Laughter releases endorphins into the body with the same exhilarating effect as doing strenuous exercise. University of Chicago studies show a great sense of humor can add an additional 8 years to your life. Stanford University studies show a good belly laugh can give you health-boosting benefits equal to 10 minutes on a rowing machine. Pre-school children laugh or smile 400 times a day, however, that number drops to only 15 times a day by the time people reach age 35. Every time you have a good hearty laugh, you burn up 3 1/2 calories. Laugher exercises your diaphragm. The diaphragm separates your chest cavity and your abdomen. When you laugh, it convulses and gives your organs a much-needed massage, stimulating circulation and enhancing general wellbeing. Laughing increases oxygen intake, thereby replenishing and invigorating cells. It also increases the pain threshold, boosts immunity and relieves stress. So come take a break and have a laugh with us at http://www.mad-jokes.com.
http://www.mad-jokes.com
Meditations: Using Meditation to Master The Art Of Success
Quick question before we start, please raise your hand if you have achieved everything you wanted to achieve in your life. Let me ask you another question … do you have a passion to succeed or to achieve something? Are you programmed to succeed? Would you like to know how? There are many theories that have been written by experts, historians and psychologists across the world and also across time on success but the one thing every single one of them always defines as the secret to success is that you must believe you are going to succeed and that you can achieve what you want to achieve and that you are prepared to continue to have a go and keep having a go, learning each time, till you achieve what it is that you want to achieve. If you ever get a chance to read a book by Napoleon Hill called Think and Grow Rich it is worth reading. The author, Napoleon Hill wrote this book back in 1937 and he was basically looking for a formula that anyone could follow to achieve success and in particular riches on an obscene scale. One of the 13 Secrets that he outlines in his book is that all millionaires and in this era billionaires know is the power of Autosuggestion. This was the term that was bandied around in the 1930's era and essentially autosuggestion means the reprogramming of your mind to believe something so much that your mind automatically pushes you towards success and in the case of Think and Grow Rich, obscene wealth. In today's hip culture, the guru's of the self-help industry refer to the power of autosuggestion more as affirmations than the autosuggestion term however they are essentially the same. The bottom line is this, for you to succeed you have to believe that you can succeed and you have to train your mind to succeed and to think successfully. Most people at this point and I are sure you are one of them, will go, yeah right what a load of hippy talk. Well maybe, but let us look at few facts. Let us look at some of the most successful people in the world and take someone who I am a great fan of Lance Armstrong and look closely at what he has achieved. Lance Armstrong is a leader and a hero in the cycling community. After being diagnosed with testicular cancer which had spread to his lungs and brain he fought this disease whole heartedly and not only beat the disease, but he used the power of his mind to go onto win the Tour de France, not once, not twice but seven times. There is no way in the world that this man could beat such a debilitating disease unless he had programmed his mind to say, I will beat this disease and get my life back and exceed what I had achieved before. In fact, going onto win the Tour de France seven times is a feat never before achieved in the history of the race. Knowing this information if you were faced with absolute adversity what would you do? Would you just simply stop, give up and die or would you keep fighting? Would you beat your adversity and then stop, or would you push your goals further out there to achieve more? If you want to be successful, you must train your mind to be successful. You must have an overwhelming belief or faith in yourself that you can do it, even when everyone around you is telling you that you can not do it. The key to this success is to program you for success. When I was doing a business course a few months ago one of the tasks that we were given was to write down ten things that we wanted to achieve. We were asked to identify specifically what those ten things are in business we wanted to achieve. The sort of items people wrote down - 1. I am going to make $200,000 cash profit this year 2. I am going to buy a new Mercedes 3. I am going to buy a jet ski 4. I am going to raise $500,000 to build an orphanage in Laos 5. I am going to buy the block Lot 4 Coral Coast Road in Townsville Australia 6. I am going to take my family to Las Vegas and have $5,000 spending money 7. I am going to raise the $4,000 to buy a Vintage Plane for the RAAF Museum 8. I am going to win the Archery at the next Commonwealth Games 9. I am going to learn to fly a plane 10. I am going to hike up Mount Kosciusko What people were then told was to right these elements down onto a sheet of paper and put them up where you could see them every day where you can read them and remind yourself of what you are going to achieve. Essentially what they told us to do is to follow the third secret to success identified by Napoleon Hill called Autosuggestion. However, what I noticed with all the people in course was that over a period of time, they began to give up. They did not read their ten items every day and they did not affirm that they would achieve what they wanted each day. Part of the reason this occurs is simply because the hustle, bustle and stress of everyday life and reality take over and your mind is cluttered with the stress. When the course finished they did not have the people in the course to continually speak with them to see if they were sticking to their ten things they wanted to achieve. Look ask any educator in the world, if you are stressed when trying to learn something, you will never learn the material as well as somebody who is not stressd. Why … because a mind that is not stressed and cluttered will allow you to absorb the information more effectively than somebody who does not and this leads me to how Meditation is one of the secret tools to success. Meditation on its own will NOT bring you success. The role of meditation in the art of success is to bring your mind to a point of calm where it can absorb all the material to help you succeed and in particular, so that you can ingrain into your mind the affirmations of what you are going to achieve. The first step in using meditation to help you succeed is to learn to meditate to eliminate the stress. Before trying to address anything else you must learn to relax and be calm and to clear your mind. That is, your mind must be free from clutter, worry, concerns and anything else that may stop you from programming your mind to succeed. There are many meditations that will help you in overcoming stress such as the breathing meditation technique, stillness meditation technique and the numbers meditation technique. Each of these techniques will teach you how to achieve focus and calm during your meditation session. Once you have mastered those techniques, you can then focus on your affirmations or autosuggestions each day of what you are going to achieve. The Buddhists use sacred phrases in their meditations to help them become better people on their journey towards achieving enlightenment. You can use the affirmations or ten things you want to achieve in exactly the same way. By reflecting on the ten things you want to achieve during meditation, you are reinforcing what you want to achieve in the way of success and ingraining in a clear mind these affirmations or autosuggestions, which means you will maintain your focus to achieve these ten things even when you are challenged by what is going on in your day. When you start using this technique over a period of time, you will be amazed how your mind will say to you, "Hey, you are off focus on what you want to achieve get back on focus". I recommend that for meditation to work effectively that you spend no less than 20 minutes in the morning and night meditating on the 10 things you must achieve. The reason that I recommend meditating twice a day is that you need to be reflecting on your affirmations for a minimum of 20 minutes a day, however most people find that it takes them about ten minutes of their meditation time before they are truly calm, when they are first starting out. You will find though as time goes on and you meditate regularly that you are able to get to a state of calm a lot quicker than when you first start out. Look the bottom line is this, if you want to succeed, you must believe inside of yourself that you can achieve whatever success you want. It is totally up to you as to what you want to achieve and only you can do it. Remember, that every great achievement in the world started out as a single thought that one person believed in enough to what to achieve it. To stay on the path to success, meditation will help you to control the clutter and the stress the world can pile on you on a day-to-day basis in your mind.
If you are interested in reading the Think and Grow Rich book by Napoleon Hill and learning the thirteen secrets to success, it is available at our website as a PDF as well as an MP3 Audio version. The best type of Meditation Music is Baroque Music played at 60 beats per minute and this music is also available at our website.
Beginner's Meditation - How Deep Can You Go?
When I teach Meditation classes, new students often ask: “What can meditation do for me?” To answer that question as genuinely as possible I draw upon my own twenty-something years of meditating experience. One of the core meditation benefits I enjoy is a continual feeling of inner peace. This is a true blessing compared to how things were many years ago. Enslaved by my own mind I was constantly pulled this way and that. My inner voice chattered ceaselessly: “Let’s go here. Let’s go there. Let’s do this. Let’s do something else.” My mind seemed to operate from somewhere on the surface of ego consciousness: a place of conflicts, dissatisfaction, restlessness and fantasy.
Now those aberrations have dissolved, leaving behind pools of perfect peace. And within these oases of peace there is a clarity of mind; a greater understanding of myself, of humanity and of the world in which I live. This in turn contributes to a general state of happiness and, sometimes, periods of pure joy.
But I am not unique. Anyone who practices meditation regularly can tell you that they too experience the core benefits of meditation - namely:
- Inner peace
- Clearer thinking
- Greater understanding
- Constant happiness
- Being in joy
For those who wish to (re-)establish these natural ways of being, the easiest meditation technique to begin with is “witnessing.” A “witnessing” meditation is a means of being in the present moment; it is a way of giving your fullest attention to what is going on in your body and mind “now.”
Meditation For Beginners
- Sit upright, spine straight, feet flat on the floor. Keeping your spine erect let your shoulders relax downwards. Place your hands openly on your lap, passive hand resting in the active. Focus on letting your body relax. Try to be aware of your entire body from head to foot.
- While maintaining a steady awareness of your body, bring your attention to your breathing as you inhale. Focus on your breath as it enters your nostrils. Follow the course of your breath as it passes down your throat and into your lungs.
- Watch the passage of your breath as the inhalation reaches its maximum, pauses, and then becomes an exhalation. Continue watching the outflow of breath to the point where it pauses briefly before becoming an inhalation once again.
- As you breathe in and out, pay attention to the expansion and contraction of your rib cage, and the rise and fall of your stomach. Notice how your breathing becomes longer and smoother. Watch your breathing cycles and each time you breathe out imagine all the muscles in your body relaxing more and more.
- Now bring your attention to your mind. Observe the thoughts passing through your mind. After a time you will notice how your thoughts slow down and become easier to watch.
- In time and with practice you will reach the stage where thoughts cease to enter your mind. It is then that your mind becomes like a cloudless sky.
- Once you arrive at this state of what Buddhists call “no mind” you will quickly become familiar with “The Witness” �" that eternal part of us that exists beyond everyday mind.
About The Author
Michael Connolly is a retired Hypnotherapist and Psychoanalyst. He has accumulated extensive knowledge of parapsychology and metaphysics over a period of three decades. These days he enjoys sharing his knowledge on the Internet. Ultra Deep Meditation. Author's Blog: http://blog.seeitlive.info
How Do We Control Unwanted Thoughts?
Most of us have the problem that, from time to time, we are troubled by the encroachment into our minds of thoughts that we really do not want. Getting rid of them, however, can be a protracted problem and we therefore need the help of Scripture to deal with them. Enlisting The Help Of Paul In 2 Corinthians 10:3 - 5 Paul says: For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (NIV) Anyone in a fight needs weapons of some sort. So in Ephesians 6. 14 - 18, Paul details some of the weapons we have available for warfare and most readers will be familiar with the belt of truth, with the breastplate of righteousness, and with our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. We are also told to take up the shield of faith to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and the helmet of salvation plus the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We may be very familiar with these verses, but they will stand to be read anew, from our present, specific standpoint of dealing with thoughts. Applying The Lessons Our purpose is to take every thought captive. When a captive is taken in war, the individual is first recognised as a member of the opposing force. He is arrested, then he is first bound so that his movements are restricted. Then he is interrogated, and then imprisoned for the duration of the conflict. We need to proceed similarly. As soon as we recognise a foreign thought (in the sense of it not belonging to the spirituality of a disciple of Christ), we must arrest that thought, then confront it, and restrict its rights and freedom. We can do all this using the weapons and defensive equipment which Paul has detailed for us. First, Paul tells us that we have truth, likened to a belt round our waist, but still part of our weaponry. We need to ask, therefore, whether the thought is a truthful one? Even if it is truthful, there may be reasons why we do not wish to entertain it. If we cannot substantiate it as true, then it is certainly an enemy. Secondly, is it a righteous thought? Righteousness acts like a breastplate, defending us from that which would pierce us. In practice it means acting (and thinking!) always in ways of which God approves. Being righteous means being able to stand before the Father, being upright before him. Therefore we ask if this thought undermines that ability? If so, it is one which needs to be taken captive; we do that by deliberately refusing it permission to be active in our mind. How? We recognise that the promise of salvation has been won for us by Jesus Christ. What Jesus did on the cross and from the tomb is like a soldier’s helmet which protects his head. Our remembrance of salvation and our intention never to put it at risk, reinforces our determination against evil thoughts which are like deadly blows from the enemy rained down on our head. Faith is as a shield to use against that which is directed against us. Every illicit thought falls into that category. But a shield used to be used in very close cooperation with a soldier’s sword, which is why Paul likens the word of God to a sword. So the practicality of this is that we draw out an appropriate word from the arsenal of living words which God has given in Scripture. Just as a soldier might have various kinds of swords for dealing with different kinds of enemies and their defences, so we have a choice, but a far wider choice, of which sword to use. In other words, using the weapon of faith we call on God’s promises: ... wash me and I shall be whiter than snow... A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. (Psalm 52. 9, 11.) (New American Bible). If we cry out to God he will hear us, as the psalmist knew. In faith we can rely on his word that he will cleanse us. Some thoughts we find impossible to deal with, but there is nothing he cannot take captive, if we have the faith to expect him to do it. We should also be prepared to do our part: by refusing to allow these thoughts to have residence in our minds, by rejecting them every time we realise their presence, and by calling on the Lord each and every time we are under attack from them. Finally, we need to ask the other troops to come to our defence. A soldier in war who is slow to ask for reinforcements when he needs them is a dead soldier. When they need it, we should pray for our fellow Christians; when we need their prayers we should be quick to ask for them. All this might seem to be a lengthy process. But in practise, we are, or should be, or should be becoming, very quick to recognise every enemy thought. Some kinds of thoughts will be repeated, and are therefore easily identifiable. We need to find the right scriptures through which to call on God to defeat the enemy. Over time, as we grow in spiritual awareness, we shall recognise more thoughts and thought patterns as enemies, and we shall find God dealing with them, through our co-operation with his grace, in must the same manner.
AUTHOR: Anthony Keith Whitehead WEB SITE: http://www.christianword.co.uk This article is copyright but may be reproduced providing that all this information is included Over twenty-five years in Christian healing teaching writing ministries. Wide range of secular employments before being called by the Lord into full time independent ministry in 1987. With his wife Iris he has ministered both in the UK and USA. Has written several books on healing meditation and various aspects of spirituality. Formal qualifications include: B.A. M.Phil. Cambridge University Certificate in Religious Studies. Post Grad Cert. in Education.
Your Energy Body
Your body is energy. Energy is absorbed through the air you breathe. It flows in your nervous system, like electricity flowing through wires, to all your extremities and vital organs. It flows in streams through channels of low resistance and high conductivity called chi, or ki. Your central nervous system conducts it like a bar magnet, with the positive charge on the top of the head and the negative charge at your tailbone. Arching fields of bio-magnetism flow out from the top of your head, encircle your body and come up again at the negative pole at your tailbone in what is called an “aura.”
Your thoughts are energy too, literally a movement of energy flowing through streams of neurons, or brain cells, in your head. Emotions are a combination of neurological discharges and secretions of brain chemicals whose discharges create the moods you feel. All your senses are picking up energy: Light is energy, sound is energy, taste and smell involve energy discharges in your brain as well. Movement is energy, gravity is a form of energy, every state perceived is something changing…energy; perception itself is energy.
Even the physical mass of your body is energy. Shrink your awareness down into the cellular level and you find the cells of your body are in constant communication with each other energetically; each cell receives and conducts energy. Shrink yourself down even further to the molecular level and you find systems of organizing intelligence conducting the energy to create the patterns we call molecules, elements, compounds-the building blocks of life. Shrink your awareness down even smaller to the world of atoms and you find that the ultimate constituents of your body are latent potential and realized manifestations of positive and negative energy, which we call protons, electrons, and neutrons.
Your body is both receiving and transmitting energy. What you think, and feel, is what you are creating. Create happy positive thoughts and those thoughts are transmitted into the fields of awareness that link us all together, like cells in the body of God. Negative thoughts are also transmitted into the field of collective consciousness and will cause you to attract the people, circumstances and situations that enable you to see whatever is diminishing the light of your own indwelling spirit. Spirit is consciousness in expression, or Shakti. That which causes life within you is you. You are the light. Realize this.
From the heart, Steven S. Sadleir
Steven S. Sadleir is the Director of the Self Awareness Institute and is recognized as a Shaktipat Master in two lineages. He has developed powerful distance learning programs for people of all cultures and faiths, trained thousands of people from all over the world, and welcomes all of you who are ready for full Self-Realization. Visit http://www.SelfAwareness.com for FREE guided meditation mp3s and ebook!
Conquer your habits-----Conquer your world
There is nothing more powerful in the life of a person than their personal habits. Your habits decide the destiny of your life,what you do and how you do it .Your personality,your character is the sum of your habits. If you try to slip away from work or if you try to avoid any work as far as possible ,or if you overspend regularly ,these habits will be to your detriment in your personal as well as in your business life. People who regularly work long hours,or are more thrifty in their spending do not find it a hardship. The power of habit has established this as part of themselves.. They do it without thinking negatively. The same applies to people who have the habit of working intelligently and who habitually encourage their staff members or fellow workers. Your habits also play a large part in your personal relationships .How often we exercise,what we eat and what we do with our spare time .If you are the victim of bad habits it is time to conquer your habit and get rid of them. The moment you conquer a bad habit,new and more useful habits start to appear .These are your greatest allies. Once they are established,it is relatively easy to keep them going.. The power of habit is in the way every habit maintains itself. Their is no need to re-invent it daily -or at all. Try and make your nervous system your ally instead of your enemy .You must make automatic and habitual as many useful habits as you can. A habit is only good if it supports a goal that will be beneficial to you or your family or your community. Habit is defined as “the intersection of knowledge,skill and desire”.If that is what habit is ,it sounds like a good recipe to get started on as soon as possible. You need knowledge when starting out. If you start a business or work for somebody else you need skill,and you must have the desire to succeed. Together this is a powerful combination. GK Chesterton put it very well when he said”I do not believe in a fate that falls on men,however they act, but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act”. Your fate is in your own hands and useful habits are going to help you win.They support action ---and by taking conquering action this is what is going to take you where you need to go
John Muller is a retired entrepeneur living on the east coast of South Africa. http://ezymoney745.ultreality.hop.clickbank.net
Meditation: Choosing the Right Meditation Pillow
Whether you realize it or not choosing the right meditation pillow can make a huge difference to the success of your meditation session. Most people when starting out on learning the technique of meditation will simply sit on the floor and try to meditate with no support at all. However, trying to maintain the right posture for any period of time is quite a challenge and will simply lead to an unsuccessful meditation session. Before choosing a meditation pillow you must first understand where you are going to be undertaking the meditation session. For example, you will need a different style of meditation pillow for soft grass to meditating on wooden floors or on concrete. If your meditation session is to be undertaken on grass then you simply need a light weight pillow which has a soft inner fill. Generally a nylon based fill for this type of session will suffice. It is also worthwhile getting a meditation pillow that is machine washable as well because if you are sitting on this pillow on the grass it will get dirty and if you do not wash it, you may find that the grass stains will not wash out after a while. If you are meditating on harder surfaces like wood or concrete, I recommend using a two stage pillow. Essentially, the base of the pillow is a solid style foam, with the top part of the pillow being made of either duck down or a soft synthetic inner fill. You will find that if you use a normal pillow on harder surfaces for any period of time that you will find it difficult to get up or more so, a sore rear. If you are not comfortable during your meditation session then the bottom line is that you will focus on the discomfort rather than the meditation. If you find sitting up straight on the floor difficult to do, you can purchase from quality meditation suppliers, meditation pillows that also include a back support as well. The meditation pillows that contain this are almost like chairs for the floor. The key advantage of this style of meditation pillow is that by keeping your back straight, during the meditation session you will be helping ensure that you control your breathing more effectively. I certainly encourage you to try out your meditation pillow before you buy. Ensure that when you sit on the pillow that it supports your weight and that you are not sitting directly on the floor. Make sure also while you are sitting on your pillow that it does support your back and that you do not naturally slump over on the pillow. For an effective meditation session, you need to ensure that you have a well structured posture, that you are comfortable and that you can relax without any niggling pain or pressure. Be aware that if you feel an unusual pressure as you sit that this is the first warning sign that you are about to experience pain in that area.
If you are looking for effective Meditation Music for your meditation sessions please feel free to visit our website. Downloadable and MP3 versions of our meditation music are also available.
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.
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