In The Beginning
About 12 years ago I had a moment of realization. My body was trying to tell me that I needed to work on myself and work on my spiritual self. I was hearing ringing in my ears constantly and I had no idea where this ringing was coming from. I began feeling panicky and like I was under so much stress and pressure it was unreal. Of course, as a single mother, there were real stressors in my life, but suddenly they felt a million times more prominent and clouded by my own very personal struggles to define my life and where I was going and if I was fulfilling any of my goals.
I walked into a metaphysical store just to explore and I found myself drawn to so many of the items in the store. I started out pretty simple with a few crystals, incense and some candles and decided that I would work on centering myself in meditation.
This definitely sounded like an easy task, but without the first idea of how to quiet my mind, I found sitting and relaxing difficult. I fought with myself for a while and then started looking for solutions because my inner self knew I needed to do this for me, for growth and to find peace within the storms that I would undoubtedly have to face.
This part of the journey led me to realize that there are so many people out there who are trying to move into their own personal journeys, but don’t know the first place to start. The beautiful thing that I have found is that as more people adventure past their everyday norms, there are more and more people talking about and sharing their stories with others. Many of those people have found themselves called to share and help those coming into their own journeys and create an easier transition into their spiritual adventure.
For me, finding binaural beats was a great improvement. I found one that had a consistent sound that allowed me to visualize a ball of light traveling in the shape of an infinity symbol against the backdrop of space. I have heard people talk about how drumming helps them connect, I have definitely enjoyed drumming, but never consciously used it to help me find my meditative bliss space. Others I have heard appreciate dance, sensory deprivation, and floating in water to help calm themselves and slow the mind into a meditative space.
On of the biggest thing I hear, and have even said myself is, “How do you stop thoughts from coming into your mind while you are trying to meditate?”. The answer to this question sounds simple, and it is, but it is harder to do in the beginning. It is natural for thoughts to continue to come into your mind space all of the time. The best advice I have ever been given is to acknowledge the thought, but let it pass. If I find the thought is worthy of returning to later, then I can do that, but most of the thoughts that pop up when we try to clear our minds are thoughts about our waking life, worries, concerns, our to-do lists…etc Allow yourself the ability to accept then move on from each thought as it enters, eventually this will train your mind to focus differently, giving you more control over the intrusions.
I use binaural beats to help my mind focus, and I have a couple of favorite videos on youtube.com that I can share.
Even if I fall asleep, the level of relaxation resulting from my meditations is astounding. I sometimes find myself in a blissful state even in the darkest of moments. Often times these experiences include profound messages that appear as dreams or visions as they occur in the space between being awake and asleep.
You see, we are what we think we are, and if we feel miserable, we are miserable. Finding peace within can change everything, your perspective, your perception and your outlook and in turn, change your life.