Pure Imagination

Healing Meditation Products

2007-12-20T04:39:00.000-08:00

A small selection of Healing Meditation Products that are offered on the Creative Healing Meditation website are now available on the new Products webpage.

Here you can find guided meditations available for download such as the Healer Man Series or home study courses such as the Energy Self-Healing called Unlocking the Ki.

More products - including a Reiki Level 1 Home Study Course - will be added to this page after the New Year.

All the products are designed to create healing effects through one or a combination of the following methods: visualisation, writing or energy healing.

View Creative Healing Meditation Products

Free Motivator Software for Motivation and Manifestation

2007-12-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for motivation, inspiration or help with your goals, you may like to try the Free Motivator Software which is available to download immediately.

How It Works

You write a short list of your current goals and add them to the Motivator.

Then you can set the Motivator to “pop up” on your desktop at regular intervals with one of your goals or affirmations in the form of an Instant Message.

You can set the Motivator to give you a positive messages at a time interval that suits you, such as once every fifteen minutes or once every hour.

There is also a step-by-step video demonstration which shows you how to set up the Motivator Software.

If you work for long hours at a computer, these regular reminders will help to focus you on your goals as you work throughout the day.

These reminders will fuel further ideas for achieving and accomplishing your goals. They can also keep you on track if you are working on a long term project.

Try the Free Motivator Software now...

Free Gifts for Christmas

2007-12-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

You can pick up lots of free gifts when you subscribe to Bradley Thompson's free Self-Development newsletter.

These gifts include:

E-books on:

Overcoming Addictions
Advanced Memory
Holistic Healing Secrets
47 Secret Herbal Remedies
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Manual

Software:

Motivator Software
Mind Mapping Software

Plus free motivational Audio and Video interviews with leading self-development mentors and coaches such as Joe Vitale and Brian Walsh.

And much more.

You can subscribe to the Self Development newsletter or simply find out more information here.

The Feast of All Hallows and Summer's End

2007-10-31T05:14:00.000-07:00

The clocks go back an hour, the evenings are darker and the nights are longer.

In some traditions, the end of October and the end of summer was celebrated as the beginning of the New Year.

It was a time when it's believed that the veil between the natural and the supernatural world is removed and the "dead walk among us".

Samhain (Summer's End) was a Celtic fire festival that was celebrated from 31 October to 2 November.

31 October was their eve of All Hallows (All Saints), Hallowed Evening, shortened to Hallow-e'en.

On 1 November, the Celtic gods and goddesses were honoured.

On 2 November, the spirits and wisdom of their ancestors were honoured.

In Christianity, these days are celebrated as All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

In the Mexican tradition, it is celebrated as the Day of the Dead.

Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness & Creativity by David Lynch

2007-10-24T03:40:00.000-07:00

David Lynch has been a dedicated practitioner of Transcendental Meditation for over 30 years and has created the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. This organisation provides scholarships and resources for teaching children and teenagers the art of Transcendental Meditation.

In his book, Catching the Big Fish, David Lynch talks about how meditation has influenced his creativity and helped him to come up with the unusual ideas, iconic images and concepts that have populated his work throughout his career.

However the book deals more with the connection between meditation and the creative processes than the techniques of meditation itself.

It is a personal look at how meditation has influenced one artist's life.

David Lynch: Kids and Meditation

2007-10-24T03:29:00.000-07:00

David Lynch, the creator of Twin Peaks and the director of the Elephant Man, is launching a campaign in the UK to promote the practice of Transcendental Meditation in schools.

Lynch believes that Transcendental Meditation helps to develop creativity and academic ability as well as improving the emotional well-being, health and stress levels of children.

He has already launched a similar campaign in the United States with approximately 20,000 schoolkids practising the two 20 minute sessions every day.

Read more about Transcendental Meditation here.

Saved by the Bottle

2007-10-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

A man was saved from drowning this week by a 2 litre plastic bottle when he fell of a tanker off the Kamaishi coast on Tuesday night.

He used the bottle to keep afloat for ten hours and was rescued the following morning by a passing fishing boat.

Lucky Number Seven

2007-09-12T08:01:00.000-07:00

Why aren’t there eight days of the week? Why aren’t there nine deadly sins?

Seven is said to be a sacred number in all cultures and traditions.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, there are:

● Seven ages of man
● Seven colours of the rainbow,
● Seven wonders of the ancient world
● Seven gates of hell
● Seven primary chakras
● Seven Christian sacraments
● Seven Sisters (the Pleiades)
● Seven dwarfs

And many other magnificent sevens too numerous to list in this post.

The Hebrew word for Seven comes from the root of a word that means complete.
Ancient Egyptians saw the number 7 as a symbol of Eternal Life.

Seven is also said to symbolise the universe. It represents the Collective Mind and Universal Love. It is associated with feelings and instincts.

It is seen as a symbol of spiritual perfection.

Apparently when asked to think of a number between 1 and 10, most people think of the number 7.

Seven Veils of Mystical Experience

2007-09-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wrote about the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience in connection with the Dance of the Seven Veils.

The Seven Veils of Mystical Experience were also known as the Seven Rays by the Merkabah Mystics who are said to have practised the earliest form of Jewish mysticism.

The Seven Rays are Dreams, Reason, Passion, Bliss, Courage, Compassion, and Knowledge.

Merkabah means the ‘throne or chariot of God’ in Hebrew. The aim of Merkabah Mystics was to see God on his throne. To achieve this goal, they had to pass through the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience also known as the Seven Rays.

They had to give the guardian of each Ray (or Celestial Palace) a password or special talisman in order to continue.

In physical terms, this means they had to fast, chant and pray to induce trance states in order that they could make an ascent and reach a spiritual state where they could see the throne of God.

Each Ray was linked to a planet:

● Dreams (or Imagination) was linked to the Moon.
● Reason was linked to Mercury
● Passion to Venus
● Bliss to the Sun
● Courage to Mars
● Compassion to Jupiter
● Knowledge (or Gnosis) was linked to Saturn

Apparently of the four Merkabah Mystics who tried to travel through the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience, only one of them, Rabbi Akiba succeeded.

Of the other three, it is said that one died, the other became mentally ill and the third became agnostic.

Shades of Icarus.

This wasn’t exactly the ending to the story that I was looking for when I started researching this subject.

Oh well.

Salome and the Seven Veils of Illusion

2007-09-08T02:07:00.000-07:00

It is strange how myths can be transformed into facts. Or how ancient concepts can reemerge disguised in the modern imagination.

Take the story of Salome.

The opera Salome (and the dance of the Seven Veils) is based on the biblical story of the beheading of John the Baptist.

However Herod’s stepdaughter is not referred to by the name Salome in the bible. Nor is there mention of a Dance of the Seven Veils. Nor did the dance exist in Middle Eastern tradition. It appears to have originated in Western imagination.

The famous image of the belly-dancing minx seems to come from the play by Oscar Wilde written in 1894. He also seems to have dreamed up the concept of the Dance of the Seven Veils.

In Salome, the opera by Richard Strauss, the character Salome performs the Dance of the Seven Veils, removing the veils one at a time until she is completely nude.

The idea of the Dance of the Seven Veils seems to be based on the concept of the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience of the Merkabah Mystics, who were forerunners of the medieval Qabalists.

The Seven Veils of Mystical Experience are Dreams, Reason, Passion, Bliss, Courage, Compassion, and Knowledge.

Mandalas and Meditation

2007-08-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Meditation, in its simplest sense, is the art of focusing your mind on one thing.

So there are many creative forms of meditation which don't involve emptying the mind, sitting in a lotus position and counting the breath.

For example, working with mandalas is a form of meditation which can connect you with the unconscious part of your self and evoke relaxation, healing and enhance your spiritual awareness and intuition.

Mandalas are said to originate from Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism.

The word 'mandala' is from the Sanskrit language. It is often translated as 'circle' or 'sacred circle'.

Mandalas are usually in a circular form composed of symmetrical shapes with a deity or a symbol in the centre.

You can meditate with a mandala by contemplating the central which can symbolise your Inner Self. After gazing at the mandala for several minutes, when you close your eyes, your mind's eye will be able to reproduce the mandala. With closed eyes, you can watch the mandala. The colours may change. The patterns may pulsate. You may experience a strong feeling of well-being.

Creating a mandala can also be an act of meditation - whether it be colouring it in, drawing one, painting one, or constructing one out of wood, rice, jewels or sand.

Traditionally, before creating a mandala, Tibetan monks would chant in meditation before creating the outline of the mandala.

Mandalas can also be created or used to purify your environment and create a sacred space.

You can read more about mandalas here: http://www.creative-healing-meditation.com/mandalas.html.

Picture source: http://dailyheadlines.uark.edu/images/mandala.jpg

Try a Creative Approach to Healing

2007-08-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

Looking for a creative approach to healing?
Take a look at my free newsletter, Imagine which includes a guided meditation which sends energy healing to the listener.

You can read the third issue without subscribing by clicking on the link.

So what’s in the latest issue?

Special Offer

Healer Man is a guided audio meditation which combines energy healing, visualisation and the creativity of your own imagination.

You can purchase The Healer Man Meditation at half the usual price.

It is available to download instantly.

Listening to this guided meditation will help to:

● relax your mind and body
● relieve stress and anxiety
● increase your spiritual connection

This issue of the newsletter also includes:

● a short article about the difference between healing and curing

● quotations dedicated to the theme of healing to inspire, motivate and encourage

● a short review of a perennial bestseller which is packed with lots of methods to heal and empower you on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level.

You can also contribute to the next issue of the newsletter by sharing your motivation, meditation and relaxation tips while promoting your own newsletter, blog or website.

If you like Imagine,you can subscribe so that you can receive it automatically next month directly to your e-mail address.

You will then receive monthly meditation and motivation tips or special discount offers on products related to meditation and personal development.

The newsletter is free. And you don’t have to subscribe to read Issue 3.
You also gain access to the Special Offer given to Imagine readers.

Click here to read Imagine now.

An Introduction to Energy Healing

2007-07-19T03:45:00.000-07:00

Feeling stressed?
Can't get enough sleep?
In need of emotional support?
Looking for a spiritual connection?

Energy healing can help with all of the above and with many other symptoms, difficulties and challenges.

Perhaps you don't have time to take an Energy Healing course. Or maybe a weekend workshop or seminar doesn't appeal to you. You would like to heal emotional wounds but have a strong need for privacy.

Maybe you do wish to follow an Energy Healing course but aren't sure if this path is the right choice for you.

One solution is the home study course Unlocking the Ki which is based on the Usui Spiritual Energy Healing Method and which provides an introduction to energy healing.

'Ki' comes from the Japanese word for universal life energy. The course will teach you how to access this energy for your own healing, support and personal development.

This introductory course includes six guided meditations with music and a course manual. The course materials are available to download immediately.

You can follow the course independently at your own pace and there is the option of an online tutor at no extra charge at any point in the course.

Unlocking the Ki gives you the ability to:

Connect with universal energy through simple instructions and powerful but gentle guided meditations
Be attuned to the Universal Energy through MEDITATION so you will be able to access this healing life force for yourself anywhere and anytime
Reinforce and strengthen your connection to the Universal Source of Energy by listening to the meditation recordings and practising the exercises whenever is best for you

This will help you towards relaxation, holistic healing or a deeper connection to your spiritual self.

Buy Unlocking the Ki here.

2007-07-09T05:49:00.000-07:00

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Plan ahead -- It wasn't raining when Noah built the ark.

Author Unknown

Imagine - the Free Ezine

2007-06-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

The second issue of Imagine, the free e-newsletter will be out this week.

Imagine is a newsletter about meditation, inspiration and related topics.

This month's issue contains a great visualisation exercise designed to motivate and focus the mind on achieving goals.

Subscribe here and receive your free copy by e-mail this week.

Thought for the Day

2007-06-24T07:12:00.000-07:00

Mind is the master weaver, both of the interior garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance.

James Allen

Simple Stillness Meditation

2007-06-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

This is one of the meditation tips offered on my Stress Busting E-Course .

It is very simple yet effective and a bit like playing Musical Statues - only without the music.

The object of the exercise is to sit comfortably, close your eyes and to try and keep your body perfectly still.

You don't have to empty your mind. In fact, you can think about whatever you want and let your thoughts go where they like. However you may find that the simple act of sitting motionless may be enough to still your thoughts.

As you concentrate on not moving your body or fidgeting - which some people may find difficult - you may discover that your mind is no longer racing along thinking fast thoughts because your attention is focused on keeping your body still. And often where your body leads, your mind will follow (and the other way round, of course too).

If you find it difficult to keep still, you can practise this exercise for five minutes initially and then gradually lengthen the period that you keep still over the next few days.

If you find the exercise really easy, you can sit completely still for anything from fifteen minutes to half an hour and beyond.

You will find that the act of sitting still will also still your thoughts and centre your being.

You can find similar exercises on the Free 7 Day Stress Busting E-Course.

Thought for the Day

2007-05-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit laughs at what it has found.
Sufi Aphorism

Inspirational Bookstore

2007-05-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Over the next few weeks, I'll be compiling a list of inspirational books and music that have empowered individuals, awakened the imagination and fed the soul.

Check out the list so far in the Creative Mentors Bookstore.

Selling the Impossible

2007-05-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

In the late 90s, Dr Evoy, a Canadian physician developed a specialised investment software product which he knew would be "virtually impossible to sell" and that cost 1000 dollars.

He set himself the challenge to create a website that would be effective at encouraging people to buy the little known product.

In two years, he sold all 1000 copies of his software at $1000 each by developing the ultimate internet marketing techniques.

Now he teaches other people to create something out of nothing through his webhosting service, Sitesell.com

Over the past two weeks, I have been looking at the ingredients of success. So far I've observed that successful people never give up and don't know the meaning of the word impossible.

They also diversify, expand and never stop progressing once they reach a certain platform of success. For example, Dr Evoy teaches emergency medicine at McGill University, created a successful toy design business, taught golf, and coached baseball before eventually becoming one of the top internet gurus who has led many webmasters to success.

For me, I think the true meaning of success is defined by people who enjoy and celebrate their achievements, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem to others.

After all, what is the point of having a billion dollars if you're not enjoying it?

Impossible Dreams

2007-05-14T13:43:00.000-07:00

I read this story a couple months ago on the blog Eric's Tips.

At 20 years old, Ladan Lashkari is a top internet marketing expert with over 20 websites which include newsletter publishing tips and self-improvement. She makes a profitable living from her online businesses in spite of many challenges and obstacles she faces such as not being able to have a credit card or merchant account or travel outside her country.

The ingredients of success in her case appear to be persistence, perseverance and immense positivity in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

In the book, Think and Grow Rich, the author Napoleon Hill said that he once removed the word 'impossible' from a dictionary. According to the article in Eric's Tips, Ladan Lashkari seems to share this philosophy. And in the past few weeks, when studying stories of success, I've discovered that many of the people who've realised great ambitions did not seem to know the meaning of the word 'impossible'.

But there are many people who dream big dreams but are not able to manifest them. So what is the ingredient that separates the fanciful Don Quixote style dreamers from those who actually realise their big ambitions?

I shall endeavour to find out.

Read the inspiring article about Ladan Lashkari.

The 7 Rules of Success

2007-05-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

When striving to turn a big ambition into a reality, it can be helpful and inspiring to read about other people who have already achieved success (and who - most importantly - are HAPPY with what they have achieved).

It can be particularly inspiring to read about all the odds they had to overcome, all the setbacks, obstacles and difficulties they experienced before they attained success - especially if you may be on the verges of giving up.

In the book, The Seven Rules of Success, top Life Coach, Fiona Harrold, explores and interviews people who have achieved great success in diverse areas of life.

She identifies 7 factors which helped these people on their journey to success:

1) Passion about what they are doing
2) Great self-belief
3) Doing more & more
4) Being prepared to take risks
5) Being able to inspire others
6) Perserverance
7) Generosity

The 7 Rules of Success features about 28 success stories and is an inspiring and insightful read.

The Dark Side of Success

2007-05-05T03:36:00.000-07:00

"So, Charlie, do you know what happened to the boy who suddenly got everything he ever wanted?" asked Mr Wonka, ominously in the movie Mr Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder version).
"What?" asked Charlie, a little anxiously.
"He lived happily after," said Mr Wonka.

But what really does happen to people who suddenly get everything they ever wanted?

It is rare in life to hear of people who live "happily ever after" once they have achieved great success. On the contrary, great success is sometimes accompanied by a spectacular downfall.

People tend to equate success with fame and wealth. But so many talented people who have achieved fame and wealth both in the past and in today's society have been depressed or have developed addictions because fame and wealth have not lived up to their expectations or met their needs.

A lot of young people these days say, "I want to be famous" without having any idea what they want to be famous for. And it's quite easy to get famous today in the world of Reality TV. It is even easier to become infamous.

Keira Knightley is considering quitting acting because she finds fame too intrusive.

Britney Spears is recovering from a very public meltdown.

It begs the question: why would anyone want to be successful?

It doesn't only happen to celebrities. You may land the dream job you always thought you wanted. And things go well at first. But after the initial celebration when you settle down into your new life, you think - "What now?" or "There's got to be something more to life than this".

That is why important to know WHY you want to achieve what you want to achieve so that when you get it, you don't think, "Is this it? Why did I want this?"

Once you achieve and manifest a goal, toast your achievement, celebrate, maybe have a rest - and then create another goal. It could be a completely different kind of goal, in another sphere of interest entirely. If you have achieved a financial goal, you may want to create a goal which enables you to help others or your new goal may be to downshift or create a better quality of life.

"Be careful what you wish for" has always been a scary phrase for me. Looking at the purpose of our wishes is a helpful way to avoid meeting the dark side of success.

This month's theme: SUCCESS

2007-05-05T03:22:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of months I have been exploring the themes of perseverance, setting and achieving goals.

This month I will be exploring the theme of SUCCESS and ambition.

What happens after people have manifested their goals? How do they deal with their success?
I also hope to include inspiring stories about people who have achieved great success in spite of emormous obstacles, difficulties and setbacks.

Visit this blog again for more about living with, coping with or embracing success.

Thought for the Day: Success

2007-05-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.
~Author Unknown

Achieving Goals - Personal Success

2007-04-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday on Deal or no Deal, a contestant, Rita, won £18,444. Everyone in the studio was sad for her because she could have gone away with £100,000.

Rita was happy with her eighteen grand because it meant that she could fulfil a long held ambition to travel and visit the grave of the father she had never met because he had been killed during the war when she was a child.

To Rita, the amount of money she got was a success and she was delighted. But everybody else looked upset for her.

This made me realise that success is very personal. One man's hill is another man's mountain. One woman's failure is another woman's victory. It is all relative and individual.

When defining and manifesting our goals, we shouldn't think about what people around us expect of us or whatever everybody else thinks is a good goal to reach.

We should think about what success means to us. In this sense, success can be defined as what would make ME happy.

Achieving Goals - Part Four

2007-04-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

OK, so you’ve listed and clarified your goals, you’ve chosen the main priority for your first focus and you've visualised your ambition coming true. What's next?

Draw up an action plan.
It isn't enough just to send your wishes out into the ether.
You need to plan your vision outlining the steps you need to take to achieve that goal.
This is the logical practical part of journey. Be very detailed, realistic and specific.
And remember that realism doesn't mean pessimism.

Divide your action plan into small manageable steps.
Some goals don't require a great deal of action and some require a lot of implementation.
Each day take at least one step towards achieving your goal.

Create milestones or signposts along your journey to keep you on the right track. Don't be too rigid about keeping to the finer details of your plan. Allow the Universe to do its part and to meet you halfway with synchronicities, coincidental meetings etc.

Have a strong focus but try to go with the flow at the same time. It's a fine balancing act to remain focused but not rigid and to see the big picture as well as the minute details of your future plans.

It is important to know exactly what you want but it is just as vital to know WHY you want it. So while you are creating a plan of action, it's a good time to review the purpose of your goal. Why do you want to achieve this particular ambition? Is it for financial security, happiness, creative fulfilment?

It is always good to keep the Big Picture in mind so that you are open to discovering several routes towards achieving the underlying purpose of your goal.

Read Achieving Goals - Part One

Read Achieving Goals - Part Two

Read Achieving Goals - Part Three

Achieving Goals - Part Three

2007-04-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

You may have heard of Cosmic Ordering, the system created by Barbel Mohr for manifesting your goals.

One of Barbel Mohr's guided meditations instructs the listener to imagine that the cosmos is like the internet and to connect to the cosmos, we should imagine that we are going online.

I have created the following visualisation exercise based on the concept of cosmic ordering and the internet. It is a form of proactive prayer.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Observe your breathing for a couple of minutes and instruct your body and mind to relax.

When you are relaxed:

Imagine that you are at your PC and you are shopping online. But you are not ordering from Amazon. You are ordering from the Universe.

There are different categories in the Universe's Online Store: Career, Property, Relationships, Health and so on.

In each category, you select what you want to order. For example, in the Career section, you may order a new job. In the Property section, you may order a new house. In the Health section, you may order Peace of Mind.

When you click on each item that you want, it goes into your shopping cart.
Finally you go to your Shopping Cart and review your list.
When you are satisfied with your list, see yourself clicking the SUBMIT YOUR ORDER button.

Et voilà.

Read Achieving Goals - Part Two

Read Achieving Goals - Part One

Read Achieving Goals - Part Four

Achieving Goals - Part Two

2007-04-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

The first step to achieving your ambitions is knowing exactly what they are.

The best way of clarifying your goals is to write them all down.

Your main goal may be to get a new job or to travel the world or to write a novel.

However for a truly holistic approach, it is a good idea to create goals for yourself in each of the following categories:

Financial - This covers your job, career aspirations, bills, debts, possessions, property etc.

Health - This covers physical and emotional healing or personal development, leisure and fitness.

Spirituality - (If you are spiritually minded) - For example, you may wish to discover a spiritual path or create your own.

Relationships - This covers your relationships with your family of origin, your partner, your children, your friends etc. including people you want to improve your relationship with, opportunities for creating new relationships and those you wish to eliminate from your life.

Visualisation
Once you have made your lists, you can pick the goal which is the most important to you at this particular moment and imagine in detail how you would feel to have this specific goal fulfilled.

What impact would achieving this goal have on your life?

Which emotions would you experience in the first few moments that your new goal is attained?

The Achieving Goals Series will continue over the next fortnight.

Read Achieving Goals - Part One

New FREE Online Stress Relief Course

2007-04-17T03:47:00.000-07:00

A new 7 day Stress Busting course is now available from my main website.

The course is absolutely free. You need do nothing more than sign up for it on the link below.
You will then receive each day's lesson by e-mail.

The course provides practical relaxation techniques and carefully designed exercises for reducing the symptoms of stress.

Discover creative and healing methods of combatting stress by enroling on the 7 Day Stress Busting E-Course.

To enrol, click on the link, scroll to the bottom of the page and complete and submit the short form:

FREE 7 Day Stress Busting E-Course

Achieving Goals - Part One

2007-04-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

If you are stuck in a rut and need to change an aspect of your life, one way of getting out of the rut is to change your mindset and train your mind to accept a new way of thinking.

Thoughts are made of energy and energy creates events. So it follows that creating positive thoughts and images will in turn manifest positive events.

However positive thinking or visualising your goals are sometimes not enough.

The path to realising your goals must rest on a foundation of self-love and gratitude.

Self-Nurturance

If you have low self-esteem, you may feel undeserving or that the path to your goal is too difficult or that you are not good enough to attain your dream.

You have to believe deep down that you deserve to achieve your ambitions and manifest your goals otherwise your visualisation techniques may take longer to become a reality.

This can be achieved by adopting habits of self-nurturance through simple acts such as taking time out for yourself to do things you enjoy without needing to be perfect at them, meditation, reiki and self-healing techniques.

Gratitude

You have to be grateful for what you've got before you can progress. Sometimes you need to see the lesson or the "gift", or the silver lining of every situation so that you can move on from negative incidents in your life.

The more you say thank you to the Universe, the more you receive in return.

Once the twin tools of self care and gratitude are in place, visualisation techniques can work in a powerful and effective way.

Read Achieving Goals - Part Two

Easter Inspiration

2007-04-08T03:56:00.000-07:00

Easter is the celebration of resurrection and new life.

Spring is the season of rebirth.

This is a great time of year to create new plans and new projects for the next twelve months. It is the perfect time to set new goals and to start putting your plans into action.

The energy at this time of year is much better for creating new resolutions for yourself than in January, when we should really be winding down and resting. In fact, it would be great, if we could celebrate the start of the New Year in Spring instead of in Winter.

But as we can't really alter the calendar, we can alter our mindset. If you have been stuck in a rut, now is a good time to get inspired.

This month I will be looking at the connection between the imagination and achieving your goals. So continue to revisit this blog for tips and techniques on using your imagination to achieve your goals over the next few weeks.

Happy Easter

Window Meditation

2007-04-06T03:13:00.000-07:00

On a day like today with the sun shining brightly through the windows, I thought that this would be a relaxing meditation.

***

Sit in front of a window.

Take a few deep breaths.
As you breathe in, imagine that you are taking the sunlight into your body and that it is a healing light which is entering and rejuvenating all your body's cells.
When any thoughts enter your mind, as you breathe out, imagine that the thoughts are flying out of your head, out of the window and into the light outside.

Repeat this exercise: breathing in the light and breathing out your thoughts (especially any negative ones) for at least five minutes and then as long as you feel comfortable.

Adapting the Window Meditation

It may not always be a beautiful day. But you can still do the exercise with or without the sun. You could also try it at night with the moon.

If it's raining, when you do the breathing out part of the meditation, you can imagine that your negative thoughts are flying out of the window and are being purified by the rain.

Or if it is cloudy, as you breathe out, you can imagine that your stressful thoughts are being carried away on one of the clouds.

Simple Abundance

2007-04-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite teachers came ten years ago in the form of a book by Sarah Ban Breathnach. I was intending to buy it as a Mother's Day present but ended up buying it for myself.

The book was called Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. It is an inspirational book for women. It is all about finding your authentic self. The book is packed with information about creative mentors and teachers. It is full of quotations and meditations, amusing anecdotes and poignant stories. Each two month period is devoted to a particular theme such as gratitude, order, simplicity or joy.

This book can be a great companion to you both throughout the year as you read each day's passage and on any stage of your spiritual journey.

It is a particularly helpful book to have by your side if you are going through a transitional stage in life.

Memoirs and Meditation

2007-03-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-20T04:27:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-15T03:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-11T03:11:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

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

2007-03-06T09:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-03-05T07:09:00.000-08:00

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

2007-03-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

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

2007-03-02T10:59:00.000-08:00

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

War and Psychics

2007-02-23T02:57:00.000-08:00

It has been revealed that in 2002, the Ministry of Defence funded secret tests to see if a group of people could psychically see into remote hidden objects.

At first, the researchers tried to recruit established psychics for the experiments but when all refused they had to use volunteers.

The subjects were asked to identify contents hidden in brown sealed envelopes. 28% of the volunteers made some close guesses. But for the most part, the volunteers did not even come close. One reportedly fell asleep during the testing.

The Ministry of Defence did not disclose their reasons for spending approximately £18,000 on these tests.

Because of the timing and the nature of the experiments, there has been speculation that the defence experts were looking at the possibility of using remote viewing in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden or the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Their study concluded that remote viewing could not be put to great use for the purposes of the nation's defence.

The Happiest Man in the World

2007-02-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist monk, photographer, author, former biologist and translator for the Dalai Lama, has written a new book called Happiness: A Guide To Developing Life's Most Important Skill which contains simple meditation exercises.

Matthieu Ricard is the son of artist Yahne Le Toumelin and philosopher and journalist, Jean-François Revel. He has led a fascinating life and is suitably qualified to write a book about Happiness.

He has been declared the Happiest Man in the World following rigorous clinical tests by neuroscientists at the University of Wisconsin using MRI scanning to monitor his brain activity. (Read the scientific ins and outs of the study and an interview here)

Meditation for Beginners

2007-02-20T03:44:00.000-08:00

When you are starting out with meditation, it can be difficult to settle or 'empty your mind' as you sometimes may be told. Besides our minds are never really empty.

But one simple meditation exercise which can be used to focus your mind is to count your breath. This helps you to notice when your attention has wandered.

Five-Minute Breathing Exercise

Observe yourself as you breathe.
Don't try to breathe any deeper or slower, just observe your natural breathing cycles.
You may notice that your breathing slows down and deepens all by itself without any effort on your part.

Once you have settled into a rhythm, after the next out-breath say 'One' silently to yourself.
Then after the next out-breath say 'Two'.
Keep doing this until you reach up to the number ten.
Then start all over again.

If your mind is really scattered, you may start thinking about other things by the time you get to five or six. You may even momentarily forget that you are doing this exercise.
If this happens, simply go back to the number 'one' and repeat the exercise again.

If you find this exercise easy, you may wish to prolong the technique for ten or fifteen minutes.

Read about some of the Benefits of Meditation

Alice Walker on God

2007-02-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

When you close your eyes and tune into God, what do you see?
I don’t close my eyes. Why would I close my eyes? It’s everywhere. I mean it just is. What is this if it’s not God?

Do you have a preferred word for God?
I like “Mama.”

Alice Walker (author, The Color Purple)

Read the full interview here.

Words on Water

2007-02-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

Meditation and water are wedded for ever.
Herman Melville

Feeling Stressed?

2007-02-14T05:16:00.000-08:00

A survey carried out earlier this month by The Samaritans revealed that Britain was one of the most stressed nations in Europe.

Factors such as long working hours, financial pressures, lack of sleep and emotionally draining family problems contributed to the prevailing feeling of stress in those who were questioned.
Meditation can help with insomnia and reduce general stress levels.

The following links contain simple exercises which may be helpful in combating stress:

Relaxation Technique

Settling the Mind

Breathing

Aromatherapy and Cancer

2007-02-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

Extensive research carried out at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London has shown that aromatherapy sessions can significantly ease anxiety and depression in cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy or other forms of medical treatment.

The study examined the affects of aromatherapy treatments on people who had been experiencing panic attacks, insomnia, anxiety or depression following chemotherapy. These individuals had different types of cancer and were at different stages of the disease.
Selected individuals were monitored over 12 weeks and given a course of weekly aromatherapy treatments.

Although the aromatherapy did not seem to ease the physical side-effects of their cancer treatment, it did alleviate the feelings of stress, panic, anxiety and depression in those who undertook the course of aromatherapy massage sessions.

Read More

UFOs in London

2007-02-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

Eyewitnesses in Islington, North London saw UFOs hovering in the sky at approximately 5.30 pm on 1 February.

The mysterious group of 10 to 15 orange lights were seen moving in silent formation across the Archway skyline stopping traffic and alarming witnesses.

The Islington police informed Contact International UFO Research about the sightings.

Read More

Mind Readers

2007-02-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

In the sci-fi movie, Minority Report, police could read criminal minds and stop crimes from happening before they were committed.

Now a team of neuroscientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany, University College London and Oxford University have developed a powerful technique.

Using high-resolution brain scans to identify patterns of activity in the brain, they are learning which patterns are associated with which particular thoughts, emotions, wishes and ideas.

They believe they are developing the ability to discover people's intentions before they carry them out.

This has huge ethical implications for the future - not only in the area of crime prevention - but for society as a whole.

Snowy Weather

2007-02-09T03:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, snowy weather threw travel services into chaos in London.
"A little bit of snow," moaned one bus passenger. "And everything grinds to a halt."

"Brace yourselves for a wet and windy weekend,"said the DJ on the radio this morning. Presumably he meant wetter and windier than usual.

Yesterday I staggered through the snow.
Today I slithered through the slush.

Anyway here's a slightly more romantic and meditative spin on snowy weather for reflective contemplation:

Snowflakes

Out of the bosom of the Air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent, and soft, and slow
Descends the snow.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Blind Faith

2007-02-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

Speaking at an international seminar entitled '21st Century and Buddhism' in India this week, the Dalai Lama said, "Buddhist faith must come from analytical meditation. Analyse using our intelligence maximum way, throughout that way. Faith should not just be blind faith or without reason."

We don't switch off our brains when we meditate.

Meditation can make us more focused and alert, improve our learning ability and our memory skills and increase our sense of awareness and perception.

In a wider context, we need to apply common sense and judgement when being introduced to new systems of thought.

We don't need to accept fads or gurus blindly and without discernment nor should we reject unusual (to us) ideas with dismissive cynicism.

It is sometimes a challenge to remain open-minded and grounded at the same time.

"Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced, believe not because it is your national belief, believe not because you have been made to believe from your childhood, but reason truth out..." Buddha

Mantras

2007-02-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

Mantra meditations involve the slow repetition of a seed word.

In Hinduism, the seed word or bija is a sound which carries energy and that purifies the mind and body when chanted.

The Sanskrit mantra Om is one of the most famous sounds used for chanting.

By chanting ‘Ommmmmm' as slowly as possible, it is believed that you become one with creation.

The longer you chant, the more energy you accumulate and this in turn creates beneficial and sometimes powerful results.

For another example of a mantra meditation exercise, see the Shalom Meditation.

Eternal Embrace

2007-02-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, archaeologists discovered two buried skeletons from the Neolithic period locked together in an embrace.

The skeletons were found at a dig outside Mantua in Northern Italy, 25 miles south of Verona, the city where Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet was set.

They have been hugging for 5000 - 6000 years.

Words on Water

2007-02-07T03:42:00.000-08:00

Don’t say, don’t say there is no water
to solace the dryness at our hearts.
I have seen
the fountain springing out of the rock wall
and you drinking there.

Denise Levertov

Words on Water

2007-02-06T08:56:00.000-08:00

Here are your waters and your watering place.
Drink and be whole again beyond confusion.

Robert Frost

Positive Vibrations

2007-02-06T03:57:00.000-08:00

At its simplest, meditation can be described as the focus of the mind on one thing.
This focus could be an image, painting or a photograph.

My Positive Vibrations Page contains a photograph of waterfalls which has been infused with universal energy.

When I spend some minutes contemplating the photograph, I sometimes feel a tingling in my head, inner vibrations or a feeling of calm.

The other Monday, I turned up at work expecting to have a relatively peaceful week and was shocked to receive an unexpectedly angry e-mail over a relatively trivial matter. I felt mortified and a bit humiliated.

I decided to spend a few minutes looking at the Positive Vibrations Page to calm myself down. I guess I was too ruffled to feel peaceful tingles or expansive vibrations.

But at least I went from feeling completely mortified to slightly miffed. So it's all good stuff.

Water Meditations

2007-02-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

Water is an innate part of our being. About 60% - 70% of the human body is composed of water.

In some philosophies, water is symbolic of the transitional stages that we pass through in our life cycle, including birth and death.

Water is used as a symbol of the Tao, the great Void, out of which everything emerges and to which everything returns.

Evoking or picturing images of water can bring about cleansing, invigorating and refreshing sensations.

Using one of these visualisations for as little as three to five minutes can have a positive therapeutic effect.

Evoking Peace
Picture yourself walking through a forest. Notice all the different shades of green - the leaves on the trees, the grass and the wild flowers. You walk down a path which leads to a stream. You sit down at the bank and allow your bare feet to dangle in the water. Sometimes you trail your fingers in the water too. You listen to the sound of the stream as it babbles over the pebbles.

Evoking Stillness and Calm
You are rowing across a still lake. You row to the centre of lake then stop and look at the silent white landscape that surrounds you. Watch your reflection in the water. Observe the salmon and trout as they swim by. Notice the gentle ripples in the lake.

Evoking Power
You are standing above two enormous waterfalls. The roar of the water gets louder and louder. Observe the unstoppable power and vastness of the water as it rushes down the landscape.

New Website

2007-02-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

I launched my new meditation website on 12 December 2006.

It will explore meditation techniques for healing, creativity, manifestation and spiritual inspiration.

Creative Healing Meditation

This blog will explore the wider role of imagination and creativity as well as meditation and related topics.