Into the Silence: Ways To Calm Your Mind

It is in the silence that we can hear the still quiet promptings of our Soul.

It is in the silence that the Peace that Passes Understanding is Revealed.

It is when we enter into the silence that we can hear the voice of God.

The silence is a full and fertile experience opening us to an inner world that the noise of the world drowns out, and the chattering of our mind obscures.

We are instructed in the Bible to “Be still and know that I am God.” For many, perhaps for you, that stillness is hard to achieve.

To experience that silence and that deep stillness is the purpose of meditation. The portal to meditation opens when you calm your mind, open your heart and invite the Light. Each guided meditation that I have created over the years begins with the instruction to calm your mind, open your heart, invite the Light.

However, as I move through my life I hear people say, repeatedly, that they find it difficult to meditate. It seems that for many it is the first part of that injunction “Calm the Mind” that is so challenging. It makes sense then that how to teach a meditator to experience a calm mind has been the work of sages, yogis, and gurus since there have been teachers on the path to enlightened awareness.

For many people, the chatter generated in their minds drowns out the silence. This “chattering” is anything but calming for all too often it is jammed with fears, negative self-judgment, and criticism. It is liberally laced too with the unfulfilled expectation of both themselves and others.

The silence of a calm mind may seem out of reach to you. The mind’s chatter, although you are sitting quietly, may be anything but silent. This is why the regular practice of meditation is so important. It begins to school the mind that your meditation time is a sacred space and a safe space to give the chatter of your mind a rest.

It is in the silence of the calm mind and the open heart that the guidance of the Soul and Presence of God can be experienced. There are many ways that we can move toward that calmness of mind. What way you choose at any given moment of time can be varied and responsive to the events and circumstances in your life when you choose.

 

HOW LONG SHOULD I MEDITATE?

What seems significant is that you set aside the time and have the desire and intention to calm your mind, open your heart and invite the Light. It does not have to be a long period of time that is set aside. Ten to fifteen minutes a day would make a great difference in your life. You do not have to go away from the world as the holy men of ages past did to achieve enlightenment. You can learn to meditate and receive the many benefits and blessings of meditation right where you live and in the midst of your busy life today.

Now some may say, “I don’t have time to meditate every day.” The old wisdom response to that is to say,

If you don’t have time to meditate every day,
then meditate 2 times a day.”
        – Anonymous

If you don’t think you can take the time, take that as a sign that you can benefit even more than others from meditation.

I suggest and encourage at least a daily practice of meditation because the health benefits and the consciousness and prospective benefits are best incorporated into your life with consistency and continuity. Whereas any technique of meditation when practiced regularly can positively and dramatically transform your life, some you will find easier than others to help you experience the calmness of mind and dampening of mind chatter that is desired.

In my teaching, I found that guiding people in a meditation and focusing their minds on a particular awareness is most effective. That is why I have created so very many guided meditations.

 

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A great beginning guided awareness meditation to reconnect and rebalance you to your life force and create peace and calm is my Grounding Arrow Meditation. It can be done in the quiet of your home or while walking.

 

Click here to >>>Get More Info About This Meditation.

 

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To choose to meditate, to set aside the time with the intention and the desire to calm your mind, open your heart and experience the Light of your Soul or to hear the still quiet voice of God is what is important. How you do it is not as important. That you take the time is of paramount importance.

 

WHAT WORKS?

I found over the many years that I have practiced daily meditation that one technique or another best suits an individual day, situation or circumstance. Personally, I have changed meditation methods frequently. Although it is human nature for someone to think that their way is the only way, I suggest that within you is wisdom that can direct your choices, that of your Higher Self. In the world are a myriad of instructions and a wide variety of products to choose from. Some are free and some charge a fee. Some techniques are very simple and easy. Others require deep understanding. What works for you is best revealed with experimentation.

Any time you have, at the conclusion of the meditation time experienced, a greater calmness of your body, your emotions or your mind you have gained a great deal. The more often you open yourself to that experience, even if it is in the brief period it takes to think an affirmation or a seed thought, you are opening your life to a richer and deeper awareness.

In addition to guided meditation, using a mantra as either an invocation and evocation, or a repetition of a specific thought focus, or saying an affirmation are all effective tools. Pondering Koans (stories used by Zen masters to instruct on important consciousness points), saying Psalms, repeating a rosary or repeating a favorite prayer in your mind are also meditative experiences. Although there are subtle differences between the experience of prayer and meditation a prayer can often be used to quiet the mind sufficiently to bring you into the receptive part of a meditation experience, the silence.

The use of prayer beads that help followers use repetitive prayers or statements as a mantra are also a way to help you to meditate. Repetitive movements with repetitive thoughts are all ancient ways to meditate. The repetition of a Psalm or prayer is a form of coming into alignment with your Soul, as is chanting. Whatever the language used or technique employed it is the intention to open your mind and your heart to the presence of the Divine and open up to your Soul’s Light that makes the transformation happen.

Within you is a wisdom that will direct your path if you only open your heart and your mind to its Presence. You may have noticed that I often direct you in my writings to tune into that Presence and refer to it as the Soul or your Higher Self. I do this because not only are the health benefits of meditation well documented by science but there are very few things you can do in life that has as powerful and profound a positive influence as meditation, on your health or on your ability to be successful.

 

SOME SIMPLE MEDITATION TECHNIQUES

A very simple technique would be to declare your intention by affirming and saying:

I am of calm mind,
as I open my heart,
I invite the Light “
        – Genevieve Gerard

Then just sit in the silence, quietly and reflectively.

Of course, there is much more you can do and add to the experience but your intention to have a meditative experience once you have set aside the time is a first step. Then you can add other techniques, guided meditations, repetitive mantras, affirmations, prayers or whatever of the vast array of what is offered in the world that you feel guided to.

In a recent article, I discussed the power of an “I Am” statement. You can create a mantra to repeat in your mind out of “I Am” that defines the Presence you wish to experience that day.

Examples would be:

• I Am Love
• I Am Peace
• I Am Joy

It is in the silence, the time to limit the input of your mind’s chatter as much as possible and in the quiet removal from the world’s input, that the magic of meditation happens. There are some who have created audio meditations where the sound is scientifically modulated (alpha, theta, and the deepest delta waves) to bring you into a specific meditative experience. These are helpful for some people as a way of conquering the mind chatter and putting you in a meditative state.

 

TAKE THE TIME TO MEDITATE

Because for me meditation has been the portal to joy and love, insight, and understanding and a sense of harmony and union with God and all of life, I encourage you to set aside the time to have a meditative experience. You can start the practice now.

I do encourage regularity. The repetition helps your mind calm as it recognizes that this is the time to be calm, too quiet the chattering mind, to tune in and receive insight.

This then becomes a sacred time as you acknowledge and recognize:

This is the time to be still.

This is the time to let yourself just be.

This is the time to open your heart to the expansion of love.

This is the time to be open to the guidance of the Light of your Soul
and the promptings of the Divine.

Taking this time is a gift you can give yourself that will repay you with blessings beyond measure. To be touched by the Presence of your Soul or to hear in the silence the voice of God guiding you, loving you or comforting you is the gift that meditation can give.

This time, set aside by you is for you and will be a blessing that can transform your life empowering you to be and become all that you are meant to be.

Namaste,

   Genevieve

The Blessing of Love on all that you do!

 

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Last updated 11-26-2018

 

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