Stress affects our life and health in more ways than you may realize and it may be coming from unexpected sources. Even with the convenience of computers, cell phones, E:mails, blackberry’s and Coffee Shops on every corner, it can seem like we are trapped every minute of the day. There are some routines you can adopt that can help lessen the load every day.

1. Take Mini-Vacations every single day. This can mean getting up and going for a short walk, taking the time to stretch, or doing some deep breathing exercises throughout your day. It is amazing how much better you will feel plus you will be helping yourself lower blood pressure and reduce stress in the body.

2. Drink Green Tea – when you are under stress, your adrenal glands release stress hormones, in particular, cortisol. Cortisol stimulates the immune system which is fine if the stress is short term like your body being invaded by a virus. In this case, cortisol is doing it’s job and will diminish once the stress goes away. If you are under chronic stress, the immune system gets repressed because your body stops responding to the elevated cortisol levels, creating cortisol resistance. Green tea contains theanine which is an amino acid known for its calming effects.

3. Get enough Vitamin C – which works on the adrenal system and can help lower cortisol levels. You can take a supplement form or eat a piece of your favorite fruit.

4. Get enough sleep – it is the most important thing you can do to keep your cortisol levels under control. Try taking calcium and magnesium before bed or have a couple slices of turkey breast before bed.

5. Observe the Sabbath every week- this can be any day of the week when you can take a day to rest, read, take a walk, meditate and find your inner peace.

6. Give yourself permission to relax – some people get stressed out when they are doing nothing but it is the smartest thing you can do for yourself that can re-energize your soul.

Stress can damage hormones, nerves, and the immune system and if you are having trouble dealing with your schedule, family obligations and work, then it might be time to shift some of the workload or find an alternate schedule.

When it is time for a real vacation – take it and leave the blackberry and computer at home. Allow yourself time to read your favorite magazines or mystery novel. Don’t feel like you have to find the nearest fitness center to drop a dress in 2 weeks by taking the Advanced Kickboxing class. If you enjoy working out, do so on your own time and schedule but don’t feel like you have to maintain your same workout schedule.

Give yourself permission to relax and enjoy yourself. It is okay to goof-off. Even when you are back into your hectic schedule again, you can bring a feeling of peace and joy with you and fond memories of your vacation.

Sherry L. Granader, ACE, AFAA, NETA, ACSM, BBU, is a Nutrition Consultant, National Speaker and Spokesperson, Author and Writer. She teaches Yoga, Pilates and Group Exercise classes. Download her FREE “Eat Right, Feel Good, Lose Weight, Have Fun” Cookbook at http:// www.sgtotalhealth.com

There are people who have good sense of focus and concentration. They have the ability to stabilize their mind no matter what kind of environment they are into.
However, there are also people who seem to be always disturbed. They can hardly concentrate, thus, affecting their judgment and quality of work. Meditation is a good aid for these types of people. During meditation, mental space is created in order to achieve a certain degree of enlightenment.

The effects of meditation to different people also vary. These could be affected by factors such as the mood, character and individuality. When a person hardly understands himself, his confusion reflects to his actions. That is why contemplation is necessary in order to achieve an enlightened consciousness.

A quiet space conducive for reflection, a mantra to be recited and absolute concentration are the essentials of meditation. While sitting meditation is considered the basic and most efficient form of meditation, there are other ways to modify the process.

On the whole, you can only create other forms of meditation when you become habituated with the practice. When your mind had been set for meditation, it will be easy for you to stay tuned-up. Plus, you can integrate the spiritual essence and mental awareness with the physical and mental rhythms of life.

As meditation becomes part of your routine, you will always find time to stop and make a connection with the process of meditation. Naturally, you will seek the blissful state that you can experience only when meditating.

So what should you do when the place you are into is not conducive for meditation? There are ways to establish focus and concentration. You can capture your mind to be in the meditation state when you direct your attention to a spot in the room, or listen attentively to your breathing or focus on a small object.

With the help of a relaxing music and tricky colors, you can employ meditation and extend such practice even beyond the meditation period.

Active people such as athletes need to stay focused in their skill or art while staying grounded. However, their physical ability could be more enhanced if they are in touch with their higher consciousness.

A famous female boxer revealed that in her violent and aggressive profession, she never fails to meditate and chant. She constructed her own way of escaping the gym atmosphere in order to find peace within.

She listens to the sound of the speed bag as she hits it one way. There is a distinct sound for a one-way blow and the sound varies with the difference in the impact of glove. Then all she had to do is close her eyes and meditate on the sound of the speed bag.

Even a basketball player can employ meditation at the free throw line if he is able to transcend the noise of the crowd and the pressure of the play. In this manner, he can manage stress and anxiety while connecting to his meditation process.

Be creative in modifying your own way of meditation. Break your patterns and make your imagination work.

So, how do you meditate, anywhere, any time you want to?

Meditation has always been associated with solitude, tranquility, and physical inactivity.

When one talks of meditation, you may usually come up with a scenario in which a person finds a secluded area, closes his eyes in silence, and rests his body while working his mind out. Does meditation always have to be like this?

Meditation is an art. A method. A skill. A process.

It is the art of keeping in touch with yourself, of discovering your entirety and the many facets of your being. It is also a skill that must be developed.

It requires discipline and right mindset. You cannot simply think that you will meditate and expect to achieve a result right after. This requires the tuning of one’s consciousness.

Meditation typically involves a set of procedures and guidelines to be followed. Typically, the success of the activity will depend on the adherence to the given principles and rules.

One interesting form of meditation that deviates from the old and traditional concept is walking meditation.

Walking meditation is a lot different from other forms of meditation known to many. For one, you will not have to be physically inactive just to do it.

In fact, you need to move and be active, you need to walk! You have to actively engage your mind and your body in this activity in order to experience a holistic positive result.

This brings another benefit. Since walking is a daily activity, you can actually grow by meditation everyday!

You also will not have to find a secluded place just so you can meditate. Anywhere will do. Actually, a noisy and crowded place is even encouraged. Here is where the challenge lies.

Concentration is important and awareness must be focused. You must not allow the outer world to bind your mind into it, by the things that you see, hear, or whatever you perceive. You may be aware of them, but you must guard not to do anything about them. Do not cling to anything.

The guiding principle behind walking meditation is achieving a balanced awareness, equilibrium, between your inner self and the outer world surrounding you.

This meditation will invite you to feel your entire body, all the workings of the parts that make you up, being aware how each of your body parts operates. While doing this, you also have to notice your emotion and your mood. These are all done while you walk.

The outside world need not be lost in your focus. There will always be stuffs that will catch your attention as you meditate, and you are not to resist. You are not to hang on to these, though. You have to let them pass by, observing them without doing anything at all.

This is the real sense of awareness. The ideal result of walking meditation is the consciousness of the outside world of the person while being completely aware of his inner self.

When this is achieved, many of the puzzles and complexities of life will become clearer and simpler. By bridging the gap between what is within and what is out of yourself, you can take full control of your life and enjoy a healthier and a more satisfied lifestyle.

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What you hold within yourself will determine how you perceive the world. Yet what you surround yourself with can also help you to transform that which is within!

Simply put, mysticism is about inner exploration… or looking, hearing, and feeling within the self while accepting the self completely. It is just using the simplest of senses to examine the contents of your mind and body without judgment. But when and where do you get started?

I encourage you to be willing and able to meditate and look a little bit deeper into your experience at any moment of any day, but it is also powerful to have a regular practice, and to prepare an environment for mystic exploration.

These tips will help you quite a bit, but the most important thing is that you set aside the time, and set up the environment. So once you’ve decided when and for how long you will meditate… how specifically should you prepare your environment?

1. Find someplace quiet: this kind of goes without saying. As you get better and better, you may find the external noise actually helps you to find internal silence… but to begin with, find someplace quiet and comfortable.

2. Make time for meditation/avoid interruptions: setting aside a specific time will not only help you to establish a habit, it will also lead to more powerful experiences during your session. It is important that you enjoy your meditation with no interruption, so take the phone off the hook, turn off the cell, let everybody know you need a few minutes (10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, however long you like), and whatever else needs to be done to ensure your ability to find a peaceful place.

3. Decorate your space as appropriate: this is a matter of personal taste… a Buddhist might like a statue of the Buddha or some incense, a Christian practitioner might prefer a cross, or a rosary. Again, this is just to flavor the environment and focus your mind. You might like to add flowers or a plant. You might also find that plain, empty white walls suit the purposes of quieting your mind… find what works for you in your silent space.

4. Wear comfortable clothing: you want your clothing to be pleasant to wear, and ideally, a little bit loose. The more pleasing your clothes are to your skin, the less of a distraction they will be. Be sure to keep plenty of room around the waist to accommodate deep breathing (elastic waistbands are good). I personally like cotton… but some people swear by silk. Find the clothing that will best facilitate your relaxation and wear it.

5. Take a bath/shower beforehand: If it is possible, it’s good to take a quick shower or bath before you practice. The cleansing effect of bathing and showering goes deeper than the skin. Most people will emerge from a shower and feel clean, relaxed, and refreshed… this is an excellent way to begin your meditation.

These all work, and they all work together. If you can’t manage all of these, then some is better than none. Do as much as you can, and you will find, through consistency, that you can always do a little bit more.

Keep in mind, practice is the most important thing. If you can only manage a couple of minute of meditation, in whatever environment you find yourself, this is still a good start.

As you make more time for it, you can adapt your environment as you see fit. The more time you take to create an environment for the growth and self understanding you desire, the more the deepest levels of your mind will begin to mirror that growth, understanding, and change! And as you start to truly understand the effect you have on your environment, and the effect your environment has on you, then you will really begin to appreciate the power of meditation and the path of the mystic!

Benjamin Langley has been studying and training in meditation, NLP, hypnosis, yoga, and energy work for over 15 years. He regularly shares powerful insights on his blog. If you want more information on this, come take a look: http://peacefulprosperity.com/blog/

We all long for a deeper sense of connection! Some call it Energy Oneness… communication with the Holy Guardian Angel… accessing the Morphogenetic Field… Nirvana. I’ve heard all these terms to describe this experience… and many more.

It’s about that point where you let go of limiting concepts of self, and enter connection (communion) with something greater than yourself… and eventually all that is! In my experience, we all have varying degrees of desire for a very wide array of connections:
* Connecting personally
* Group connections
* Connection with Earth
* Connecting to your work/job
* Connection with Hobbies
* Connection with who you perceive yourself to be

But the one that in some way pervades all the others, is to be able to connect with all there is… the expression and experience of this is one of the most powerful blessings that people can achieve. The more we accept and honor this drive, the more powerful all the other connections we experience in life can be!

Ultimately, I think we’re all on our way back to energy oneness. The only question is “how quickly will we get to experience it?”

Many of the processes I teach (Mystic Compassion in particular) make use of this connection… and deepen it. The methods that are traditionally used to get there are meditation, breath work, and energy work.

There are many contemporary methods which can help speed up and refine your results: EFT, NLP, Brainwave Entrainment, Energy Medicine, Modern Mysticism, etc. For the time being, here is a quick practice to get you started:
1. Relax, using any method that works well for you
2. Imagine you’re relaxing the area or field around your body… imagine you are expanding it out further from your body and that your feelings extend with it
3. Practice ‘feeling’ inanimate objects by slowly moving closer to them without seeing them (close your eyes).
4. Practice ‘feeling’ the energy field of another person (a friend, family member, or someone else similarly interested in this). Use the hands to feel the field around their hands, head, and chest. Notice if you can feel the field from their head in your hands, while they notice if they can feel the field from your hands in their head. Play with directing thoughts and feelings through this field to one another.
5. Practice ‘feeling’ the energy field of people you don’t know in a setting where you can try many different people (a mall, a busy restaurant, an event, etc.). Notice what you feel. Try to notice what you feel in the field before noticing their body language, tone, etc. See how well the vibe you get matches what you see and hear from body language and tone. Keep in mind, many of us are excellent ‘actors’ (or at least ‘distracters’) when it comes to hiding emotions.

Ultimately, you can allow this new awareness to just be part of the background. Then you can extend it out, or bring it in as appropriate.

Experiencing this can be one of the most powerful things you ever get to enjoy in your life. This powerful sense of connection can begin to be a part of all you do. Stress disappears. You become almost universally joyful. Your whole being becomes a smile.

Play with energy oneness. Experience real spirituality. Enjoy your connection with all that is!

Benjamin Langley has been studying and training in meditation, NLP, hypnosis, yoga, and energy work for over 15 years. He regularly writes and shares powerful insights on his own blog. For more information on this topic, come take a look: http://peacefulprosperity.com/energy-oneness/

So what’s so important about Relaxation? Relaxation is a core skill for meditation, but more importantly… it is a core skill for excelling in any area of your life! When you can relax in any area of your life, it will allow you to flow and manifest skill much more easily.

Relaxation will allow you to relieve stress and experience much more joy in life. Relaxation is tremendously important in maintaining good health! It is critical that you learn to relax your entire being!

When you learn to relax more and more, you will find that your intention can truly flow through you. Use these step by step relaxation points at home. Then when you are comfortable with them, you can walk through them quickly at work or in any other place in your life!

Relaxation Point 1 – Start at the top and work your way down! You can do this with focus, or you can actually lightly massage… starting at the head, and gradually moving down. When you work your way down, there is a naturally relaxing effect… as you move your peaceful awareness and deep acceptance down your body, you can relax more and more deeply as you go.

Relaxation Point 2 – Begin with your scalp: You can imagine pure light entering the crown and flowing down the body, or you can imagine warmth or relaxation starting here and gradually moving down the body… relaxing everything else along the way. A lot of tension can hide in the scalp, so make sure you become aware of it, pay attention to the entire scalp… notice any subtle tensions or pressures… and then let them go.

Relaxation Point 3 – Move to your forehead: a lot of tension can reside here. Look around and notice all the furrowed brows. Much of the expression in our face shows in our forehead. A lot of tension from the muscles around the eyes can bleed into the forehead, as well. Be sure to notice this tension in and around the forehead, and allow it to relax.

Relaxation Point 4 – Relax your eyes: The eyes tend to be our most used sensory organ. This tends to develop a lot of tension. You will be amazed at how relaxed you can become when you simply release the tension in and around your eyes. Notice the eyes… the muscles around the eyes… notice the space behind the eyes… pay attention to any tension in the area… then relax and let it go.

Relaxation Point 5 – Let go of tension in your face: Our face is the seat of our expressiveness. Smiles, frowns, laughs, etc., can all leave their own little bit of tension in our face. Notice the muscles in your cheeks, around your mouth, in and around your nose, around your jaw… pay attention to any areas that are tense… accept them, and then let the tension go.

Relaxation Point 6 – Work on your ears: our ears are another major sensory channel. Anything you hear during the day that you don’t care for or disagree with… can cause a little bit of tension in or around your ears. Pay attention to them. Notice the ear, the area around the ear, and inside the ear… if you find any tension… accept it. Then relax and let it go.

Relaxation Point 7 – Relax your tongue: The tongue typically works along with the ears in verbal communication, so it is a great place to relax right after the ear. Notice the tongue, all the way from the tip down to the root. Do a quick scan of the inside of your mouth as well. Accept any tension you find. Hold your awareness there for a moment, and then let it go.

You can make this a part of your formal meditation. Or, if you prefer, enjoy it as an ‘informal’ meditation exercise throughout your life.

I highly encourage you to make relaxation a part of your daily living. You will be very happy you did!

Benjamin Langley has been studying and training in meditation, NLP, hypnosis, yoga, and energy work for over 15 years. He regularly shares powerful insights on his blog. For more information, come take a look: http://peacefulprosperity.com/101-proven-tips-for-powerful-meditation-part-5/

There are numerous relaxation methods out there. But where exactly do you apply these techniques? In what sequence?

In this article, I give you a very simple and direct method of relaxing down the body. If you have never done this before, I encourage you to try it right now. If you follow the directions, you will notice the results!

The technique I will suggest here is focus and deep breathing, but feel free to use your own favorite technique in this sequence if you like. Focus on the spot as you inhale, then as you exhale, allow it to relax.

Be sure you continue to breathe deeply. You might notice how the relaxation has a cumulative effect as you move down your body!

Relaxation Spot 1 – Work on your neck: your neck holds up the weight of your head all day. I don’t need to tell you how common neck pain is in America. When you develop these relaxation skills, you can let go of neck pain permanently! Notice the front and the back of your neck. Notice all the muscles around your spine. Notice any tension in the middle of your neck. Pay attention. Accept it. and then let it go.

Relaxation Spot 2 – Relax your shoulders: tension in the shoulders (and the trapezius muscles that connect your neck to your shoulders), goes hand in hand with tension in the neck. When you get a chair massage, this is where the masseuse will spend the majority of their time. Let your shoulders relax and move down. Notice any remaining tension. Smile into it, and then let it go.

Relaxation Spot 3 – Ease your arms: frequently, if you relax the shoulders, you will notice the arms becoming incredibly relaxed as well. It is good to still give them a quick scan, and for some people, a lot of tension can still come up in this area. Feel the relaxation flow down the arms. Notice each part of the arms, paying particular attention to the hands and the forearms. Notice any tension. Accept it. Then release all tension and move on.

Relaxation Spot 4 – Find peace in your chest: The chest and upper back are full of large and small muscle groups that can hide a significant amount of tension. Pay attention. Notice all the muscles around your chest. Notice all the sensations inside your chest. Notice all the muscles around your spine. Notice any sensations in your spine itself. If you notice any tightness, accept it, and then let it go.

Meditation Spot 5: Work on your stomach: The stomach and lower back can hide just as much (if not more) tension as the chest and upper back. Direct your awareness into your stomach and lower back. Pay attention to any tightness in your abdominal wall. Notice any tension around or in the lumbar vertebrae. Focus on it, then relax and let it go.

Relaxation Spot 6 – Let go of tension in your hips: There are untold secrets hiding in the hips. I never knew just how tight my hips were until I really relaxed my shoulders. Once I could see past my shoulders, I began to notice all the specific muscles in and around my hips. Pay attention to your hips, the very bottom of your spine, your tail bone, your buttocks, and your upper thighs. Relax and look closely for a while. Notice any tension. Smile into it. Accept it. Then relax and let it go.

Relaxation Spot 7 – Relax your thighs: The quadriceps are an incredibly large muscle group, and you put all your weight on them anytime you stand, walk, or run throughout the day. Let them relax. Focus your attention into them. Notice any remaining attention, and then let it go.

Relaxation Spot 8 – Relax your knees: At the junction of your thighs and calves, lies an area ripe for hard to find tension. It is very easy to skip over the knee, but I encourage you to pay attention. Knee trouble is also pretty common, so to avoid it, I suggest you focus in on your knees, and learn to relax them. Pay attention. Notice any tightness in the knees. Relax around it. Relax into it. Focus in. Let it go.

Relaxation Spot 9 – Let go of all tension in your calves: Your calves, just like your thighs, support your weight anytime you stand, walk, or run. Give them the attention they deserve. Focus in. Relax. Notice any tension in the ankles or calves. Accept it, and let it go.

Relaxation Spot 10 – Work on your feet: at last, the feet! Love your feet. Take care of your feet. Rub your feet anytime you can (or get someone else to ). Notice any tension in or around the feet. Accept it. Let it go.

When you practice this sequence of relaxation, it gradually becomes more and more a part of you. You will realize that you can relax more quickly and easily every time you practice!

This is a wonderful thing to do just by itself, but when you learn to integrate it with all the other skills you use in your life, you will be thoroughly shocked at the power of the skill of relaxation. I’m certain you will be more than satisfied with your results!

Benjamin Langley has been studying and training in meditation, NLP, hypnosis, yoga, and energy work for over 15 years. He regularly shares powerful insights on his blog. For more information, come take a look: http://peacefulprosperity.com/101-proven-tips-for-powerful-meditation/