Do what you’ve always done and you’ll be who you’ve always been. Thoughts become things. No si surprisingly the thoughts that landed you in your present job/body/relationship won’t be the ones to miraculously change your trajectory. How can we change those thoughts? Meditation.
Not so fast. Meditation? Everyone raves about meditation. It has a 99% approval rating. You know what else has a 99% approval rating?
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Sensodyne tooth paste
- Kim Jong Un (No wait… his approval rating is 100%)
I Know…
I know meditation is as effective as antidepressants; That even just a short daily meditation substantially increases the amount of gray matter in my brain; that it has withstood the tests of time.
Even though I know all this I can’t seem to break through. I’ve tried it at length, but I fall asleep/get bored/distracted and fail.
I sit and instantly my mind wanders. I try to focus on breathing, and zen, and forgiveness, but inevitably my mind wanders into useless debates like:
‘if superglue sticks to everything then how does it get out of the bottle?’
‘If nothing sticks to teflon then how does it stick to the pan?’
‘Superglue vs Teflon… who wins?’*
‘Did I leave the stove on?’
Meditation requires a little work
I’ve been meditating off and on for years, though I still feel I’m a novice. My mind wanders; asks useless questions; though sometimes I break through.
Those times are, in a word, special; I glimpse the power of the mind.
I found three particular guided meditations were helpful in my meditation journey. They’re short, entertaining, and may even lead to total consciousness.
Think of them as supplements for your soul. Here they are, without further ado, for your aural pleasure:
The Good Morning Mediation- Abraham Hicks (14:58)- Start your day off right with positive affirmations and gratitude.
The Chakra alignment meditation- Joe Dispenza (32:42)– Meditation gets physical here. You connect your body to your breath to your third eye via a guided chakra alignment. You’ll have to get through some new age, mystical stuff at the beginning; but if you can get through it there is some serious power in this one.
The Before sleep meditation- Wayne Dyer (6:52)- Whatever thoughts you take to bed with you are going to dominate your subconscious for 7-8 hours. That’s too long to carry negativity. This guided meditation puts you in a solid headspace as you drift off.
You can live a brilliant life reacting to the world as it shows up in front of you, or you can have a human experience of your own creation.
Your thoughts determine the path.
Choose them carefully.
Choose them mindfully.
*I heard a Comic deliver this line when I was a senior in high school. Can’t remember his name; only that he was Lebanese and very funny. Didn’t want to take credit for his joke.