Using Technology to Help You Meditate

We live in a fast paced, information rich world. Our brains are plastic meaning that they change on a structural level according to what we think about, the activities we engage in and how we use our minds every day. We are expected to process vast amounts of information quickly, and to multi task efficiently. This has its positive aspects to be sure. We are evolving collectively in terms of what we know, can think about and the amount information we can process and access.
I do think that the diverse and multi layered attentional style most of us have adopted changes our brains to actually crave and need alot of stimuli. This can make meditation challenging!

When we are in our in our conscious minds focusing on objective reality, processing information, planning and problem solving we are in a brain wave state known as Beta. Many people find it difficult to shift out of Beta as this is state so valued and practiced in our society. A healthy brain is one in which all the brain wave states can be experienced, allowing us to move into meditative relaxed states at will.

The brain waves we are producing in Beta are oscillating at a frequency of  13-40 Hz . Of course, our brains produce all the brain waves all the time. But the predominate brain wave frequency we are experiencing determines our state of consciousness.

The state of consciousness that you are experiencing right now is a result of your brain wave activity! That means when you change your brain wave frequency, your change your state of consciousness, which results in a specific feeling and state of mind! This is Meditation.

Every thought we think is a bio chemical and electro magnetic event that causes neurons to fire. The speed at which these neurons fire creates a frequency that can be seen on an EEG machine as waves. Our brains constantly produce five brain wave frequencies: Gamma, Beta, Alpha,Theta and Delta. . Brain wave therapy helps you to have a flexible brain!
The chart below gives you a graphic representation of brain waves and their corresponding states of consciousness.

Brainwave	Consciousness
Gamma +40Hz	Manifestation Consciousness Binding Perception
Beta 13-40Hz	Concentration Attention Waking Consciousness Analytical Thinking ADD/ADHD Therapy Focus
Alpha 8-12Hz	Relaxation Right brain thinking Creativity Light Meditation Creative Visualization Creative Problem Solving
Theta 4-8Hz	Super Learning Changing Behaviors Healing Addictions Healing Trauma Deep Meditation Resolving Fears, Phobias Lucid Dreaming
Delta 0.2-4Hz	Sleep Physical Healing Recovery From Surgery Treatment for Insomnia Deep Relaxation

 So how do we change our brain waves to a state conducive for Meditation?  

We can change our brain waves through a process known as Entrainment. When we listen to any repetitive, rhythmic sound such as computer generated beats  our brain waves automatically become synchronized with the sounds we are hearing.

Pulse of Sound

Brain Wave Response

   
There are frequencies embedded in the audio programs  in Healing Meditations known as binaural beats. A beat oscillating at one frequency is played into the right ear (when wearing headphones) and a different frequency is played into the left ear. The brain automatically averages these frequencies. So if you play 12 Hz in one ear and 4 Hz in the other ear, the brain "hears" 8Hz which is at the  Alpha range. As you listen to these pulses of sounds, your own brain waves began to oscillate at the same at the same frequency. As you move into a Alpha brain wave state, you begin to feel more relaxed. Vivid, rich images begin flowing through your mind. You are connecting to the Creative Unconscious where new solutions to old problems effortlessly arise.

You can use binaural beats to create a meditation experience! Once you  know how it feels to go deep into a meditative state with the help of technology, it becomes easier and easier to get there on your own. You can use brain wave therapy as your "North Star" to guide you to the state you want to be in.

I use a program called Gnaural to produce binaural beats. Its fun and easy to use. Give it a try!

All the guided meditations from Healing Meditations  include binaural beats. I've recently created two new programs which are ambient music with binaural beats without any spoken word. Very relaxing. The Tropical Dream can be used as a sleep aid.
Tropical Dream-Theta
Forest Relaxation-Alpha

I know that the binaural beats, and beautiful ambient music  will easily guide you to a state of deep meditation, happiness and peace. Please feel free to comment and ask questions!

Wishing you Good Meditations,
Sue Schmidt C.Ht
www.healingmeditations.net
www.facebook.com/healingmeditations1
healingmeditations1@gmail.com

Sue Schmidt Certified Hypnotherapist

Hot Springs Birthday Meditation

I turned 58 on Aug. 14. Its been a tradition of mine to spend my birthdays at a hot springs in the San Luis Valley in Colorado. The hot springs perch on the flanks of the Sangre De Cristos mountains overlooking the valley. The vista is huge--you can see the sun sink behind the mountains with the moon following. Bats flutter through the purple dusk skimming just over the top of your head. Fireflies blink in the grass and trees bright points of light in the darkness. The hot pools are fragrant, soothing and relaxing. It is a magical place where I feel nurtured and peaceful.
Getting older doesn't bother me. I think that is because the older I get, the happier I am. I told a friend the other day, "I'd rather be happy than young."
I also enjoy birthdays, mine and others. Its a good excuse to celebrate! I like the attention and gifts.

But underlying all of this is a feeling of fragility and vulnerability I experience each year at my birthday. As a hypnotherapist and long time meditation practitioner, I have learned to recognize and appreciate the underlying currents of feeling that run beneath the surface of my outward experience. I know from talking to my  Mom that I had a difficult birth and almost died. I was not able to go home from the hospital. I have a damaged nerve in my face from  being pulled out with forceps that causes me to have a "crooked" smile. Its not something I think about alot or feel self conscious about, except occasionally  when I am being photographed. I have learned to smile "normally" in pictures.

I used to often injury myself in minor ways around my birthday.  Or I would experience a sudden very sore neck and  upper back ache on the day of my birthday. Fortunately as  I have become  more aware of the subconscious and bodily memory of my birth,  these physical manifestations have ceased.

In the last few years I have begun to practice a meditation I call the "Inner Infant Meditation". We have all been infants, so therefore we all have an inner infant that lives in our subconscious minds. So now at the time of my birthday I make it a practice to nurture myself deeply by going to the hotsprings and doing the following meditation a few times before and  on the day of my birthday. I hope you will give it a try on your birthday or anytime!

Inner Infant Meditation:

*Begin by finding a place where you feel very comfortable, safe and relaxed. You may want to cover yourself with a warm, soft blanket or relax in warm water. Hot springs or a hot tub is perfect!

*Make sure you are not hungry or tired or ill. And that you are feeling well.

*Begin to slow your breathing. Rest your hands on your belly and allow your hands to rise on the inhale and fall on the exhale. Let your awareness flow through your body noticing any areas that feel stiff or sore or tense. Notice any areas of your body that may feel numb, disconnected. Also notice where you feel good.

*Breathe into uncomfortable  areas (if there are any) gently, softly yet deeply. Feel that your breath is nourishing your body (it is.)

*Let your eyes close and remember a time when you felt very nourished and safe. This time may be in the present or long, long ago. If you can't remember a time where you felt physically safe, than you can imagine one. Or you can jus focus on the feelings of safety and well being you are experiencing now.

*Let this feeling of well being spread through out your whole body. You can see it as a gentl pink glow and/or feel it as warm honey flowing. This feeling of safety and warm well being surround you like a warm cloud.

*Now, let you mind drift back to your earliest memory as an infant. This may be a physical feeling or remember a picture you have seen of yourself as an infant. Hold this infant that is you in your arms. Cross your arms over your chest gently hugging this precious baby to you.

* Tell this inner infant, "You are welcome. I am so glad you are here. I love you. You are perfect just as your are. I am keeping you safe." You may think of other things to say to this inner infant that are welcoming, loving and comforting.

A poem I wrote some time ago expresses the feeling you are conveying to your Inner Infant

You came here  from afar,

Created from the cooling of a

Beautiful distant star,

Carried on the breath

Of a butterflies beating  wing

I am so happy you are here!

To learn and love and enjoy

Each and every thing,

May your footsteps find their way

Through tall green grass

And over steep and rocky paths

Climbing high

And swimming low

Finding wonder

wherever you go

I  welcome you to this place!

And am so happy to see

your wonderful face.

*Once you have welcomed the infant you and helped the inner infant feel calm, accepted and safe, you can visualize and feel this inner infant coming into your heart where this precious being can continue to feel safe and loved

*Continue breathing softly and gently and slowly open your eyes coming back to the present moment. Look around you. Colors may shine with new vividness, you may feel very relaxed and peaceful. You may feel safer and more connected to the world around you. 

*Carry on your day making sure to attend very closely to physical needs.  

This year I felt the comfort of the earth, the mountains and stars welcoming me into this life. I think I was able to feel that because of the Inner Infant meditation.
Peace,
Sue Schmidt  CMT,C.Ht
www.healingmediations.net
www.facebook.com/healingmeditations1
healingmeditations1@gmail.com

Full Moon August 2013 www.earthsky.org

Tonight is the full Moon! Go outside and gaze at the moon. Let your  eyes soften and let the moonlight enter your pupils and flow into  your brain. See your mind filled with a gentle, soothing, white moonlight.

According to Chi Kung, the light of the moon,especially the full moon, is good for your pituitary gland. Especially for women!

American Indian names for the full moon: Red Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Green Corn Moon, Grain Moon

Sue Schmidt CMT,C.Ht

www.healingmeditations.net
healingmeditations1@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/healingmeditations1
www.https://plus.google.com

The Energy of Love: Part 2

In the Energy of Love Part 1 we learned how to develop  an awareness of  of love feels in our physical bodies by remembering and imaging moments where we gave and received love intensely. Since all emotions are energy, they resonate in our bodies in different ways.

Love resonates as an expansive, warm, melting feeling usually in the heart area, solar plexus or abdomen. It feels expansive and big. Of course, there are individual variations. I am hoping that the meditation in the last blog helped you discover how loves feels in your body!

Now we are going to learn how to generate this expansive warm loving energy without needing an external object, condition or image. This is very helpful.

Normally, our emotional state is one of reactivity. When someone is angry at us, we get angry. When someone is loving toward us, we feel  loved and are more likely to offer love back. When someone directs negative energy toward us we take it in, feel negative and offer negativity to the world. True freedom is the ability to generate whatever emotion we choose to feel no matter what is happening externally. Of course, this is only possible to a certain degree. We are all human beings living on this planet and there is an external, objective reality. We truly are and will be effected by others and our environment. If there is an earthquake we are going to feel fear. When a loved one dies, we will feel sadness. When someone we care about is angry at us we will notice that.
But within external reality there is much more freedom than most of us are aware of or practice. Its like paddling a kayak down the river. The current of life is very strong, but we can learn to steer our boat more and more the direction we want to go. We can't go upstream very long, or ignore rapids and rocks, but we can use the energy of life to take us where we want to go. We can learn to strengthen our energy field through meditation, chi kung, yoga or many other valid spiritual paths and thereby become a generator of positive love. The more we can generate the energy of love the more we create the circumstances of our emotional reality rather than simply reacting to what is coming toward us on a particular day. This is FREEDOM!

You can learn to be a generator of  love right now as you read this blog. We will begin with the meditation offered last time and move on from there....

-Find a comfortable place to sit where you can feel your feet on the ground. You should be in a quiet, safe environment where you can relax.

-Allow your breathing to become a little deeper and slower. You can count the inhale and the exhale, making the exhale 1 count longer e.g., Inhale 1....2.....3.... Exhale.....1....2......3......4.....Use whatever count feels good to you that slows your breath

-Now, shift your awareness to your physical heart on the left side of your chest

-Breathe into your heart as if your heart had a nose, slowly and gently. Notice any physical sensations that may arise

-Now, remember a time when you felt loved unconditionally and completely, or if you can't remember this,  imagine a situation. Or...remember a time when you felt love for a person, pet or community, or activity. Or imagine this.....

-Try to visualize this experience with all your senses; see it happening, remember the time and place, what  you were doing and who were with, what time of day was it, the weather, your age. Just stay with it. If the mind wanders (which it most likely will,)bring it back.  Do this for about 5 min.

-Now, scan your body. What do you feel? What does your breath feel like? Do you feel an expansion in your chest? A warmth? A tingling? Did you sigh? Do tears come? Just notice....there is no right way to feel and no wrong way. 

 -Now, let the images in your mind fade away. Let the memory good. Just focus on the feeling of love breathe into this physical feeling. See it as a light glowing in your body. Any color light that appeals to you. Or just focus on the feeling. The feeling and/or light gets stronger as inhale and you relax into it as you exhale. 

-Now, let this feeling light expand beyond your physical body. This is effortless. It just fills your body until it spills over and surrounds you. This energy light is protecting you. 

-Now imagine or feel, the crown of your head opening. All the energy from the sun, moon, all the planets, the stars and the immense energy from the spaces between the stars flows down into you. And when it enters you, this energy is transformed into love. 

 -Now feel your feet on the earth. Imagine and feel the whole earth beneath you. Draw up the energy from all the plants, animals, rocks, river and oceans  into your body. And when it enters your body it becomes love. 

 -Now the energy is way too big to be contained in your personal space. You stand up and hold your palms outward sending energy and love out into the world. You can slowly turn in a circle as you do this. See the whole world surrounded by light. This feels easy and good. If it feels hard or tiring, then stop, just breathe and rest. You will build capacity to do this. 

-Now...let your breathing slow. Sit back down. Draw the energy in. Spiraling inward becoming softer, more mellow, more relaxed. Bring your thumb and forefinger together and press firmly. And say to yourself, "This is how love feels in me." Relax even more and let the energy of love spiral into a bright point of light in the center of your heart.

 -You can finish by letting returning to your body and breath. Breathing slowly and easily. Give thanks for  your life. Slowly open your eyes. 

 Throughout your day you can bring thumb and forefinger together and you will remember how love feels and you will generate love out into the world. The more you generate love, or any positive feeling, the more you will create your reality than reacting to it. 

 Let me know how it works for you!

Love and Peace, 

Sue

www.healingmeditations.net
healingmeditaitons1@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/healingmeditations1

The Energy of Love: Part 1

Sue and Osage sending Love

All emotions are Energy in Motion. Every emotion has an energetic and vibrational frequency.  The vibrational frequency of an emotion affects the physiology of our  bodies positively or negatively and this allows us to FEEL an emotion as a physical sensation.

Most of us are aware of how negative emotions affect our physiology: stress headaches, knot in the stomach, angry clenched jaw, fear in the solar plexus......the list is long and varied.

It is just as true that any positive emotion, love, happiness, pride, appreciation also affect our physiology.  Many of us are not aware of how love feels  in  our bodies. So the first step is recognizing how love feels physically.

You can learn to do this RIGHT NOW as you are reading this blog...

-Allow your face to relax and your eyes to half way close (so you can continue) reading

-Allow your breathing to become a little deeper and slower. You can count the inhale and the exhale, making the exhale 1 count longer e.g., Inhale 1....2.....3.... Exhale.....1....2......3......4.....Use whatever count feels good to you that slows your breath

-Now, shift your awareness to your physical heart on the left side of your chest

-Breathe into your heart as if your heart had a nose, slowly and gently. Notice any physical sensations that may arise

-Now, remember a time when you felt loved unconditionally and completely, or if you can't remember this,  imagine a situation. Or...remember a time when you felt love for a person, pet or community, or activity. Or imagine this.....

-Try to visualize this experience with all your senses; see it happening, remember the time and place, what  you were doing and who were with, what time of day was it, the weather, your age. Just stay with it. If the mind wanders (which it most likely will,)bring it back.  Do this for about 5 min.

-Now, scan your body. What do you feel? What does your breath feel like? Do you feel an expansion in your chest? A warmth? A tingling? Did you sigh? Do tears come? Just notice....there is no right way to feel and no wrong way. And if you don't feel anything at all, that is just a signal to practice this more and you will!

-Slowly open your eyes all the way. Look around the room. How do you feel physically? Notice how your body feels. Come all the way back!

Love has a signature feeling of warmth, tingling, an aliveness, an expansion. It feels good!  How does Love express itself in your body? Let me know!

You can practice this every day for 5-10 min. and once you know how love feels in your body, we can practice, just loving, without object or condition.  Coming next week!

This is FREEDOM!

Photo by: Rajni Ouroboros