By Moss Greene ©2002
One beautiful spring afternoon a friend of the famous painter, El Greco, came to visit him. His friend found the artist sitting in a dark room with the shades closed. “Come on out into the sunshine,” urged the friend. “Not now,” El Greco responded. “It would disturb the glorious light that is shining within me.”
Meditation or silent prayer is an ancient time tested method that allows you to stay connected to the energy and light of your Higher Power. It's our intention to include all faiths by using the term “Higher Power.”
Maybe you’re wondering why we’re talking about meditation and prayer in a fitness book. In our opinion, happiness, empowerment and well being are all part of health and fitness. And they all three require the flow of your Higher Power’s lifestream of pure positive energy. It’s essential to the theme of this book that you learn how to get and stay connected.
The word prayer, in both the Old and New Testament, was originally translated from the Aramaic language. The original Aramaic word is ‘slotha.’ ‘Slotha’ means to focus, to tune in or, in more modern terms, to adjust your dial. Meditation means the same thing. Meditation and prayer allow us to adjust our dial to our Higher Power so we can fully receive the joy, inner peace and clarity that we are meant to have “in here.”
We believe that a daily meditation practice is essential to good health. Focused stillness keeps you tuned in and can give radiant life to all your physical actions. It connects you with the guidance of your Higher Power, which shows up in your life as consistently heightened intuition. And learning to focus your attention is essential to accomplishing anything in life. Meditation also allows you to enjoy “heaven” on earth, right here and right now.
We choose to use a breathing meditation because we’ve found it makes you feel lighter and more peaceful. Deep breathing has often been used to overcome stress. That’s why it’s used to relax a mother in natural childbirth. And when you were born, breathing was the first action you took. It meant you were alive. It’s also the last action a person takes. When you look at it this way, breath means life. Breathing equals being alive.
When you begin meditating, if you have never done it before, you will be amazed by the persistent drift of your thoughts. You may wonder how you will ever be able to focus such a wandering mind. It takes practice. But you can imagine how valuable it is for you to learn to focus your mind. At first you may only be able to spend five or ten minutes meditating. We suggest that you gradually work your way up to a twenty minute practice.
This book is about lightening up, both physically and mentally. Therefore, on a daily basis, you will want to meditate on the breath of life. It’ll make you feel happier, more connected and lighter. It’ll allow you to glow with the flow on your way to fitness.
Process: Meditate On The Breath Of Life
In a quiet spot, where you can be undisturbed, spend twenty minutes a day, focusing on your breathing. First thing in the morning is suggested, but find the time that works best for you. Sit in a comfortable chair or lay down on the floor or on your bed (unless this puts you to sleep.) Close your eyes and set your mental timer* for twenty minutes. Breathe deeply into your diaphragm (just above your navel.) As you breathe in, think "Breathing in, I know I am breathing in." On the out breath, think “Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.” Continue this throughout the twenty minutes. As your mind settles down and your breathing becomes even, if you want, you can change the thought to, “breathing in” and “breathing out”. Or even “in” and “out.” When your mind wanders, gently bring your focus back to your breath. Consider your mind to be like a pleasant spacious room with open windows. Your thoughts are like birds which fly in and out. Just let them go. Focus on your breathing.
*Set your mental timer by imagining the clock at twenty minutes from the time you begin. Eventually, you’ll find that you open your eyes in almost exactly twenty minutes.
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What you have just read is an excerpt from the book Feel Your Way Fit : The Happy Path to Buoyant Vibrant Health & Fitness. This book is scheduled to be released in 2003. If you would like to be one of the first to be notified when Feel Your Way Fit becomes available, then click here to be added to the list.
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