AWAKEN

To awaken is to be. Be still to awaken. Awaken and be.

SELF-COMPASSION

A practice of self-compassion is how to find completion within yourself instead of looking for it outside of yourself. It enables one to kill the critic in the mind of negative self-talk and look upon ourselves with a mother’s love. It is how to love and accept ourselves exactly as we are. It is a heart-healing process to equanimity of mind. Includes Mother of Mercy Meditation

GRIEF

Most people think of grief as a deep sadness one feels after loss. It is this and so much more. It is the little losses and the big losses; it is the time we cannot get back. Life is a perpetual motion of grief one moment to the next. Getting into our everyday grief allows for a letting go that calms the mind and heals the heart. Includes Grief Meditation.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerMay 8, 2020meditation, guided meditation, grief, healing, love, self healing, abuseComment

LISTEN

Meditation is a means of exploring the mind/body. Like driving through a snowstorm, we tightly grip the wheel, squinting through the blinding hail of thoughts. At times, it feels as though we will drive right off the road. Slow down and line yourself up with what you know will never change or lead you astray.

HOLDING SPACE FOR PAIN

Sitting with our own pain and softening to the sensations arising is a teacher. It educates us on how to be with the unpleasant. What do we do when the unpleasant arises and we cannot run from it? There is nothing to do but sit with it, soften to it, and listen. This is giving space to our pain and trusting the process.

SOFTENING TO PAIN

However unwanted, pain is certain to happen in life. When we acknowledge this, we can plan for what to do when pain’s unwelcome knock comes to our door. When unprepared, we panic and respond with rejection. When we know what to do with pain, we can become better equip to handling the undesired with equanimity.

ENOUGH

There will always be someone you can perceive as better than you. If we hold ourselves to this arbitrary standard, nothing is ever enough. We become a victim to our own judging mind. Believing the story of not being enough defeated me and kept me small for so many years. I turned the emotional pain of this story into suffering until I let go of trying to meet an impossible standard.

RESISTANCE

There becomes a circular stuck-ness that can happen when the mind butts up against the wall of resistance. It is difficult to look at what do not want to see. However, when we are resistant to facing the difficulty, resistance is reinforced. Relinquishing the desire to control the uncontrollable frees the mind and body from the armoring of resistance and liberates the soul.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerApril 29, 2020meditate, meditation, guided meditation, resistance, self healingComment

TRUST

Like a ship oscillating in a dark current of confusion, trust your lighthouse. No matter how foggy the course, the inkling of light remains. Where is your lighthouse? Meditation is the foghorn bellowing into the distance. Its blare rises above the haze of the cluttered mind. Sound your horn and look for your lighthouse.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerApril 28, 2020meditation, guided meditation, mindfulness, trust, self healing, self, loveComment

REMEMBER

Remember. Spirit awakens. Divine alarm. The cushion calls, To remember. Sit. Breathe. Connect. Flow. Remember to breathe. Breathe to remember.

ONE DAY OF CONSCIOUS EATING

Documentation of what I eat in a day. Ratios of 30% Protein, 30% Fat and 40% Carbs are generally a good guideline to adhere to. Using an app, such as MyPlate, makes it simple to quantify your dietary needs and make adjustments when appropriate. You will gain helpful insights as you embark on the investigative process of eating.

FOCUS

Our culture does not train focus. Quite the opposite. Capitalism encourages economic growth. As a result, we are bombarded by ads. Advertisements divert our focus are everywhere you look. From our smart phones to walking down the isle in the grocery store, objects are trying to catch your eye, and your mind. Shiny object here, shiny object there. Our minds are conditioned to be distracted.

MOVING MEDITATION

My eyes paused on each piece of vegetation that enveloped me. I stopped as my eyes fixated on the most intricate spiderweb glistening between two trees that sat 3 feet apart. At the center of the web was the most brilliantly colored spider I had ever seen. It’s bright red and blue body hung like a Christmas ornament against the tinsel like strings of its web.

PRESENCE

Practicing presence allows for spontaneity of flow so that when we return to the planning mind, there is more creativity and less time is spent analyzing every detail. Presence allows for smooth adaption to the guaranteed flux of life. With presence, we can let go of having to control everything because we are able to recognize more fully what we can control and what we can’t.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerApril 15, 2020meditate, self healing, love, guided meditation, meditation, mindfulness, presenceComment

CALMING THE INNER VERUKA SALT

When one is operating in this limited mindset, they cannot be present nor satisfied with what is. Like mindlessly swiping through Tinder profiles, the pleasure seeing mind lives in a daze of half-asleep monotony, perpetually looking for what is better. More! More! More! demands the never satiated Veruka Salt of the mind.

THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE

What motivates you to sit with your own mind? A desire? A desire to feel better? A desire to get better? A desire to be the best? Ask yourself, what is it that you want? What is your heart’s deepest desire?

SELF HEALING: WHO'S IN?

Recognizing the impermanence of the body and identifying with the permanent vibration of your being will help you find flow during challenging times. Pain is sensation that the body is feeling. Thoughts are temporary flow of the mind. Permanence is the flow. You are the flow.

FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is the greatest gift of loving kindness we can give ourselves and others. Forgiveness is not judging the rightness or wrongness of actions but accepting things, people, ourselves - as is - while meeting emotions with loving kindness.

BREATHE

Imagine you exist in a scene of emerald green richness. The air crisp and cool on your skin. The clean smell of minerals dance into your nostrils.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerApril 7, 2020meditate, meditation, breathe, yoga, peace, calm, presence, self healing, growth, mindfulnessComment

THE JOURNEY INWARD

No one accompanies you on your journey inward. It is one you do alone. You will meet yourself in that dark cave and stand eye to eye with the phantoms of your mind. This journey is not easy but nothing that brings growth ever is. Remain disciplined. The rewards for your efforts will come with a joyous magnitude that cannot be remotely compared to any earthy pleasure. Climb on.

Yoga & Meditation, Self ImprovementAmanda StokerApril 6, 2020meditation, self improvement, self healing, healing, yoga, courage, love, self loveComment