On a purely physiological level, meditation has been scientifically proven to reduce stress, calm the central nervous system, and relieve a host of problems from anxiety to sleep disorders and even drug addiction. Meditation is considered to be beneficial to the immune system which is our defense against a myriad of diseases. Meditation aids one’s ability to concentrate and improves overall mental alertness.  Research has found that individuals who have practiced meditation throughout their lives look eight to ten years younger than their peers.  This may be because meditation gives your body and mind a deep rest — much more than sleep itself.  For whatever period of time you spend in meditation, your entire being dwells in a state of suspended timelessness.      

This sense of timelessness is another important benefit of meditation, for it gives you the opportunity to be entirely in the present moment.  Most of us fluctuate between living in the past and in the future.  We are often influenced by what just happened: “What did she mean when she said that?” “He was such a jerk to me.”  Or, we critique our own performance, “How did I come across?” or “I should have said….”  Alternately, our present moment awareness is robbed by the enormous amounts of time we spend planning the future:  “What will I wear?”  “What will I do?”  “What will I say?”  “What will I make for dinner?”  “Will he/she call?” “What will I do with the kids this weekend?” and of course, “How will this situation turn out?” 

Rarely do we spend much time simply being in the here and now, enjoying the fact that we are alive…feeling grateful for our life and all the magic therein.   Meditation give us the opportunity to be fully present in the moment, to breathe in life and to connect with the Source.  It is an experience that replenishes us and allows us to move through the day alert to the blessings in life.  Meditation allows love and gratitude to fill us up and keep us full.  

There are as many forms of meditation as there are personality types, and therefore there is one that will fit you.  So experiment and find one that calls to you.  But don’t get into the trap of waiting to find the “right” meditation technique or guru.  You can start right now by just sitting still, closing your eyes and focusing on your breath. That’s all.  Do that for a few minutes and you’ll soon feel a deep sense of peace.  Keep practicing and you’ll begin to realize the benefits of meditation that I mentioned above.

As always, let me know how it goes.

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I am grateful for the beautiful spring weather and color all over the city.

I am grateful for the YMCA and all the camp counselors who devote their time so lovingly there.

I am grateful for Evos — a healthy alternative to fast food.

I am grateful for the abundance that is all around and in my life now.

I am grateful for limitless possibility in which I exist.

Since the age of 16, when I was introduced to meditation and Ernest Holmes’ The Science of Mind (which is basically the idea that we are, in essence, spiritual beings and our thoughts are creative) I have pursued spirituality with a passion. I have always been a meditator, a positive thinker and consider myself an optimist.  I’ve given workshops, lectures, written a book and many articles on various aspects of New Thought and how we can work with the Law of Attraction to manifest our heart’s desires.  I have experienced miraculous demonstrations in my own life using these techniques.  My life is not perfect.  My consciousness is not perfect.  But I consider myself immensely blessed. 

I’ve always included the idea of gratitude as part of this practice, but I realize now, that I had only skimmed the surface.  I did not understand how powerful the practice of proactive gratitude can be…until recently…

…Until one very cold day last November when I went for a run in the woods close to where we live in North Carolina with my dog.  I was deep in thought about my life.  I couldn’t understand why, with all the meditation and imaging and affirmations and prayers that there were things that were not going well…at all.  I was having tremendous challenges with one of my children.  I wondered why my beloved Love & Blessings business was failing.  You probably know how this goes…one negative “woe-is-me” thought follows another.  I quickly became consumed by the idea that all the opportunities in my career had passed me by and how unfair it all seemed.  It was unusually cold and most of the trees had already shed their leaves. I was running tired and kept stumbling over stones and tree roots. I was just considering turning back, when my dog (on leash) stopped and sniffed at something for what seemed like an eternity.  Irritated at the idea of being forced to stop, I grumbled something, and then suddenly…I looked up and noticed it. 

The sun had broken through the clouds and appeared to be shining directly on one tree in a grassy patch.  This tree still had its leaves which had turned golden, and in the direct sunlight it positively glowed.  I stood there in amazement.  “What beauty!  What a gift this is!”  How could I dwell on all that appeared wrong in life when this miracle stood before me?  As I began to open to gratitude for this, a wave of love and gratitude flooded me and I felt like I was floating.  I felt so one with tree and with the forest.

I started to give thanks to the universe for the beauty of this site, and then gave thanks to my dog for stopping me so that I wouldn’t miss it.  I was grateful for the whole forest and for the opportunity to run in it that morning with my dog. Well, as it happens with gratitude, one gratitude led to another and then to another, and another.  This attitude of sudden gratitude started slipping into my thoughts about my life and, before long, I began to realize my life was pretty darned blessed.  My thoughts turned to all the prosperity, love and well-being in my life.  A blast of energy rushed through my body and I was suddenly leaping over stones and roots. 

When I got back home I was changed…perhaps forever.  Not because of the mystical experience I had in the woods (although that sure helped), but because I made a committment to practice gratitude on a much deeper level than ever before.  Mystical experiences don’t carry us through challenging days. They are, by nature, fleeting.  It takes practice to incorporate what we know into our daily lives, in order to experience transformation.

A few days later, I decided that, in order to support myself in my gratitude practice, and perhaps inspire and support others in their transformational practice of gratitude,  I would keep a blog and update it daily.  This site went up Thanksgiving Day and has been a source of support for my own practice of intentional…or “proactive” gratitude…and for many others as well.   I hope it is for you too.  For more info on what “proactive” gratitude is and how to participate, simply click on the How to Participate tab by the sunset on the top left.

Discovering and transforming limiting core beliefs is absolutely essential if you want to manifest a more expansive and abundant life. The good news is that you can do it. This is totally in your power. The reality is that it takes some work. However, I’ve come up with a 3-step plan that will make that “work” a little easier…and very effective.

1. Inner Wisdom Journaling. One of the best ways that I have found for uncovering deeply held beliefs is to practice “inner wisdom guided” journaling. Give yourself a good 30 to 60 minutes and a quiet place where you will not be disturbed during this process.

Before you begin, close your eyes and take several deep, cleansing and relaxing breaths. Then, ask your inner wisdom to guide you to the deep recesses of your mind…the nooks and crannies of memories, past hurts and childhood “lessons.” Visualize your inner wisdom shining a brilliant flash light into these areas. Take your time with this part of the process.

Then, when you feel ready, open your eyes and pick up your pencil. Allow your hand to be guided as it writes…without editing…onto the page. Keep writing. The more you write, the clearer things becomes. Neatness counts against you here. Be messy. Fill up several pages. Fill up an entire journal if you need to. No one will read it but you. If you’re messy enough, no one will understand it but you!

2. Practice Forgiveness. One of the blocks I see preventing people from attracting what they truly desire to experience in their lives is the energy of resentment and regret. Whether it’s resentment against some person or situation, or regret over your own past mistakes, it’s an energy that will block your good from getting to you. Even though these mistakes and hurts happened in the past, they are still very much alive in the present…even if you are not consciously aware of them. And it is this energy that will choke off the growth of any new good.

Forgiveness frees you to realize your potential. When you truly forgive someone, or some situation, or yourself, you will uproot these weeds, allowing your mental garden the space it needs to blossom.

Forgiveness begins with a willingness to let go and move on. Forgiveness does not mean condoning someone’s bad behavior or inviting them over for dinner. It means you are willing to separate what someone did from who they are in truth…a human being trying to make his or her way through life and naturally making mistakes. The same goes for you. In truth, we human beings can only do the best we can with the consciousness that we have at the time. If you’ve made mistakes in your past, you can begin today to be willing to see that you did the best you possibly could given your understanding at the time.

Spend as much time as necessary in prayer, meditation, journaling, or silently blessing yourself, the situation and the other person. See yourself cutting the cord that has bound you to this person in a web of negative energy. You’ll be amazed at how light and free you feel.

3. Meditation. Learn to meditate and practice it regularly. It is in meditation that the ego’s voice will be seen for what it is…an obstacle obscuring the light of your true self.

With a regular meditation practice you will connect with your inner magnificence and begin to understand the truth that you are loved and that you deserve a love-filled, joy-filled and abundant life. You will begin to feel, on a very deep level, that a magnificent, abundant life has already been given to you. You already have the fulfillment of your heart’s desires, and you simply need to own this truth and allow it manifest in your experience. This you will begin to feel in meditation. And, after a while, that deep understanding gleaned in the 20 to 30 minutes of daily meditation will begin to seep into your subconscious, transmuting any limiting beliefs that have been hanging out there.

There are as many teachers and types of meditation as there are varieties of chocolate. I offer one in my Manifesting Your Desires Program. Find one that suits you and just do it!

Don’t allow these limiting core beliefs, regrets and resentments to rob you of the magnificent life you were meant to life. Do not delay your good one more moment. Practice these three keys and watch as the floodgates open and an abundance of love, joy, prosperity and success pours into your life. Then, you’ll be the one on Oprah sharing with the world how you’ve applied the Law of Attraction and are now experiencing the manifestation of limitless good in your life.

Many blessings.

Okay, now I get it. I’ve never really experienced a real spring before. What a fabulous season! The variety of blossoms and the sweet aroma in the air is indescribable. Everywhere I look, I’m amazed at Mother Nature’s color palette: pale pinks, bright pinks, lavender, yellows and white mixed with the bright, light green of tender new leaves. It’s what inspired the Impressionists.

And it’s interesting that many East coast natives don’t really notice it anymore. They tend to talk about the bugs and the pollen. Yes, that’s here too, but I’m so bowled over by the beauty, I haven’t been paying attention. I hope I never become inured to the splendor.

So it was just such a spring morning, when walking my dog through the woods that the rebirth process of nature struck me on a whole new level. These trees that appeared so lifeless, so dead, were now pregnant with thousands of tiny buds. It got my full attention. They had something to teach me about the process of manifestation. Here goes…

Many have an area of our lives that, appears on the surface, dead. Maybe you’ve worked really hard to bring something good to life in your world…with no success. Perhaps you keep trying and trying, becoming frustrated with each failed attempt. Maybe you’ve given up and are pretending to tolerate an unfulfilling life. Perhaps you’ve rationalized away your desire for a more joyous and fulfilling life. I know I’ve done that with certain areas of my life.

If so, join with me in turning to nature to see if we can’t mimic its miraculous process of rebirth.

If an alien (or a Southern Californian, for that matter) landed on this planet in the middle of winter anywhere in the Northern hemisphere he would see, with the exception of the evergreens, nothing but dead trees and bushy sticks growing out of the ground. He would see frozen ground and think, “there’s no life growing here.” But we Earthlings know that nothing could be further from the truth. If he waits a few months, he’ll witness a miracle of transformation. Around March, April or May strange pods begin to develop on all the branches seemingly overnight. As the planet warms up and rain showers down, these pods begin to open up and tender new forms of life express themselves. In a few days or weeks, brilliant colors and diverse shapes burst forth. Once bare and lifeless branches are transformed into living aroma-producing, bird-housing, shade-providing wonders of nature.

Just as the trees and bushes now express their potential, our heart’s desires, which may appear lifeless now, can be nurtured to blossom and express our life’s potential. What’s the secret?…

Two forces: Sun and rain. Well, metaphorically, of course. As the sun warms up the tree trunks, and rain nourishes the soil which allows the life energy to flow, we can add “sun” and “rain” to our desires to allow life energy to flow. Spend some time in nature this week as you reflect on the following two ideas.

1. Love: We can think of “sun” as love. Do you know how you feel when you’re relaxing in the warm sun at the beach on a summer day? You’re relaxed. As long as you’ve applied protective sun screen, the sun feels healing to your body and your worries are miles away. Life is good and you feel great. It’s that feeling you want to apply to your heart’s desires. You want to get into that feeling space of loving your self and your life…of knowing that all is right with the world. Meditation is a good place to start with this. So is visualization. Whatever gets you connected with your Source and allows your mind to “live in the possibility” of your desires fulfilled, is a good practice. Spend time each day actively loving your self, your talents, your uniqueness and the gift you bring to the world. You are a magnificent expression of life…even more glorious than a pear tree in full blossom. Radiate warm love into your desires. Remember that, just like the natural rebirthing process of spring, the fulfillment of your desires is a natural process. Just as a tree is meant to blossom in the spring, you are meant to realize your potential. Consciously love your desires into manifestation.

2. The element of “rain” has two components…affirmation and action.

Affirmation: Similar to the way in which rain nourishes the soil which feeds plants and trees, positive affirmations nourish your soul and your heart’s desires. Structure your affirmations such that they first affirm the truth that you are connected with the Source, followed by a statement of the absolute truth about you. Repeating affirmations should not be about “countering” some current experience. Their purpose should be to remind you of your innate wholeness, and call forth your divine right to a fulfilling, joyous, successful and prosperous life. For example, if I were affirming financial prosperity, I might say something along the lines of: “Because I am a unique expression of Universal limitless good, I am now infinitely abundant, prosperous and free, as I was created to be.” Repeat positive affirmation throughout your day…upon rising, before falling off to sleep, while waiting in line, driving in traffic, and each time your mind starts to drift into fear and doubt. Remember that you are “nourishing” the soil of your mind and soul which feeds your belief…and therefore your experience in life.

Action: it is a fact of nature that the right amount of rain nourishes life and supports the growth of all good things. Too much in one place and destructive floods occur. Too little rain and living things wither and die. We can think of our daily activity in this way. In order to support the manifestation of your heart’s desires, you need to take action. Too little action and the manifestation withers and dies. Too much action and you’ll be carried away by a flood of overwhelm. By “too much action” I mean running around trying to make things happen without being connected to the Source of intuitive wisdom that would guide you into effective action. Again, I stress the importance of first connecting with Source through meditation, quiet journaling or other such practice that aligns you with your inner intuition. Through this practice you will open yourself to an inner wisdom and be guided as to what exactly you need to do in the physical world to support the realization of your dreams. As you take action, affirm your talents and capabilities as well as the fact that the universe loves and supports you. Action, taken in this way then becomes focused, empowered and purposeful, instead of exhausting and stressful.

So again, take some time this week to connect with nature. Take a walk in the mountains, along the beach, in the woods, or the desert in bloom. As you do, contemplate these ideas and make them your own. Then, come back, get ready, and get going.

Many blessings.