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As human beings in the world, we’re very sense-oriented – always taking in the world through our sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. But, how often are we fully present in the moment to the gift of our senses during the course of a day? The call of the mourning dove as the sun rises from the horizon. The crunchy sweetness of juicy watermelon on a hot summer’s day. The buzzing of a bee around the fragrant blossom of an apple tree.  You can mindfully engage each of your senses by bringing them into your spiritual practice. It’s a stimulating experience that will leave you feeling invigorated and fully alive! If you have a special place for your spiritual practice in your home, this is a perfect place for you to give it a try and awaken your 5 senses. First, take a moment to focus on your 5 senses and how you might actively engage each one. Which sense is most active for you – that you enjoy and prefer? What way could you enliven that sense? And how about the other ones? What resonates with you for each sense? This may help you decide. Here are a few ideas for each of the 5 senses to get you started. The Sense of Sight – Choose a color related to the mood you’d like. Blue or deep violet are relaxing and calming like floating in the tranquil waters of the sea. Yellow or gold radiates warmth and light like the shining sun. Maybe you choose a pillow, cloth, or flower of the color you desire.  Another possibility’s to burn a candle and awaken your sense of sight through watching the flickering flame. Or you might sit near a window or sliding glass doors to see the beauty of nature outside – the trees, sun, flowers, birds. Of course, you can also sit outside with the beauty of nature all around! The Sense of Smell – To enliven your sense of smell, you might choose an essential oil to diffuse or burn incense in the room. Lavender’s calming and pine or juniper will leave you feeling surrounded by the beauty of a forest. For a more subtle experience, consider a fragrant plant or a sprinkling of a spice. A rosemary plant can clear and refresh your mind (and room) much like a thunderstorm does to the air on a hot summer afternoon while cinnamon will comfort and warm you within like the smell of cinnamon cookies baking in a warm kitchen on a cold winter’s day. If you light a candle, a pure beeswax one will bring the sweet smell of honey wafting through the air.  The Sense of Sound – To awaken your sense of hearing, you could have peaceful background sound such as a water fountain flowing or birds chirping outside the window. Or you may choose to play meditation music or speak a mantra softly. If this is a sense that you resonate with strongly, you may want to explore a variety of sounds to see what works best for you. Also, don’t forget the sound of silence! We hear silence so rarely in our daily lives, so you might want to try to create silence in order to stimulate your sense of hearing. Sense of Taste - Of course, you don’t want to have a meal or snack while you’re meditating! But, maybe you consider the smell you’ll choose and connect the taste to that. Our sense of smell and taste are very related. A cup of herbal tea such as lavender or peppermint will support a calming environment. A taste of a touch of cinnamon or a mint leaf may enliven your mouth. Or even a sip of water flavored with fresh fruit. There are so many choices here! Just remember your intention of awakening your senses - which means something small, yet flavorful, is your best bet. It’s not meal time!  Sense of Touch- As you sit in your chair or on the floor for your spiritual practice, you immediately feel your body come in contact with the material of the cushion underneath you. The air, whether cool or warm, dry or moist, caresses your exposed skin and gently floats in and out of your nose. You may add a warm, soft blanket around your shoulders if it’s a cold day. Or a small pillow to support your back.
Settling into your sacred space, you can take a few moments to massage your hands slowly one finger at a time starting at the palm of the hand moving toward the tips of each finger. You might also want to massage your feet! These gentle yet intentional movements will not only enliven your sense of touch in your hands and feet, but in your whole body! Now that you’ve contemplated how to engage your 5 senses and have settled into your sacred space, as you enter into your meditation or prayer be present in the moment with your 5 senses. What do you feel touching your skin? What are the sounds you hear? What taste lingers in your mouth or smell in the air? Focus on what is in the moment and given to you as a gift to experience the world through your senses. As you complete your practice, express your gratitude for your body that allows you to experience the world. Feel how you’re invigorated and fully alive as you enter back into your day! Don’t forget to check out the many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here.
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We’ve all heard about the benefit of living our life with a sense of gratitude. And, how much happier and healthier we’ll be with an attitude of gratefulness toward what’s in our life each day. It’s pretty easy, I think, to be grateful when life is going smoothly! You’re grateful for your loving family and friends. You’re finding joy and meaning in your work. The blossoming flowers and shining sun bring beauty in your life. Your health is strong. All’s well and you’re filled with gratitude for everything.  But what about when things aren’t going so well? Your health is suffering. Or a relationship is strained. Work is difficult. It’s cold and rainy outside and driving conditions are challenging. During times like these, we sometimes lose sight of what’s still good in our lives. Thinking back to a time when things were difficult in the past can help us gain insight for the present moment’s difficulties. Remember a time where you struggled in the past. Maybe an illness? A job that you weren’t offered? A divorce or falling out in a friendship? Now, looking back on that difficult time, think about how far you’ve come. What did you learn from that situation that helps you now? How were you able to get through that situation – what resources or gifts did you call upon within yourself? What positive circumstances are in your life now that might not be there if it hadn’t been for your ability to move through that challenging situation? We grow and learn over time from our painful experiences. It’s not that they’re not painful while they’re happening. They are! But we gain wisdom and strength having lived through them.  You may have something difficult that’s happening in your life right now. Where are you able to find gratitude even though it’s difficult? Can you be grateful for your courage and perseverance to move forward? Can you be grateful for finding the strength to get up each day? And the fact that you wake up to a brand new day? Maybe you feel gratitude for the help you are receiving to move through the difficult situation? There’s always something in our lives for which we can be grateful, even in difficult times. It’s not about ignoring our feelings about the challenges or pretending they don’t exist. It’s realizing that we all have challenges in life and they too shall pass. Just as our moments of happiness and joy pass, so do our moments of pain and suffering. Life doesn’t ever stay the same. I’m reminded of a Zen story that’s a favorite of mine. A student went to his meditation teacher and said, "My meditation is horrible! I feel so distracted, or my legs ache, or I'm constantly falling asleep. It's just horrible!" "It will pass," the teacher said matter-of-factly. A week later, the student came back to his teacher. "My meditation is wonderful! I feel so aware, so peaceful, so alive! It's just wonderful!' "It will pass," the teacher replied matter-of-factly. In every moment, whether that moment’s filled with joy or with suffering, there’s something to be grateful for. And in doing so, we become more balanced, centered, and calm – and even healthier and happier. Yet, I know, in the midst of a difficult time, it’s sometimes hard to be grateful or even imagine that there could be something that we appreciate. If it’s too difficult, then let go of something in the present for right now and continue to cultivate gratitude by considering something in the past. Think of what happened in that difficult situation from the past and how you navigated it in the best way possible. In a quiet, relaxed state, contemplate these questions.
 Once the wisdom that you gained is illuminated for you, shift back to the present moment. Trust that through the current difficult situation, you’ll also gain wisdom even if it can’t be seen right now.
Feel gratitude for the opportunity to see more deeply the events in your life and the Divine that lives within your life, even when it’s not easy. “If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” — Rabbi Harold Kushner Don’t forget to check out the many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here. Are you having a hard time sticking to your spiritual practice? Do you get started on your path – whether it be meditation, prayer, or contemplation (or all 3!) and have intentions to do this regularly and then after a little while you realize you haven’t maintained your practice? You’re not alone! Many of us do this too! Creating a sacred space in your home for your spiritual practice can support you in sticking with your intentions. An inviting and meaningful place, dedicated just for this sacred work. It can help you to pause during the day and enter into a calm, relaxed state, more quickly releasing the stress and tension of the day. Each time you use this sacred space, your body will have a memory of its use and your intention.  Need a little guidance in creating a sacred space in your home? Check out this blog post 3 Tips for Creating a Sacred Space within Your Home. But what about when you’re traveling and not home? While we might certainly benefit from having a sacred space in our home, when we’re traveling, this becomes even more challenging! But don’t let that interrupt your practice. With a little creativity, you can still continue forward with your practice.  When you are away from home, look around and locate a space that’ll be quiet and without distractions. Maybe outside near a tree or in a room by yourself. But if those aren’t possible, don’t despair! Think out of the box. On a bus or subway with the background noise of commuters isn’t out of the question! With your eyes closed and a foundation of spiritual practice that has been built at home, you’ll probably find that you can transition easily into your practice. It could work well for you! You may even consider traveling with something meaningful from your sacred space at home that you can hold in your hands. Mala beads or a rosary. Maybe a small crystal. Something that speaks to you and will support you in entering into your spiritual practice.  Are you thinking a bus or subway is too noisy? It’s not going to work for you. Maybe the bathtub with no water and a request to family members to not disturb you. Seem strange? It could work if you need it to! Remember to set your intention for this sacred time. This will help you to slip into the rhythm that you established at home wherever you happen to be traveling. While you’re traveling away from home, don’t forget to also consider a visit to a sacred place. There are many places in nature in the world that have powerful energies that’ll support you in expanding your consciousness, reaching higher levels of vibration, and maybe even finding answers to deeper questions you have held. There are also many churches, synagogues, pilgrimage sites and other sacred places where people have come together in worship of the Divine and these places also resonate with a powerful energy that has deepened over the years. This can exponentially magnify the power of your spiritual practice.  What a gift this could be to give to ourselves - to go to one of these places as a special time to connect with sacred energy.
Enjoy the warmth and fun of summer and any travel plans you have! May you access your inner strength to maintain your spiritual practice during this time that pulls us out in the world! Check out the many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here. Do you struggle with finding time to meditate? Are your daily activities keeping you busy? Are you wondering how you could possibly squeeze in time to meditate too? We know, of course, that meditation is one of the best ways to reduce our stress levels and foster peace of mind. We also know how we can experience our interconnectedness to all when we meditate and that challenges that we have in life begin to dissolve when we meditate, bringing a deep sense of peace and harmony. We even know that meditation can open the door to experiencing higher states of consciousness.  And yet, sometimes we still struggle with finding the time to meditate, don’t we?! If we think about it, most of our time during a day is spent with our minds engaged internally in stories about our lives – work, health, family, friends, finances, events, and more. Often we’re not even aware of this. We’re out for a walk and see a rosebush growing in someone’s lawn and it reminds us of the rosebush at our grandparents’ house when we were young. Suddenly we’re remembering the argument between our parents that we overheard during a visit to the house. Our feelings of that situation bubble up again, as they did as a young child in that situation.  Although our mind’s certainly capable of creating positive stories, it has a tendency to pay more attention to negative experiences – which results in stress in our daily lives. We know meditation’s one of the best tools we can use to release this accumulated stress and foster a peace of mind. And yet it still may be difficult to actually do regularly! Even if we commit to engaging in regular meditation or another spiritual practice. We still can’t seem to put it into action and DO it. Why is this? Many obstacles interfere even with the best of our intentions. They distract us and then we once again arrive at the realization we’re not doing what we intended. We may get annoyed or upset with ourselves. Or feel inadequate, incapable, or that we’ve failed yet again. Awareness is the key! By understanding some of the main obstacles that interfere with your best intentions to meditate regularly, you can be prepared ahead of time. You’ll be easier on yourself, less judgmental, knowing that these obstacles are common for all of us. You’ll be able to intercept them earlier so that you can recover and return to your practice more quickly. Supporting you to be successful in following through with your intentions! Here are 5 obstacles that can get in the way of your best intentions to meditate regularly. 1. Stress – When you’re in the middle of stress in your life, meditation may be the furthest thing from your mind. Stress may make you head in the direction of a fight-flight-freeze response that’ll interfere with your ability to access higher levels of awareness in the moment. You’ll need to work to come out of this primitive response through a calming activity such as deep breathing or a walk in nature in order to be able to follow through on your commitment to meditate. 2. Being Tired – When you’re exhausted, your body and mind just need rest. That’s the top priority for your own well being! So, give yourself permission to rest, even if it’s for a short time before you enter your meditation practice. 3. Being in Pain – Any kind of pain we have – whether it is physical or emotional – can be overwhelming. Our whole being can become absorbed in the feeling. Once again, meditation can be the furthest thing from our mind. Pain may need to be managed in order for you to be able to be present for meditation, although some wisdom traditions encourage you to enter into being with your pain in order to relieve your suffering. A challenging path, but one you may consider. 4. Not Enough Time - When your days are filled with more activity than the time you have, you feel rushed and stressed. You try to squeeze in more, in the hopes of saving time. You can’t see where you could possibly take time for your spiritual practice; you’re far too busy! Take a closer look at your day and schedule your meditation time first before the rest of your day, if needed.  5. Distractions of our Culture – We’re all familiar with this one in our current times. Yet, with all of our good intentions to do our meditation, we may still be pulled into scrolling through social media on our cellphones or the busyness of the various activities of our children. Of course, those may be worthy activities in your life! You just may want to bring awareness to them. Are they taking over all of the time you may have to care for yourself and meditate? How often do they interfere? Take a closer look. And when you begin to see that you cannot do so, it is then that you lose heart. That is the point my dear friends – do not lose heart: know that it is not the momentary success that matters, it is working on and on with iron perseverance. R. Steiner  Remember don’t lose heart! Just begin again and persevere, knowing that’s what we all do on our spiritual path – a step at a time.
Check out the many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here. Do you wonder if meditation is for Christians? Meditation is a spiritual practice found in many great wisdom traditions, including Christianity. It can be practiced by anyone, regardless of a religious affiliation or not. In Christianity, the tradition of contemplative practice is reemerging in our current times, whether it be in the form of contemplative prayer or meditation.  For Christians, meditation is a daily practice that creates a quiet, reflective space to cultivate a sacred connection to God. Some Christians also use sacred text from the Bible as a focus of meditation. Here’s one method of meditation rooted in early Christian teaching that you may be inspired to try. 
“May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.” (Psalm 104:34)  You may wonder what makes it Christian meditation and not just meditation? As a Christian, the faith that is the basis of your meditation provides you a connection to Christ. The sacred word you choose is from the Holy Bible, the foundation of your faith.
In the Christian tradition, contemplative practice such as this meditation is seen as a grace and work of love. You may find that you become more loving as a result of meditating - in your relationships, your work in the world, and towards those in need. Truly a gift! Check out the many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here. |
About JeannineI was born in London, England, educated in Switzerland, and am fluent in English, German, Spanish, and French. I hold a Doctorate in Ministry Degree and Masters Degrees in Counseling Psychology and Education. Also, I am an accomplished artist and educator. I use all of this and much more when helping others heal their souls. Archives
February 2020
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