Maria Duval - My first experiencse with Vipassana Meditation

My first experiencse with Vipassana Meditation
I started Vipassana in 2001. A friend mentioned it to me and that same evening I had booked myself onto a course on the internet. I was really looking forward to it because I had been looking for something for a very long time and somewhere deep inside I knew: this is it.

The course was very different from what I had expected. I thought it should be about relaxation, blanking the mind, etc. The first three days was like a concentration exercise, concentrating on the breath, calming the mind. It was hard. Not only was I not accustomed to sitting for up to 12 hours a day on a mat on the ground, I also was unable to keep thoughts from getting into my mind so I was getting upset about not being able to concentrate properly. I had pain everywhere, was unable to find any comfortable position whatsoever. There were loads of other people, whom I did not know but was unable to speak to.

On the 4th day, Vipassana Meditation was taught. Although it was quite an experience, it created something I had not expected. Lots of things came up from my past, lots of thoughts and mental pain. It was hard to face. But finally, after about 10 days of this, Metta Meditation was taught and after that we could speak. It was a bit strange and by that time I did not really feel like speaking any more. I did feel very relaxed that day.

The real interesting part came afterwards. All the stuff that had come up during the meditation seemed like something of the past, something I had lost. As if a burden had fallen from my shoulders. It felt incredibly liberating. I kept on meditating daily and became better and better at the technique and more stuff started falling of. Not always was this easy. Usually it started with periods of anguish, the pain of letting go. But when I finally let go it was just great. It made me into a much calmer and more relaxed person. Although anxiety and stress still come occasionally, it does not really matter any more that much - I can let go and relax much quicker and easier.

It has been the greatest gift anybody could have given me. I am so much more aware, relaxed and happy then I every was. I can face the world, while before I just made due. I have no stress, only the occasional storm but you always know that they will pass and they do not happen very often any more. Even the difficulties that sometimes come up are something that pass and when you come out the other side, your are a happier person. So much weight will fall off your shoulders. Just try it ... what does it matter if you try. You will not change that much if you do just one course so try and see if you like it. If you continue, you know now what can happen and what you might have to face. Then again, you might not. Not everybody is the same. Be Happy.

For many years, I suffered from anxiety depression. I tried everything, from psychoanalysis to medications but nothing really worked. Some things helped for a little while to relief my anxiety, but eventually it would always come back.

One day I was feeling particularly down, I saw a friend coming towards me on the road. We said hello and he told me about somebody he met in the pub the night before. He said she was a very happy, radiant and relaxed person. I felt a little pang of jealousy because with my anxiety depression this was exactly the opposite of myself. He said that her secret was Vipassana meditation. I had never heard of this type of meditation, but my friend gave me the website address. He said it was a great way for treating anxiety so the same evening I was on the internet and had booked for a course.

The course was great and I felt better than I had felt for many years. But coming home into the stress of everyday life was a different matter. Soon my anxiety attacks were back again. I tried meditation but as soon as I closed my eyes all the problems of the day came flooding back to me so it was impossible to meditate. After many years of meditation and many courses and moving away from my old life, my anxiety depression has disappeared, but it has taken a long time and a lot of effort. I am certain however that my anxiety will never come back. Vipassana really is an excellent anxiety depression treatment method. But it comes with a cost of time and effort, not something that many people can afford.

Luckily, if it is just anxiety depression you wish to cure, then there are other methods. I wish I had known about them back then but I did not. Vipassana is a very involved spiritual path and although it helped me well, you need to be certain that this is the path you wish to travel. It has many more benefits than just curing anxiety and stress.

There are other methods which will help cure anxiety depression effectively. One especially I found very good and it is especially designed for people with a lot of stress in their lives, which is usually the cause of anxiety depression. So rest assured, there are effective methods to control stress and get rid of anxiety depression without going the path that I have gone. But if you wish to know more about Vipassana meditation, I will be happy to share my experiences with you.

Margret owns blogs on anxiety depression.

"The Secret" and the Science of Getting Rich - by Rick Seay
Have you heard of the DVD called "the Secret"? Well it isn't such a secret anymore. The DVD was released in March 2006 and according to Time Magazine, the DVD has sold 500,000 units within the first 6 months. Today it sells well over 5,000 copies a day! It ranked in Amazon's Top-5 sellers during Christmas week; and a tie-in hardcover book just entered the Top 10 on the New York times bestseller list.

The amazing thing about "the Secret" is that you won't find it in your local Blockbuster or Barnes and Noble, it is selling briskly through new-age bookstores, New Thought churches like Unity and AGape and the official website at www.thesecret.tv. "It's become the biggest selling item in the 30-year history of our store," says Harmony Rose Allor, a buyer at West Hollywood's popular metaphysical bookshop, The Bodhi Tree. it is "word-of-mouth" marketing at it best.

So what is the secret to "the Secret's" success? It's is a "transformational movie", where a person's view on life and the laws of life will no longer be the same after watching this movie. In a sense, it has created the same kind of effect as "the Da Vinci Code" and the 2004 hit cult movie "What the Bleep Do We Know". The movie has created such waves that it has already been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live and the Ellen DeGeneres show.

At the core of the movie is a central philosophy called "the Law of Attraction". In fact, the movie itself was inspired by this very same law when the producer read a book called "the Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace D. Wattles. This books was written in 1910!

This philosophy states that we create our reality, both good and bad! The message is delivered through 24 "teachers" which include prosperity preachers, chiropractic healers, relationship gurus, life coaches and motivational speakers �" into one clear, cohesive voice. The movie is a "must watch" for anyone interested in taking charge of their life and in creating the life of their dreams.

Following on the success of the Secret, 3 of the core teachers - namely Bob Proctor and Jack Canfield have collaborated to produce a wealth building program called "the Secret Science of Getting Rich Seminar". This program is based on the book that inspired the movie and is set to make history as the fastest selling personal development program in history.

What is the Science of Getting Rich about? Well in the words of Wallace D. Wattles, "The ownership of money and property comes as a result of doing things in a certain way. Those who do things in this certain way, whether on purpose or accidentally, get rich. Those who do not do things in this certain way, no matter how hard they work or how able they are, remain poor. It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects. Therefore, any man or woman who learns to do things in this certain way will infallibly get rich." The Science of Getting Rich is all about teaching how to do things in this "certain" way to create wealth.

The success of this program is built on several rock solid foundations. These factors include: the phenomenal success of "the Secret", the timeless concepts from the Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles, the credibility of successful personal improvement teachers and New Thought leaders of our time, and the Internet as the distribution medium.

Click here to learn more about the Secret of Getting Rich Seminar and it's affiliate program.
"Copy to Browser" - http://lawofattractionriches.bravehost.com/freereport/download.html

Hello my name is Rick. I am an aspiring internet marketer. I married a wonderful wife and we have been married for 14 years. I am from a small town in Pa where I went to school and graduated in 1970. I love life!

Vipassana in Business
How can an ancient meditation technique possible have anything to do with business, especially if it is taught for free? The answer is simple. In India it has been known for many years that Vipassana meditation has a very beneficial effect on business because managers and employees that do vipassana on a regular basis are less stressed and are generally happier people. Anybody who practises Vipassana will confirm that it has literally changed their lives, that it has cured them from anxiety, depression, stress and many other modern ailments. It has helped them to lead a fuller and more relaxed life. Many experiments have been done with Vipassana meditation in prisons and in a variety of businesses with very positive results. Unfortunately, it is not used very much yet. Why? Learning Vipassana meditation takes some time. A basic course takes 10 days, which is an amount of time that not many people in our busy lives can make free. Thereafter, the recommendation is to practise Vipassana one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening, but if you do not have time for that, then at least on a daily basis. Now how can you make time for all that when you have a 40 hour a week job, a family and children, etc. etc. Nobody will tell you it is easy to make all this time, but those that have done so and have made the sacrifice will tell you it is well worth it. Because you become more relaxed, it makes you more productive. You can do more in less time. Also, when you come home after your busy working day, you will have more energy and will not just flop out on the coach watching television. Another side-effect that many have noticed is that they need less sleep. Well there is at least one hour won! Now you might want to do a Vipassana course straight away with all the promised I made above. But beware that it takes time. Don't expect any miracles. You will have changed after a 10 days course, no doubt about that. But the beneficial effects mainly manifest itself if you keep at it, practising daily and doing another 10 day retreat every year. Doing a Vipassana course is a serious undertaking and by no means easy. Don't for a minute think that it is easy to sit on your bud all day and practising. Don't think that it is like relaxing all day long. It is actually very hard and not everybody makes it to the end of those ten days. You have to face yourself during a meditation course. You have to face and evaluate how you do things, why you do things, how your life is organised, the arguments you have had and your dreams. You might find this very hard to do. Sometimes we simply do not want to see the truth about ourselves. Vipassana makes us face the truth. It means seeing things as they really are. But when we manage to do this, we come out the other side a better person and everybody who has done it feels that a great weight is lifted off his or her shoulders. So if you feel up to it, do a Vipassana meditation retreat because the benefits are really worth it. I can personally testify to the many benefits I have experienced and you can read more about that on my blog. Just be warned that it is not an easy ride and if you feel you are not capable of spending 10 days of your life sitting on the ground, observing yourself and not speaking to anybody, then don't do it.

Margret owns blogs on anxiety attacks.

12 emPOWERment Energizers
Place these 12 empowering, energizing reminders where you can easily see them during the day.

1. Any comment made by you or others about you that vibrates, "I am not what, who, where, or when I am supposed to be," creates a reflection through Law of Attraction that causes delay. It obstructs and hinders your good coming to you. Use this instead:
"I am always in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, and the right action." Agree to see this as a statement of the bigger picture (and true) and watch what happens. It is more important to witness how far you've come than to judge or compare yourself to where others are or where you think you should be. If you were supposed to be somewhere else, you'd be there. If you want to know what your next step is, ask Spirit.

2. Ask! Ask Spirit for everything. You'll get far more than if you never or seldom ask. Forget what the self-limiting mind of man has told you about asking and receiving. Spirit doesn't follow the mind of man, and Spirit patiently waits for you to ask so it can give from its infinite well of All That Is Good and Yours. The more you do of anything, the better you get at it. Also, think of it as any gift-giving holiday. You really would not choose to receive every gift you will get across your lifetime all at once; you want time to savor the gifts and to feel the anticipation of getting and removing the wrapping from each one.

3. Believe everything that is yours is yours already; you just need to collect it or allow delivery. You are not separate from Spirit. You are an individualized expression of Spirit. This means everything Spirit is and has, you are and have. Allow the feeling of what this really means to permeate you. Agree to be what you already are and to receive what is already yours. The greatest thing you have is your connection to Spirit.

4. Let go of waiting for anything to arrive. Waiting is anxious energy. Expect it. Know your Good, whatever it is, is yours and arrives with perfect timing. Get yourself mentally and emotionally out of the way of its arrival by putting your attention elsewhere. Go play; accomplish or attend to something else until it (or something even better) arrives.

5. Own every moment and experience as yours (I can hear some of the comments about this). Recognize if you experience it, you vibrated it into your reality. Like energy attracts like energy. Let go of judgment about this and embrace learning. Ask yourself, "What is my opportunity here?" Take responsibility for your feelings, thoughts, words, actions, and energetic vibrations. This is the path of freedom and joyful expression and living.

6. Honor all steps, small and large, as you strengthen and lengthen your "stride" in your conscious spiritual awareness. No judgment. Every success at accepting more self-responsibility is to be honored and celebrated.

7. Learn to recognize that if you do not feel good or serene, you have reduced or disconnected (in your mind only) your connection to Spirit. As soon as you reconnect, you will feel better and things will shift. Again . . . like energy attracts like energy.

8. Thoughts without feeling have no or little magnetic charge. This is why (thank goodness) every thought we have does not manifest. Anytime you replay anything that does not make you feel good and do so with as much emotion as though you are experiencing it now (re-read No. 7), that is what you will magnetize. If you choose to "replay" something, do it with as little emotional involvement as possible. But, why not magnetize what makes you feel the way you wish to feel by feeling some of it first. Let where you want to go be where you start from.

9. State Intentions. Start every day by stating what you intend for the day and how you intend to feel. How do you wish to feel at the end of the day? What will you have to do at the inner level to achieve this? Also state your intentions about how you wish to feel before, during, and after phone calls, emails, conversations, meetings, events, working on projects, etc. Use this as often as possible and you will be amazed at how your experiences shift.

10. Let go of operating against yourself. Think of all the ways you do this, negative self-talk being one of the primary ways. Trying to please others rather than being authentic and in personal integrity is another. What other ways do you operate against yourself? Take note of these during your day.

11. It is not so much a matter of creating as it is a matter of directing. Read that again and see if you feel the liberating energy of it.

12. We know word usage is important when it comes to right use of Law of Attraction. We hear that using "want, need, desire" and so forth creates more want, need, and desire energy matches to those words. Better not to go crazy about this when we just want a simple conversation (or write an article); but when it comes to stating intentions, what about using "I request of myself and Spirit . . ."

Keep these 12 points on hand. Give them an opportunity to make a difference in how you experience the moments of your life . . . emPOWERed.

Get Peaceful, Poised, On Purpose, and EmPowered in life and business with Joyce Shafer, L.E.C., the 4P Power Coach (jls1422@yahoo.com). Visit http://www.freewebs.com/coach4lifebalance to learn more. (Send email if the link acts out.) Get her free newsletter, take the quiz, and get book discounts at her website. Her books, reviews, and preview chapters are also available at lulu.com, including newly-released Law of Attraction Alchemy: Change Lead Thoughts into Gold.