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Notice, Allow & Release: Refining Your Meditation Practice Meditation is an exercise for the nervous system and the brain. The more we practice, the stronger these systems become and the more sustained our mediation is. By this time in the course, you have paced yourself through each phase by spending enough time at each step to assess its value to you and your routine, and master preferred daily and weekly practices. In Phase 9 we will dive into the practice of letting go of the emotional attachment to the thoughts that arise during our day and our meditation. The core of meditation is letting go, whether it is a thought, a memory, an idea, an old belief system that no longer serves us, or simply an incident from our day. As we relax into a meditative state and our breath slows, our bodies receive the signal that it is healing time. With this signal received, our neuro-net begins to shed stored stress by releasing blockages that present themselves as either thoughts or ailments within the body, just like bubbles floating up to the surface after you’ve exhaled underwater. During meditation, you notice these phenomena as surfacing thoughts or slight shifts in the body. This is how the body naturally empties the mind and heals itself. Emptying the mind can give us new insight into the possibilities of clarity and connection. For many people, it seems impossible to get and then keep their minds clear. The object is not necessarily to have it completely emptied, but rather to accept a stimulus as it comes in and then gently, yet immediately, release it without further thought, judgment or attachment. Letting go of thoughts during meditation takes us to a place of silence where our body is still awake, yet has entered its self-healing process with no hindrance. Getting to that place of silence can be a challenge, which is why it is oftentimes easier to begin our meditation by repeating an affirmation or a word, by focusing on soft and calming music, or by using an object to gaze at. These acts of relaxation take our bodies deep into repose more automatically and quickly. When sitting in a meditative state with your eyes closed, you will most likely receive a stimulus, whether it be an itch, a noise, a tummy rumble, or a thought. You may hear a car drive by. You may get a chill. You may remember something that you forgot. It’s fine to notice these things. You are human after all. However, to accept a thought or stimulus to the point that you pay attention to it, and attach judgment or emotion to it, will only raise your heart rate, increase your breathing pace, lower your vibration, and be counterproductive to your practice of silence. When thoughts come to us during meditation, refrain from engaging with them. See them, accept their presence, and then release them out of your body, emptying your vessel to make room for more peace.

The Screen Door

The Steps to Forgiveness If, like most people, you have gone through the previous step and realized that you have some things to process and let go of, that’s great! Here is a protocol to accomplish that process. Use this tool as often as you need with any situation in your life, past or present, not limiting the process only to this meditation course. This process may take some time, so always be gentle and patient with yourself, and don’t get stuck at this step. You can always put this activity aside and come back to it, or add it to your weekly routine once you have finished the meditation course. Exercise: Steps to Forgiveness Look closely at your situation. What about it mirrors a trait of your own that you need to forgive yourself for and let go of? Is there another person involved? What about them, their traits, or their reactions mirror a trait of your own that you need to forgive yourself for and let go of? What is the root of this issue? Is it an ideal, a belief that was taught to you in your youth, a misconception? Have you been closed to possibilities of a solution, or too open to solutions that only treat symptoms? What negative emotions have you been holding onto that are attached to this situation and that need releasing? Take responsibility for your suffering. Even if it wasn’t your fault, what did the situation need you to know about the world or yourself? What structures needed replacing, that this situation tore down for you so that you could build yourself back up in a stronger way? Total responsibility for your life means responsibility for everything; your emotions, decisions, and reactions, along with the people in your life, and their traits and decisions. Everything exists in your life to teach you something, even if it is one small, specific thing. You are a co-creator and an architect of this incarnation and infinite schoolhouse! Thinking of your current situation, what from it have you learned so far? What do you still need to learn from it? What is it trying to teach you for your highest good? Can you take an unbiased step out of your situation and look inside without judgment to reflect? Affirm your responsibility out loud to yourself or in writing with an ‘I statement.’ Make it real as if it is a contract you are finally getting around to signing. I take responsibility for my life today. I take responsibility for my role in… I take responsibility for my reaction to… I take responsibility for my decision to… I take responsibility for the presence of ______ in my life. Forgive yourself in writing: “I forgive you, I forgive me, All is forgiven, I love you.” Be detailed in what you forgive yourself for. The more you recognize, the more you can release, clearing out more space to vibrate as the true, present you.

For phase eight’s step three, you will be focusing on your body with or without your choice of music. There is a recording of this guided meditation at the end of phase eight. Here you will walk yourself through it in practice. Exercise: Before beginning, ground yourself and recite your affirmations. Set a 5-10 minute timer, and sit in a relaxed meditative state, being comfortable in any sitting position. Avoid laying down so that you can avoid falling asleep. Begin your music, and close your eyes to focus on the minute details of your body. Start at your crown and visually walk yourself through the shape of your head, moving down your face, to your neck, and to your shoulders. Pay attention to what your skin is feeling. Do you feel a draft? Is there complete stillness in the air? Is your skin prickling? Move down from your shoulders to your lungs and breastplate. How are you breathing? Can you slow your breath a bit while staying comfortable? How fast is your heart beating? Is it steady? Can you feel it through your chest? Slowly move your attention down to your stomach, down your arms, and into your hands. Build the image of your body in your mind, being mindful of the sensations all along the way. Move your attention down your hips, into your thighs, and into your calves. Follow up with your ankles and your feet. If you make it through your whole body before the timer goes off, begin again. If you find yourself easily getting through this type of meditation, move onto the next phase of the course. If not, continue to practice in this way for a couple of more weeks, 4-5 times per week.

Inciting Emotion

The Affirmation Journal Affirmation Journaling is a powerful way to hone in on the details of your affirmation and thus your goals, whether they be hidden or known to you. It is also a practice that allows you to continue to learn about your metacognitive self. By writing out what our lives would look and feel like if our goals and affirmations were already fulfilled, we can place into our minds the specific images that will draw us to the emotional vibration of that idealized reality, encouraging us to take the right action and make useful decisions towards it. One form of affirmation journaling is to write out your future goals as if they have already happened. With this type of journaling, you will write out your life in the past tense, as if everything in your dreams has already come true. For example, you could start your journal entry with statements such as “It came to be…” or “After consistent work, I finally…” You can work to include the specific wording of your affirmation in your journal as well. Exercise: To begin, take a look at your affirmation. If you have created more than one, begin this step using only one in order to become familiar with it and refine it to your own standards and routine. If you start out focusing on too many affirmations at once, the writing process becomes less detailed and organized as we scramble to ‘fit everything in.’ Describe what this affirmation would look like if you could put an image to it. What would the world be like if this affirmation were 100% real right now? What would you feel like and act like on a daily basis? What would those around you act like? Who would be around you? What would you be doing? Take all of this visualized information and write it into a journal entry. Turn it into a short story or simply write it out in one paragraph. Get as creative as you like! You are in the driver’s seat! Do this activity daily, and as you do, refine your story. Make it believable, make it detailed, and make it obtainable. Soon you will realize that you are writing out the steps for your right action; the steps that will get you to where your affirmation wants you to be- where you want to be. As you repeat the same details from day to day, you will find yourself encountering synchronicities between your affirmation and experiences.

Meditation for Personal Affirmations For this meditation, if you have not yet memorized your affirmation, you will want a copy of it nearby, as you will be intonning it when the meditation prompts you to do so. Intonation is the act of self-speaking, or saying something to yourself inside or under your breath, quietly.

Affirmations Step 5 of phase 5 begins to move us towards a more traditional type of independent meditation. Here, we will build on our previous practices in order to continue to train the mind in the direction we want it to flow. This will allow us to gain greater control of our metacognition in order to hone in on our ability to release thoughts and refocus our intentions while sitting in meditation. This step can be done with a single affirmation, or you can return to the process in chapter 3, and create more affirmations if you have not done so already in order to amplify your practice here. For this step, when working with multiple affirmations, you will sit in a meditative state and recite your first affirmation to yourself, running your mind through each of the following prompts. Once you have made it through the first affirmation, do the same process with the second one and repeat the process in meditation until you have completed it with all five of your affirmations. Exercise: Sit in your relaxed state with or without music. If you have your affirmation(s) memorized, close your eyes for this process. If you do not, keep a list of your affirmations next to you while you visually focus on a calming object. Recite your affirmation aloud or in your mind. Inhale gently and slowly, making your inhale last as long as possible, and then exhale in the same way. Pay close attention to the sensations in your body after this breath, and repeat your affirmation (the same one or a different one). Repeat this process with up to five deep breaths, sinking more into each breath, and noticing how your body subtly adjusts into relaxation. Recite your affirmation to yourself slowly, and at a pace that matches your breath. Take a breath in and release, and recite your affirmation again, transitioning your focus between your statement and the breaths in between. If you are struggling significantly to keep your mind focused on your affirmation, it may help for you to think about the details of your affirmation: what would the world be like, look like and feel like if your affirmation were completely true already? Who would be in your daily life? What would your new routine look like? Try to complete this process daily. Is it time for you to replace your previous affirmation practice with this one?

The Meditation of Giving Thanks

Grounding Grounding is a perfect way to prepare yourself for meditation, your day, walking into a meeting, or entering any situation that you find slightly to incredibly stressful. You can ground yourself before going into a stressful situation as a preventative measure, and even engage in grounding techniques in the middle of being under stress. For those of us who are easily caught up in situations, without the automated ability to stay calm, grounding throughout the situation can come in handy as a mental activity that we can both control and that calms the nervous system, thus helping us to feel more in control. Our true nature is not to be in turmoil but to be in the process of letting all turmoil go in order to survive in contentment. Grounding throughout the day can help us to achieve this by placing us back into a meditative mindset and remind our body that although we may not actually be meditating at the time, we can still begin to achieve the calming sensation of meditation wherever we are. Exercise: Use the following grounding methods for practice now, and choose one or more that you prefer. Continue to use them throughout your daily routines even when you are calm. By practicing them daily, they will become a habit that will then be at your disposal when times get tough and you are in dire need of relief. Grounding Methods Look around the room and find three things that look heavy. Use the spice drawer and smell three spices. Ideally use turmeric, lavender, patchouli, caraway, cedar, or rosemary. Take in a deep breath in through your nose and ask yourself: what are three things I can see? What are three things I can hear? What are three things I can feel? What are three things I can smell? Make use of grandma’s candy to ground yourself. Keep mints or a long-lasting hard candy with you for grounding use at your disposal throughout the day. Close your eyes and breathe in deep. Think of your optimal place in nature. Take 10-20 seconds to think of that place in detail. What does it look like? What does it feel like? Inhale deeply and see your energy cord dropping down from your spine into the earth. See it reach through the floors, through the foundation of the building you are in, and into the soil. See your cord stretching along the rocks, and into the layers of the Earth, absorbing the planetary energies to send back up to your body. While standing, inhale deeply and see roots growing from the bottoms of your feet. See them reach through the floors, through the foundation of the building you are in, and into the soil.

Continued Good Habits Check-Up Although it sounds like a lot of work, it is important to make your grounding, gratitude, and affirmation work a daily habit in order to create substantial and sustainable change in your life. These practices don’t need to take up much time, and if saying your gratitude points and affirmations out loud to yourself as you do mundane tasks is an easier way to fit them into your schedule, go with that rather than journaling with them. Step 3 explores an outlet for all of this growth work you are doing, and offers you a mid-course check up point to gauge where you are at in this process. If you have not yet checked all of the boxes in the second activity, reflect and see if there is anything you need to change to get the most out of the experience you want to have. Exercise 1: A powerful option is to continue your gratitude practice and affirmation journaling by taking it out into the world. If you’re open to it, set up a partner activity with someone who is willing to participate. Each day, call, text, message, or post to them to recite your affirmations and gratitude points, and then listen as they tell you thiers. Share what you like concerning your progress towards your meditation goals, and make a point to ensure the conversation stays positive and does not head in a negative direction with complaints and gossip. To make the partner activity work, you may need to set clear boundaries for the conversations. An activity like this could also be done at dinner time with your family, or during your morning commutes with a willing co-worker. If this is not appealing to you, post your affirmations and gratitude points online or around your house. You can post them on your facebook or LinkedIn page, or any other social site you use. Exercise 2: Use the checklist below to gauge your success of incorporating your mindfulness techniques from this course into your daily routine. Some of these activities you may be doing together in order to shorten teh amount of time they take to complete. If it’s difficult for you to fit all of these items into your day, don’t worry, do the one that is most beneficial and important to you and continue to work your way up to adding the other items into where they fit in your day and life. By now you may have found that your affirmations need updating. Life is not static. We change and so do our goals, aspirations, and motivational needs. Some of your statements may be global enough to keep, but some may need a tune up. Change your affirmations as needed. If you need to, refer back to the full process in phase three, or the shorter version in phase five. Daily time set aside for a dedicated meditation practice with a Focus Activity or Guided Practice activity Daily gratitude work; verbal or written Daily affirmation practice; verbal or written Grounding and reciting affirmations before each practice

Open Monitoring Meditation for Grounding Open Monitoring Meditation is when we sit comfortably and relaxed to take in our surroundings in a non-verbal, observational way. Many people like to practice this type of meditation when out in nature, and rightfully so. Time spent outdoors and around robust natural scenery has been proven to reduce blood pressure, relieve the symptoms of depression and anxiety, improve our chemical imbalances, relieve symptoms of fatigue, and improve mood. For this activity, you will enter into an observational state and then consciously engage in a grounding activity. During your observations, when you look at one item to the next, gently change your gauge and visual attention, do not shift it quickly or abruptly, as this will take your nervous system out of the meditative state. Your goal with this meditation is twofold: to accept thoughts in and gently release them, while you accept the presence of your surroundings without judgment and assessment. By practicing meditation in this way, you begin to train your energetic bodies to vibrate at a higher rate, which in turn neutralizes the low vibrating, dense energies of blockages and stress. Exercise: After finding and being in a place that you want to observe, sit comfortably and relaxed. (Begin your meditation with a grounding technique.) Upon your inhale, visualize a column of energy moving upward from your solar plexus center, through the crown of your skull. Upon your exhale, visualize the same column of energy moving down from your solar plexus center, and out past your feet, and into the ground. With your eyes open, take in the scenery around you. As you notice things in your field of vision, look at them without judgment. Look at them without assessment. When a thought comes in, gently let it float away, and continue to gaze at the scenery around you. After a bit, or if thoughts begin to surface more frequently, ground yourself again. Once you are done grounding, return to your observations, looking at an object, accepting its presence without judgment, and then gently moving onto a different object. After a bit, ground yourself again, and then return to your observations. When you are ready, bring your full attention back to your here and now and assess your mood, physical sensations, and outlook.

Image Gazing If you find it easy to sit in stillness at this point in the process, we will start Phase 7 by focusing the mind on an image for just five minutes at a time. This is an eyes-open meditation. Use an image that brings you joy and raises your vibration. A neutral image that has no family ties may be a good option, to avoid emotional attachment, as emotional attachment strengthens the wandering mind rather than the focused one. However, if you do choose an image that you have emotional attachment, just remember to gaze upon the image in neutrality, the state of no judgment and no emotional assessment. You can use an image in a book, a painting, or even an image in an ambient music video on Youtube. If you are using the latter, it is best to use a video that has a non-moving image. If you prefer, incorporate music into your meditation. Staring at a pleasant image may sound relaxing at first, but five minutes is a long time, and most likely this practice will become boring quickly, which is exactly the point. Once it does, it's time to use your skills! Watch out for your wandering thoughts, and gently release them with either details of the image you are viewing, or your affirmation. Exercise: Before beginning, ground and recite your affirmation(s). Locate a pleasant image that brings you peace and relaxation. Sit in your relaxation, staring at your image. When your mind wanders, gently redirect your attention back to the image and its details. What is happening in the image? What are the colors? The textures? Where do you think the image is located? If you find your mind wandering a lot, focus on the sound of your breath to help bring it back to the here and now. Can you make it 5 minutes? Can you make it 10?

Chores If you’re a mover and shaker and a sitting meditation is not a part of your story, we will start Phase 7 with a movement activity. Even if you aren’t a mover, this activity will still be valuable, and it is suggested that you engage in it. For this step, it will be helpful for you to refer back to Phase 3, Step 5, when you identified the typical down times of your day. Choose an activity or a chore that you don’t particularly favor to get the most out of the meditation component of this practice. Ensure that the activity you choose is an automatic one, one that you can do without any extra thought being put into it. While completing your chore or activity, you will be focusing either on a pleasant scene of your choice. If your mind wanders easily while you are engaged in mundane tasks, your goal will be to gently redirect your thoughts back to your chosen scene and all of its details while still engaged in your activity. It will be beneficial to plan this activity out a bit if your mind wanders easily. You want to choose a scene or idea to visualize that keep you calm and relaxed, rather than one that will get your senses worked up and heightened. Exercise: Your goal here is to visualize a scenery, event, or reality that comforts and calms you, while engaged in a mundane activity, aka, one of your meditative down times. Once engaged in your chore, focus on your affirmation(s) by reciting it and contemplating all of its aspects. Think of the details. What does this scene look like? Who is in it? What are the colors? What’s going on in the scene? Create an image in your mind and play that out. Think of the things you want to happen, not the things you do not want to happen. When your thinking wanders away from your visualization, gently remind yourself what you are supposed to be thinking of, and then make the conscious choice to think it. Can you keep your mind focused the entire time you are engaged in the task? Can you practice in this way each time you complete this same task going forward?

Walking Meditation Walking meditation is a great way to multi-task and to train the body into a serene state while incorporating movement into your day. Walking meditation is an old tradition that is still used widely around the globe. Walking through nature during meditation is a therapeutic way to ground naturally and effortlessly and release stressors from your body. During an active meditation such as this, you will not go deeply into meditation, rather you will be consciously engaged with your thought processes and your environment. The goal for a walking meditation is to recite a high vibrating statement or passage to yourself while staying active. To do this, you will have a meditation dialogue memorized, or you will use your affirmation statement(s) as a tool to recite and raise your energetic frequency as you walk. While engaged in a walking meditation, you may find yourself trailing off with your recitation, dropping words off of the end of your sentences as you continue on with your walk. This is expected as your mind falls into a relaxed yet physically active state while your body continues to move. Let your sentences drop away as they will, and simply go back to the beginning of your statement or dialogue and begin again, just as you have redirected the mind in previous meditation practice. You may also find during this practice that your walking pace slows down. Walk according to your preference. If you are walking for exercise, adjust your pace as you notice it, and move forward with your walking meditation, redirecting your thoughts as needed. If you are walking for pleasure or solely for this meditative purpose, stick with the pace that your body moves into as you go through the practice. Exercise: Choose an affirmation or a meditative dialogue to recite to yourself as you walk. Walking in a familiar place and/or a pleasant place will undoubtedly provide a more relaxing meditation experience. As you walk, recite to yourself, redirecting your thoughts gently as they wander or begin to fade away. If you find yourself observing your scenery, do not stop. This only means that you are shifting out of a Focused Attention Meditation and into an Open Monitoring Meditation practice. Just simply remind yourself to work through the scenery at a gentle and slowed pace, rather than an abrupt and fast pace. Practice this meditation to your own standards and liking and enjoy your outing.

Eyes Closed During step one you will practice being observant of your surroundings without holding judgment for what you are watching. It will benefit you to sit in a bustling environment like a park or a shopping area. This activity can also be done watching a movie that you are not preferably fond of. Alternatively, if your home is very busy place, this would be a perfect place to practice this meditation. This meditation asks you to sit with your eyes closed. At the beginning it may be hard to keep them closed when you hear something. To open your eyes when first performing this meditation is natural, just gently close them again and continue on. Your objective is to listen to the sounds around you without attaching emotionally to it, or making assumptions about it. Simply Notice the sound, Accept its presence in your environment, and release it, gently moving on to listen for the next thing. Just as with the practice of redirecting your intruding thoughts as they come up, you will simply and gently redirect your attention to a different sound. Once you have spent some time practicing in this way, it will become easier to keep your eyes closed, accept the noise, allow it to be, and release it from your concern. When you hear a sound, a thought will come to mind. A thought of what the sound is, where it originated from, what it means, who is involved, what the sound is accomplishing. Let these thoughts release, but gently shift your attention to a different noise. This is an auditory activity in which you are attempting to release all judgment and assumption of what is going on around you. Because this is an active meditation, you may not find yourself as relaxed as you did after completing the previous meditation activities in this course. This is a normal reaction, as throughout this particular practice, your senses will be heightened, keeping your body from slipping into a truly deep state of meditation. The purpose of this activity is to help you feel and observe the state of meditation while in the midst of everyday life. By becoming in tune with this practice, you will be training your nervous system how to feel and react while life is still happening around you. Following regular practice of this type of meditation will not only allow you to respond to incoming stressors with more ease, but will also allow you to enter your daily situations with fewer false assumptions, less confrontation, and more openness to problem solving and possibilities. Exercise: Before beginning, ground and recite your affirmations. Find a place to observe that has a bustling environment. Set a timer for 5-10 minutes. Sit in a relaxed state, sitting up, with eyes closed, and listen. Notice a sound, accept its presence, and then quickly and gently release it, subtly moving your attention to a different sound. You may float into a deep meditative state and cease to hear any sounds. Upon reentering your auditory environment, return to your process of notice, accept, and release until the timer sounds. Once your timer sounds, gently come out of your meditation and assess how you feel.

Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Emotions This step in Phase 9 is a little different not only in that it is a journaling activity, but in that it requires you to accept your targeted thought through conscious, emotional processing, rather than simply releasing it. Acknowledgment is how we begin to take responsibility for the things we have the power to change. When we acknowledge our negative thought patterns and realize how they have been shaping our lives, we are consciously making an effort to grow and telling ourselves, “Not on my watch will I let these thoughts bring me down any longer!” Once you have taken this step, you’ve stepped onto the pathway that ends in life change, the place where living your daily life and wellbeing come together synchronistically to create a new whole and free you. Acknowledgment and acceptance are a mental activities; this is what we are attempting to release from our burden by engaging in meditation. However, during meditation, a specific thought may continue to rise up into your consciousness and pester you. Take the points mentioned below for a structured opportunity in processing. To consciously process these recurring thoughts is to release them. Don’t skip this step, even if it takes you days, weeks, or months to get through it. Once you start this step, it is reasonable to move on to the next, however, don’t lose track of your progress with this step. Keep in mind that this is a long-term process and you may be working on this step long after you have completed this program and mastered your meditation practice. Exercise: Before beginning, ground and recite your affirmations. Notice: Choose a thought to analyze that continues to arrive in your mind time after time. You can choose a single thought about a stressful situation, or you can even choose a thought that is a judgment you hold about yourself or another person. Accept: This thought or idea reoccurs for you in order to teach you what? Accept: What role have you played in creating this thought or idea? What are its origins? Accept: What characteristic of yourself is keeping you from releasing this thought or idea? What are you holding onto that no longer serves you? Accept: What impact has this thought or idea had on your mental and physical health? Accept: Can you forgive yourself for holding onto this thought or idea? Release: Write this idea out on a piece of paper and safely burn it, tear it up, cross off the words, or destroy it in any way you safely see fit. As you do this, use your deep breath to release your physical attachment to the idea. Repeat this step weekly as a mental cleansing activity, or as needed.

Notice and Release

Structured Release Consider why you began The Meditation Manual. Were you running from something? Running towards something? Seeking peace and solace? Were you looking for a way to guide yourself into a new paradigm? Meditation is one way to achieve a lifestyle change that leads to long-term healing. Because it is a healing process, the act of meditation requires us to let go of what has been blocking our silence by both coming to terms with those blockages and releasing them. Consider the following questions and follow the sequence outlined here as a method of acknowledgment and release. Once you are familiar with this process, you can complete it within a mediation rather than on paper. Take time with this process and revisit it as needed. Go through each step focusing only on one thing at a time to stay clear on your goals and what is keeping them from fruition. The following prompts center around your meditation practice gleaned from this course. If you have met all of your meditative goals, apply these prompts to another facet of your life for insight and healing. Exercise: Before beginning, ground yourself and recite your affirmations. Look inside yourself and pull out one thing that still stands in your way of experiencing your ideal meditation practice. State what you want from your meditation practice but still do not have. Notice what images and thoughts come up, and make note of them. Have surprising thoughts come up? Have old thoughts come up? Regardless of what notions arise, Accept them in. Acknowledge them and honor them. These are your personal and sacred connections that once served you and are serving you still as you process them out of your life. Just as you exist, so do they, for a purpose. Don’t stuff them down, don’t ignore them, let them sit with you through an internal allowance of just being, and see them for what they truly are. What are these blocks, and why are they sticking around? What do you still need to notice about them and learn from them in order to send them on their way? Are you afraid of letting go of something that you are use to? Are you afraid of letting go of a control you have but no longer need? What beliefs about yourself are keeping you in the same place rather than moving forward? What beliefs about society are keeping you stuck? When and where did these belief systems originate from? Were you taught them at a young age? Are they belief systems that your family lives with? Analyze these blocks like an archaeologist digging for the Holy Grail. Once you have located your blocks, it’s time to Release them, and then replace them with new ideas to focus on. Using the template below, create your statement to guide you in the practice of release. I release the notion that______________. I release the idea of ______________. I affirm the notion that______________. I affirm the idea of ______________.

Recording Chart Use this Meditation Log to keep track of your daily progress. An online recording form can be found in your Meditation Classroom. See a full list of meditation practices available in this book on the following page. Complete List of Meditation Techniques 1.2 Focused Attention Meditation 1: Thought Trains 1.5 Guided Meditation: The Screen Door 2.1 Focused Attention Meditation 3: High Vibrational Words 2.4 Steps to Forgiveness 2.5 Focused Attention Meditation 4: The Body Scan 2.6 Guided Meditation: Inciting Emotion 3.1 Focused Attention Meditation 2: Analyzing Objects (longer time) 3.6 Guided Meditation: The Affirmative Me 4.1 Focused Attention Meditation 5: Object Gazing 4.2 Writing Out Affirmation Cards 4.3 Active Meditation 1: Mala Beads 4.4 Affirmation Journal 4.5 Guided Meditation: Meditation for Personal Affirmations 5.1 Focused Attention Meditation 6: Focusing with Music 5.2 Gratitude Work 5.4 Focused Attention Meditation 7: Affirmations 5.5 Guided Meditation: Meditation of Giving Thanks 6.1 Grounding 6.2 Focused Attention Meditation 7: Affirmations (alternative) 6.3 Continued Good Habits 6.4 Open Monitoring Meditation 1: Grounding 6.5 Guided Meditation: Meditation of Moving Out 7.1 Focused Attention Meditation 7: Image Gazing 7.2 Active Meditation 2: Chores 7.3 Open Monitoring Meditation 2: Present Moment Observation 7.4 Active Meditation 3: Walking Meditation 7.5 Guided Meditation: Energy Directed 8.1 Then Meditative Breath 8.2 Sustained Meditation Practice 8.3 Open Monitoring Meditation 3: A Trip to the Park 8.4 Guided Meditation: Sweeping the Body 9.1 Sustained Meditation: Notice, Accept, Release 9.2 Open Monitoring Meditation 4: Eyes Closed 9.4 Guided Meditation: Notice & Release 10.3 The Meditation of Sending Kindness 10.5 Guided Meditation: The Meditation of Sending Love & Kindness

Thought Identification Throughout Your Day, AKA, Metacognition During Phase One of this Manual, you will become aware of when and how often your mind wanders. Regardless of how busy or quiet your mind is, the process of metacognition can be useful and liberating for all. It can be impossible to refrain from getting caught up in negative self-talk, and the concerns of the world around us. Some of us are bombarded with negativity at every turn. The incoming stimulus that is not pleasant is then stored in the neural net that makes up our bodies, creating ailment, lowered immune response, and cloudy thinking. This is where meditation comes in handy. A journey through the means of metacognition can lead to a meditative practice that sets us free. Studies have shown that mediation promotes clarity, which in turn helps us to make better informed, clear decisions. Meditation also calms the body and promotes the self-healing process that is inherent in each of us. It keeps the brain young, reduces stress, anxiety, and depression, and increases our locus of control. It can also incite the processing of past events that we have long forgotten but need to release, promoting emotional healing. The benefits of meditation are boundless, and the proof is in the long-standing history of this ancient practice. Metacognition is the academic term for being in control of our thoughts and thought processes, which is extremely important to us not only when we are trying to live a joyful life, but also when we begin to seek refuge on our healing journey. Metacognition is one pathway to meditation. It is the act of becoming aware of and analyzing your thoughts. Through this skill, we reflect on and perceive our unique way of interacting with the environments around us. However, if this skill is forgotten to us in the day-to-day bustle of life, it can easily become routine to get lost in negative perceptions and self-talk without a strong internal focus and locus of control to back your way out of it. Because thoughts become things, as Physics is just now beginning to demonstrate, and because we can become very efficient at creating our lives according to what we are thinking, it is imperative that we refine our metacognitive skills in order to shape our lives in the way we see fit. Metacognition can be misleading when we spend too much time out of balance by looking only outside of ourselves or only within ourselves for all of the answers. We may see a co-worker who engages in an enormous amount of time gossiping and focusing on the problems of others but also seems to be very happy and abundant. This can occur due to an individual’s ability to let go, a side effect of healthy metacognition. Rightly so, we can self-mislead when we only see ourselves in a negative light and do not seek help from the sources around us. Regaining control of our thought processes can clear up perceptions such as these and improve our clarity and thus our lives. Controlled and consistent focus is a skill that everyone may need to refine from time to time, and one that should be directly taught to us as young children. When our mind wanders, it is not necessarily because we are “too distractible” or because our ADHD has taken over, but because our bodies are releasing a stressor through that thought. It is a stress-release process. The trick is to redirect the mind, once the thought is released. We can make that focus occur by strengthening the brain pathways that keep us alert and on task. The brain is a muscle that can atrophy when not used on a regular basis, just like any other muscle. When we are engaged only in automatic and routine action from day to day without cognitive exercise, the pathways that we fail to use begin to break down and need to be rebuilt.

Rebuilding Your Self Talk Manifestation is possible when you can hone in on the tools that make it possible and doing so makes it easy to see how much our thoughts drive our current realities. The first step before affirmation work begins is to admit and accept how much of a co-creator we are in our very own lives. What is the reality you live in right now? Is it the one you want? How did you create it? Once you have explored these questions you will have a clearer picture of your goals. Having healthy thoughts, at least for the majority of the time, is important to truly enjoy a healthy body. Healthy thoughts increase your vibration, open you up to greater possibilities throughout your day, and help you spread positivity throughout your nervous system, your personal networks, and then out to your community. If your thoughts are not serving your growth and happiness, your goal for this phase is to focus on creating affirmations that will help you replace them. If your thoughts are already inherently serving your betterment and growth, your goal during this phase is to turn those thoughts into tools that help you manifest your meditation and life goals. Affirmations are a powerful tool for anyone when paired with the clear current of consciousness that allows for effective creation. Affirmation work is effective because it changes old pathways in the brain that once gave us false assumptions and negative moods, to a more productive pathway of problem-solving and serenity. If you are seeking more money in your life, you will not get there by thinking about how much debt you have. In fact, by focusing on only your debt, you will most likely attract more debt as you send those debt-fearing frequencies out into the Universe for fulfillment. To find success in this chapter, it may be most helpful for you to schedule your affirmation work into your day intentionally. Hold your practice during this course in perspective. Do not be hard on yourself when your thoughts slip up after ample practice. Thoughts will always surface as long as we are out and about experiencing life. Our goal is not to get rid of thoughts, but to redirect our minds to the most productive and healing thoughts. Knowing your down times will help you know when to implement your thought replacement strategies and help you bank on the hidden parts of your day that can make or break your moods.

Intentional and Cognitive Self Regulation When we decide to take action through practices of mindfulness, we must not lose sight of the consistent dedication that is a daily practice. In order to change our cognitive patterns, we first have to unwind what we have taught ourselves in terms of brain wiring. Our synapses build bridges from specific experiences to specific storehouses of information, creating specific associations within the brain’s pathways. These connections build our thought patterning and thus our reactions and responses to what happens in the world around us. This in turn causes stress, which is then stored in our nervous system, the birthing house of our thoughts. Phase Four focuses on dedicated daily practice with your affirmation. The goal is to notice when you are a non-productive thought train and redirect the mind to your affirmation. This technique can be done with any positive image, thought, or statement as well. Metacognition and thought replacement are steps along the pathway to inner freedom. Through this type of self-regulation, we can consciously decide which direction to take our lives. By becoming aware of the impact our thoughts and emotions have on each other, our bodies, and our lives, we then use that knowledge along with our free will to make deliberate choices and actions to improve our mindset. If we have identified that our brain patternings need to be refined, molded, and restructured, it is important to understand the work that entails that restructuring. What we have built inside of ourselves over a lifetime cannot be undone and rewired overnight. Retraining the brain to think differently takes time and dedication. Do not lose patience with your process. What may turn into a year-long study for you surely will be worth it for a lifetime of improved health and wellness. Do not be mistaken, however. Sometimes the mind needs a rest. We are not attempting to replace your entire day with more productive thought patterning, but we are rather working to replace the times when our thought patterns are running uncontrollably in a negative direction. Engaging in thought replacement is a strenuous, calorie-burning activity in itself. It expends energy and without time for rest, can become too tedious to keep up. Do not forget to give your mind respite and void when you need it. Start using your finished affirmation once to twice a day and work your way up accordingly and as you see fit. There is no recipe that fits all. The recipe is for you to create through your experience as you explore what works best for you and your lifestyle. Thought replacement can be tricky at first if you don’t have appropriate action to put into place to make it happen. It takes consistent practice before the habit of using your affirmations has made its way to your subconscious mind and you are instinctively using the technique to replace your negative thinking. However, if you keep at it you will find your moods, circumstances, and outlooks improved.

Meditation Refined and Shared Meditation is a boundless giving tree. Just as it advises and pushes you towards the stability of mind, body, and emotion, it also impacts each environment you inhabit. Just as you are calmer and more collected, so are those you interact with. Just as you are more clear-headed when handling a stressful situation, so are those who are in the situation with you. Your mediation practice stretches beyond your singular person without any extra effort on your part. Phase 10 will take you through the standard 20-minute meditation before guiding you through the act of sending your energy and intention to others through the act of mediation. There are also tools in this phase to help you reflect on which meditative practices you enjoyed the most, as well as a daily and weekly meditation checklist to keep you on track once you have gone through this manual.

What are you releasing today?

Welcome to the Meditation to the Higher Self.

This meditation takes you gently into your Earthly roots and the energetics of the Tree. Relax into the sound bath as you source your energy circuits from the stars into the Earth's core.

Welcome to the Meditation to the Higher Self.

Welcome to the Meditation to the Higher Self.

The Meditation of Chakra Light provides a simple and calming visualization to clear out your chakra bases and rejuvenate your metabolizing, energetic centers. This meditation is a 12-minute journey into the infusion of your basic chakra-associated colors: red at the root, orange at the sacrum, yellow at the solar plexus, green at the heart, blue at the throat, purple at the Anja, and white at the crown. Let these colors not represent your own chakra colors, but rather an infusion of colors that will work to balance your centers during this meditation. Enjoy and Happy Healing.

Living intentionally sounds like one of those phenomena that just naturally occurs for us; something as simple and automatic as breathing or blinking. We see, we act, we do, we respond, we decide... We impose our free will onto our lives every moment we are awake. It's the nature of living! However, if we are imposing that will into our daily circumstances and decisions without specific intention (or forward-moving insight), we are not tapping into the innate, natural gift of creation we all possess. Living more intentionally allows us the option to choose our circumstances with more ease and opportunity, reminding us of the natural and innate tools to create and live the life we want to live. Living your life through intention means a combination of things. It may require you to slow down. It may require you to look at yourself and your scope of influence. It requires you to observe and to plan and to consider all of the who's, what's, where's, when's, and why's of all that you are engaged with. Good news: It's free. It's not a gimmick, it's not a healing that someone else does for you, and it's not a therapy session. It's a state of mind. Living your life intentionally is choosing how you want things to go and making the adjustments needed so that they can go that way. Check out some of the program's facets of living more intentionally and see if any of them can be applied to your current circumstances for your own benefit and good.

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Today's Session will focus on... Class Video

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