I spent much of last weekend painting at a Steiner colour workshop, which was a wonderful experience and has made me think quite a lot more about the influence that colour has on our lives, and how we can go about interacting and engaging with it in a way that really opens up our emotional,spiritual and energetic being. So, below is one meditation that I invented and have been using over the last couple of days to consolidate the practise of working with colour. It is a walking form, you can read more about basic aspects of walking meditation from a previous article which you can find here.
Anyway, here's the meditation:
As you are walking along in an outdoor environment, be aware of the principle colours of your environment. Generally the main colours will be the green of the trees and other flora and fauna, the blue of the sky (various shades depending on the time of day), yellow golds from the sun, silver from the moon and white from starlight and clouds. If you are near water, then there are options there as well.
Select the colour from your surroundings that you intuitively feel is the one that you are most going to benefit from at that particular time (for example today I mainly worked with the yellow gold of the sunlight). As you are walking along, simply imagine yourself surrounded by that colour and its vibration. Feel its beneficial effects in your energy field and within the cellular structure of your body. Feel its effect upon your emotions and sense of well being. Breathe it in and out of your body with each inhalation and exhalation.
If you have the time, you can pause at places where there are other colours, such as in front of violet or red coloured flowers, and feel the effect of surrounding yourself in the tones of these colours.
This meditation form is very simple (a lot of the best ones are) and can really help us to open up to an appreciation of just how effective working with colour can be in terms of your own sense of emotional well being. You will find quite quickly which colours you feel best surrounded by, and be able to use them effectively with just a little practice. Partaking of colour is such a fundamental part of accessing the joy of being alive, but for many of us it has been intellectualized out to the point that we can no longer really 'feel' it and respond to it from the depths of our being. We may have lost it, but we can find it again too!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The 'Ok, thats enough' meditation.
We live in an age of information, and it seems like these is a never ending list of things to do and new information that we could be digesting. So, having all sorts of information at one's disposal is a gift and a blessing, but it can become a curse in the sense that I think many of us have become addicted just to processing information, and made the mistake of thinking that we can solve all our problems simply by consuming more information and doing more things.
The 'Ok, that's enough!'meditation is simply setting aside 5-10 minutes in your routine and saying 'Ok, that's enough information and doing, for the next 10 minutes I'm simply going to focus on being in the here and now, and I give myself full permission to take a break. No matter how many really 'important' things I have hanging over my head, the next few minutes I am going to totally take the pressure off, and catch up with my inner being'.
Having said this to yourself, just spend the remaining minutes being mindful of this decision, and really relaxing, and adopting an inner attitude of kind self-awareness. Check all of your mental impulses to get back onto the check list of things that need to be done, notice what is immediately around you. Appreciate whatever there is to appreciate within that moment.
You'll find that this creates a sense of awareness within you where all sorts of pleasant and positive feelings, experiences and thoughts can move up to the surface of your consciousness, and after a short period of time you'll be feeling relaxed, refreshed and have a new perspective on whatever is you are doing in your life, and whatever challenges it is giving rise to.
Try it, as always, most of the best things in life are simple and free!!
The 'Ok, that's enough!'meditation is simply setting aside 5-10 minutes in your routine and saying 'Ok, that's enough information and doing, for the next 10 minutes I'm simply going to focus on being in the here and now, and I give myself full permission to take a break. No matter how many really 'important' things I have hanging over my head, the next few minutes I am going to totally take the pressure off, and catch up with my inner being'.
Having said this to yourself, just spend the remaining minutes being mindful of this decision, and really relaxing, and adopting an inner attitude of kind self-awareness. Check all of your mental impulses to get back onto the check list of things that need to be done, notice what is immediately around you. Appreciate whatever there is to appreciate within that moment.
You'll find that this creates a sense of awareness within you where all sorts of pleasant and positive feelings, experiences and thoughts can move up to the surface of your consciousness, and after a short period of time you'll be feeling relaxed, refreshed and have a new perspective on whatever is you are doing in your life, and whatever challenges it is giving rise to.
Try it, as always, most of the best things in life are simple and free!!
Practical Applications of the Inner Smile Meditation
Having posted a basic outline of the inner smile meditation a couple of weeks ago (read it here), I thought I would just write down a few ways in which I have been using it recently, and finding it very successful:
1) Tired feet
After a long day riding home on the bus with standing room only I found that my feet were very painful. Closing my eyes, focusing on my inner smile and then directing the energy down into my feet substantially alleviated the pain and allowed me to move into a surprisingly deep and comfortable meditative state for the majority of the way home. Being able to meditate like this on busy days really makes a difference, as our time for formal sitting meditation is often reduced.
2) Smiling at irritation or impatience when waiting for internet pages that are taking a long time to download, or standing in ques.
3) Smiling in response to other peoples miserable faces. Passing people in the street and on the MRT, the majority seem to be fixed in a state of relative miserability/stress, or at least cold indifference. This can have a negative effect on our own mood, sometimes even though we may not be aware of it. So, observing my own tendency sometimes to be affected by the faces of others, I have found inwardly smiling to myself and staying with the image and energy of this smile rather than the images of someone elees miserable face has been really useful!
As with many of the other meditation techniques I discuss on the blog, it is really about how you learn to apply it practically and 'make it your own' that makes the difference in temrs of how successful it can be for you.
1) Tired feet
After a long day riding home on the bus with standing room only I found that my feet were very painful. Closing my eyes, focusing on my inner smile and then directing the energy down into my feet substantially alleviated the pain and allowed me to move into a surprisingly deep and comfortable meditative state for the majority of the way home. Being able to meditate like this on busy days really makes a difference, as our time for formal sitting meditation is often reduced.
2) Smiling at irritation or impatience when waiting for internet pages that are taking a long time to download, or standing in ques.
3) Smiling in response to other peoples miserable faces. Passing people in the street and on the MRT, the majority seem to be fixed in a state of relative miserability/stress, or at least cold indifference. This can have a negative effect on our own mood, sometimes even though we may not be aware of it. So, observing my own tendency sometimes to be affected by the faces of others, I have found inwardly smiling to myself and staying with the image and energy of this smile rather than the images of someone elees miserable face has been really useful!
As with many of the other meditation techniques I discuss on the blog, it is really about how you learn to apply it practically and 'make it your own' that makes the difference in temrs of how successful it can be for you.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Calming the Brain Fast!: Mouth Breathing
In general, most meditation schools will say that breathing through the nose is best for meditation and for the most part I would say that this is true.
However, there are specific advantages that can be gained from deliberately meditating whilst breathing through the mouth. One reason for this is that breathing through the nostrils has a directly stimulating effect upon the brain as the air passes through the nasal cavities, which are directly beneath the left and right hemispheres of the brain. When we breathe through the mouth our breathing no longer stimulates the brain in such a way, and so it can be easier for us to move into a relaxed and non-conceptual state of mind relatively quickly.
Here is a ''mouth breathing'' meditation that you can try:
Sitting comfortably with a naturally straight back, begin consciously breathing through your mouth in a natural and comfortable manner. As you do so, feel your brain moving into a state of deep relaxation, almost as if it were like a computer that you are putting into ''sleep'' mode; it is still switched on and partly alert, but moving into a deeply relaxed and non-conceptual state. Simply focus your mind on the breathing in this way, consciously allowing energy to flow through the brain without it stimulating conceptual thoughts.
You can do this as a meditation in itself (for as long as you like), or you can use it as a preliminary technique to calm your mind before going on to do your main meditation.
For the insomniacs amongst us, it can be a good one to do as you are lying in bed at night to help you fall asleep!
Variation:
One thing that you can happen with mouth breathing is that you may find that your concentration becomes a little dull, or goes a little too far toward a sleep state. If you find this to be the case, try this as a balancing breathing pattern; Breathe in through your nose, as you do so feel energy and light spiralling down into your chest, lungs and body, revitalizing and reinvigorating them. Then breathe out through your mouth, consciously relaxing the brain and other areas of your body. This pattern of breathing helps us find the ''middle way'' between alertness and non-conceptual relaxation.
However, there are specific advantages that can be gained from deliberately meditating whilst breathing through the mouth. One reason for this is that breathing through the nostrils has a directly stimulating effect upon the brain as the air passes through the nasal cavities, which are directly beneath the left and right hemispheres of the brain. When we breathe through the mouth our breathing no longer stimulates the brain in such a way, and so it can be easier for us to move into a relaxed and non-conceptual state of mind relatively quickly.
Here is a ''mouth breathing'' meditation that you can try:
Sitting comfortably with a naturally straight back, begin consciously breathing through your mouth in a natural and comfortable manner. As you do so, feel your brain moving into a state of deep relaxation, almost as if it were like a computer that you are putting into ''sleep'' mode; it is still switched on and partly alert, but moving into a deeply relaxed and non-conceptual state. Simply focus your mind on the breathing in this way, consciously allowing energy to flow through the brain without it stimulating conceptual thoughts.
You can do this as a meditation in itself (for as long as you like), or you can use it as a preliminary technique to calm your mind before going on to do your main meditation.
For the insomniacs amongst us, it can be a good one to do as you are lying in bed at night to help you fall asleep!
Variation:
One thing that you can happen with mouth breathing is that you may find that your concentration becomes a little dull, or goes a little too far toward a sleep state. If you find this to be the case, try this as a balancing breathing pattern; Breathe in through your nose, as you do so feel energy and light spiralling down into your chest, lungs and body, revitalizing and reinvigorating them. Then breathe out through your mouth, consciously relaxing the brain and other areas of your body. This pattern of breathing helps us find the ''middle way'' between alertness and non-conceptual relaxation.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Inner Smile Meditation
We have been doing quite a lot of meditation with the inner smile recently in classes, please find below a brief meditation on the inner smile that can be integrated into your daily routine easily:
The expression on our face is always an indicator of how we are feeling (unless we are deliberately trying to hide how we feel). When we are happy and relaxed, our face becomes relaxed and open. When we are tense or unhappy our face becomes tense and serious. Consciously generating the energy of a smile is a very simple and powerful way of helping to transform difficult and negatively charged energies in our body and mind by sending the energy of our smile to them.
Here is a simple form of this exercise:
Firstly, sit in a comfortable meditation posture, breathe and relax.
Direct your attention to your face, consciously relax all the muscles in the face from the forehead to the bottom of the chin.
Raise the corners of your mouth up a few millimeters, so that your facial expression becomes that of a half smile. Feel the energy of this smile spreading through out your whole face.
Now feel the energy of your inner smile gathering within your third eye area (between the eyebrows), once it has gathered there feel it flowing backward into your brain, head and neck areas. As you send the energy of your smile to your brain and other parts of your head and neck, feel them smiling back to you.
Now smile down into your heart, lungs and other areas/organs in your chest. Feel them filling with the light and energy of your inner smile, see and feel them smiling back to you.
Now smile down into your abdominal organs, liver, stomach, digestive system, pancreas, kidneys, sexual organs and so on. Feel the light of your inner smile filling them with light and warmth. Feel them smiling back to you.
Now send the energy of your inner smile out to your limbs, hands and fingers, feet and toes. Feel all the cells of your body filled with the energy of your inner smile, feel your whole body smiling back to you.
Conclude by spending a short while sitting with the feeling of well being that has resulted from your practice of smiling.
The expression on our face is always an indicator of how we are feeling (unless we are deliberately trying to hide how we feel). When we are happy and relaxed, our face becomes relaxed and open. When we are tense or unhappy our face becomes tense and serious. Consciously generating the energy of a smile is a very simple and powerful way of helping to transform difficult and negatively charged energies in our body and mind by sending the energy of our smile to them.
Here is a simple form of this exercise:
Firstly, sit in a comfortable meditation posture, breathe and relax.
Direct your attention to your face, consciously relax all the muscles in the face from the forehead to the bottom of the chin.
Raise the corners of your mouth up a few millimeters, so that your facial expression becomes that of a half smile. Feel the energy of this smile spreading through out your whole face.
Now feel the energy of your inner smile gathering within your third eye area (between the eyebrows), once it has gathered there feel it flowing backward into your brain, head and neck areas. As you send the energy of your smile to your brain and other parts of your head and neck, feel them smiling back to you.
Now smile down into your heart, lungs and other areas/organs in your chest. Feel them filling with the light and energy of your inner smile, see and feel them smiling back to you.
Now smile down into your abdominal organs, liver, stomach, digestive system, pancreas, kidneys, sexual organs and so on. Feel the light of your inner smile filling them with light and warmth. Feel them smiling back to you.
Now send the energy of your inner smile out to your limbs, hands and fingers, feet and toes. Feel all the cells of your body filled with the energy of your inner smile, feel your whole body smiling back to you.
Conclude by spending a short while sitting with the feeling of well being that has resulted from your practice of smiling.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Intuition Meditation Track
Here is the second meditation for April '09:
Theme of Meditation: Getting to know our intuitive self in the context of our instinctive and intellectual self.
Duration: 35 mins approx
Title of class from which meditation is taken: "An overview of the different levels of consciousness together with the powers associated with them, developing an intuitive 'inner circle'."
Context: This is the opening guided meditation from the first class of a series of eight classes that I am currently doing entitled "Developing your Intuition – Opening to Levels of Consciousness Beyond the Intellect and Logical Mind."
This track is © Toby Ouvry 2009. You may download the recording onto your computer or MP3 player for personal use. If you wish to use it for any other purpose you must obtain Toby's written or verbal permission first.
Audio recordings of the full class, and the whole series of eight classes on developing intuition are available for purchase, for further details please contact Toby by emailing tobyouvry@gmail.com
Listen to Meditation
Theme of Meditation: Getting to know our intuitive self in the context of our instinctive and intellectual self.
Duration: 35 mins approx
Title of class from which meditation is taken: "An overview of the different levels of consciousness together with the powers associated with them, developing an intuitive 'inner circle'."
Context: This is the opening guided meditation from the first class of a series of eight classes that I am currently doing entitled "Developing your Intuition – Opening to Levels of Consciousness Beyond the Intellect and Logical Mind."
This track is © Toby Ouvry 2009. You may download the recording onto your computer or MP3 player for personal use. If you wish to use it for any other purpose you must obtain Toby's written or verbal permission first.
Audio recordings of the full class, and the whole series of eight classes on developing intuition are available for purchase, for further details please contact Toby by emailing tobyouvry@gmail.com
Listen to Meditation
Spiritual Power Meditation Track
I am going to be trying to upload one or two audio meditations per month for people to listen to. Here is the first:
Theme of Meditation: Development of conscious awareness as a point of power from which we can engage in our relationship to the past and future with trust and confidence.
Duration: 33 mins approx
Title of class from which meditation is taken: "Developing the power of our conscious mind, the gateway between our inner and outer worlds"
This is the opening guided meditation from the first class of a series of eight classes that I am currently doing entitled "Connecting to your Spiritual Power – Meditations for Developing Inner Courage, Self Leadership and Connecting to Your Inner Truth."
This track is © Toby Ouvry 2009. You may download the recording onto your computer or MP3 player for personal use. If you wish to use it for any other purpose you must obtain Toby's writeen or verbal permission first.
Audio recordings of the full class, and the whole series of Spiritual power classes are available for purchase, for further details please contact Toby by emailing tobyouvry@gmail.com
Listen to Meditation
Theme of Meditation: Development of conscious awareness as a point of power from which we can engage in our relationship to the past and future with trust and confidence.
Duration: 33 mins approx
Title of class from which meditation is taken: "Developing the power of our conscious mind, the gateway between our inner and outer worlds"
This is the opening guided meditation from the first class of a series of eight classes that I am currently doing entitled "Connecting to your Spiritual Power – Meditations for Developing Inner Courage, Self Leadership and Connecting to Your Inner Truth."
This track is © Toby Ouvry 2009. You may download the recording onto your computer or MP3 player for personal use. If you wish to use it for any other purpose you must obtain Toby's writeen or verbal permission first.
Audio recordings of the full class, and the whole series of Spiritual power classes are available for purchase, for further details please contact Toby by emailing tobyouvry@gmail.com
Listen to Meditation
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