Category Archives: Meditation

I Love My Body – A Meditation

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Has it ever occurred to you how much your body has been through and that it has always bounced back and is still serving you loyally? Think about it… How many colds or other illnesses have you had? How many times have you hurt yourself? How many broken bones or injuries have you had? How many surgeries? How many times have you been pregnant and given birth?

How many diets have you put your body through? How many nights have you not had enough sleep? How much food that was difficult to digest or alcohol did you consume over the years? How many environmental toxins and pesticides have you been exposed to through your food and surroundings? How many days have you spent in front of the computer? How many nights on the couch?

And your body is still with you, bouncing back again and again. A loyal friend who supports you and serves you with all its strength. This body of ours is the most wonderful and precious gift. This friend needs to be honoured and listened to. Let’s stop taking this miracle that our consciousness resides in for granted and treat our body like a beautiful temple, or at least like the beautiful home we live in.

Loving our body does not just mean we give it the food and exercise it needs. It means we think and speak to it in a kind and loving manner. We appreciate it for its beauty and its service to us.

Our body is a mirror of our inner thoughts and beliefs. Every part of our being, every cell in our body, responds to every thought we think and every word we speak. It hears us saying, “my stomach is too fat” or “I hate my butt”. It also hears and feels the energy when we say, “my hands are beautiful” or “I love my soft skin”. It responds to each of these statements.

Our body is always communicating with us through aches and pains or through feeling energized and light. We need to listen to it and we need to communicate with it in a more loving manner.

It’s an act of self-love to take care of our body. Notice how you feel after you eat different foods and figure out which foods give you lots of energy and which foods leave you feeling full, bloated and drained. Move your body in fun ways. Exercise does not have to be hard or something you hate. A walk you enjoy is better than an exercise class you hate. Move your body as much as you can. Walk where you can instead of driving. Find enjoyable outdoor activities or indoor fun that gets you moving.

But most importantly of all, look at yourself in the mirror with loving eyes. Give yourself a positive message every time you see your own reflection. Smile as you look into your own eyes and compliment different body parts. Treat your body with the respect it deserves, a respect you wouldn’t hesitate to give to another person.

In this 15 minute long meditation below, we are going to focus on appreciating, honouring and loving your physical body. Make yourself comfortable and join me for “I Love My Body”:

If you are interested in other 10-15 minute long meditations, click here.

Contact me to shift how you feel about yourself or your body using tools like the belief change technique PSYCH-K®, Shadow Energetics or the L.E.E.P. System (Life Enhancing Energetic Processes, developed by Dhebi DeWitz).

Angelika

905-286-9466

greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca

I know your time is valuable and I appreciate you reading my blog. If you are enjoying my articles, you can subscribe to receive an e-mail notification whenever I post a new blog. All you need to do is to enter your email address in the field on the left side of the bar. Thank you for your support!

 

Non-Attachment Sets You Free

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Sally is married to a man who has put on 60 lbs since they got married but doesn’t listen to her advice on healthy eating. She has a 17-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son. The daughter has a boyfriend Sally hates, and her son does not apply himself in school. Sally’s in-laws are judgmental and Sally tried extra hard to please her mother-in-law by competing with the other daughter-in-law. Sally sometimes feels anger and sadness rise in her and it takes all her energy to keep those emotions bottled up. She has almost daily headaches and has become dependent on pain killers and anxiety medication.

What advice would you give Sally? She could work on one situation at a time but they all have one thing in common: attachment. Sally’s energy is going towards wanting others to change while she is suppressing her own emotions and needs. She is attached to her husband taking her advice, to her daughter realizing that her boyfriend is not good for her, to her son working harder in school and to her mother-in-law liking her. She is also attached to those powerful emotions which she keeps pushing down by using painkillers to numb them out.

What would make the greatest difference for Sally and her family is for her to start directing her energy towards herself and her needs, and to develop a healthy detachment or non-attachment to the other situations.

Non-attachment or detachment does not mean “not to care” anymore. That is a common misunderstanding. Sometimes we get so frustrated with somebody not changing that we decide that we will “just not care anymore”. When we are shifting from being attached to a certain outcome to non-attachment this is not happening to punish the other people. If frustration is my trigger and punishment is my motivation, I have not developed true detachment. Non-attachment is to keep our own sanity and to allow a situation to unfold in whichever way it needs to unfold. We are still staying compassionate, but we surrender the need to control things.

Non-attachment comes from a true heart-space, a compassionate loving stance, but it means taking our energy back that we have bound up with expectations. Having a healthy detachment is to care but to not be attached to if, when or how the other person is going to take our advice, or if, when or how they do what we would like. If we are attached to them doing something or not doing something, we have allowed our expectations to rule us and to create disappointment and frustration. Our energy is bound up in a certain outcome.

Having healthy detachment from a situation means having a standpoint of non-judgment. We are not attached to how a situation should unfold. We can let it be what it is and have discernment. Discernment means to not tolerate a situation which is harmful to us. Sally’s mother-in-law is manipulative and disrespectful. Directing her energy back towards herself might also mean for Sally not to tolerate that anymore. With some separation from the pleaser voice inside her, Sally can decide to please herself and just let go of the competition between the daughters-in-law which neither one can win anyways.

Non-attachment to uncomfortable emotions means that we can allow our emotions to rise up, to feel them and to let them move through us. Sally has an opportunity to feel the anger and sadness and to realize that underneath it all she is carrying a lot of grief. She deserves to take time to experience and release these emotions.

Non-attachment to pleasurable emotions like happiness means not chasing after them in the outside world. Happiness can be found inside and enjoyed in each moment as it presents itself. Instead of putting her energy towards what she does not like, Sally can give herself permission to focus on the daily little moments of joy.

Non-attachment to food, substances, habits or activities means that we don’t depend on them for our emotional or physical well-being. Instead of eating, smoking, drinking, taking drugs, or engaging in addictive behaviours to feel better, we experience a healthy detachment. We are able to feel our emotions and pain and explore what message there is and which of our needs have to be addressed.

Non-attachment means surrendering and thus letting go of a tug-of-war we have gotten ourselves into. When Sally stops nagging her husband, or pushing her daughter to see certain bad qualities in her boyfriend, or lecturing her son about school, or letting go of the competition with the other daughter-in-law, these situations can pass. The husband can now feel it is his choice to eat healthier. The daughter does not need to rebel anymore and has a chance to see the boyfriend for who he is. Sally’s son gets to experience the natural consequences of not getting good grades; he has to stay at home to study instead of playing video games at his friend’s house. And the mother-in-law is unable to manipulate Sally anymore into doing something she does not want to do. Sally is free.

Last but not least, non-attachment helps us to go though difficult moments with a certain sense of humor, knowing that “This too shall pass”. When she takes a moment to see everything with humour, Sally remembers that her sister also had an “undesirable” boyfriend and eventually broke up with him, and that her husband used to be “lazy” himself when he was 14 and today is a successful engineer.

Where in your life are you attached to people and their choices, to situations unfolding a certain way, to emotions or to food/substances? I invite you to join me on a meditation to release these attachments, reclaim your energy and to surrender to everything unfolding perfectly.

I know your time is valuable and appreciate you reading my blog. If you are enjoying my articles, you can subscribe to receive an e-mail notification whenever I post a new blog. All you need to do is to enter your email address in the field on the left side of the bar. Thank you for your support!

 

Angelika

905-286-9466

greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca

Going With the Flow

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“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes.

Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow.

Let reality be reality.

Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

Lao-Tzu

What I especially like about this quote is the reminder to let reality be reality. How often do we ignore the reality we do not like or which nudges us to take action? We resist listening to what presents itself and hold on to the status quo. But what does it mean to go with the flow of things?

“Go with the flow” has become a very popular phrase. It means a state of nonresistance which encourages you to flow with life as if you are flowing on a river. “Go with the flow” is such a simple short and sweet statement. However, there are some pitfalls in this mantra.

Like many “spiritual” principles, the idea contains an apparent contradiction. Because of this, we might interpret the principle as “let life happen without using your will power.” It is quite easy to see “go with a flow” as a call to inactivity, inaction or laziness, waiting for things to fall into your lap, making the choice not to make a choice. When we don’t make a choice, another person makes it for us, or the situation becomes so unbearable that the decision is forced upon us. Inactivity is not what this spiritual principle means.

It is often quite easy to trick the mind into confusing going with the flow with maintaining the status quo of things, because our subconscious mind likes a sense of equilibrium. It prefers experiences that are familiar, pleasant and comfortable. When its sense of equilibrium is threatened, we unconsciously might choose to stay with what is familiar even if a part of us knows it’s not good for us.

That applies each time you are confronted with a situation or a person’s actions that are not acceptable but you are hesitating to take action. An example would be if you are dealing with somebody who is being passive-aggressive: someone is making rude, disrespectful or hurtful comments about you and disguising it as humor. “Oh, I am just kidding. Have a sense of humour!” Your sense of equilibrium may tell you to be silent about it instead of risking a fight. You may feel some physical response, perhaps some tension in the body, in your solar plexus or in your throat chakra, that prevents you from claiming your power and speaking up, speaking your truth.

But your body is actually telling you that you are not really going with the flow but that you are avoiding to unsettle the status quo. If we want to stay happy, healthy and, most importantly, true to ourselves, we need to listen to our intuition. If you listen to your intuition and speak up calmly and assertively to this person, your body gives you the feedback that you are on the right path. Your throat chakra clears up or your solar plexus settles down. You notice a sudden freedom, a greater “flow” and an increased ability to embrace life’s experiences as life unfolds.

You might have thought that going with the flow was about accepting the inappropriate comments or behaviour, just ignoring reality. But after exercising your assertiveness, you realize that acceptance means accepting the experience and letting go of the hurt, but not of the lesson this person has taught you. It is about following the call to action that the comments were inviting. You truly went with the flow. This person’s job was to teach you something about self-respect. You might even want to thank them (or the Universe) for the lesson.

Meditation can help us learn to go with the flow.  It gives us the clarity to see why certain doors or paths have been closed for us. That usually happens when we are not supposed to be in a certain place, be that a particular job or certain relationship, when we are meant to be somewhere different. It shows us new doors to knock on or doors that have already started to open for us. It also helps us understand where our fear of change has tricked us into believing it is best to “keep the peace”, keep the status quo of a situation, even if we sacrifice being authentic and happy. It helps us decide how to move forward, go with the flow to get to where we really want to go, be who we really want to be.

Join me for this meditation below to contemplate where in your life you can go more with the flow. You might also want to check out other free 10-15 minute long meditations.

 

Hello, Old Pal Anxiety!

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Listen to this blog as a podcast here, or read it below!

Ingrid has colitis and other health challenges; the unpredictability of her physical issues gives her anxiety. Margaret has a fear of flying which has gotten progressively worse; due to her anxiety she has not stepped foot on a plane in years. Peter is a widower and single dad with three daughters; the oldest one has anorexia and he is experiencing great anxiety regarding her well-being, as well as her sister’s. The two teenagers are both plagued by anxiety as well.

Anxiety is a more and more prevailing challenge for many people. One in five Canadians has a mild to severe mood or anxiety disorder. Anxiety is especially on the rise among children and teens. It is a continuously growing concern at any age. What is happening in our brains and how can we address this issue?

To understand how our brains function, we need to remember that for our ancestors, negative experiences had more impact for their survival than positive ones. They needed to remember their painful or dangerous experiences so they would not repeat them, in order to survive. Our brain is still wired that way. Our brains evolved with a “negativity bias” (Rick Hansen). In general, we remember negative experiences more easily, unless we really focus on the positive ones and take them in deeply. That is like a “learning disability” and traps us in conflict. So, it does not help at all to tell somebody who is worrying or has anxiety to think positively.

Anxiety - time

The experience of uncertainty which creates anxiety comes from the fact that we can make representations of time. We structure our experiences into past, present and future. The ability to analyze the past and think ahead to the future is part of the human survival kit. We are supposed to learn from the past, be very awake and alert in the present and make sure we are safe in the future. Unfortunately, our ability to evaluate future risks is only based on a few facts and our left brain fills the gaps between those facts in with a story. Depending on which subconscious beliefs we have about ourselves and the world, this story our left brain makes up is either a supportive one or a limiting and fear-inducing one. In the case of anxiety, our left brain has created a fear narrative.

Mark Twain says it humorously:Anxiety - Mark Twain

Most thoughts that makes us anxious are thoughts about the future, a future that generally never happens like we imagine. That is why mindfulness and staying in the present moment helps to train the brain to stay focused on the here and now. The present is all that is real. Therefore, mindfulness alone can already help with anxiety.

We have also been trained to avoid unpleasant emotions, to push them down and not feel them. So naturally, we don’t want to feel anxiety. However, our attempt to push unpleasant feelings down, keeps the anxiety going. The attempt to make anxiety go away is what traps us in it, not the anxiety itself. Instead of putting all our energy towards avoiding the anxiety and trying to get rid of it, we can learn to be with it and ride it out.

It is an ancient Buddhist practice to stay with the feeling that arises. So when fear or dread arises, we can welcome it into our heart and stay with it until it has moved through us. Greet the anxiety like an old friend, “Hello, my friend. I know you. You are my old pal fear. Welcome back.” Then keep breathing all the way into your belly, long deep and complete breaths, letting your belly expand on the inhale, and become smaller on the exhale. Simply being with the fear allows it to come and go like all other mental content.

meditation-monk

Of course, mindfulness and being with the feeling requires practice, like everything else in life. When we say, “I have tried that mindfulness thing, it doesn’t work” it’s like saying “I have tried playing the piano, it does not work”.

Often we believe uncertainty is the problem to be solved. “If I could just control my physical body”, or “If I could just have the guarantee that there will be no turbulence”, or “If I just knew whether I will pass my exam or not”, or “If I just knew that my child will be alright in the future”.

Uncertainty is not a problem to solve. A much more useful approach is to rest in the uncertainty and experience it as a sanctuary of possibilities. When we are emotionally in a place to create a positive influence or make choices, we end up being more comfortable with the uncertainty of a situation and, in the end, are more in control.

A situation of suffering and uncertainty can challenge our whole identity. Being sick might challenge my identity to be a productive and capable human. A fear or phobia might challenge my identity as a rational adult or spiritual person. A crisis with my child might challenge my identity as a good parent.

We first of all need to remember that we still are who we always were. In fact, we are everything. We are capable and rational and spiritual and a good parent. We are just having the experience of a hugely challenging situation. Because it is unpleasant to feel the pain, disappointment, shame, anger, fear or other emotion, we seek control. If we instead acknowledge the painful feelings, we can shift into a place of self-compassion. We can then move from attempting to gain control to choice.

We can always ask “What can I choose? What can I bring to this situation? Courage? Trust? Love? Who do I want to be in this situation? And how do I want to feel?” The answer might be “I want to feel less alone and therefore I reach out for support to address this health crisis” or “I want to be present and calm on the airplane and trust that I am safe in the Universe” or “I want to be compassionate and loving with my struggling child”.

Anxiety - choices

 

If you are enjoying my articles, you can subscribe to receive an e-mail notification whenever I post a new blog. All you need to do is to enter your email address in the field on the left side of the bar. Thank you for your support!

Angelika, Belief Change Coach

905-286-9466, greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca

You can also join me on this meditation to ask ourselves

what we can choose in a current anxiety provoking situation:

In the Now

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Art work by Carina Francioso

In the Now _ L' oggi

In the Now

What keeps us from living in the now?

Perhaps it is nostalgia that binds us to yesterday

or hope that leads us to tomorrow.

And yet there was a time in which the present

belonged to us, remember?

As a child there was no space for the past

Everything was a game, a discovery, a passion

Until we moved further away from ourselves.

– from the Italian poem “L’oggi” by Anna Ciardullo Villapiana,

English Translation by Carina Francioso

 

A sweet friend of mine sent me a book with Italian poems as something to pass my time while my fractures are healing. As I am reading the poem above, I am listening to the sounds of spring that enter through the open window. There is the humming of a lawn mower, birds chirping, a few children playing outside, and I am involuntarily transported back to my childhood.

Afternoons felt long, Sundays back then seemed endless. There was this feeling of a whole wonderful day stretching in front of me. Time for leisure, for play, for stillness… rolling down the hill or just sitting on the lawn, feeling the earth underneath and the lush grass, picking daisies, connecting them to a reef to place on my head; looking for four leafed clovers, and feeling so lucky when I found one, knowing that I just had to look long enough; dandelions weren’t weeds back then, they were marvellous wonders in their white costume to be blown all over the back yard.

As children the present really belonged to us, our mind could so easily just be in the now. Today, I need my daily meditation or a vacation—or two broken legs—to be in the same way, to be completely in the now. Sometimes I long to be five years old again to feel like time is standing still, like I have nowhere to go, nowhere to be but here.

That longing inside comes from our soul, which needs to stop to contemplate our humanness and the journey that we are on. It needs to feel gratitude and joy. It needs to slow down at times, right down to almost stand-still, to feel our true essence.

 

True-Essence

“True Essence”  by Carina Francioso

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow Greendoor to receive an e-mail notification whenever I post a new blog. All you need to do is to click the “follow” button in the right-hand corner of your screen.

Angelika, greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca, 905-286-9466

Just Let It Be – Easy Meditation Mantras

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There are many different forms of meditations. There are silent meditations, chanting meditations, guided meditations using imagery, and many other traditions of meditation. When we are in a deep meditation—similar to when we go into a hypnotic state—we lose track of time. We experience a wonderful right brain state of “connectedness” with all there is.

We usually make getting into a meditative state more complicated than it needs to be. As mentioned in my blog “I Just Can’t Meditate”, meditation means bringing and keeping your attention on what is right now in this very moment in time, letting past and future go, being present with whatever shows up, being mindful.

We live in a fast paced world. Everybody and everything around us is always “go, go, go”. In order to fit in and to survive in this reality, we adapt to the fast pace. Slowing down in this time of constant doing and rushing can seem like an enormous task of mindfulness. How can we outwardly move with everybody else, and inwardly find this place of stillness, a slower pace?

Mantras can be very helpful when meditating. Close your eyes and become aware of your breathing. Allow each breath to be full, deep and complete. Make sure your belly rises on each inhale and falls on each exhale. When we are anxious we take very shallow breaths. Just shifting to deep belly breathing is like pushing a relaxation button.

When you have taken a few deep belly breaths, begin to say silently to yourself with each inhale “I slow down”. On each exhale think “I let go”. And become a non-judgmental observer. Notice—without judgment—what or where you are holding on to.

Sometimes we have resistance to letting things go, or we don’t know how to let go. Continue to say “I slow down” on your in-breath and experiment with “I release. It doesn’t matter anymore” on your exhale. Notice how the second mantra feels in your body.

I release

One way of letting go is to let things be. What if we stopped trying to make things different? Or what if we stopped wishing things were different? What if we just accepted them as neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong, but just as they are?

Continue to say “I slow down” as you breathe in and say to yourself “I let it be” on your exhale. Notice how it feels in your body to let things be.

I let it be

Letting it be is the ability and willingness to see a situation for what it is, without judgements. Having the willingness to see what really is, increases our ability to respond, our response-ability. And we can then take action steps from a place of calm and love, rather than from a place of resistance and upset.

Most of us have a longing to go home, to be relaxed, at peace, to feel absolutely loved. Another very effective meditation mantra is “I am arriving” on your inhale, “I am home” on your exhale. Focus on your heart as you use this mantra and allow yourself to feel at home in your heart, supported, protected and loved by Mother Earth and the Universe.

I am home

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow Greendoor to receive an e-mail notification whenever I post a new blog. All you need to do is to click the “follow” button in the right-hand corner of your screen.

Does Earthing Help With Jetlag?

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Have you noticed how good it feels when you take your shoes off and walk on the beach? Or when you wander barefoot in the grass?

In the summer months, I start my morning barefoot in the backyard. I consciously walk on the earth and ground myself. I then sit down on the ground or on a chair with my bare feet on the grass for a short morning meditation. Unlike all other grounding methods I learned, the connection with the earth seems to work automatically, easily, and effortlessly.

Earthing 2

There is an emerging science documenting how direct contact with the earth, which is also known as earthing or grounding, is highly beneficial to our health. How does earthing work?

Our body needs electrons to function well. It is known that the Earth maintains a negative electrical potential on its surface. When you are in direct contact with the ground, you are walking, sitting, or laying down on dirt, grass, sand or concrete, the earth’s electrons are conducted through your body, bringing it to the same electrical potential as the earth. This connection seems to be enhanced when the ground is moist or wet.

Research indicates that electrons from the earth can help your body heal inflammation and also have other health benefits. Effects on our immune system, blood, heart rate, cortisol levels, sleep, autonomic nervous system and reduced stress have been documented. This practice also helps people with anxiety and pain issues.

Earthing 3

Our ancestors had continuous contact with the earth. Even until the fifties, we used to wear leather soles, which were conductors for electrons. Only when plastic or rubber soles were introduced did we lose that direct contact with Mother Earth.

For a while now I have been curious to experience how earthing helps to recover from jetlag and I am excited to report on our recent experiment.

We all live in a circadian rhythm, which is a built-in body cycle. This cycle receives external clues from our environment: light, temperature, etc. Rapid long-distance travelling across east-west or west-east transmeridians disrupts our inner circadian rhythm. The condition of jetlag can last several days until one is fully adjusted to the new time zone.

Earthing 7

Yesterday, we landed in England after a seven hour night flight from Toronto, a trip that involved lots of delays and unpredictability, which comes with flying stand-by. We crossed through five time zones. Local time is five hours ahead and we naturally felt the usual effects of jetlag upon arrival.

In the past, it has usually taken us at least three days to fully adjust to European time. By spending half an hour to connect with the earth, we were hoping to readjust quicker. The first piece of grass we found was just at a rest-stop off the motorway. Not the best spot to ground, but a first opportunity to take off our shoes.

Two hours later, upon arrival in Badsey, a tiny town with a population of 2657 people, deep in the British countryside, we had no trouble finding a connection with Mother Earth. We were greeted by romantic little pathways, an old country church and an adjacent cemetery with big old trees overgrown with ivy.

Earthing 5

Walking barefoot in these peaceful calm surroundings, nothing but sounds of nature embraced us: a couple of sheep “bah”ing on a nearby field, the clacking sound of horse shoes on the road as somebody rode by the church, hammering in the distance, a dog barking, a huge wood pigeon landing on the roof of a shed and tap dancing on top of it, and—most soothing of all—the deep, full sound of the church bells striking every hour. It immediately felt grounding and calming, and had a wonderful effect of slowing everything down: our breathing, our thinking. This truly is a place where the soul can “dangle” for a bit.

Instead of just spending half an hour in the grass, I could have spent hours feeling the energy of the old trees and the wind. The earth and the grass feel different in these parts; they remind me of my childhood growing up in Europe. Perhaps we are more connected with the earth close to where we are born?

Earthing 6

Today, we were up bright and early, feeling awake and refreshed, almost completely adjusted to local time. No jet lag headaches, no dizziness and very little tiredness. I am looking forward to starting every day close to nature.

If you enjoy my posts, you can follow Greendoor to receive an e-mail notification whenever I post a new blog. All you need to do is to click the “follow” button in the right-hand corner of your screen.

Going Inwards

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Have you ever had a day, or even a week, where you wondered why the whole world seems to have lost their mind? A day when you couldn’t believe that one silly thing after the next happened?

I did. One issue after the next came up and I was shaking my head at why it always all seems to happen at once. My best friend Claudia just laughed when I told her. She reminded me of what I knew but had forgotten this week: “Relax. It is not the world, it is you. Do you feel centred this week? Truly centred and strong? How many “energy strings” are leading away from you right now?”

She was right of course. The world mirrors for us what is going on inside. Life has been too busy lately. Busy in a good way, yet still out of balance. Life flows best when there is a balance between being extrovert and introvert, between doing and just being. And as much as she was not saying anything I don’t know—in fact I point energy leaks out to my clients all the time—I seemed to have forgotten my own teachings.

Why did I forget? Because sometimes life is so exciting, there are all those opportunities tempting us, all those connections to make and all those experiences to have, that we can forget to bring the energy back in and re-charge. We are so eager to be part of something and to feel the aliveness which comes from the experience of being in the middle of things that we sometimes tend to forget the peace that lies in the opposite of doing.

 Weeping Willow 3

I meditate daily but when life is extra busy I need more than that. I need more sleep and I need alone time. The “world gone crazy” showed me that it is time to re-charge, time to unplug from all social networks, time to cancel activities, time to go out and sit under my favourite tree, time to connect with the Universe outside in nature, time to re-focus on myself, time to collect all the energy back and to go inwards.

I unplugged for an entire day yesterday and can’t wait for the next day to “unplug”. As a reward for just being present in the moment, for being spontaneous and going for a walk, the Universe had a little surprise which made my day. Close to the sailboat harbour in Oakville down by the lake, a special rock collection is growing.

Rocks 3

According to a local person passing by, it all started with a bucket a child left behind. Somebody wrote “bucket list” on that pail, left a marker behind, and people wrote their dreams and thoughts onto rocks and put them into the bucket. When the bucket became too small, people started adding rocks and piling them up around the bucket.

Some rocks hold wishes and intentions sent out to the Universe, others drawings, and the best ones—or so I feel—have quotes or reminders for others written on them.

Rock The Next Chapter

Rock Your Opinion Of Me 1

Rock Be YoruselfHave you lately considered your bucket list or what is really important to you? Make it fun and inspiring. We get so caught up in our lives, so caught up in our hurts and stories. Go check out this rock collection and add your own dreams, thoughts or quotes. Or perhaps you want to start your own rock collection and meditate on what is truly essential for your personal and spiritual growth.

Rock Make Time 2

Angelika
905-286-9466

greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca

If you are enjoying my posts you can follow Greendoor to receive an e-mail notification whenever I post a new blog. All you need to do is to click the follow button in the right hand corner of your screen.

Do you truly love, honour and respect yourself?

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When I work with clients, as well as in my own work, the inner child comes up a lot. Being in touch with our inner child is a key piece in learning to truly love ourselves, to be comfortable with our feelings and lovingly taking care of our needs. A caring relationship with our inner child is necessary to be vulnerable, to trust others and to have truly intimate relationships.

Inner Child 3

We all have an inner child; a little girl or boy inside. This is our vulnerable and loving self that we are born with. In our society, it is part of the process of growing up that our power selves, like the successful self, the intellectual self, the controlling self, the angry self, the perfectionist self, the pleaser self and so on, protect the inner child from becoming hurt. During this necessary process, the inner child gets buried and we can lose our ability to experience true closeness. If we over-identify with one or more of those power selves, we might find it difficult to be authentic and vulnerable with others, or to let somebody else come close.

Many of us have an inner child, who feels lost, lonely, rejected or abandoned. Sometimes our inner child feels unworthy or full of shame because we only criticize it. If we are in the habit of ignoring our inner child, her or his fears and feelings, or beating up on her with negative self talk and making her feel “not enough”, the inner child might jump into the driver’s seat and drive us into words, actions or behaviours which stem from feeling unlovable. When the inner child feels attacked, threatened or unloved, our angry part, or our manipulate part, or our lying part and so on, step forward to protect the inner child.

When we are aware of that dynamic, we can take care of the inner child, express our feelings and needs calmly and set clear boundaries for the inner child.

Inner Child 12 upset

Sometimes the inner child feels scared or upset and needs us to act in a certain way so that she feels safe.

Inner Child 12 angry

Sometimes she might even show up as angry and feel like we have not protected her well. We have to teach her that from now on we will take better care of her.

We need to bring up a strong parental voice to assure that child like part in us that her/his feelings and needs matter. That we will parent ourselves and love ourselves in the way we parent our own children or take care of others. Inner Child work helps to shift the relationship we have with ourselves to true self-love and living in line with your authentic voice.

I am excited to be able to introduce a completely new CD: Inner Child Meditations. On this CD you will find two different inner child meditations which have been combined with beautiful music.

The first meditation is based on the inner child meditation my good friend Darryl Gurney developed for his Shadow Energetics workshop. This workshop combines shadow work, a belief change process to shift subconscious beliefs, relationship healing, emotional release work, dream interpretations, and – last but not least – inner child work. This first meditation guides you to meet your inner child, talk to her or him, to switch places with your inner child and to hear what you need to hear. It helps you to connect to your true feelings and needs and to address them.

The second meditation allows you to go back in time to different ages and collect and reclaim different parts of yourself at different times. It also guides you to communicate with your future self, and to connect to your future self as your mentor.

TESTIMONIAL:

“I spent last night and this morning listening to the Track 2 of the CD. I was guided to spend a little time under the tree with my little girl. I love the CD your voice is amazing so soothing, comforting and you really make me feel safe and my little girl feels safe too 🙂 I will explore the last track I think in a few days, after a long visit under the tree. I just want to say how much I appreciate you. You always make me feel so safe and that I can share whatever needs to be shared and that a solution is always uncovered. Thank you Thank you Thank you!”

A FEW DAYS LATER:

“I just finished listening to the 3rd track and spent time with my future self: she says hello and thanks you for sending me for a visit. It was very emotional and I shall have to wait awhile for the red eyes to diminish before I go shopping. What a powerful meditation and how much I needed that. I really needed to feel how through my life I have survived and thrived and in this present time nothing will be any different. I am so very grateful that you are in my life, that you have such wonderful gifts and your meditation was like having a great Angelika hug”.

– B., Mississauga

Please contact me for further information about inner child work or the CD.

Angelika

905-286-9466

greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca

“I just can’t meditate!”

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A couple of years ago, I used to teach a meditation class. These days, I only lead a meditation for our monthly PSYCH-K® practice group or the occasional networking meeting. Last week, I was given the opportunity to guide the meditation at one of the amazing Wild About Wellness meetings Simone Usselman-Tod organizes for health-care practitioners in Burlington, Guelph and Hamilton. Afterwards one participant said to me, “I really liked what you said about meditation because I have learned something new…”

What was it that I had said before starting the meditation? It was really quite simple and the answer to a concern I have often heard from meditation beginners. I have heard people say many times: “I just can’t quiet my mind to meditate. I don’t know what to do to shut my thoughts off!”

Meditation has nothing to do with doing. In fact, it is the exact opposite of doing! Meditation is just being in the moment. Meditation means letting go, letting go of all thoughts that go into the past or the future. It means gently bringing and keeping your attention on what is right now in this very moment in time, being present with whatever shows up.

Meditation Tia OshoDoing the dishes or pulling weeds can be a meditation, as long as you are fully present with what you are doing. Or, as my good friend Lisbeth Fregonese said in a radio interview the other day, “Maybe you are meditation walker, a meditation swimmer, or a meditation jogger.”

Walking, running, swimming, roller blading, riding your bike, dancing, singing and so on can all be meditative. All that is required is that you allow yourself to be fully immersed in whatever you are doing. Embrace mindfulness. Allow your mind, body and spirit to be in rhythm with the walking, running, or swimming. For me writing is meditative. When I allow the thoughts to flow through me and onto the screen, I am not thinking or feeling anything else.

meditation Osho 1One of the biggest distractions which prevents us from fully being present is our phone. Do we really need to be constantly available by phone, e-mail or text? What if we turned our phone off when we are having dinner with our family or when we are on an outing? What if we even turned if off for an entire Sunday to be fully present with the sunshine, to enjoy our back-yard, our loved ones, whatever we are doing? What if we gave ourselves permission to be fully present with our children, our partner, our family or friends? What if we allowed ourselves to give our full attention to whatever we are doing in each given moment, instead of constantly multitasking? What if we opened up to being mindful in each moment in time?

When we are totally here, no yesterday pulling us back with feelings of regret or resentment, no tomorrow pulling us forward and making us anxious, we feel calm, connected, and centred. When we think too much of the past or the future we are wasting the present. Yet, the present is the only thing which is real.

Meditation river Osho

Osho gives a beautiful metaphor of how to quiet your mind which I used to like to read out to my meditation class participants:

“Thoughts settle on their own accord, you need not jump amongst them, you need not try to put them right. It is as if a stream has become muddy… what do you do? Do you jump in it and start helping the stream to become clear? You will make it more muddy. You simply sit on the bank. You wait. There is nothing to be done. Because whatsoever you do will make the stream more muddy. If somebody has passed through a stream and the dead leaves have surfaced and the mud has arisen, just patience is needed. You simply sit on the bank. Watch, indifferently. And as the stream goes on flowing, the dead leaves will be taken away, and the mud will start settling because it cannot hang forever there. After a while, suddenly you will become aware – the stream is crystal-clear again.”

Another misconception people have is that—unless they have a certain amount of time—they do not need to bother meditating. It is not necessary to sit and meditate for an hour every day. Once you start meditating you might want to meditate for an hour because it feels so good but even allowing yourself to be still, relaxed and mindful for ten minutes at a time makes a big difference.

Meditation cup Osho

Angelika Baum

Relaxation, Meditation, Subconscious Belief Changes
905-286-9466

greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca

Angelika wide picture for blogs

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The 3 Keys to Conception

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For the last four years, I have been incredibly blessed to help couples with fertility issues. We clear out their subconscious fears: their emotional or mental blocks to conceiving a baby. It is a work that is especially close to my heart.

Many years ago I was in the same place, convinced my deepest wish would never come true, devastated by the suggestions of medical doctors, feeling like I had failed myself and my husband. I am a walking example that by shifting your energy, clearing out your issues and by letting go, your dreams manifest.

I have been asked by other practitioners if I see a common element with my fertility clients. Yes, I do. Most women who struggle with “unexplained infertility” are type A personalities. I always have to smile, because I used to fit that category as well. They are perfectionists, they are super reliable, they are workaholics, they strive to be in control, and they like to have things “just so”.

Sound familiar?

Conception is the one thing we cannot “will” to happen. It is about exactly the opposite of making things happen. Conceiving a baby is about surrendering, about letting things happen, about not being in control. Being pregnant is going with the flow. Being a parent means being flexible and letting go of needing things to always be “just so”. Nobody can turn our life more upside-down than a child.

Type A personalities know how to “do” things. However, you cannot “right brain” your child into existence. Receptiveness is the opposite of doing. It is about being. It’s about letting go, about shifting your perception of the world around you, about giving yourself permission to just be in every moment. The Latin verb “esse” means “to be”. Being is about connecting with your own essence.

The point is not to turn a type A personality into a type B personality but to bring things more into balance for a type A. Hypnosis, meditation or other techniques of going into the silence inside are all about surrendering to the energy of being. That shift in energy coupled with releasing fears and blocks to conception bring the woman into the right alignment to receive the spirit baby that is waiting for her.

Surrendering happens as we follow our heart, our path and our intuition. Lynsi Eastburn, who has been dubbed the “Baby Whisperer” for her decade-long successful work in the field of hypnosis for fertility and who was my teacher in 2009, names three keys to conception in her newest book:

1. Meditate

Meditation and hypnosis both take you into the silence inside. They allow you to quiet your mind, centre yourself, release your fears and limiting beliefs and feel connected again.

2. Listen

Meditation and the hypnotic state help to develop your intuition. As you are spending regular time in the field of intention, connected to something greater than your physical self, you are able to listen to messages from a deeper or higher mind. The wisdom is right there to be accessed. All you need to do is listen.

3. Trust

Connecting and listening need to go hand-in-hand with trust. Trust the guidance you receive, trust your own innate wisdom. Surrender to the knowing that your baby is coming to you in the right way and in the right time.

 

Lynsi Eastburn’s book “The 3 Keys to Conception”

is available through Mary Wileichuk at the

Akasha’s Den

312 Lakeshore Road East

Oakville

Tel. (905) 844-5055

or directly through me

 

For Fertility Work contact me for a consultation

greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca

905-286-9466

Spring Equinox

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The spring equinox is one of the four solar festivals of the year. On March 20, day and night are equally long, light and dark are balanced, but about to tip over on the side of the light as the days are getting longer. The longer days of spring symbolize the time of a new life. Spring stands for new beginnings, new birth, and new growth.

As we celebrate the spring equinox with a meditation we are setting clear intentions, so that we can harvest a more bountiful future. Spring equinox is the season of new birth and renewal. It’s the optimum time to plant a personal garden within your being and to make a new start, to create what you really want to see in your life.

 

What is needed to plant the garden of your soul?

It is quite simple. What are the qualities you most want to see manifest in your life? What are your goals and dreams for a joyous future? What needs have to be met so you can be happy and feel fulfilled?

These are the seeds to plant in the garden of your being. Consider the things you want to have thriving most in your interior garden. 

Maybe you want to plant the tiny seeds that lead to abundance and prosperity? Perhaps, you want harmony in all your relationships? What about planting the seeds of health and well being deeply within your heart?

 

Join us in a Spring Equinox Meditation as we set clear intentions for a new beginning on

March 21 from 7:00 – 8:00

in Mississauga (Winston Churchill / Britannia).

Please RSVP as space is limited.

 

905-286-9466

greendoorrelaxation@yahoo.ca