The Power of Now (Access it through the body)

I recently decided to reread Eckhart Tolle’s famous book “The Power of Now”. It had been probably six years since I last read it and as with most great books it was equally fulfilling the second time although in entirely new ways. One of the things that really stood out for me in this second reading is his focus on the body’s energy field, which is a significant overlap in his teaching with the practice of using Mandala Time. For Tolle, an essential way to escape compulsive thinking and enter into Being is to focus your attention on the energy present in the body. 

 Tolle states, “To become conscious of Being, you need to reclaim consciousness from the mind. This is one of the most essential tasks on your spiritual journey. It will free vast amounts of consciousness that previously had been trapped in useless and compulsive thinking. A very effective way of doing this is simply to take the focus of your attention away from thinking and direct it into the body, where Being can be felt in the first instance as the invisible energy field that gives life to what you perceive as the physical body.”

Tolle goes on to ask his readers to direct their attention into their body and poses the question, “Can you feel the subtle energy field that pervades the entire body and gives vibrant life to every organ and every cell? Can you feel it simultaneously in all parts of the body as a single field of energy?” 

 This is a question I too would ask you as you meditate with Mandala Time. It is my experience, as well as many others, that Mandala Time can be a fast-acting catalyst for experiencing the body’s inner energy field. Tapping into this energy field and experiencing its pleasant effervescence, is where real transformation happens and where you begin to experience the full benefits of a mediation practice. 

While softy focusing your eyes on the Mandala during mediation, keep a portion of your attention on the inner body. Part of the reason for doing this is to continue to relax and release tension. But the result of that is you will begin to feel your body’s energy field more and more as tension dissipates. Feeling the energy in every cell can be quite pleasant and an attractive alternative to focusing on the incessant, mostly useless thoughts of your mind. 

Once you’ve learned to tap into your bodies energy field and know what that feels like, you can continue to keep part of your attention there throughout the day. When you lose it, simply do a quick Mandala Time mediation to regain it. The benefit is that you continually practice taking your conscious energy away from compulsive thinking and into the body, into Being. 

The more energy you remove from compulsive thinking and place it into Being, the better life gets. Test it for yourself, and as you do, come back and tell us about it by commenting below.

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Why Visually Guided Meditation is so Effective (And Easy)

Visually guided meditation takes thinking out of the equation

Mandalas have been used as a meditation tool for thousands of years with good reason. Mandalas provide a point of focus, a place of natural symmetry and centeredness to lose yourself in. Their color and harmony impact you energetically. In contrast, Audio based mediation apps require you to listen and process what you hear which may ultimately hinder you from achieving a meditative state because it engages your mind. Mandala Time! takes thinking out of the equation, by simply relaxing and staring you can let the Mandala induce a meditative state very quickly and effectively.

Mandala Meditation Provides Feedback that it’s Working

Often, after just a few seconds into a Mandala Mediation, one can see the colors begin to blur between the shapes of the Mandala. It can start to look three dimensional or certain shapes within the Mandala can begin to move a little. This is direct feedback that you are entering a deeper more meditative state. You may begin to feel a certain effervescence in your body, pleasant vibrational sensations. Allow this to happen and relax further and further into it.

Meditation is an act of allowing not doing. All day every day we do, do, do. We try to shape the world with our will. We are not human doings we are human beings and mediation is a time for being. As you allow the Mandala to work on you it will take you out of the realm of doing and all of its associated emotional ups and downs, and center you in the world of being. This is very nourishing physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Pick out your favorite Mandala and try it for free for as long as you want. Try it three times between 2 and five minutes and there’s a good chance you’ll begin to get the feedback I describe above. Do it a few times a day for a couple of weeks and you’ll begin to realize some of the great benefits of mediation. (For more on the benefits of mediation click here)

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Mandala Meditation for Kids

Just a few minutes of “non-doing” can make a big difference. What is non-doing ? To define that let's start with doing. From all directions kids are bombarded with stimulus; video games, action movies, and YouTube videos. This is all fun stuff to a point, but it becomes an issue when children become reliant on that level of stimulation to feel happy and alive. It’s the same for all of us. Our reliance on excitement, drama and or high adrenaline means we are prisoners to it. It’s just like that old adage - it’s the little things in life. So how do you get there? How does enjoying the little things become part of your, or your child’s, life? The good news is this is one of the bigger side effects of meditation or as it is sometimes referred to, non-doing. Just a few minutes of meditation, effective meditation, can enable all of us to bring the perspective of stillness, non-doing, and peace into our lives.

With brief 2 - 5 minute Mandala Time meditations, you and your children can experience a deep sense of calm, and let’s call it “okayness”, with just being. Experiencing this regularly will result in an increased ability to sit still, focus, and concentrate for your children. The need to be running from zombies, blowing things up or watching crazy people doing crazy things on YouTube will subside to a certain extent and believe it or not, this means more freedom. This is what the term “liberation” is referring to. Because you are free from the dependence on a relatively small category of high stimuli activities, you are free to do and enjoy so much more. Even the little things, which are freely offered here and now and in every moment.

Providing this tool of Mandala Mediations at a young age provides children the ability not to build the deeply engrained patterns of behavior adults have to work hard to extricate themselves from. You are offering them more freedom from their emotions and the ability to live more conscious lives.

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Two Minute Meditations Add Up (Maybe Even Multiply)

One of the great things about meditation is that it builds on itself. This means that you don’t have to sit for twenty minutes to gain the benefits of twenty minutes of meditation. Two minutes here and five minutes there throughout the day has the accumulative effect of twenty minutes of mediation. The challenge for beginners is achieving the meditative state quickly enough to realize the benefits in brief segments. With Mandala Time! you can achieve a meditative state within seconds enabling you to benefit from quick rejuvenating mediations throughout the day.

You can know you’ve achieved a meditative state by the visual effects you see while focusing on the mandala during meditation. Often, even on the first try, people see an interaction or shifting between colors of the mandala which typically happens within seconds of starting the meditation. As soon as you start to experience visual changes in the mandala you know you have entered into a deeper more centered state. (See the blog post “Why Visual Meditation is More Effective” for more info on this).

Any amount of time you exit the state of doing, doing, doing, with its emotional ups and downs and become centered, you begin to rewire. With each mediation you start to loosen the grip your automatic behaviors have on you. Which means gaining, little by little, freedom from your compulsive behavior. You create a little distance between you and your emotions, you and your habits and you and your cravings. This means more freedom. This means the ability to live more consciously instead of reactively. This means you slowly but surely turn down the volume of chatter in your head until one day there will be a moment when you notice the birds singing, the breeze blowing through the leaves, and the scent of flowers. And for that moment, its more than enough.

Try two to five minute mediations at your desk throughout the workday for two weeks and you will notice wonderful benefits. Comment on this blog and let us know how it goes!

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