December 31st  is the day that everyone around the world creates their new year’s resolutions. I know at my gym I will not be able to find an elliptical machine and have to wait to get on the nautilus because of all of the people that have resolved to lose weight and get in shape this year. The good news is that by mid February the gym will be back to normal because everyone will have given up on most of their resolutions and gone back to “normal.”

With such great intentions and excitement on New Years to make our life changes, it’s interesting to me that so many of us can’t make that change and hold it not only for the remainder of the year but for their lifetime!

I have a theory on why this is and what to do about it.

When we have an idea, it comes from our conscious mind, a thought. On New Year’s Eve, we have thoughts about what changes we would like to make within our lives for the year. We decide, “THIS is how I am going to change and I’m sticking to it!”

The problem with just a conscious thought about a change is just that, it’s just a thought about it. To make a lasting change, it needs to become a belief, to go deeper into our mind, our subconscious.  This is when  resolutions stick. But the majority of us, have resolutions that lose steam after a month because they are simply a conscious thought.

For my birthday in November I was given the cd/book “Getting into the Vortex” by Esther and Jerry Hicks. I have never seen such profound results so quickly within myself, friends, family and clients.

This is a guided meditation cd broken into 4 -15 minute meditations-Well Being, Physical Well Being, Financial Prosperity and Relationships. 15 minutes a day CAN and WILL change your life. Spend 15 minutes a day with this and before you realize it, you may notice an unexplained calmness, peace, abundance, relationship improvement/healing, anger fade, work improvement. This guided meditation eases conscious thoughts into the subconscious mind where resolutions will hold.

Going deeper than the conscious mind and even subconscious mind, this cd meditation reconnects us with our “source,” where we came from, the greater part of who we are, God. This is not a religious cd, simply a guided meditation with breathing.

So when ready, purchase this amazing gift for yourself. It will help to make resolutions stick as well as change your life in ways you can’t imagine.

In my meditation this morning, I was sitting in silence and began asking a few questions about my day and how I may serve. I immediately “knew” the answers. It happened so quickly it amazed me.

I realized that all of life’s answers are in the present moment because this is where God sits and waits, patiently, lovingly and without judgment, for us to come and merge with him.

When we sit present moment and stop our thoughts, we begin to feel and remember we are part of something MUCH greater. We merge with the divine and we remember there is no separation, only the oneness. It is the ego that wants us to believe we are separate, not worthy, not good enough, not loveable etc. and wants to pull us away from the silence, the oneness.

I was amazed at what I automatically just knew this morning. Even more than what I knew it was the feeling that came over me, the calmness and peace. God emerges through us and we step into the all knowing stream of truth. All of the answers and wisdom that we seek are sitting there waiting for us in the present moment.

This is a partial re-post from a post I wrote months ago and felt the need to post it again due to my “rebirth into balance.” One of the things I had let go for 6 weeks were my meditations. This is a brief explanation of meditation as well as how to meditate.

Enjoy!

MEDITATION

Meditation is sustained and unbroken concentration that leads to a highly focused mind. Meditation moves us from using our subconscious mind to our conscious mind. Living in the conscious mind, trains us to live with more focus, proficiency and creativity and less disorganized, chaotic and scattered.  Meditation will actually help you to think in new ways and gain deeper perspective on experiences. You will find that you are not bothered by things that might have bothered or even upset you in the past.

Other benefits of meditation include:

• Slows the release of hormones in response to stress
• Stronger immune system
• Reduction of anxiety
• Lowers blood pressure
• Decreases muscle tension and headaches
• Increases serotonin production (low serotonin levels are linked to   depression, obesity, insomnia and even headaches)
• Substance abuse, alcoholism and cigarette smoking have all been helped by meditation
• Increases compassion for others
• Self Acceptance

The list goes on and on and these are just a few ways  that meditation can be life changing.

HOW TO MEDITATE?

Find a nice peaceful area, and sit quietly (don’t lie down), set your timer (by setting a timer you are not constantly interrupting your practice by opening your eyes and checking your clock) and just clear your mind. As thoughts come in, imagine an ocean wave rolling in and pulling them away, gently, slowly then return to silence. Another visual is to see the words falling off a cliff then the cliff is empty. Any visual will work, have fun with it. Remember, meditation is a practice and even people that have done meditation for years for hours per day still call it a practice. The human mind must be trained NOT to have thoughts and it takes practice! So be easy on yourself.

Meditation seems difficult to some people, I often will hear, “I have tried but I can’t!” YES YOU CAN! Meditation is the simple act of quieting your mind. For many people having a focus, like a mantra helps them with mediation. Pick a mantra like “peace” or “OM” or any word that you are drawn to and simply state it over and over again, slowly. You can even sing it out loud or to yourself. The point is to concentrate fully on that word and that word only. When other thoughts drift in, repeat your word/mantra.

You can meditate while walking, riding a bike or even driving! It’s simply clearing your mind and thinking of nothing! Try driving home from work without your cell phone to your ear or the radio on and repeat your mantra out loud for 10 minutes, it’s so incredibly powerful. The next time you go for a walk be present moment with what you are noticing, do NOT bring your iPod or your cell phone, remain present moment and focused on what’s around you!

HOW LONG TO MEDITATE?

Meditation is not something that you have to do 60 minutes a day to begin with. When you first begin a meditation practice, begin with 2 or 5 minutes per day. Stick with that for a week until you feel you are ready to extend your time. Continue extending your time to 15-20 minutes per day and if you can maintain this amount of time-great! If you can only commit to 10 minutes per day this is great too. Spending even a few moments a day of being mindful is far better than not spending any time. It would be nice to have a goal of 20 minutes per day at some point; this may take some time to accomplish and it’s OK.

Be easy on yourself and celebrate even your smallest accomplishments, even your 2 minute victory. You may feel like 2 minutes is nothing but I guarantee you, you are benefiting your brain in more ways than you could ever imagine.

I looked around my house at all the laundry, the dishes, the cleaning up, the office that needs cleaning, filing, my voice mails, my emails that I haven’t looked at in 2 weeks and more, and asked myself, “How will I ever get all of this done?” The more I looked around the more rapidly my heart was racing and I realized that I felt anxiety! So much to do and not enough time…I then stopped myself and said, “What happened to me?”

I then realized that it had been 2 months since my last blog post, 6 weeks since my last true meditation and a week since my last deep breathing session. And what do you know…I feel out of balance! I asked myself how did I get here and realized how tricky the ego/mind can be. I remember so many times hearing myself say, “Oh, I need to write about THAT,” and “Wow, I really need to meditate or do my breathing.” And what I would inevidably hear every time was…”Later…”

When the ego takes over (or when we allow it to take charge) it feels that we need to “do” more and more to feel good and feel calm. The problem is that it’s the exact opposite! We need to stop what we are doing and meditate for 5 minutes or do some deep breathing or just STOP the treadmill we are on and just be for a few moments. It’s in these moments of “nothingness” that we find peace and regain balance. When we don’t stop, we fall out of balance. The ego/mind has it backwards it tells us to do more, go, go go, don’t stop!

It’s amazing to me how quickly we can fall out of balance when we don’t take time for ourselves. One of my favorite things to do is to write and it would wind up last on my list!

I have learned a lot about balance in the last 2 months and now feel grateful for the experience as I can write about it. We all have our things that will pull us out of balance if we let them. Meditatation/breathwork/quiet time is like hitting reset on our computers, clearing the slate. It lets the ego/mind release the grip it has on us and our to do list. It allows for us to hear our own God given guidance, our intuition to guide us to what we do next and what we cross off our list next.

This piece is partly a review of Eva Hoffman’s book Time. But Father Martin Boland frames this with his own reflections:

We can become so focused on busyness and speed that we begin to lose a proper sense of ourselves. Individuals can feel that their lives are “spinning out of control” or worse, are about to “break down”. The common response to the question, “How are you?”, has become “I’m busy.” We define ourselves in terms of frenetic activity. At the same time, other aspects and dimensions of our life (family, friendship, the social and the spiritual) are eroded by the constant pressures on our time. “We are money rich, but time poor.”

We MUST stop for ourselves and reset. It will create more time, but more importantly peace and bring us back to balance.

This is a sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes time of year for many of us. There are many products on the market from Benadryl and Claritin to allergy shots for relief of allergies. However, there are some powerful all natural answers to the allergy prayers as well.

An allergic reaction happens when the body interprets a substance as a “foreign enemy” and goes into attack mode. If the immune system is not strong enough to disable the antigens in a substance (dust, mold, pollen) then the immune system has an overaggressive response which looks like runny nose, watery eyes, fatigue, etc.

To key to allergy relief is a strong, healthy immune system.

These are my favorite supplements that boost immune system function:

1. Vitamin C-3000 mg/day taken throughout the day. Excellent for reducing histamine levels in the blood. Also Vitamin C strengthens and detoxifies the immune system. (I love Nature’s Plus Vitamin C-they are chewable, taste great and kids love them too!)

2. Grape Seed Extract-100mg/1-3 X per day. This is a natural antihistamine. Also, its flavonoids inhibit allergic reactions that can cause eczema.

3. Quercetin-Builds mast cell membrane strength. These membranes are carriers of histamine. Quercetin keeps the membrane walls strong to prevent ruptures that leak histamine freely into the body, thereby causing allergic responses.

4. Bromelain-1000mg/day. Bromelain is an enzyme that comes from the juice and stem of the pineapple. It is an excellent anti-inflammatory that strengthens the immune system and clears mucous from the respiratory system. (Can also be used post surgery or anytime an anti-inflammatory agent is needed-has similar effects to ibuprofen).

5. MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane)-1000mg/1-3X per day. MSM contains sulfur which is an important nutrient for healthy body functions. MSM keeps the immune system strong and supports the respiratory system. MSM also improves allergies, skin problems, asthma and headaches.

There are many homeopathic remedies on the market that also can be taken with or without supplements. My favorite brand is bioAllers. It’s a liquid homeopathic. They have specific remedies for Tree, Grass, Pollen, Hayfever or a combination Pollen/Hayfever. Homeopathic remedies are great for children that can’t swallow pills. I use this one for my son in addition to the supplements.

It is not necessary but could benefit greatly to begin taking the supplements and homeopathic remedies before the symptoms appear. This will build the immune system gradually and the body will be ready when the pollen hits. However, if pollen has begun in your area and allergies are upon you, no better time than now to build immune strength.

Lastly, we all can agree that stress plays a role in immune health. Relaxation techniques, meditation and any enjoyable activity will help with immune strength. Relax, take supplements and enjoy an allergy free season!

As the holidays quickly approach, there is a feeling of not only excitement in the air but also the impending dread of cooking for days, shopping with 10 times the people in the stores, driving on the roads with people that are angryand in a hurry and seeing relatives that you  just don’t care to see or be around. So what can a person do to make through the holidays with peace and even joy?

There are actually many ways to keep in balance and not get sucked into the collective consciousness of “holiday stress.” The holiday’s can be joyful from Thanksgiving through New Years. In fact the tools that you will read about throughout the next 6 weeks are tools that can be used throughout the entire year to maintain peace, balance and joy in your daily life! So learn the techniques now and continue using them throughout 2010.

The first tool that in this holiday series is:

MEDITATION

Meditation is sustained and unbroken concentration that leads to a highly focused mind. Meditation moves us from using our subconscious mind to our conscious mind. Living in the conscious mind, trains us to live with more focus, proficiency and creativity and less disorganized, chaotic and scattered.  Meditation will actually help you to think in new ways and gain deeper perspective on experiences. You will find that you are not bothered by things that might have bothered or even upset you in the past.

Other benefits of meditation include:

• Slows the release of hormones in response to stress
• Stronger immune system
• Reduction of anxiety
• Lowers blood pressure
• Decreases muscle tension and headaches
• Increases serotonin production (low serotonin levels are linked to   depression, obesity, insomnia and even headaches)
• Substance abuse, alcoholism and cigarette smoking have all been helped by meditation
• Increases compassion for others
• Self Acceptance

The list goes on and on and these are just a few ways (relating to holiday stress) that meditation can be life changing.

HOW TO MEDITATE?

Find a nice peaceful area, and sit quietly (don’t lie down), set your timer (by setting a timer you are not constantly interrupting your practice by opening your eyes and checking your clock) and just clear your mind. As thoughts come in, imagine an ocean wave rolling in and pulling them away, gently, slowly then return to silence. Another visual is to see the words falling off a cliff then the cliff is empty. Any visual will work, have fun with it. Remember, meditation is a practice and even people that have done meditation for years for hours per day still call it a practice. The human mind must be trained NOT to have thoughts and it takes practice! So be easy on yourself.

Meditation seems difficult to some people, I often will hear, “I have tried but I can’t!” YES YOU CAN! Meditation is the simple act of quieting your mind. For many people having a focus, like a mantra helps them with mediation. Pick a mantra like “peace” or “OM” or any word that you are drawn to and simply state it over and over again, slowly. You can even sing it out loud or to yourself. The point is to concentrate fully on that word and that word only. When other thoughts drift in, repeat your word/mantra.

You can meditate while walking, riding a bike or even driving! It’s simply clearing your mind and thinking of nothing! Try driving home from work without your cell phone to your ear or the radio on and repeat your mantra out loud for 10 minutes, it’s so incredibly powerful. The next time you go for a walk be present moment with what you are noticing, do NOT bring your iPod or your cell phone, remain present moment and focused on what’s around you!

HOW LONG TO MEDITATE?

Meditation is not something that you have to do 60 minutes a day to begin with. When you first begin a meditation practice, begin with 2 or 5 minutes per day. Stick with that for a week until you feel you are ready to extend your time. Continue extending your time to 15-20 minutes per day and if you can maintain this amount of time-great! If you can only commit to 10 minutes per day this is great too. Spending even a few moments a day of being mindful is far better than not spending any time. It would be nice to have a goal of 20 minutes per day at some point; this may take some time to accomplish and it’s OK.

Be easy on yourself and celebrate even your smallest accomplishments, even your 2 minute victory. You may feel like 2 minutes is nothing but I guarantee you, you are benefiting your brain in more ways than you could ever imagine.