Posts Tagged ‘Receive’
Why Meditate?
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
What’s the point? I am often asked this question after people have tried to meditate. Many people say that they can’t meditate. There is the misconception that meditation is about shutting down or shutting off the mind. In fact, it is the opposite. The whole point of meditation is to allow the mind to feel free. The best meditations happen when we can acknowledge our thoughts flowing through us without judgment. And like anything we want to cultivate, meditation is a practice.
Meditation is about cultivating the mind. The very word “meditation” in Sanskrit means “to cultivate.” In Tibetan, the word meditation translates into gom, which means, “to become familiar with.” Meditation is about becoming familiar with ourselves over and over again. It allows us to cultivate the chatter and draw out what we have kept stuffed inside.
Cultivating our mind is essential if we want to develop our emotional well-being, create inner peace, and our service to others. The more we attempt to block thoughts during meditation, the louder they will be. The whole purpose of meditation is to show us what we need—to allow our thoughts to arise and dissolve into mindfulness. This might mean allowing ourselves to set a course that is most desirable for our experiencing peace.
Imagine the benefit of giving ourselves a new experience of the world with each passing breath. All it takes to start is ten to twenty minutes daily to get to know our mind.
Why do you meditate?
Mary Anne
Welcome Home
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
While attending a Journal Writing class at the New York Open Center, we were asked to do a guided visualization. The teacher invited us to think about having a conversation with someone who had passed away even if we had not met them before and ask them for a message that would be meaningful to hear. I sat with my eyes closed, breathing softly, and my Uncle Edmond from Ireland came to mind. I had never met him, but I had memories of how much my father loved him and was so upset after he passed away in 1983 at a young age.
I asked Uncle Edmond for a message. I listened intently and wrote the following:
You are the way; once you believe that and claim that, the way will be open for you. The past is always available, the present is always free, and the future is always open. Listen to yourself, honor yourself, remember yourself, love yourself. That is the way. You are home.
As the teacher, Catherine Ann Jones, said, “It’s not the past events, but the way we remember them.” And in the end, it’s about coming home to ourselves.
Welcome home.
Mary Anne
February OM Meditations
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
I am celebrating the joy and love of another month! One way I am celebrating is to share my morning meditations and contemplative questions as a way to open up to more love.
As an invitation, feel free to close your eyes, sit with your spine straight and take a few soft breaths. Then inhale a little deeper through your nose, and on the exhale, repeat the mantra OM (AUM). Do this three times. Allow yourself to really feel everything and become the observer of your thoughts. Feel free to focus on one question or statement below and just allow your experience to unfold.
Daily living is our enlightened state. How are you living?
I am the perfect companion I seek with another.
When you question the mind, the only truth left is love.
In the end, love shows up, and if you are open to receiving it, the experience of love is infinite. How do you experience immeasurable love and how does it show up in your life?
How do you define and experience ceremony?
The magic moment, the miracle, the unexpected is happening – are you willing to take the risk and listen to it?
Beloved, what do you hear in the silence?
There is nothing to undo.
I will wait for you – always. In your time, I am here.
Each person will have their own experience—the invitation is to be open for whatever thoughts flow through you. Allow your mind and body to expand into the experience (without judgment). Feel free to start with whatever mantra calls to use.
May you experience expansive love in every way. I would love to hear about your meditation experiences – drop me a line anytime!
OM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,
Mary Anne
Immeasurable Love
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
In the blink of an eye, January turned into February. The love month is here. Everywhere I look, there are hearts in the window, chocolate candies in the stores, and love cards – ‘when I care enough to send the very best’ (Hallmark). Love can be expressed in so many ways.
This past weekend, I had a horrible head cold. It kept me up at night as I worked my way through three boxes of tissues. In the early morning hours, I sipped tea and drank juice hoping for some relief. What made me feel better was my partner going to the store early Saturday morning in 13 degree weather to buy me tissues, juice, soup, tea, Airborne, vitamin water, and much more. She set up the room so I would have everything I needed while home sick and went back to the store on Sunday to buy me more tissues and she even made me homemade chicken soup. It’s moments like this weekend when my gratitude for my life partner is beyond words – it is immeasurable love.
There have been so many experiences of immeasurable love that have occurred throughout my life. Love appears in ways so sweet and simple. There is the random text from a friend, “Sending you love.” There is a phone call to see how I am doing and to just say hello. Love has come in the form of a sharing a fabulous meal for hours and a friend inviting me over to spend time and enjoy a Pilate’s/Yoga class together. And there are no words to express the love that comes from a 7-year-old, especially when every phone call ends with him saying, “I love you too Aunt Mary Anne, lots and lots.”
Love takes many forms in marriages, relationships, or friendships. There is no way I can describe my love for my partner of over 15 years, and, the next time she feels under the weather, you can be sure I will gladly go to any store to get her what she needs to feel better.
In the end, love shows up, and if you are open to receiving it, the experience of love is infinite. How do you experience immeasurable love and how does it show up in your life?
Sending you love,
Mary Anne
This is dedicated to my life partner, Lorene, whom I love with all my heart.
Monthly OM Meditations – January
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
In my last post, I shared about my Happiness Project and offered some ideas on how to start your own. One of my happiness project themes included “self-care” and that meant setting aside time daily to meditate, even if it is for 10 minutes. These meditations have been so powerful and sweet that I have decided that every month I will post some of the questions and thoughts that have flowed from these contemplations.
As an invitation, feel free to close your eyes, sit with your spine straight, and take a few soft breaths. Then inhale a little deeper through your nose, and on the exhale, repeat the mantra OM (AUM). Do this three times. Allow yourself to really feel everything and become the observer of your thoughts. Feel free to focus on one question or statement below and just allow your experience to unfold.
What is your love poem to God/Spirit? Speak it, share it, sing it.
What is the spring from which everything flows?
Supplies of the heart are abundant.
Be love. The rest is just details.
I will wait for you – always. In your time, I am here.
Go with what is and the rest will take care of itself.
I am aware of what my breath is teaching me in this moment.
I am present to my breath.
There is a sunburst of light waiting to glow in the sky of each heart.
Each person will have their own experience so the invitation is to be open for whatever thoughts flow through you. Allow your mind and body to expand into the meditation (without judgment). Feel free to start with a mantra that calls to you.
My experience of the mantra OM is beyond language–it’s a powerful vibration–the sound before sound.
See what makes you feel happy and follow that rhythm. I would love to hear about your meditation experiences – drop me a line anytime!
OM Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,
Mary Anne