Pondering the New Year Using the 5 Fundamental Elements of Evolution
Looking for something different to New Years Resolutions? This year, I used the 5 Fundamental Elements of Evolution as the basis for my New Year pondering.
Read MorePondering the New Year Using the 5 Fundamental Elements of Evolution
Looking for something different to New Years Resolutions? This year, I used the 5 Fundamental Elements of Evolution as the basis for my New Year pondering.
Read MoreDaily Global Vedic Meditation Sessions
The below is from Thom Knoles’ email to Vedic Meditators 16/10/23 following recent escalation in terror attacks and violence in the Middle East.
Thom's wish is that we do our part as Vedic Meditators to help settle the collective into a less-excited state and create greater worldwide coherence. Meditating together as a global family encourages orderliness and can aid in the cooling effect. As such, we can make no greater contribution to peace in the collective consciousness than to come together as a community to coordinate the timing of our meditation sittings.
Read MoreDrawing Back The Bow
he art of archery in Dhanurveda has been used as a metaphor for the transformative effect meditation can have on our ability to achieve positive, right action. When making a successful shot, the bow must be drawn back fully and held in a state of absolute stillness. Any movement from this state or slackness in the bow will cause a deviation from the target. In order to produce a truly transformative shot, you and your bow and arrow must be establish in a state of Being and stillness and only when this state is established, let go of the arrow and perform action.
Read MoreWhat You Need To Know About The Stress Response (Part 1)
Well, there is bad news and good news… let’s start with the bad news, with reference to the ‘father of stress research’ the Hungarian endocrinologist, Hans Selye.
Selye developed the ‘general adaptation syndrome’ model which describes the impact stress has on the human body. Each time the body is exposed to a potential stressor (demand, change in expectation, pressure etc.) it has a limited amount of adaptation energy to cope or deal with the demand.
Become the sanctuary
Have you noticed how we isolate our time to rest, to switch off, to holiday periods? You feel rested and refreshed only to open your inbox to 165 unread emails or go into overdrive getting the kids ready for school etc.? Our next thought is often, when is my next holiday?
Read MoreBEing
I was able to stop myself from the cascade of ‘doings’ and asked myself, “how do I want to BE today?”. The answers probably won’t surprise you - moving slowly with presence, grateful, curious and open hearted. Of course the answer may change on any given day, depending on your mood, energy levels, day of the week etc., however stepping beyond the doings and thoughts is what allows us to be more process orientated and non attached to the specific timings and outcomes of things.
Read MoreInfinite Adaptability, Absolute Groundedness
Every time we practice Vedic Meditation, we increase our ability to adapt to changes in demand or expectations. This is important when we consider that all that is ever happening is change. The process of evolution is a result of progressive change. Without change, there is no progress. 🦍🚶🏽♀️In order to not only survive, but also to grow and flourish with change, being able to adapt and stay grounded is vital.
Read MoreConsistency is Key
Consistency is key in any practice and Vedic Meditation is no different.
(Cue pep talk motivational track)
Read MoreReleasing the clenched fist
Only four or so decades ago, it was popular for wealthy travellers to leave India with a pet monkey. Monkey catchers would dig a small pit, pop in some fruits and nuts and covered it with a heavy slab that had a tiny hole, big enough to fit a monkey’s arm. The monkey would come along, stick their hand in, grasp a delicious snack only to realise that their fist would not fit through the tiny hole. In would swoop the monkey catcher and voila! Another monkey to be sold. Had the monkey simply let go of the food before the monkey catcher swooped in, it would be free.
Read MoreUnderstanding the need of the time.
It has been quite a month, both locally here in Australia and globally. At times it has heartbreaking and at other times, has motivated change. It is clear that we have been called to interact with each other and with our daily demands with more compassion, love and adaptation.
The world needs a harmonising and cooling force to counter the excess heat we are currently witnessing. In particular, the excessive heat in the climate and the excessive heat that creates division and war.
Vedic Meditation creates greater coherence in the brain and this enhances stability and order in our thinking and action. This is achieved through allowing the mind and body to settle into its least excited state. Making contact with this state creates more harmony in our inner and outer environments, flushing the system with bliss chemistry and releasing stress from the body…
Read MoreA self sufficient practice that leads to a life of self sufficiency
Vedic meditation is a self sufficient practice meaning we are not reliant on anything external to us (app, class, guiding voice) to practice it. All we need is some back support and somewhere to safely close our eyes. Noise is no barrier, movement around us is no barrier.
Vedic Meditators are not reliant on focusing or emptying the mind to experience deep inner contentedness during our practice.
Read MoreStaying Grounded When The Ground Keeps Moving
I heard Esther Perel use this saying on a podcast recently. It summed up the challenges of the past two years so well. The solution is much more simple than you might think, provided we can access the quieter states of the mind and step beyond the thinking processes.
Read MoreThe Path Of Least Resistance
The cold water engulfs my body
In the distance, the unbounded ocean
River always flows to ocean
Near the banks, rocks and debris bruise my limbs
A safe but bumpy, friction full ride
I abandon the safety of the banks and drift into the unknown
Into the slipstream and away we go
On the path of least resistance
Read MoreCompassion and The Stress Response
When the Sabre tooth tiger approached our ancestors in the cave, they didn’t stop to count how many teeth the tiger had, wonder how hungry it must be and how many tiger cubs it needed to feed. No, our ancestors, with the help of their in-built physiological stress response, which was designed to save their lives, either fought (fight) or fled (flight). When a tiger is staring you in the face, ready to make you it’s next meal, there really isn’t much time to waste being empathetic, compassionate and understanding towards the tiger. Thankfully the stress response makes this very difficult to do in the moment anyway!
Read MoreThe anchor sits at the base of the ocean. It is calm and quiet down there, despite all the activity on the surface. Turbulent waves and strong winds combine and water is splashed across my face. Unrelenting.
The information overload, the constant barrage of expectation to adapt. Yet I am anchored. Anchored in my simplest form of awareness, my simplest state of Being.
Read MoreVedic Meditation is a lot like brushing your teeth. We brush our teeth twice each day (I hope?!) because it is good for our oral hygiene and hopefully means we don’t have to spend big at the dentist with all the drills and pain! Vedic Meditators practice twice each day because it is good for our overall health, releasing accumulated stress from the physiology meaning we are less likely to be impacted by poor health and poor lifestyle choices caused by stress…
Read MoreLockdown has brought about another test of our resilience. Does the uncertainty of it all makes us question how little we control externally or, is it highlighting our capacity to change and expand our internal narrative and personal agency?
Is your locus of control focused externally, believing that everything is happening to you? Do you often internalise things as devastating, shocking and/or have feelings of helplessness?
Or is your locus of control focused internally, embracing challenges as opportunities for growth and understanding your power in making things happen?
Read MoreIt is inherent within us that we want to achieve things as humans.
We have jobs to do, families to raise and legacies to leave. There is no question that we have a great deal of skills, capabilities, motivation, love and passion that help us to achieve any of the things we set our hearts to.
However, our ability to achieve these things is often not a question of skills and capabilities, but rather a question of state. State of Consciousness. Put simply, the degree to which we are aware of our internal and external experience.
Read MoreNivartatvam
Transcend where you are
and go where you are not
Surrender to the mind’s yearning to expand
Beyond the limiting beliefs and rigid attachments that cause suffering
For when we step beyond the thinking layer of the mind
We go to the source of thought
The source of pure creative intelligence
Of pure potentiality
And enliven our true nature
Our inner fulfilment
And the more we establish ourselves with inner fulfilment
The more life flows frictionlessly
Read MoreThe One Reason You Shouldn’t Meditate
The benefits of Vedic Meditation are countless:
greater physical health
accessing your full mental potential
increased happiness
releasing accumulated stress from the body
developing a deep inner contentment regardless of the demands you face
The list goes on..
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However, there is one reason why you shouldn’t learn to meditate: