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Maple Ridge Spring Guide

Meditation – Basic Principles and Benefits

In our everyday life, Meditation teaches us how to be the casual observer – During meditation we are presented with an opportunity to relax, release and renew.

Guided Meditation asks three (3) things of us:
To connect with our imagination.
To connect with our breath.
To remain present and enjoy the journey of the meditation without expectations.
Accomplishing these three (3) things creates a place where self-healing can begin.

Imagination
Guided Meditation asks us to connect to our imagination by using our 5 internal senses – seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Once activated, the imagination becomes the bridge to our subconscious. It is the subconscious that shapes the way we react to and interact with the world around us. It is the subconscious that never waivers from our highest purpose, our highest good, our true path.

Breath
How we breath has an enormous effect on how our body functions. Chest or shallowing breathing occurs when we are stressed. By consciously breathing deeply and slowly, we can shift our body from the fight or flight mode to the rest and digest mode.

Being present
Being present means getting out of our mind and into our body.  It is often the trickiest part of Guided Meditation.  It means being able to sit in silence and to appreciate and understand what our body is presenting to us – perhaps an emotion – and to sit with the emotion so it can be released.  In other words, to enjoy the journey without expectation.  Not to question.  To accept that we are feeling this way.  By excepting the feeling we are giving ourselves permission to release it.

Often we ignore or put our emotions on hold.  Instead of allowing ourselves to feel, we choose to think about what needs to be done tomorrow or what we need to buy at the grocery store on the way home.  When we lock away our emotions, instead of feeling them, we cause ourselves stress.  Chronic stress is detrimental to our health.

Benefits
Meditation has been scientifically and medically linked to….
Easing stress, anxiety, depression and chronic pain
Giving rise to improved relationships and productivity
Enhancing short-term memory and the ability to focus and concentrate.

Individuals who meditate are often healthier, more adaptive, creative and productive.

With Guided Meditation, my philosophy is that we will experience what we are meant to experience. There is no right or wrong. Every experience is personal, every experience is unique and every experience is healing.