T H E I N S T I T U T E F O R A P P L I E D M E D I T A T I O N
The Home of Heart Rhythm Meditation -- for Personal and Global Harmony
Dear xxx
Sometimes your mind can be cruel, endlessly circling over the same unpleasant thoughts, generating anxiety, and calculating strategies for things that haven�t happened. Sometimes thoughts come rapidly, or your mind jumps from subject to subject.
How to find peace of mind?
Here are two secrets that have worked for me.
1. Control your body. Let�s face it, saying you should �control your thoughts� isn�t much of a solution. If you could do that, you surely wouldn�t have this concern. Thoughts are very hard to control.
But what you can do is to control your body.
Now, you might say that controlling your body can also be pretty difficult. Yes, that is true, but there are certain things that make it easier. The rhythm of your body creates a rhythm that thoughts naturally follow, like water flowing into a channel. One very powerful way to do this is to sit still, until you achieve what we call �The Monolithic Sensation�, a feeling of powerful physical stillness that is very peaceful and soothing to the mind. (We teach this technique in Webcourse 101: Introduction to Heart Rhythm Meditation, which starts 5/16. See
http://www.appliedmeditation.org/heart_rhythm_meditation/seminar_schedule.php for more info)
Try it out; I think you�ll be surprised by how well this works.
If stillness seems like too much, you can create the right rhythm in your body through movement, which is why going for a walk can so often clear your mind. (I�ll have a few extra �secrets� to share about breath and walking in a future post.)
If you can�t go for a walk, try this very simple movement: inhale deeply and slowly, raising your arms, then exhale deeply and slowly, lowering your arms. Feel that it is the energy of your heart, rising and falling with your breath, that powers the movement of your arms.
2. Contract, then expand. The feeling of your mind becoming clear, and your thoughts becoming smooth and unhurried comes from the relaxation of your mind, which itself comes from working your mind intensely through very focused concentration, in which you contract the mind to a single-pointed focus, then releasing that concentration, allowing your mind to expand. I suggest using an object of concentration that I know will interest you: your heart, the source of all your passion, all that you find most interesting, engaging, and all that you long for.
If you try these techniques, please write to me and let me know how it goes!
Yours in the One Heart,
AsatarP.S. �Follow Your Heart: The Map to Illumination�, Puran and Susanna�s new book, contains many rich insights about how to work with your mind and heart. If you haven�t picked up a copy, you can do so here:
http://www.appliedmeditation.org/books_cds/the_map.phpIt�s also available as a package, with the book, double meditation CD, and audiobook for $49.95.
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