Essential Meditation - second part

So while you're developing a rhythm, stay mindful. Keep affirming the conscious choice to breathe gently. You will start to feel the intake of the breath at the tip of the nose. Its all quite mechanical at this stage. We are preparing the body for the quality of breath that will bring the mind in line with the heart, when the chatter of anxiety or busy ness will take, at last, a break.

So we're on to the out breath. Concentrate on the out breath, raise your awareness of it. You are in control of what you breathe out. You are saying "I am not breathing in the chaos or stress or illness anymore" but furthermore, on the out breath you are expressing yourself consciously. "I breathe out the way I want to express myself, which is as gentleness". Keep the mind in line. If we perfect this, we are moving the power to within ourselves. Instead of being on alert for the external environment we are meeting; be it work or the shops or any environmentally dense energetic spaces (everyone and everywhere!), you now choose what you are breathing and are also asserting your self, deciding how that environment is going to be. This is a conscious action of deciding to be a gentle presence and influence on the environment. So that's what you're affirming mentally. Physically, you will notice that the out breath has its own rhythm and speed. Some people’s out breath is longer than their in-breath, for some its shorter. It has a warmth, not an uncomfortable warmth, its fiery and again gentle. The reason for this exact quality I will explain in the final part but, trust me, its not used in a flowery sense, aim for quite literal gentleness. It is being used as a medium for something much greater!

So with the out breath, we are further developing our focus and awareness. We are bringing ourselves back into ourselves. We are saying to the world, this is who I am. We are saying, we are gentleness. We are way more than that obviously but we are still gentleness, as opposed to say tension or resistance!

The next stage is embodiment. This is translating the gentleness of the breath to your body. Make sure the rise and fall of your chest and ribs is complying with the gentleness of the breath. You will be surprised initially how hard you have been holding your chest, as if braced for the next bit of bad news. It can be called embodiment because the body always responds second to the light. We have our etheric, emotional and mental experiences first and then it manifests in the body over time. The body we end up with is the choices we have made, there are no accidents, no incidents. So, now we are telling the body consciously to express the ease, to mirror the gentleness of our breath. When you express or exhale, make sure the shoulders are gently depressing or releasing. You will notice that you have been holding the ribs and therefore putting pressure on your spine. The breathing, let alone anything else, is tricky for many initially. This relates back to sinus problems when young or ongoing! All of these tell you that you have contractions in your heart. They point to difficulties receiving love and that you are holding back your love from others. If you don't believe me, just ask the pendulum and I bet you fifty euro you will get a yes and huge clearing will take place in every area. So, breathe out with affirming thoughts like, I am alive, I am love, this is gentleness, this is me. The me factor only comes in when you have successfully breathed your own breath. It is completely unnecessary to get sick or get diseases. The quickest way to get ill is to keep breathing other peoples' illness, chaos and stress. . . basically, other peoples’ emotions. To develop the me is: to choose the breath you breathe in and release it in the way you want the world to be, for you. You’re also telling the world how the world is going to feel you, experience your presence. The body then takes up and embodies the rhythm gently and makes you whole - aligns your body and spirit! Rather than a willow the wisp buffeted from one trouble to the next, of your own or others, you find instead that you're basically flying it!

I hope I am impressing on you how important it is to get on top of this! I have spent about three hours today concentrating on it. Luckily, as with all energetic medicine, it can be done amid other tasks like driving the car or at the gym! Its best application is just when you're clearing others though. Don't breathe in what you hear or feel around you, decide to breathe in air from the Rockies or Kerry or just a gentle void you create yourself to work from! A space of gentle acceptance.

Meditation

A time of meditation in your day is crucial. I know some people don't like it and just fall asleep or feel there's not enough time. Its absence is a bit of a disaster though. This is because it is essentially a daily choice to breathe in only gentleness and clear air rather than reel from environment to environment breathing in the chaos, illness and anxiety that you happen to meet. You then go home and dump it in your own environment, on your pillow to pile up over time. Through meditation one can learn to breathe only your own breath and express only your own energy, also of gentleness and joy.
The aspects involve the closing of your eyes, your in-breath, your body alignment and finally your out-breath, which is your own expression of how you want your world to be. You are creating all of it. So the more conscious our choices, the better job we'll make of it.

The imprint on which you close your eyes is important. You are taking you back to you. Many people are closing their eyes to shut out the world. That's just a numbing and a distraction. So the quality of your intention as you close your eyes will determine the quality of the meditation. If you find it hard to do this, look down and then slowly and lovingly close them the last bit. This is a strong gesture to you and for you. Posture-wise, there is no need to sit cross legged! Just be comfortable sitting or lying down. We are preparing the body for the breathing we are going to do.

The next move is to begin the rhythm - the in-breath entering through the nose. One can concentrate only on the in-breath for weeks I gather (although don't forget to exhale or you might explode). The more one does focus on a step, the more aspects you identify about it. Try and make sure from the start that it is a gentle breath. If the intention is honestly gentle then the gentle breath will eventually come. This is not a soft breath or a slow breath. If the breath comes through the entire circumference of the nostril it is just a soft breath and is just a full breath of disturbed air, in whatever way; very unhealthy!The quality is gentleness and the rest becomes a rhythm, an ease and a speed that meets the need of the body.

Meditation is a conscious beginning. It can be worked on methodically and mechanically and develops a focus. Get to feel the quality of the in-breath. Soft breathing is just slowing down the body, it doesn’t connect you, it just puts the anger, frustration and anxiety in to an arrest of some sort. We don't want that, it doesn't deal with your own or leave it where it is in your environment. The breath naturally moves itself towards the tip of the nose. Gentle breath at the tip of the nose has its own sort of quality - a coolness and it retains that wherever you might be, in a sauna or a hot humid country. Try and remain mindful and not mindless. Its impossible to make the mind quiet, without it being an escape. All one can do is bring the mind in line with the impulses of the heart and then the chatter stops.

Then we have to engage the mind again to release the breath gently. We become the master. We don’t exhale by sighing or even releasing. It is just a gentle exhalation. If you can do the in and out breath consciously and gently, you can have complete mind control. You have brought your mind in line with your conscious intention, where you want to go.

You will find the room goes in to a stillness but also a coolness because you're not releasing endless disturbance in to the room, the stuffiness that is really just emotion. This is the real key to being centred, to not impose your energy on another. No more dumping it.

So focus on the tip of the nose as the breath enters. Make it gentle. On its way out, it has its own rhythm, its own speed. For some people the out breath is longer than the in-breath, for some it is shorter. The quality of the out breath you will notice is warmth. It is a fiery warmth, a gentle warmth, no discomfort. It is not soothing or comforting though, because it is not emotional in any way.

Once you've got things going, let go of the focus a bit and allow the rhythm to develop. You will find how deep you need to breath. Gentleness knows how to caliberate itself. Notice you are not zonking out, you are not going in to any sort of bliss, you are not going into escapism, meditation is really about raising awareness. But I'm really keen for everyone to start doing it as the repercussions of unconsciousness are serious. In as much as, if you don't chose your air carefully! and express the best of who you are on your out breaths, positive change is highly unlikely, on the individual or the wider level.

This DIY kit to meditation I got from a CD made by someone at www.universalmedicine.com.au who is obviously a great vibe merchant. I will outline the other part when I write again. I'm hoping to get everyone meditating and then move on to nutrition. The basic premiss is that we need to keep cultivating our relationship with the self, don't get distracted by the troubles around you. So, look after yourselves!

The Billy Joe Trilogy Illustrations -Third Gallery Shots

Harmony Hall and animals - Second Gallery Shots

Mr and Mrs Autumn and friends - first gallery shots!

Where the wildlife should be!

Now she's here on the outside looking in, thank god...the mouse that is. She kindly left for my B and B guest's visit all last week. I was put on to some interesting clearings also around thyroids, chakras and streams of energy between organs. Really worth an exploration if you know what you're doing. I don't suppose it matters actually, where you generate the flow, its just the paying attention that moves things along so intently. It also led to another boat sculpture, much to everyone's amusement and two new paintings.

Come on Friday if you can. 7pm its journeying time again and dinner and of course energy clearing. Should be groovy. Always is. Lots of love Fx