inspiration

Do You Need to Upgrade Your Meditation Practice?

April 16, 2014 By Cara Lumen

I had the worst meditation practice going – ever. It was token. It was short. It needed work. Other aspects of my spiritual practice were blooming. I wanted and needed to upgrade my meditation practice.

Find your best time to meditate

I finally figured out that the time of day I chose to meditate was very important. When I learned Transcendental Meditation 50 years ago, I meditated when I first got up and when I returned from work. Twenty minutes twice a day. My life got better. And although I have meditated for a large portion of my life, for some reason my current meditation practice leaves a lot to be desires. Now I shower, dress and feed my cat before I do my Qi Gong. Since it is a moving meditation, it made sense to follow it with a seated meditation. However, I found that when I sat in my chair my mind filled with ideas and insights that, more than anything did, I wanted to go to my computer and write down. I kept cutting short my meditation in order to capture my thoughts. By accident, I found that if I waited until after my spiritual reading, which followed my Qi Gong, and after I jot down any burning ideas, it is a great time for me to meditate. My concepts are captured and “safe” and I can go back to my spiritual practice. That shift in timing made a huge difference in my receptivity to meditation.

Form the habit

I got back on track with a Deepak Chopra 21-day meditation challenge He uses a mantra and I worked with that as well as my own TM mantra. His meditations are 20 minutes long. I began to enjoy the depth to which I could go in that time limit. Find the right time for your meditation and make it a habit. Length is not as important as finding and regularly using the same time every day in order to form the habit. After the habit is established, you can work on lengthening your time.

Live in your core consciousness

“Meditation is a way to get in the space between your thoughts.” says Deepak “According to wisdom traditions, this space between the thought is the window, is the corridor, is the vortex to the infinite mind” I want to go there. I want to live in my core consciousness. I want to use my intuition, and understand the guidance of my inner wisdom. I want to dwell in that space of infinite possibilities. I want to feel my connection with all that is. I want to dwell in the space between my thoughts.

Personal cultivation is whatever you do to deepen your inner awareness.

Your spiritual practice is uniquely yours. It is up to you to design a program that nourishes, educates, motivates and inspires you to live your best life. Meditation should be an integral part of that practice. The quality of my meditation changed when I found a new mudra he length and depth of my meditation increased when I found a better time for my morning practice. My meditation habit anchored itself with the help of an online program. Now I need to find the best time for my afternoon meditation but I have a feeling I’m going to feel so great after increasing my morning meditation that I will eagerly sit down later in the day.

Use your meditation to gain insights

If you have a problem to solve, take it into the silence of your meditation and let it go. Use your meditation to increase your feelings of well-being that in turn attract more feelings of well-being. If you are angry or sad or lonely, take those emotions into the silence of your meditation and allow them to be soothed and washed away. Move into your meditation ready to let go, to still your thoughts, and to bask in the realm of infinite possibilities.

The effects of meditation are cumulative

Each time we meditate, we deepen our feelings of peace. We retain those feelings for longer periods during our day. That inner peace stays with us as we move to solve a problem, or interact with a friend, or begin to initiate something new at work. The effects of meditation are noticeable. First to you, who will feel calmer and more centered, and then to others who will begin to respond to your differently and not know why. You will develop an inner sensitivity to the natural rhythm of things and move forward with ease and gentleness. Meditation is the place where you come to understand that everything is connected to everything else.

Meditation opens you to the Law of Attraction

In the silence of the space between your thoughts is a place of infinite creativity and infinite imagination. It is the place where the power of your inner creator acts as a magnet to draw to you the qualities and circumstances you desire. Take your visions into your meditation. Allow yourself the unlimited possibilities that are present in the Universe and draw them to you simply by moving more deeply into meditation.

What is holding back your meditation practice?

If timing is holding you up, perhaps get up 10 minutes early, cuddle in your meditation chair and get your day off to a balanced start. If stilling your mind holds you back, follow your breath. Choose a new mantra. Find a new mudra. Notice what is pulling you out of meditation and what is keeping you from setting aside time for your practice. Add journaling to lead you into meditation. Write some introspective poetry when you emerge. Read something meaningful and move into meditation to more fully absorb it. What do you need to add or subtract from your meditation practice to make it a stronger and more powerful daily experience?

Carry your meditation practice with you throughout out day.

As you deepen your meditation practice, you will begin to feel your connection with the entire universe throughout your day. You will speak and work mindfully. You will allow life to unfold. You will feel compassion toward everyone you meet. If your mind gets too active, focus on your breath. If you start to feel stressed, use your hand mudra. Find small ways throughout your day to keep the serenity of your meditation with you throughout your day.

What will you do to upgrade your meditation practice?

This Day is Mine

December 12, 2011 By Cara Lumen

I opened the door

And the day tumbled in,

Clear, joyous, full of Life.

Puffy white clouds

Float peacefully above.

Yellow, pink, purple and salmon glowers

Wave “Good Morning” from my patio garden.

Peace comes to my heart.

This day is mine,

Every nook and cranny of it,

To sense, to savor, to hold.

I listen to Spirit for Guidance,

I open myself to signals and signs,

I hold my vision in my heart,

And step forth into life.

Cara Lumen

March 27, 1997

Spring Equinox

Why You Should Start Hanging Out with People Who are Playing Bigger than You Are

July 8, 2008 By Cara Lumen

by Cara Lumen

I’m about to be stretched. I’m about to be asked to think bigger than I have been, to look at possibilities that I’ve never considered and to probably change my thinking. I’m going to start hanging out with people who are playing bigger than I am.

You can only take yourself so far

We need to surround ourselves with people who see our potential. From within our own lives our viewpoint of what is possible for us is limited by old beliefs and fears. But other people don’t see that, they don’t know what thoughts stop us, they only see our potential. We need to hang out with them so we can have a bigger view of what is possible for us.

I used to keep an acknowledgement book in which I wrote the nice things people said about me with the date it was said. When I started feeling dumpy about myself I’d read what was written. "Oh, they saw that in me? I didn’t know." Now I simply save the lovely emails and the amazing testimonials that people give me. But I still have to go read them periodically to reaffirm my own value.

Hanging out with the bigger players shows you how it’s done

Every time I have a conversation with someone about their services or the way they manage their business, I find some small nugget for myself that I can adapt or modify or just plain use.

I’m about to acquire another coaching certification and as I give thought to how I will work it into my current business I find my vision expanding. When I talked to another participant about how he structured his coaching practice I began to rethink mine. When I heard how much he charged I realized I was ready to reposition my fees and attract more clients who firmly believe that my coaching is well worth the money and are willing to spend it to grow their business.

And it’s scary

I’m in a funny place. At 75 when someone asks me what my five year plan is my answer is "To still be here!" But that’s a joke, because I’m building my business with all the intention of working it for another 30 years. But there is an energy about someone twenty or thirty years younger that I need to recapture.

That’s another reason to hang out with people who are playing bigger than I am. I need to create my version of my business in a way that honors who I am, what I know how to do, and how I want to live my life. And I need to watch what other people are doing for ideas.

So I have to overcome the fact that only 10% of women my age went to college (I went back for my MA at 40) and that women of my generation were only expected to grow up and be housewives.

I have to overcome the loss of confidence I discovered when I reentered the work force after fifteen years of raising children to find what I knew how to do had no value to others in the work place.

And I get to celebrate my blossoming as my creative, enthusiastic self and the fact that at long last I am deeply involved in what I love to do.

Now that I’ve made it to this point I get to do more.

So I’m going to go hang out with people who are doing their business well and see what I can learn from them. And while I’m at it I’ll keep an eye out on what I can teach them.

You see it’s not about who is better or worse, who is more than or less than, it’s a study in how beautifully different each of us are. I will engage in this training environment with a willingness to learn, an enthusiasm to share, and an expectation of both inner and outer expansion.

That’s why it’s important to periodically go hang out with people playing bigger than you are.