many different methods of meditation which may involve writing, movement, breathing, drawing, guided imagery, listening to music and much more.

If one method doesn't work for you, try something else. And while you're looking, don't give up.

Stress and Deadlines

If I am really stressed, have lots of things to do and no time to do it in, my breathing becomes shallow, my thoughts are faster, I don't finish one task before I start on the next one and while doing that I remember something that I forgot to do and should have done weeks ago.

Jobs that revolve around meeting deadlines crank up the stress factor - as does drinking lots of coffee.

Living in London is not conducive to deep relaxation. I often myself hurrying to get somewhere even when I'm not in a hurry, hurtled along by the crowd.

One tip to combat stress is to slow all your actions down - no matter how much you have to do and no matter how much you feel is not getting done.

When I consciously make an effort to slow down, concentrate on one task at a time, be in the moment, I achieve much more and get lots more done. My breathing automatically becomes slower, my posture becomes better without thinking about it and I don't feel as if life is just one big deadline.

It is a real challenge to walk when you can run. But sometimes it can be a real stress buster.

Lately I've decided to use the word 'milestone' instead of 'deadline'. It's not exactly a synonym but I find 'reaching a milestone' to be less stress-inducing than 'meeting a deadline'.

Repetition, Rosaries & Relaxation

Praying, as well as being a form of spiritual communication, is also an effective relaxation technique.

Prayer or the repetition of short spiritual phrases that are meaningful to you can be an effective measure when it comes to combating stress according to the director of the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Boston.

The repetition of short phrases or one word can cut into stressful thought patterns and slow them down.

The article notes that "that there is no preventive stress medicine. Stress is part of life."

When we are stressed our blood pressure rises and our heart beats faster.

The repetition of phrases which have a peaceful resonance, engaging in meditation, or listening to gentle music has the effect of slowing down our brain waves, lowering our blood pressure and reducing our stress.

For Catholics, the repetition of rosary prayers, the meditation on the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries, even the action of holding and moving the fingers along the rosary beads are all aids to relaxation and the reduction of stress.

Catholic News Service