I cannot stress enough how important the therapeutic effects of meditation are. The benefit of quieting your mind is it enables your awareness to expand because mind chatter filters out awareness. The minute you allow mind chatter you are no longer present.
For example you’re having a conversation with someone and they say something that sparks your mind chatter and all of a sudden you leave the conversation and start thinking, “what did he mean by that, what are his real intentions? I don’t know if I can trust him.” All of a sudden you are not present.
When you quiet the mind you sharpen your senses because you are present and when you are present you see better, you hear more sharply, sound and nuance. When the mind and emotions are quiet you can take in more information.
For example, when you are in a crowded place like an airport, how do you really notice when there is a lot of commotion. We hid, we run away, we go somewhere instead of being present. By meditating you bring your attention to the present moment and when you are fully and consciously present you are better able to respond by having more information to respond with.
When you are faced with stressful or scary situation here is a technique that I use and have taught to many of my clients. Put your thumb and your forefinger together and breathe in saying the words “I Am” and as you breathe out say “Present.”
When you are present you can come back to the moment and your awareness can expand and you can respond more effectively. Meditation is so simple all you have to do is breath. For example breathe deeply when you have to make a difficult decision, when someone else’s information is taking you over and your instincts are off and you have no support system to fall back on. When these things happen you go back to your breath and say “I am present.” This will expand your awareness.
It is important that you carve out your space. Before you respond to another person who angers you or makes you uneasy or you’re in a confrontation first breathe deeply and settle the space and when your space is settled it becomes clearer for you to gather information. The more information you have the better your ability is to respond correctly.
Meditation expands awareness. For example before I consult with a client I first clean the space by being very present, I look them directly in the eyes and I get them to breathe with me, I speak slowly, I get them settled and a let them feel safe by breathing deeply.
We need and seek harmony in life and the grounded person can create harmony by getting the breath to go steady and slow. When you are around an agitated person or in a stressful condition or you’re being forced to make decisions against what you feel is right, simply connect to the earth, claim your space, put your thumb and forefinger together to make yourself present and start breathing. This enables you to shift the energy without saying a word.
One of the tools that I have personally used that has helped me in my own spiritual development is the tarot card deck because it is really a picture book of how to connect with your spirit. The first card is the time traveler a figure that is about to descend into the earth and he has a satchel on his shoulder and in that satchel are his talents. The tools he will use in life to create the life he wants. In his hand is a rose and the rose is the desire to create and experience the physical plane and at his feet is a little white dog which represents the intellect the companion to the logical mind.
Most of us don’t have little white dogs most of us have pit bulls or rottweilers that hold us hostage in the corner. What we need to do is train our intellect. Train our mind chatter just like you train a dog and you have to tell the mind chatter to sit still and be quiet. It’s like training a puppy.
It is biologically impossible to be stressed or have anxiety and breathe deeply at the same time. This proves anxiety and fear are the voice of your ego they are not the voice of your spirit. When you breathe deeply you are telling your ego to sit and be quiet. You have to train your ego to be the companion to your spirit not to block it out.
The way to stop allowing your ego to run your life is through deep breathing.