Post: #1

I feel like this couldn't have come at a more opportune time in my life. I had been "flirting" with meditation, but not really committing to making it a daily practice. I recently attended a week long personal development seminar in Arizona, headed up by Jack Canfield (the Chicken Soup for the Soul author), and have been making my goals, my life purpose and bettering my relationships a much high priority.

Meditation can help me gain more clarity and focus about where I want my life to go. I have some goals that I've been working diligently on, but I hope that by tapping into something greater than me and my thoughts, that I can really achieve them.

I plan to practice daily, at the audacious hour of 4:30-5 a.m., right after I work out for the day. I like this time because I am assured to not have interruptions or distractions from kids, business commitments, busy work, or meetings.

Happy Meditating!! )

Post: #2

hi kgrossdds. good for you for your experinces with Jack Canfield. i am currently reading his book; how to get from where you are to where you want to be. he is a good man with a vast of wisdom. so how is it your meditation experiences? i would love to learn more from your experiences

Post: #3

(10-09-2011 06:25 AM)Faiz Wrote:  hi kgrossdds. good for you for your experinces with Jack Canfield. i am currently reading his book; how to get from where you are to where you want to be. he is a good man with a vast of wisdom. so how is it your meditation experiences? i would love to learn more from your experiences

The Jack Canfield training was called "Breakthrough to Success". It was a week long experience, largely led by Mr. Canfield--a great learning experience, and one of my first experiences with guided meditation.

I suggest that you read his book "The Success Principles". It is one of the greatest books out there on personal excellence!

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Day 1: I hate to admit it, but I'm off to a terrible start! I didn't meditate on the very 1st day of the challenge. I hate that I didn't do a better job! Aaagh.

Post: #4

Day 2:
I ended the day with 10 min of a guided meditation through the internet. It was a basic guided meditation. It was relaxing, but not inspiring. I didn't notice a great feeling of peace and contentment following the meditation. My mind was alternatively trying to fall asleep and thinking of other things. I get so frustrated, but I know that I need to just release that feeling and let meditation and my mind, take me where I need to go. I find myself intellectualizing the whole process and thinking of what I "should" be doing next, and my mind starts running away from the moment and the meditation.

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Day 3: I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and did my "Power Hour", which is 20 minutes of reading something inspirational (a daily devotional and the PE book is my choice currently), 20-40 minutes of working out, and 20 minutes (although sometimes this part gets shorted!) of meditation.

Instead of 20 minutes I did 5 minutes of post workout meditation. I tried to "find the gap" which is the meditative space between our thoughts. It is a meditation exercise illustrated by Dr. Wayne Dwyer, from a book of his that I had been reading. I got my mind to calm down and relax and just be in the moment. I felt SO good to have my reading, working out, and meditating accomplished in the wee hours of the morning. Everything just seems to fall into place after we have some accomplishments and positivity early in the day, doesn't it?

At the end of the day, I did 10 minutes of meditation from a podcast on the internet. This time it was much more enjoyable. The podcasts (themeditationpodcast.com) are a series of twelve, 20-25 minute guided meditations. This one was part 2 of the series. It was about relaxing the body, and it guided you through relaxing each part of your body slowly. It was amazing. I felt so relaxed and ready for sleep.

Post: #5

How was the guided meditation? I have yet to try one. I've just kind of been winging it with the informatin I've read so far. I have noticed though that when I try to meditate after a hard workout (mostly aerobics) that I lack the focus and my body seems so wound up that it won't relax. However, when if I meditate after yoga it's the complete opposite! Perhaps it's the breathing of yoga but it makes it a thousand times easier for me to be still and stay in the moment. I hope your meditation journey takes you far!

Post: #6

Since I am a fledgling meditator, I think that the guided meditations are very helpful to concentrating on something, not just silence. I've been only meditating for about 2 months now, and just now I have started doing just a silent meditation. My blelief is that I can do it better b/c of my experience with being guided, and knowing how that feels.

Post: #7

Well week #2 has started and I hope that I can do much better with the consistency of meditation. Last week, I got into a stride, and then my practice just fell off the map.

This week has begun with good silent meditations. The first one on Day 8 was just a 5 minute reflection of how my day went and what I was grateful for. I ended up falling asleep so I'm guessing that it was about 5 minutes long!

Day 9: I did 8 minutes of silent meditation after my Power Hour and an intense workout. I just concentrated on relaxing each part of my body and slowing the breath. I ended up getting very relaxed, and it was the best I've felt yet after meditating. I loved how peaceful I felt.

Post: #8

Day 10: I did a PART meditation which I learned about from another fellow 21 DMC participant (it's Christine actually!). I concentrated on Praise, Absolution(confession), Requests, and Thankfulness in my meditation/prayer to God. It was a great way to structure the meditation. It took me about 10 min.

Day 11: I did a guided meditation from Dr. Wayne Dwyer's Getting in the Gap. It said it was 10 minutes long, but ended up being closer to 20 min. It was interesting. I was distracted by his voice, but about 2/3 of the way through I really got deep into it. It was quieting to my mind.