The Art of Meditation

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AdobeStock_65958619Dear friends,

I would like to talk about meditation this week.  Meditation is a beautiful practice which can enrich your life in many ways. It has many fantastic benefits, but most importantly it creates a wonderful connection with your soul. Meditation has developed in eastern cultures, but it’s becoming more and more popular in the western world. Many people are exploring and learning this beautiful practice and enjoying its benefits.

Meditation brought so much light and clarity into my life. When I was going through a difficult period in my life some years ago, meditation was my saviour. It really was. It allowed me to still my busy mind in the moments of darkness, and I learned to listen and act on the voice of my soul. I have always been very creative, but meditation deepened my connection to this beautiful gift even further. So many fantastic ideas and projects came to life thank to the moments of stillness and clarity I obtained by meditating.

Meditation has many great benefits and many of them have also been proven scientifically now. Here is a list of few: emotional steadiness and harmony, calmer breathing, fresher and clearer outlook on life, better goodnight sleep, stress and anxiety reduction, better focus on daily tasks, more creativity, increased acceptance of oneself, living in the present moment, spiritual clarity and many other physical, emotional and spiritual benefits.

Simple meditation for beginners

I would like to share with you some basic tips, so you can start enjoying the benefits of meditation right away.

Find a comfortable place where you are not going to be disturbed for at least 5-10 minutes. Make sure you are as comfortable as possible. As a new meditator, I suggest you sit in a chair with your feet “planted” firmly on the ground. Turn your palms facing upwards (this way you are open to receive all the goodness and all the positive energy this Universe has to offer~if this resonates with you), then close your eyes.

Start taking deep breaths slowly and deeply. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. When you inhale, I would like you to imagine you are breathing in a pure white light. This pure white light represents all the positive energy of this Universe (e.g. happiness, love, peace, gratitude, beauty, truth). When you exhale, I would like you to imagine you are breathing out any “clouds of darkness.” These clouds of darkness represent all the worries, fears, any negative energy you are willing to let go of. Visualise these clouds travelling far, far away to the distance, and know in your heart that they will never return back to you. Follow this cycle of breathing for a few more rounds or for as long as it’s comfortable for you. If any thoughts or emotions come to the surface, don’t judge them, just acknowledge them and simply breathe them out. When you are a new meditator, you will notice how busy your mind actually see. Be gentle with yourself and don’t judge yourself. Keep breathing slowly and deeply and breathe in more of the beautiful, pure white light and breathe out anything that is no longer serving you. Let it all go.

When you are ready, come out of the meditation by visualising the space you are currently in. With your eyes still closed, bring some movements to your body, stretch a bit-very gently and when you are ready open your eyes. Have a glass of water afterwards to purify your body.

So this is a very simple meditation you can try today. If you are unsure about anything and need some more guidance, please send me an email to jana@mysticbutterfly.co.uk  and I will be more than happy to assist you and give you some additional tips on meditation. I also think it would be very beneficial for you (as a new meditator) to try some guided meditations, and I am going to share with you one of them now. It is one of my own meditations and it calls Nature Connection Meditation. All you need is to get your headphones, find a comfortable place and let my voice guide you through the process. The link is bellow. Hope you enjoy it!

Good luck with your meditation practice and I look forward to connecting with you soon,

Jana x

 

It’s not selfish, it’s self-love

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Loving yourself is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself. It’s not selfish, it’s not vanity. I am taking about healthy respect towards yourself. You are the most important person in your life and you are always going to be. When you are happy, healthy and fulfilled then you can give to others.

How many times have you found yourself rushing around, doing things for other people, saying yes when you meant no just to look good in the eyes of others? We have all been there. I am not saying not help someone when they need your help or support. I am talking about the moments when your intuition is telling you no, but you are still going to do something just to please somebody. Remember saying no can also be a loving response when you really mean no and not going against your will. The other thing to remember is that you are investing the precious hours of your life to something you are not so keen to do. Keep in mind: The best gift you can ever give to someone is your time, because you are giving them something you’ll never get back! 

Ask yourself these important questions: Who do you spend your time with? How do you spend your time? Does your job make you happy? Do you do certain things because you believe you have to do them? Do you worry a lot? Get honest with yourself and really answers those questions as truthfully as possible. Do you love yourself enough to admit that maybe you have been neglecting yourself up to this point? Worries, fears, going to jobs we don’t like, staying in unhealthy relationships, pleasing other people on our account. These are just a few examples of negative habits which should be replaced with self-love. I have a few tips for you which can lead you closer to loving yourself a bit more today.

1. TAKE YOURSELF ON A DATE

That’s right! Take yourself on a date. This may sound funny, but it is actually an act of self-love. Take yourself for a lunch and order your favourite meal. Go to the cinema. Go for a shopping and buy yourself something lovely. Do whatever feels good! I love visiting my local airfield, sit in the cafe and watch little aeroplanes departing and landing on a nice, sunny day. This always brings me so much joy and there is nothing else I need at that moment. No stress, no worries, just pure self-love and happiness. Learn to enjoy your own company and “take yourself on a date” do it at least once a month, you deserve it!

2. WRITE YOURSELF A LOVE LETTER

Take a pen and paper and make sure you are not going to be disturbed for about 10-15 minutes (maybe longer). Start listing all the things you love about yourself. List anything you can think of. For example: I’m a talented painter, I’m a great parent, I make the best chocolate cake, I’m a good dancer and so on… I can assure you there are plenty of great things about you…you might have just have been dismissing them or simply forgot to appreciate yourself more. The purpose of this exercise is to shift your energy to self-love and appreciation. This way you will start reaching for some higher frequencies, you’ll start feeling better about yourself and you’ll love yourself more.

3. AND ALL THE OTHER “LITTLE” THINGS 

Life is too short to be only doing things you feel you have to do. Have some fun and do what “really” makes you happy! Listen to your favourite music, pack your bags and take the weekend off, go camping, take that class you always wanted to take, cook yourself a healthy meal, make yourself a cup of tea and read a good book, go to nature, meditate, surround yourself with positive like-minded people, take a flying lesson (and I can talk a lot about that), never give up on your dreams (give up all the excuses and limiting beliefs- age, status and all the other lies…). You are good enough and you can do anything. This is your life and only you choose what you want to do with it! 

So these are just few tips you can apply to your life if they resonate with you. Also make your own. Remember to love yourself first, then everything else follows. I will leave you with a beautiful quote from Buddha which speak for itself: “YOU, YOURSELF AS MUCH AS ANYBODY IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, DESERVE YOUR LOVE AND AFFECTION!” ~Buddha 

You are doing the best you can

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AdobeStock_99353607We all make mistakes, yet we are all learning. We are all on a journey of discovery and constantly evolving as human and also spiritual beings. Do you get days when go to bed at night and it is almost impossible to switch off? You suddenly can’t stop thinking about what has happened during the day and if something didn’t go as planned, you may be wondering what it would be like if things turned out differently. You start creating an alternative scenarios in your mind and go over them again and again stressing yourself out even more. Now you start worrying you are not going to be able to sleep at all, and wondering how are you going to function at work in the morning. Does this sound like you? If the answers is yes, know that you are not alone. We all get bad days, bad seasons, sleepless nights, regret things we have said or done and we wish we would get another chance and change them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like this in this Universe. Being hard on ourselves and paying for the same mistakes twice (in most cases even more than that) is so unnecessary. Remember, you are always doing the best you can with the knowledge and understanding you have at the time. Let’s take a healthier approach and see what we can do when some of the above occurs.

FORGIVE YOURSELF

When you have done something you may consider as wrong or something has happened in your life and you wish it turned out differently and you still worry about it, give yourself a break. Be gentle with yourself and forgive yourself. Forgiveness is the best gift you can give to yourself. When something like this happens to me, I say to myself: “I forgive myself for my past mistakes, I learned from them!” This liberating statement can be life-transforming. Trust me and try it for yourself. Repeat it as often as possible. Whenever an unpleasant thought reaches your mind, forgive yourself. You are a human being and you are allowed to make mistakes. You are always learning, always growing and even if your journey seems more difficult at the moment, remember it is all happening for your highest good. Don’t give up, trust and know that all is well and life is unfolding as it supposed to. Forgive yourself!

BE STILL

Daily moments of stillness and meditation allow us to perceive this entire world from a higher perspective. When we live this way, the whole life seems brighter, our problems get lighter and we start seeing opportunities instead of obstacles. How do you get still? Breathe! Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth. When you breathe in, visualise you are breathing in a pure white light which represents all the positive energy of this Universe. When you breathe out, visualise you are breathing out all the negative energies, all the worries, all the fears and anything which is not serving you well. Repeat this cycle of breathing for about 5 minutes and see how you feel.

FOCUS ON WHAT LIGHTS YOU UP

What do you like doing? What makes you smile? What fills your life with joy? Go and do that right now. Get your energy as high as possible and start shifting your perspective. There si so much to be excited about in this life if we really open our eyes and look. This whole life is one great, exciting adventure. Try to enjoy this trip a little more and focus on what lights you up!

We all make mistakes, we all get worried, tired, feeling we want to give up occasionally. And I admit, I feel like this as well sometimes. This is the reason whey I have decided to choose this topic today and write about it. But know this, every day is an opportunity to make a new choice and start again. Maya Angelou said: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better!” Powerful words! So stop being so hard on yourself and have some fun!