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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.
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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. Do you ever wonder about listening to music or not during meditation? I know that I have.  Music is such an integral part of my life, as is meditation. Music has many benefits for stress management, helping to alter a person’s mood becoming calmer and more relaxed. Meditation can also calm the mind and the body, building resilience to stress and bringing a sense of inner peace. I personally have experienced that listening to calming music while meditating helps me to focus and calm my body, supporting my meditation.  “The purpose of meditation is to make our mind calm and peaceful. If our mind is peaceful, we will be free from worries and mental discomfort, and so we will experience true happiness. But if our mind is not peaceful, we will find it very difficult to be happy, even if we are living in the very best conditions.” Kelsang Gyatso Give it a try and see if calming music supports your meditation. Here are some tips to get you started.
 Use of music with meditation can support you in several ways. It can….
Give it a try and let me know how it goes. What music do you use? How does it support you? What changes do you see in your meditation? Check out the many audio recordings available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here. Meditation has been used by many cultures as a spiritual practice for thousands of years. But what is meditation exactly?  It’s often experienced as a journey from outer awareness in the world to inner awareness. You settle in and focus on what is in the present, setting aside thoughts of the past or the future. Slower and intentional breathing typically helps to relax the body and quiet the mind. As you experience a deep state of rest, your mind begins to feel open and spacious. Your body can enter into its natural state of healing itself releasing any stress and toxins. This can set you on a path for greater health and happiness in your life. There are many ways to enter into meditation. You may choose to focus on a spiritual text, verse, or image. Or you may choose to be in silence.  Whatever form of meditation you choose, as your body and mind calms down and your awareness turns inward, you may find that you enter into the space or gap that exists between the thoughts. It may appear as silence, but it’s a silence filled with infinite possibilities. It’s there that you connect with your Divine Self – in the space between your thoughts. And as you come out of your meditation into the outer world once again, you bring with you a drop of that experience - of who you really are and the infinite possibilities that exist. By repeating this journey regularly, you strengthen this sacred connection and you’ll experience that you can bring this silence and sense of possibility into your daily activities, even in the midst of noise and chaos. You more clearly see your divine path and what choices are best for you. After establishing a regular practice of meditation, you may experience you begin to have a higher spiritual awareness beyond your usual daily thoughts. You more deeply discover the highest aspect of yourself, connected in unity with the universe – a feeling of oneness and perfection. At times, you may gain insight into parts of your life, but that’s typically not an intention for meditation. Meditation is to cultivate a state of to silence where you can listen for what may arise out of this silence. You may wonder, What are you listening for? And who is actually speaking?  In the silence, you may hear your inner voice, your eternal voice, that speaks to you out of the wisdom of your eternal spirit, your essence. As you listen, you experience your interconnectedness to all and challenges that you have in life begin to dissolve, bringing a deep sense of peace and harmony along with understanding and compassion. This opens the door to experience higher states of consciousness.
The true value of meditation is this spiritual awakening it brings. Why not start today? Here are 3 easy steps to bring meditation into your daily life. 1. Schedule it. We all tend to lead full lives with busy schedules. So, to be sure to find the time to meditate, schedule it. Put it on your schedule for a block of time and commit to it like you would an appointment at your dentist’s office or a meeting at work. 2. Start small. You’ll be more successful if you start with just a few minutes. Then after you’ve been successful in this, slowly increase your time. 3. Be open to what arises. Your experience will vary from day to day and over time. Don’t consider it a failure if one day you seem to be distracted or struggling more than others. You’ve been present to the moment and what arises in that space, so you’ve succeeded! “Half an hour's meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.” Saint Francis de Sales Check out the many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here. I've mentioned before that one of my favorite spiritual texts is Psalm 91. My husband, David, introduced this Psalm to me years ago as it was a text that had supported him through difficult times. It spoke to me so deeply that I decided to commit it to memory. Not long after that, I was inspired to write a melody for it. Listen to it here11_psalm_91.mp3.  After first memorizing the text then bringing it to life through music, I was amazed at how powerful and potent this was for me as a healing energy. To this day when ever I am feeling low, discouraged, overwhelmed or hopeless, listening to this recording and singing along immediately lifts me up. We spend so much of our time in a visual world nowadays which is really centered more within the left side of our brain. This is the side that is all about doing. I know I often feel a longing for balancing this with my sense of hearing. This is based within the right side of our brain that is more about being. Hearing sound through vibrations such as music and our own voice is a vast realm of potential energy that can be harnessed for our own healing and well-being. Joining this healing potential of music with a spiritual text that is sacred can be an incredible gateway to a universal archetypal energy field far greater than ourselves. We can vibrate with a higher level of consciousness.  Every organ, tissue, and cell has its vibration. When these are in harmony, then we have our health and well-being. If disharmony arises in some form, there is a loss of well-being and we may experience discomfort and disease. According to Deepak Chopra, “The body is held together by sound, and the presence of disease indicates that some sounds are out of tune… primordial sound is the mysterious link that holds the universe together in a web that is the quantum field.” We can even see the potency of sound when the Bible speaks of the initial spark of creation that came from sound or vibration. It says, according to John, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God … and the Word was made flesh.”  If we understand Word as Sound, we see how sound can be such a creative force.
Why not explore your creative side and tap into this vast potential of healing energy through sound? Pick a favorite spiritual text. Which one resonates with you? How could you put it to music? Give it a try! Reap the benefits of the power of harmonious sound in your life. When we bring the right kind of sound into our lives, we can align ourselves with vibrations that encourage health, happiness, and unity. Check out the many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here.. As you continue to develop your own spiritual practice, do you wonder if you should explore prayers or spiritual practices from other traditions? But then decide against it because you aren’t a part of that religion? I personally have found exploring other traditions to be enriching in my life. If something speaks to you – a verse, a prayer, a sacred text – then I’d encourage you to go further with it. There’s beauty and value in all of the wisdom traditions. Matthew Fox in his book, One River, Many Wells, speaks of no religion being the mother of the ocean, rather the ocean is mother of all things. Even though it may be hard for us to picture, our religions are recent in time, in comparison to the time that human beings have existed.  “Spirit is …. full of energy and free to choose its own path.” M. Fox Our current times seem to be calling for a “deep ecumenism” which teaches us that every religious tradition is a path to the Divine. It makes sense that we can best be of service to humanity when we respect other religious paths, but also when we explore and collaborate with our shared work of healing the world. One of my favorites practices from Hinduism is chanting mantras. One I use regularly whenever I’m facing a challenge of some kind in my life is OM GAM GANESHAYA NAMAHA (ohm gung gah-nay-shah-yah nah-mah-hah). Ganesha is the name of the Hindu deity and represents the power that is present in everything, as the power behind all power. This mantra, translated, says, “Lord, God of hosts, I invoke you.”Or “Ganesha, through whose power everything is possible, no obstacle can stand in Your way.”This has been a great comfort and a support to me whenever I’ve faced obstacles in my life.  Through exploring the sacred texts and spiritual practices of other traditions, you can experience the many gifts they offer and ……..
 What speaks to you from other traditions? What prayers or practices touch you or resonate with you? Thich Nhat Hanh says it beautifully with these words. “When you touch someone who authentically represents a tradition, you not only touch his or her tradition, you also touch your own. Through the practice of deep looking and deep listening, we become free, able to see the beauty and values in our own and others’ tradition.”  I encourage you to explore other wisdom traditions and find the nourishment that can be offered to you. A single path doesn’t always contain all of the nutrients we need in life. When we explore other traditions, our own spiritual practice is enriched and we bring healing and peace into the world.
You can listen to an audio of the Ganesha mantra here LINKin my Free Healing Library where you will find many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice. Do you have a favorite prayer, mantra, or sacred text you like to read or say again and again? I know I have several.  What I’ve discovered though is sometimes we can repeat them in a rote way, with very little attention to the deeper meaning or sacred quality of the words. We fall into a pattern out of habit and in this habit, fall asleep a little. To break out of this in my spiritual practice, I like to work more consciously with a specific sacred text or prayer. One of my favorites is the Lord’s Prayer. I read or say it slowly – out loud. Whenever my heart is touched, I stop at that place. I let that word or phrase flow through my whole being and work its sacred power.  I don’t really try to think about it or intellectually understand it. I let it wash over me as I stay present, aware, and in silence. This is quite a powerful and potent experience! If you’re seeking a way to deepen your spiritual practice, I recommend giving it a try. You can use the Lord’s Prayer below or another sacred text. Here are the steps I suggest, but be sure to adjust them to meet your own needs!
Explore these steps with different sacred texts and discover the depth and sacredness in each.  Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name
Thy kingdom come Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen Check out the many resources available to support you in your spiritual practice in my Free Healing Library here. Some picture prayer as a religious act where you bend down on your knees and fold your hands and talk to God, often putting forward requests. Others may reach out in prayer to God when life’s path is difficult. A desperate plea for help in a challenging time.  How about you? How do you think of prayer? When do you use prayer? Consider for a moment that prayer is the divine within you reaching out to the Divine in the Universe, saying that I’m willing to be helped with this right now. The meaning of this request actually comes more from the feeling and intention within, rather than the words stated. Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. Mahatma Gandhi Of course, we remember that life’s journey is filled with bumpy spots and twists and turns in the road. Many of these may have a deeper purpose for our lives or may be a lesson in our greater journey, even if unknown to us at the time.  And in the request for support from the spiritual world, we accept that Divine will and Divine time may unfold in a different way than what we realize in the moment. So, we ask for help and then need to surrender to see what unfolds – being open to what comes. In this surrender, we truly seek wisdom about what needs to be accepted or changed in this situation. We ask for guidance, the wisdom to understand, and the courage to follow through with the next steps in our own lives.  Here are 7 steps to help you bring meaningful prayers into your life.
When we enjoy the moment of our prayers being answered, we experience our intentions manifesting into reality and there’s a total clarity of our True Self aligning with the Divine in the universe in our life’s path. Don’t forget to check out the many resources available for FREE in my Free Healing Library here. I’ve been enjoying the blossoming flowers and singing birds here in Colorado as spring comes to life all around me. I hope you’re taking radical care of your self this season! Now’s a great time to focus on your own health and well-being.  “An empty lantern provides no light. Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.” – Unknown Here are a few helpful reminders of what I’ve shared over the last weeks in my Radical Self-Care series. Discover which one may nurture you the most at this time. 1. Break Free from Fear It’s so easy today to let fear overwhelm us. If you pause and focus on what could make you anxious and fearful, there, most likely, will be a long list. Fear of not having enough – enough food, shelter, or basic needs. Or fear of getting older and not doing all you had dreamed of doing in your life. Fear is a part of being human and probably has been with us since the beginning of time. And yet we’re in charge of how we work with our own fear, how we let it paralyze or overwhelm us or how we may dissolve it. Our external circumstances don’t actually have control over our fear. We do! "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do." – Eleanor Roosevelt Explore more tips about Breaking Free from Fear here. 2. Unlock the Hidden Treasure of Your Inner Power When your inner well’s full, you begin to develop a certain steadiness in life. You’re guided and strengthened from within, rather than dependent on external influences. This gives you even more strength for all that comes your way in life. You’ll become more present and fully experience all of life. And a sense of peace and calm will arise, as you begin to see the bigger purpose and meaning of your life. Here are a few tips for filling your inner well, giving you the key to unlocking the hidden treasure of your own inner power.  3. Awaken your Heart to Compassion If you ever feel overwhelmed by the suffering you see in the world, or even experience in your own life, awakening your heart forces is a key. When we open our heart through our spiritual practices, then we become active in transforming suffering. If our heart is closed, we can feel isolated or disconnected from the rest of the world. Maybe even overwhelmed by all of the suffering we see and experience. In awakening your heart to compassion, not only is it helpful for the person suffering, but it can bring you to a place of peace and love. Curious about a few practices to help you find compassion within your heart, for yourself and others? Check out my favorite ones here. 4. Cultivate the Art of Authentic Communication Finding your voice and authentically expressing yourself isn’t always easy to accomplish. Sometimes it’s easier to simply say what the other person wants to hear or is able to hear in that moment, instead of speaking your truth. Speaking your truth doesn’t mean you can say whatever comes to your mind, even if it’s hurtful or unkind. Speaking your truth, when it arises from your spiritual essence will be clear, yet compassionate. True active listening isn’t always easy either. It includes giving the other person your full attention, with focus and presence – holding a space for all that needs to be shared. And even allowing a pause for what’s being shared to live in the space for a moment before responding. Discover more HERE about how to cultivate the art of communication in your daily life through
 5. Be Open to a New Perspective How often are we stuck in our own view and maybe even with blinders on? But if we take just a moment to step out of it and see in a different way, what a gift it can be in our relationships, our interactions, and even in our own inner development! Take a moment right now and think of someone in your life. Picture yourself as that person – what it’s like to wake up in the morning as that person, go about the day in their activities, to interact with others. Now imagine you, as this person, encountering something that bothers you. Why is it upsetting? What lives behind the emotion? How do you see the situation? Step out of the view of the other person and come back to yourself. What did you learn from that experience? Were you able to see life from their perspective? How do you see that person now? The issues they are encountering in life? Is it different in any way from how you viewed it before? 6. Simple, yet Profound, Ways to Connect to Divine Healing Energy The challenges that we experience in the world may seem to always be present. We can get caught up in the regular surprises that appear to threaten our well-being in this world which can be frightening and unsettling. Especially now, in this time, it’s vital for our own health and the health of the world that we bring conscious practices into our lives regularly. Here are 4 simple, yet profound, ways to bring a daily practice into your life that makes a difference in your health and well-being.
 Explore more on each practice for connecting to Divine Healing Energy HERE.
I do hope you are finding ways to nurture yourself with Radical Self Care this spring! And don’t forget to check out the many more resources for FREE in my Free Healing Library. Seem to have trouble squeezing in a spiritual practice on a regular basis? Life can get busy or overwhelming, at times. The challenges that we experience in the world may seem to always be present. We can get caught up in the regular surprises that appear to threaten our well-being in this world which can be frightening and unsettling. Especially now, in this time, it’s vital for our own health and the health of the world that we bring conscious practices into our lives regularly. Here are 4 simple, yet profound, ways to bring a daily practice into your life that makes a difference in your health and well being. 1. Gratitude The practice of gratitude brings your attention to the present and all that comes into your life each and every day to support you. There’s so much! Such gratitude is like a gift to the Divine – for all that has been given to you. And when appreciation is a regular practice, a space opens for more gifts to flow into your life. Every evening before you go to bed, recall 3 things from the day that you’re grateful for.  2. Time in Nature Time in nature is healing and calming for all of us. A hike or walk outside is refreshing and rejuvenating, but even sitting for a few minutes under a tree while you take a break at work can be incredibly helpful – relaxing the body, deepening the breath, and feeling a closer connection to Mother Earth and all that exists in the Universe.  3. Breathe Take a deep breath in, all the way to your belly and then slowly exhale. You help your blood be nourished, fuel your whole body, and let go of the waste the body doesn’t need, detoxing your bodily systems. Pause for a moment whenever you can throughout the day to inhale slowly through the nose, deep in the lungs and belly. Exhale through the nose slowly. At the end of the exhale through the nose, open your mouth and blow out any remaining air in your lungs until they’re empty. Breathe in deeply again through your nose and repeat. This expels all of the used breath and fills your lungs with fresh, new air. Supporting health and well-being in your body.  4. Being in the Present Moment How often do we think about the past or focus on what’s coming up in the future? Take a moment, while taking deep breaths, and focus on the present moment. What do you hear? What do you see? What do you feel? What sensations are you feeling in your body in this moment? Bring your attention to what is in this moment – the present moment. This is the space of health and healing. The Crown Chakra The practices above will support you in beginning to open to a higher state of being. The seventh chakra, the crown chakra, is what gives us the ability to access higher states of consciousness, as we open to that which is beyond ourselves.  It’s located at the top of the head and slightly above the head. It sits like a crown, opening upwards.
It’s the source of our connection to the divine energy of creation and to our higher self. Also to the experience that we’re one with everyone and everything in nature. This is the 8th in my series on Radical Self-Care! To help balance the crown chakra, we can call upon Brahman, cosmic spirit and infinite consciousness. You can find the Healing Brahman Mantra in my Free Healing Library and chant along with me. |
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
September 2019
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