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In my quest to find decent music for meditation, I discovered a Tibetan Singing Bowl CD.Singing bowls were traditionally used throughout Asia as part of Buddhist and other meditation practices. Today they are used for meditation, relaxation, health care and religious practices.

The sound is created by striking the bowl with a mallet or by running the mallet around the outer circumference until it starts to resonate. The resulting sound is very hypnotic and quite beautiful. Apparently, our brain entrains on this sound altering our brainwave states which is basically what hemisync©, brainsync©, holosync© (that’s alot of sync’s!!) do with synthesizers.

I warmed my amplifier up (vacuum tube amp) and pressed play on the Cd player. Suddenly, this beautiful golden sound drifted out of my speakers and immediately had a soothing effect. I sat there for a half an hour totally mesmerized by the harmonically rich resonant sounds.

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I have been using a notebook journal for the last year for affirmations and goal setting. I also use Louise Hay Power Thought Affirmation Cards  that I tape to my bathroom mirror. When I am brushing my teeth in the morning I usually glance at the cards which give me a positive lift before heading off to work.

However, most of my day requires sitting in front of a computer so I started searching for motivation/goal setting software that would help me set my goals and remind me while I was working on the computer.

The first software program I tried is called Single-Step™ motivational software. It is available as a download from their website and has a simple interface. The goal setting process involves entering information about yourself and your goals. You also have the ability to add pictures to help in the visualization process. I followed the setup wizard and entered all the necessary information. This process took about 15 minutes and was somewhat painless.

Once all the information is entered you must perform daily “exercises” to help you reach your goals. Single-Step™ keeps score of the exercises and requires you to set an ending date for achieving your goal. The exercises involve typing your goal everyday, logging your progress toward that goal, viewing images that relate to your goal as well as watching the narrative you created in the setup wizard. Each time you do this you rack up points that are recorded in the software.

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My Alaskan Malamute is chewing me out of house and home. One day I started noticing unidentified strange shaped objects (USSO’s) in my back yard. Upon closer inspection I realized the strange blobs were tree roots which she managed to whittle away into amorphous, artistic shapes. Could my dog be an artist at heart?

We are all artists and create our own reality at every moment, everyday. Every time you make a decision you are being creative, no one else could have made that specific choice for you. We write new chapters of our lives everyday. Find out what makes you sing with joy and pursue it with all your heart.

Take a lesson from Maya the Malamute…

I wonder if I could sell them on EBay.

As I was walking around my neighborhood my mind kept wandering to every problem in my life. This was supposed to be a relaxing walk with my dog but I anxiously kept thinking about tasks I needed to do.

I then glanced up and noticed a plump little bird sitting on a telephone wire happily chirping away. I thought to myself how nice it must be to live in the moment and be free from worries and fears. People who believe in reincarnation say that to come back as a lower life form is not desirable.

However, I can’t help but wonder who really winds up suffering more, we as humans or the bird contentedly singing. In the rush of our everyday lives we forget that all we really have is this moment right here, right now and we need to live every second with complete bliss and abandon like the little bird on a wire. Freedom comes when we live without regret or worry for the future.… I just wish I could figure out a way to snuggle with the bird.

The other day I was busy cleaning my house while my partner was lounging on the couch listening to Justin Timberlake at ear splitting levels. As I was swiffering around the house, a feeling of resentment and anger started to emerge. Why is he not helping me while I am laboring over the house?. Anyway, My music snobbishness reared it’s ugly head and I wound up snapping, criticizing him and the music he was listening to (Justin Timberlake!?!?!).

My partner calmly looked at me and said “why are you criticizing me about my music? I don’t criticize you for the music you listen to”.  As I looked at him, a feeling of regret came over me and said “I know”

Sometimes in the heat of our anger we need to step back and realize that we all deserve love and respect even if the other person’s views or listening tastes are different. As a wise Buddhist teacher told me: “We don’t need other people to change, we just need to change our mind. If we stop seeing people with faults we can cherish them more.”

Since I began my spiritual journey to find inner peace and health, I have been using meditation Cd’s to help me through the process by reducing the mental chatter in my mind.  I have found several good Cd’s that seem to help me focus and reduce anxiety.  Here is a quick review of my meditation music listed in order of preference.

Kelly Howell- Brain Sync- “Healing Meditation” and “The Secret Universal Mind”- Brain SyncShe has a very soothing voice with beautiful music and the guided meditation imagery is excellent . She also incorporates brainwave entrainment technology to induce delta and theta states that are needed for deep meditation. I downloaded the Cd’s from her website and have been listening to them before I go to sleep. I definitely seem to remember my dreams more and have also been using the “Healing Meditation” CD for nerve pain.  These Cd’s require Headphones.

• Meditainment.com Subscription- I subscribed to this last year and have downloaded many different guided meditations for a 6 month subscription fee. These guided meditations have very creative imagery and I really like the British accented guide. However, they do not incorporate any brainwave entrainment sounds.
• Deepak Chopra-Soul Of Healing Meditations CD- I like the eastern music combined with the voice of Deepak Chopra to create a calming peaceful feeling that helps me with any physical pain that I feel. Incorporates some eastern mysticism/religion into the meditations.
• Rebecca Nagy Instant Calm© CD- A great Cd for people who are new to meditation. Includes beautiful piano music with guided meditations by Rebecca. She introduces some counting technique exercises, progressive relaxation, and positive affirmations that are very helpful and calming.
• Neuroprogrammer2 -Not really a Cd but a brainwave entrainment generator that runs on your computer. I have used this to make my own Cd’s or to use on my ipod. There are many different presets for different issues including fibromyalgia, depression, etc. I like this software and find it helpful but I miss the not having music or a soothing voice guiding me through the process. However, you can add your own affirmation or music to the generated tones.
• Hemisync Metamusic Oasis CD- Beautiful music with embedded hemisync tones similar to brain sync.  Unguided CD that helps me relax when I am under stress. I usually listen to this through my main stereo at home without headphones
• Doc Childre’s Heart Zones CD- I downloaded this from the Heart Math website. The music is really dated sounding. Reminds me of video production music used in the 80’s. Somewhat relaxing but could not get over the music.

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Yesterday was my last “Meditation for Health and Focus” class at Queens University in Charlotte, NC. The class lasted 6 weeks and was taught by Rebecca Nagy. She is very knowledgeable about different forms of meditation and I learned much from the class. She introduced me to the concept of Chakras and how they can be used in meditation to help certain areas of the body.

Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel, the chakras are energy vortices allowing energy to pass freely through the body. Seven of these are referred to as the main chakras these are the root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown chakras.

They allow for the free flow of energy, which promotes good health and vitality. If an energy blockage arises this may cause physical ailments that correspond to the area of the blockage, by working with the chakras one can help heal the areas that are causing the problems.

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Welcome to Charlotte, a banker’s city glistening with skyscrapers and an abundance of new growth at the expense of it’s historical past and natural landscape. Not a city I would expect to find environmentally friendly communities.

Well, I was wrong (go figure). An Eco friendly community called Celadon Greenway is being developed in Wesley Heights near downtown Charlotte. The 24 town homes are being built on a heavily wooded greenway with environmentally friendly materials including a light and heat reflective roofing system, dual flush toilets (one that uses half the water when you want to conserve), low energy consumption kitchen appliances, recycled glass, eco-friendly insulation, bamboo floors, and a special water consumption meter that tells you how much water you have used, encouraging you to conserve. 

Living in this development is a great way to lower your carbon footprint.  All this is presented in a modern Le Corbusier style architecture with an abundance of trees and greenery to meditate around… You can check out the official info at their website: celadongreenway.com Here is a link to a carbon footprint calculator. >>Read more

I have always been very sensitive to odors and regularly use scent oils, incense, candles and other aromatic devices to help relieve stress or just to create an inviting atmosphere.

Over the years I have found certain diffusion methods more effective than others. Here is a quick comparison and review.

Japanese style incense- No inner bamboo or wood core means it burns cleanly without that burnt wood smell that makes you cough. Prefer over regular incense.

Electric oil warmers- I found these convenient and very effective at dispersing fragrance and essential oils. The scents spread through the room pretty quickly and it is safer than the candle warmers. I also use a “Scent Ball” plug in diffuser that works OK for a couple of hours but after that, the oil loses it’s scent and smells slightly burnt.

Soy high fragrance candles- I like these because there is a large variety of scents and they are made of soy which burn cleaner and lasts longer than wax candles.

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I recently ran across an article about EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique and decided to take a class at Unity Church in Charlotte taught by Jan Luther of the Rejuvenation Station. When I arrived their were 15 people mostly women with about 4 men. The teacher was very confident and knowledgeable about this technique and had us fill out a form about someone who made us feel bad at anytime in our life.

We then told her the words  and feelings that we used to describe our negative experience such as fear, anxiety, sadness, anger etc. Jan then formulated some affirmation we were to repeat as we tapped on certain areas on our body (meridian points)

Looking around I felt totally ridiculous tapping my face and repeating what the teacher was saying. It almost felt like we were playing Simon Says.

Anyway, we did it twice for about 15 minutes total and against my expectations, I actually felt a little better. Maybe it was the positive affirmations or maybe the tapping distracts from my negative mental chatter… who knows, but it seemed to help.  You can also do it for other people… might try it on my partner. 

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I am partnering with Amazon.com to put together a collection of books, DVD’s, CD’s and health related electronics  for purchase including “The Secret”.

You can click on the shopping link on the top of the page or just visit our online store here. 

Also, I have added a small forum for anyone interested in posting event or discussion groups.

Several weekends ago, I decided to attend a meditation for world peace at the Center for Positive Living in Charlotte, NC. I have never attended anything like this, so I did not know what to expect. When I arrived I noticed a circle (medicine wheel) in the middle of the room made from quartz crystals, scrolls, bones, and articles of clothing. 

We were greeted by a tall, friendly, soft spoken, Inca medicine man named Yachai-Hampe (Healer of Wisdom).  The ceremony began with the passing of a prayer stick to each person whereupon we were to say something that would encourage world peace.

When the stick came to me I took a deep breath and spoke the first thing that came to my mind: “To learn how to love and accept myself for who I am.”  Because deep down I know that if we don’t like ourselves we can never practice compassion and kindness toward others which are the seeds for world peace.

This was followed by an explanation of the medicine circle and the lighting of the candles within the circle.  We walked/danced around the circle meditating on world peace and played a musical instrument that we had chosen earlier.

Mine was a rattle. 

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