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How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

I first became interested in meditation as a young painter at Art School in the early 1970’s. Sensitive by nature and quite shy, I felt uncomfortable being around large groups of people and was easily overwhelmed; as a result, I often found it hard to deal with stress.

I remember learning meditation from a book. Sitting quietly meditating by the canal that ran outside the noisy college canteen, I focused my attention on the sensation of slowing my breath and was able to create a pocket of calm for myself where I felt more at peace.

Meditation impacted my life in several fundamental ways. It gave me tools to manage my naturally sensitive system and calm my mind which, in turn, made it easier for me to deal with everyday stress.

From an early age I had a tendency for deep, rather intense reflection. Meditation gave me a quiet space where I could just be, and that felt like a blessed relief.

Meditation also taught me how to listen to my own needs and to honour them. As I’d grown into adulthood, I’d become a perfectionist with a tendency to be extremely driven and strong-willed. To the detriment of my health, I was always pushing myself beyond healthy limitations. I worked extremely long hours and developed an unhealthy lifestyle, drinking too much and eating high sugary foods. Meditation taught me to listen to my body and be kinder to myself.

This brings me to perhaps the most valuable gift that meditation gave me. Learning to love and accept myself unconditionally, allowed me to begin the process of healing long-standing self-esteem issues I’d struggled with for many years. Alongside the love of my family, meditation has truly been the biggest agent that’s shaped my life and changed it for the better.

How does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

For me, the experience of meditating is a many layered, unfolding process. As each layer opens, the experience becomes more spacious – giving me a sense of having more inner space. At the same time, it grounds me at a physical and emotional level that I find extremely calming and comforting.

When I begin a meditation, I focus on being present in the moment through my senses and this immediately calms my mind and triggers my body’s relaxation response. Neuroscience tells us that when we engage our senses, the part of our brain that governs our thought processes quietens.

As my mind begins to soften and relax, the pressure of all the to-do lists I hold in my head lifts and there’s just the present moment with the rhythmic sensations of my breath and the simple here-and-now around me.

If thoughts come, the practice of mindfulness helps me to see them as mere disturbances at my surface, and let them go without judging them or attaching to them.

My meditation practice is an opportunity for me to consciously practice self-care and develop a more loving relationship with myself, so I include self-compassion, self-kindness and self-appreciation. I’m always struck by how much this relaxes my nervous system and brings a sense of wholeness and healing. It just goes to show the amount of stress and tension our bodies and minds can hold through being self-critical and hard on ourselves.

I’ll also include the practice of gratitude and an affirmation or two as this never fails to give me a warm glow and lift my mood.

When I meditate, I’m not seeking a ‘bliss’ state. I’m simply surrendering to trusting that my body, mind and spirit naturally possess an innate wisdom – an inner template for balance. As I step out of my own way, this template automatically activates and begins to move the whole of my being towards equilibrium. This movement isn’t necessarily straight-forward.

A tension, sensation or emotion may rise into my awareness to be acknowledged and breathed with as part of the healing process. An attitude of acceptance helps everything to flow.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

Over half way into the sixth decade of my life, my three most valuable pieces of advice would be these. :

#1 Invest your energy in what supports, nourishes and truly fulfils you as an individual.

#2 Be present in your actions and listen to your gut instinct to help you set clear boundaries.

#3 Believe in yourself – don’t wait for things to be perfect, life is what you make it!

What is your favourite quote?

My favourite quote is by Julian of Norwich and one I regularly use in my meditation groups.

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.”

I find a real power in its gentle, positive energy.

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

I think a good start would be if we all practiced simple compassion towards each other and looked at people through a more inclusive lense that recognizes we are all individuals doing our best within our given limitations. To my mind, we would do well to embrace open-mindedness.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

The biggest benefit for me has been learning how to live more mindfully in my day-to-day life. My natural tendency as a perfectionist is still to be rather driven in most things. Being mindful means I’m more likely to notice when I’m pushing myself too hard and take a break when necessary. This has enabled me to look after my health better as I’m more in touch with my own needs.

Mindfulness has also been an invaluable tool for managing negative and anxiety thinking patterns. I used to exhaust myself by imagining worse case scenarios and I no longer do that!

Mindfulness has taught me the value of accepting things as they are in the moment, no matter how challenging.

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

The biggest challenge I’ve had to overcome was becoming chronically ill with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for almost a decade some years ago.

Various factors contributed to the break-down in my health, including the death of my father, the break-up of a long-term relationship and half a life-time of pushing myself too hard.

It was a real wake-up call for me. Because ME/CFS was, and still is, such a misunderstood condition, I had to dig deep and learn to support myself at an emotional level rather than look to others to do this for me. I remember feeling isolated and quite desolate at times.

Meditation was my ‘safe place’ where I felt at peace, empowered and held. It had already provided me with a framework to explore my own spirituality for some years and now that spiritual journey became synonymous with my journey towards wellness.

In order to become well, I needed to do some inner work that included healing old issues I’d carried with me for a long while. Meditation allowed me to develop my capacity for acceptance, unconditional love and hope – which in themselves can be immensely healing.

On a physiological level, meditation provided me with a means to calm and stabilize my burnt out, and by now highly reactive, nervous system so my body could get on with the business of healing itself and respond to the treatment protocols I was following. I began using the practice of mindfulness, along with other meditative techniques such as grounding, through-out my day to modulate my body’s hypersensitive stress response. This slowly but surely supported me towards my eventual recovery.

The experience of living with chronic illness and making a commitment to my recovery, taught me the importance of respecting and honouring my own needs. It showed me that if I believed in myself and drew on my inner resources, I would have the capacity to get through just about anything. It taught me to respect and trust in my body’s ability to heal and I also learned the immense value of patience. Above all, it taught me that even the darkest times hold a ‘gift’: to see the challenges that life presents, as opportunities for learning and personal growth.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

I believe that, in the main, we can choose to be happy or not – it’s a question of how we decide to see ourselves and our situation. I’m naturally a ‘cup half full person’ and choose to invest my attention and energy in things that nourish and support me rather than things that may undermine me.

For me, happiness isn’t a transient state but something profoundly deeper and more meaningful in the core of my being. I’m reminded of a beautiful quote from Albert Camus that speaks volumes:

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer”.

It’s that invincible summer that sustains me through the ups and downs of my life.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

“Learn to be consciously present in the Now, because what happens in the Now decides your past and your future.”
~ Love, Linda.

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How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

I found meditation back in 2003. I was very sick and on lots of medication. I needed help and a close friend took me to a group called Soul Group, it was a bunch of spiritual like minded people who got together once a week and just talked about all sorts of crazy wonderful things like Aliens and reincarnations of Jesus etc.

The meeting was held in a school called the Institute of Thought…. it was were l got my certification as a Hypnotherapist… l didn’t move on from all of life’s experiences connected to that school until 2011! That’s how l found meditation!

How does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

I believe meditation to be very personal. Everyone is different and each one of us may have different feelings or experiences during our meditation practice.

For me personally, l feel an overwhelming feeling of joy, peace, love… it feels like someone l love is holding me.

Sometimes it feels like Mother Earth holding me or a guide, angel etc, it feels like HOME!

At times it can be difficult, hard to sit, hard to focus or let go. The brain can be extremely strong willed when we aren’t in a good place, but that’s the times l know l need it the most. There is no right or wrong with meditation, do what feels good for you.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

Wow ok, first part of my advice about life and what l have learned so far on my journey this time around is:

#1 That there is no end to life and all of its challenges and it’s beauty. We never stop learning or needing to learn. We never get that spiritual that all we see is sunshine, fairies and unicorns. We are on earth because we are here to learn through contrast, duality. There is light and dark, good and bad, l believe life is all about finding balance, learning and evolving through experiences and most of all loving, creating as much love within and around us through all that life brings.

#2 Second would be to stop picking on yourself. I think when l get to the other side, my soul and friends their will say, thank goodness you finally stopped beating yourself up about every little thing you thought you did wrong…. lighten up, my life is filled with so much more happiness than it was when l thought I wasn’t good enough…. I am good enough, l bet you are too!

#3 Last, your life is exactly what you make of it. Your happiness comes down to you and how you choose to view your external and internal experiences. See good in others, see the beauty around you, look at life and it’s challenges as opportunities to grow rather than being a victim and life will serve you well.

What is your favourite quote?

I don’t have one… most powerful statement is:

“l love you!”

I say it to myself all the time! 🙂

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

That one is easy… smile! It feels good!

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

For me the biggest benefit l have learned through meditation is that l am not alone.

I never will be. The connection we have as beings is undeniable. Learning that we are all one, learning that life is real yet an illusion, learning that everyone and everything l see around me is a reflection of my self, learning that we are all aspects of God, beautiful and perfectly imperfect… learning who l am and loving all of me. I have learned sooooo much just by being quiet in meditation.

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

I became really sensitive during my spiritual quest. I got so l could do all these things l didn’t know l was capable of, like feeling people, reading people, all of my different psychic abilities woke up.

I didn’t know how to handle my awakenings so l found alcohol. I would drink to numb down my vibration and my senses. I wanted to switch off my mind, my feelings, the world, l ran away from myself for about 15 years.

I stopped drinking when l started to really love myself. Loving myself was a hard a rocky journey that still challenges me at times but it’s very rare these days. I quit drinking and stopped running from myself back in 2014! I just stopped. No more!

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

Just stopping and smelling the roses. It’s not really obvious things that make me happy or that mean anything to me, I’m a bit strange l think, lol! I really love the sky, it honestly takes me to other worlds. I love the smell of Ellie’s head, my grand baby, l love to dance yet am shy about dancing in front of others, lm working on ecstatic dance not being my nemesis. I love soft skin, chocolate, making people feel good, money but l don’t need a lot, just enough to share. I smile at birds while lm driving or rabbits on the side of the road and my heart swells as if l know them, that one is weird. I just try and see things, big and small, l don’t miss a trick and l try to see good in all of it! That makes me happy!

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

“This is your journey, your discovery, don’t try and make it like mine or anyone else’s, enjoy you and all that you learn about you during meditation. Don’t compare, don’t judge, just do you and you will find joy in just sitting and being quiet 😉” ~ Love Cory

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How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

I came to the “spiritual” path, seemingly by accident. I was not a spiritual seeker per se. I began to practice yoga, casually, at the local Gold’s Gym. I was experiencing stress in my career as a professional musician, and also in my personal life. That stress manifested in some physical conditions like high blood pressure and digestive issues. I saw people in the group classes at the Gold’s Gym and it looked like the exercises would be relaxing. I began to take some classes, and also change my diet. I began to feel better and better, and became more consistent at attending classes.

Then about 2 years later, I first began to meditate. Although I had been feeling better since beginning yoga, I began to feel a re-emergence of some of the conflict in my mind and body. One night I thought, I need to meditate. Nobody had ever instructed me, and I wasn’t sure what to do other than sit still and breathe. My mind was on overdrive at that time with a lot of negative self talk. It was overwhelming and I couldn’t shut it off. “If there is a God”, I thought, “please help me find peace”. As I meditated I found more and more peace within. The negative voice in my head became quieter and quieter as I meditated. I realized, in that initial experience, that the negative image that my mind had of me, was not actually “me”. It was just a series of “stories” I had told myself, about myself. Letting go of this “image” was a difficult process, but that point, I began to let that image of myself go. I realized through that experience, many suffer (at the hand of their own mind) in the same way I did.

My circumstances in life did not change overnight, but I committed myself to loving and serving others. I resolved that I would like to share as much as I could with others about finding and maintaining the same sense of wellbeing that I had found. My music has since become part of that commitment.

How does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

One way I have described it in the beginning, is that I feel euphoric or “high”. The only reference I had for this was smoking cannabis, when I was younger. I thought “I have got to tell people about this!” I experienced a definite shift in consciousness. I felt euphoric, but also connected to the Universe. I didn’t feel foggy as I remembered some of my experiences with Cannabis. Please don’t misunderstand, I am not recommending Cannabis to anyone, but I have found that meditation can allow a person to release stress and encourage the chemicals that our body naturally produces to begin to flow.

In the beginning I wanted to find this feeling in every meditation. I have since come to realize that it is not necessary to chase any “feeling”, but to simply remain present in the moment. Feelings come and go. I have also realized that sometimes meditation can also help to uncover difficult or unpleasant emotions, but that these are opportunities to let these emotions, thoughts and beliefs go. That process results in feeling lighter, and less burdened mentally…which in turn generally leads to more feelings of “bliss”.

In general after a meditation I feel more of this blissful feeling. It is a relaxed, calm and contented feeling.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

If I were to impart words to my earlier self, I would say:

#1 In this moment, Now, Choose Love and not fear.
Realize that now is all there is. The future and the past are creations of the mind, in this present moment. You can choose to create from a place of Love, and gratitude.. or fear.

#2 Be the Love that you seek.
Realize that there is no barrier to Love. We all desire love. Give Love in the form of kindness and service to others.

#3 It is in giving, that you receive.
I found that serving others brought me the most joy. 🙂

What is your favourite quote?

“Man is from heaven and the music is from heaven and whenever you know the keys of how to open the doors of music you have opened the doors of heaven also. The secret lies in the music. If there is a choice between philosophy, religion, science and music; if you ask me to choose one, after which all the remaining ones will disappear from the earth, I will choose music. Because if there is music, religion will follow. It cannot disappear.” ~Osho

“The Kingdom of Heaven is within you” ~Yeshua

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

Relax. Learn to relax, and meditate. Simply, give your mind and body time to relax at the end of each day. This is mental hygiene. I have found that is important for me to be as consistent with this as I would brushing my teeth, or bathing. I think the more I have learned to be responsible to myself in this way, the more I can see how I can choose actions that are good for others and the environment.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

Meditation has given me the ability to remain calm, and relaxed in difficult situations. Meditation has helped me to heal from anxiety and mental and emotional trauma of the past.

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

I think letting go of the image of my “old self” was one of the most difficult things I have experienced. I didn’t eat or sleep for several days and faced some very dark aspects of myself. I found that some aspects of my created identity were connected into my nervous system. Reacting to these negative thoughts or associations as they related to my “identity” created constant stress reactions. I overcame it by letting go of my agenda, beliefs and my own sense of self, and humbly asking for help from the Universe, God or whatever one might want to refer to the “All that is”. In that process I realized that asking for forgiveness for past mistakes, or even seek to correct them when possible and by doing so let them go. This required courage and humility that I wasn’t sure I had, but in pushing through, it felt so good to let the past go.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

I think being content and grateful allows me to just BE. I have found that gratitude is like a doorway that always leads to the present moment. I have learned that real happiness for me is not about getting a thing or a circumstance. That can be nice, but making those things responsible for my happiness is giving my power to something I am not in control of and has a seed of fear about losing that thing. Being grateful, and present to “what is” has no opposite. There is a peace there that is beyond the minds ability to understand.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

“I would like to thank everyone for taking the time and discipline to practice meditation. Know that the time that each of you commit to your practice is valuable for all. Also, the lessons we are learning in this practice have the most impact on others, when they are seen in the small everyday actions that reflect kindness, respect and integrity.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to share with Mindbliss community” ~In gratitude, Jonathan Adams a.k.a. Sonic Yogi

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How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

For over 30 years, I suffered from chronic insomnia and sleeplessness in which conventional medicine provided no relief. During most of my professional life, as a registered nurse, I found myself in a crazy cycle of exhaustion, anxiety, and depression, only to be given a cocktail of pills over and over and over for some sense of relief.

I felt like a walking zombie most of the time, yet I could still perform effectively in my career and family responsibilities, or at least I thought I could. I became very skilled at faking that all was ok eventually to find that my body, mind, and spirit were being detrimentally affected.

I had reached a point in which I literally wanted to DIE just for a good night’s sleep and get some relief from this overwhelming cycle. That was until I experienced the miracle of meditation to heal my heart and mind and after only eight months of consistent practice, I was off all medications and my sleep had returned to normal. Anxiety and depression faded away. As you can imagine, this impacted my life in quite a miraculous way and this transformation ignited a fire and passion inside me to help others experience the same.

How does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

This is actually a bit more challenging to describe only because every single meditation is different. Just like knowing that no two snowflakes are the same, or grains of sand, the same can be said for meditation, no two meditations are ever the same, EVER, and for someone just starting out this can be quite helpful to know because often times when we dive into a practice like this, we create a preconceived notion of what our experience will be like, yet this can work against a meditator keeping them out of a meditative state. When the mind is seeking to get something, to experience something, to feel something, it is unable to rest in complete stillness. So, adopting an attitude of allowance and acceptance are key qualities to bring to your practice.

All that being said, for the most part, if one can be still and simply focus on the breath, slowly but surely, you WILL transcend your thoughts and rest in a void. In other words, you relax in the space between two thoughts or rest in the space between two breaths. You surrender your sense of self and as you do, you transcend your own thinking mind. It is the definition of mind-bliss!

It may be worth noting that there are actually several physical sensations a person may experience while meditating, especially in the beginning, such as intense heat or cold deep within the body, or a slight sense of nausea or dizziness. Some may feel a ‘sway’ deep within their body as well, while others may feel extreme heaviness or lightness making them feel as if they are floating or expanding into the room. Others may become so relaxed that they feel as if their respirations slow to the point of ceasing all together.

These sensations are all normal, however, they can be a bit unsettling, so it is good to have a teacher or guide that you trust to help reassure you that you are on the right path.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

I currently have three special plaques hanging on my kitchen wall. These are the three things I try to keep in my conscious mind and live by, so I share them with you today. Each one requires an action step so you will note that that is my additional advice to give.

#1 You must SEEK IT!
“Everyone has been made for some particular work and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.” ― Rumi

#2 You must DO IT!
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. – Jesus

#3 You must BELIEVE IT!
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” – Buddha

What is your favourite quote?

“Be Still and Know”

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

As soon as your eyes open each morning, decide that you will be whatever it is you want more of in the world.

If you want to experience more love, then YOU be and give love. If you want more Light in the world, YOU bring the light to someone’s darkness. If you want more peace in the world, then YOU live by peace. If you want more happiness in the world, then YOU be happy. As Gandhi once said, you must, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.”

This is such a simple concept that can create unimaginable beautiful waves that can ripple across the miles and across people’s hearts and minds. The key, however, is to actually live it. Which for many is quite demanding. The good news is, is that the more one lives by this simple call to action, the easier it becomes.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

The biggest benefit meditation has been for me is that it allowed me to connect with my true self, transcending the one full of false illusions, lies, worry, fear, and pain. It is my experience that meditation is the gateway to the Divine essence from which we all come from, Love and Light. This is where much of my own personal healing took place which has now afforded me the opportunity to help others heal as well.

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

Loving myself and knowing my worth.

Somewhere along the way, most of us have become forgetful to our true nature and divine essence. In this forgetfulness, we start to believe untrue notions about ourselves. These beliefs hold us down and limit us from living the life we are meant to live. They keep us in fear, anxiety, depression, worry, anger and so on.

Meditation is a way to aid your journey of self-discovery and help you remember and get in touch with your true nature. The Divinity within. As I mentioned earlier, this truly was my saving grace and at the same time, I had to consciously rewire those negative pathways I created about myself over the years. The combination of reprogramming and the stillness promoted the healing process, and the beauty of this, is that it is a possibility for all those that dare to seek it.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

For me, being in the moment, with a clear mind and calm heart, lends to me being content and at ease. When I am content and at ease, happiness seems to naturally flow.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

“If you are looking to experience deep inner peace, first recognize that the human mind likes to distract and complicate all of life. Your job is to learn how to work with, around, and through the distractions and complications, because they are never-ending. Meditation affords us the opportunity to learn how to do just that and to realize from a different, more loving perspective, that the more simple we live, the more sacred life becomes and the more sacred life is, we realize just how simple it really was to get there.”
~ Love, Julie.

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How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

I was always a quiet, introspective kid who liked to spend time in nature and didn’t mind alone time, so it’s funny that my first formal meditation experiences were in a group setting as part of a class I took at a yoga studio called Spiritual Growth and Meditation.

This was when I was out of college and in my 20’s — I was feeling lost and seeking answers. Since those classes, meditation has become a daily practice for me – it would be hard to describe all of the changes I have seen from integrating the practice into my life. One of the most important ones for me though is being able to be OK with not being totally in control of my life. It’s easier for me to laugh and move on when things don’t go my way, and also easier for me to not get too attached when things are going well.

How does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

I learned about meditation through yoga. In Classical Yoga (first written text we know of is called “The Yoga Sutras” attributed to an Indian sage and author, Patanjali) there are 4 stages that describe the process of moving into meditation. I’ll name them with their Sanskrit names and describe how they show up in my personal practice a little bit:

Stage 1: Pratyahara – Turning attention inwards. This is the first stage of my practice where I actively try to re-direct my senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch) away from my surroundings. This might look like closing my eyes or focusing my eyes on a single candle flame, it might look like me finding a quiet space so there is less noise to distract me, or if no quiet space can be found, not trying to figure out or follow the sounds that are happening around me. It might also look like me noticing sensations inside of my body (breath flow, heart beat etc.) rather than outside of my skin. As an introvert, this stage usually feels like a relief, and it often relaxes me.

Stage 2: Dharana – Focused attention and concentration. This is the point in my practice where I choose one point of focus (I call it my anchor) for my mind to come back to. The anchor is like my home base. My anchor might be the flow of my breath or a mantra/repetitive phrase. Whenever I start to daydream, reminisce, or problem solve in my head, there is a part of me that is watching and realizing I’ve lost my chosen point of of focus and this part of me says “hey, come back!” This stage often feels like work, but I enjoy it.

Stage 3: Dhyana – Sustained concentration/meditation – This is the stage where I am able to keep focusing on my anchor for more than two or three breaths before another thought breaks in. Even though I’ve been practicing for years now, there are still days where it is difficult for me to get to this stage. Getting into the meditative state is always a possibility, but it’s not something I can predict and it doesn’t happen every time I practice. All I have control over is making the decision to practice, making the time to do it, settling in, and choosing an anchor. Meditation occurs to me when conditions are right. It has gotten easier to get to this state when I am doing a practice every day.

Stage 4: Samadhi – Bliss beyond description/interconnection with all that is. This is the stage of the practice that is described in texts (and by great teachers) as being aware that there is no separation between any living or non-living being in the past, present, or future. Sounds pretty far out, but I think I have experienced this once – I wrote more about it here – and the experience is something that will forever inform how I look at the world and other people. This stage is a blessing, and I do not seek it when I come to my practice. I believe that this stage will “happen to me” when I am ready for it.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

#1 This too will pass. Everything moves in cycles.

#2 Adopt a dog. They will model how to love unconditionally.

#3 Make time for your practice. Although you cannot know how it will impact you, trust that it will.

What is your favourite quote?

“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows.” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

Smile at strangers.

Hold the door for someone who’s hands are full.

Small and random acts of kindness are more powerful than we know.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

Waking up to how I create so much of my own suffering.

Meditation has shown me how to observe my perceptions, my thoughts and my reactions to other people’s actions.

It has shown me how easy it is for me to blame other for “stressing me out” and “stealing my peace.” But, in actuality my inability to let go of the circumstance and to forgive creates my suffering.

Taking things personally, and panicking over events that will mean nothing in 10 years creates my suffering. I’d like to think it’s made me easier to live with 🙂

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

I was born premature and underwent heart surgery (without anesthesia) in my first days of life. I was on oxygen for a month after my birth because my lungs were not fully developed.

I believe that this time in my life is the single biggest challenge that I’ve lived through. I do not know how I overcame it other than the grace of some very caring human beings, the intelligence of a body that fights to heal itself, and God.

The lesson of this challenge for me is that I can never take my life for granted. I am here for a reason, my life meant something then, and no matter how blue I might get, my life won’t stop meaning something.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

I think happiness is a moving target.

Another teacher of mine once said that contentment and happiness are different goals and to aim for contentment instead of happiness. If we constantly aim for happiness, we miss out on feelings like grief, discomfort, frustration, impatience. And while I’d rather not spend all my time with those feelings, they make me more human. I’m able to connect with other people, art, music, theatre because those feelings are real for me. Contentment is when I’m still able to be grateful for where I am now even if it’s not where I’m aiming to go.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

“Keep up your practice. The world needs you.” ~ Love, Hannah.

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How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

Eight years ago, I had an experience of trauma while I was doing academic fieldwork in Southern Africa. Thankfully, I was unharmed physically, but from a psychological and emotional perspective, I was in shambles.

My therapist asked me what action step I could take in order to feel safe in the world again. I said, “Learn meditation,” because I knew I could protect myself better if I learned to stay present and aware of my surroundings. And yet, the benefits of learning meditation reached far beyond my physical safety.

The more I practiced, the more I learned how to cultivate an inner happiness that could remain untouched by outer circumstances. I also learned how to soothe my emotional wounds with self-compassion.

How does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

When I am meditating, my thoughts begin to slow down as I watch them. At first, there is only a brief pause between each thought, then the pause between thoughts grows longer as I go deeper.

In meditation, this brings me a feeling of profound peace, as I realize that what defines me is my silent center, not my chatty mind.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

#1 The days you say “I don’t have time to meditate” are the exact days you need to meditate the most. Even if you just have five minutes, you will still reap the benefit.

#2 To paraphrase author Matt Kahn, when you are feeling down, you deserve more love, not less. Try not to beat yourself up if you feel anxious, stressed, or not yourself. That’s the moment you need to shower yourself with compassion.

#3 Give yourself the gift of unstructured time at least once a week. Make no plans for that time period, whether it’s an hour, two hours, etc. When you wake up that morning, go where the road takes you, or where your heart leads you – whether that’s a farmers market, a walk in the forest, a movie by yourself, a yoga class, or journaling on your couch. Allow yourself to recharge, and you’ll have more energy the rest of your week.

What is your favourite quote?

It’s actually from my husband, Darrin Kagele, who is a therapist and mindfulness teacher:

“Surrender does not mean giving up, it means giving up control.” ~ Darrin Kagele

The best things in my life came to me when I stopped trying to manipulate the timing and circumstances of their arrival. I let go, and trusted that life would bring me the blessings I longed for in their own time – and that includes my wonderful husband and our beautiful new baby, Ruby.

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

Listen deeper. Whenever you’re talking to someone who has a problem, resist the temptation to jump in right away with advice or an anecdote from your own life. Stay with their experience. Ask them questions. Listen more closely. Give them understanding and empathy first, because that is what truly heals.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

Resilience. After I meditate, my mind operates at a calmer pace, which allows me to respond consciously to challenging circumstances in my day rather than being reactive when they arise. I’ve learned not to take things so personally, although I still struggle with that!

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

Healing my relationship with my father. We were always clashing when I was younger, and I often felt unloved, unworthy, and like I was “the problem child” or “the difficult one.” It’s a painful story that I carried with me into my adult life. I overcame it by doing my inner work – learning to love myself exactly as I am. I’ve even been able to forgive my Dad. The work of Tara Brach, who teaches meditation and Buddhist psychology, helped me to do that.

I learned to stop expecting my Dad to meet my needs for being heard and understood, because he does not have the tools for that at this point in his evolution. Instead, I need to recognize and appreciate the ways that he does show his love for me.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

Happiness means being able to remain connected to myself in the face of all things good and bad. When I feel good about myself, I’m naturally happy, and I can extend more love to others.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

YES! It’s a message of gratitude.

“Thank you for taking the time to meditate. Every time you do that, you are raising your own consciousness and the consciousness of the planet. Your time on the couch, the cushion, or wherever you practice meditation, is a gift to us all.” ~ Love Christina.

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How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

For me, even as a child I would find myself sitting in silence in the forest or someplace in nature to “connect” with the wild things. It felt at home, like I had done that for many lifetimes. As a kid, I didn’t know it was meditation or shamanic journeying, I thought everyone did that. It was my one “safe place” to go.

I remember emptying my closet one day and creating a fort inside, I drew “buttons” on the wall (which did not make my parents happy) and I pretended it was a space ship that took me to another world. What I know now from my years as a Shamanic Coach, is that I had created a portal to go to the Upper World. Meditation and Journeying have changed the way I interact with the ordinary world, I see things differently and I experience life much more fully as a result.

How does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

I don’t “meditate” in the typical fashion of sitting still and emptying my mind. For me, I meditate much more deeply by using music, or the drum beat, or shamanic breathwork which I use to “transport” me into another realm. I can go into a trance which is much like a lucid state of dreaming, and interact with the non-ordinary worlds. I do much of my soul work in these places, communing with ancestors, spirit guides, angels, etc.

I teach the Medicine Wheel and it was during one of my journeys that I was shown what I call the Soul Archetypes, and how they fall into each direction and each Soul Archetype has a very distinct way of meditating that fits them. So meditation is much more enriched when you meditate according to your Soul Archetype. For example, a Visionary who resides in the East Direction of the Medicine Wheel thrives on mindfulness, or silent meditations, or prayer, or chanting whereas the Sacred Heart Warrior of the South would meditate more deeply through creative expression such as Trance Dance, or Art, or even a walking meditation. I think this is one aspect of meditation that is severely lacking in the way we teach meditation.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

#1 Discover what makes you, you.

#2 Stop playing small.

#3 Step through the fears and the “what if’s” and just do it. We have just this one guarantee of life (we can hope for reincarnation but do we really know concretely and with evidence?) so do this one life right and have no regrets.

What is your favourite quote?

Anything by Henry David Thoreau, he has such beautiful words of wisdom about living so fully and in truth but I am always struck by his quote:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms…” ~Henry David Thoreau

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

Be present. It is only in this present moment which we live fully. In the present space, we aren’t fretting about the future, or defined by our past. We aren’t disconnected when we are fully present, or distracted. And it starts simply by paying attention, returning to the moment, capturing your life as it is happening in real time.

When I feel myself moving out of presence, I pause and find one focal point in my immediate surroundings – something I can use my senses to experience – smell a flower, touch a tree, taste my meal, whatever it might be and that brings me back to the moment. It takes practice.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

Learning that there is more than this 3D world, healing deep wounds, connecting with those beyond the veil, taking time to give to my own soul. I know that is more than just one big thing but it’s the culmination of what meditation and journeying has created for me personally. They are the perfect ingredients that has created the most change for me.

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

Believing that I could make a difference in the world. I was so afraid of being seen, or that I wouldn’t matter. I am a survivor of bullying all through my high school years that left me with 2 suicide attempts. I grew up in a small rural farming community in Ohio and I didn’t fit in with the people I grew up with. Much of my childhood was spent alone, or being bullied and beat up.

When I turned 21 I left Ohio to move to Arizona. I had no job, no money, and no place to live but in my gut I knew I had to do it. That was the first time I trusted myself and I trusted the unknown. It ended up being my first step on a conscious Shamanic journey that has lasted 30 years now.

From that, I learned how to rise above the pain and yet use that pain and experience as a way to deepen my path. I realized that those times of being bullied and alone, that I was being shown how to be strong, how to be empathetic to others, to be conscious of the pain others feel. I was shown just how resilient I am, and I vowed to never play small again, or shrink back from someone else’s words or actions.

As a result, I now teach a Mentorship program where the primary focus is in teaching others how to rise up into their authentic beingness, and to step back into their power as well. I’ve been teaching this work for nearly 15 years now and have witnessed the deep and profound healing of hundreds of people. And each time, I am grateful for having gone through the fires myself so that I can have a greater understanding of others.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

Relationship. First with myself, how well do I treat me? That is the core of all relationships is the self-love piece. Then it’s relationships to others – people, nature, animals, spirit, etc.

I just finished a year long adventure. I took 12 months to travel all over the USA alone, a self-exploration journey so to speak as well as a journey to find where I wanted to live next. I traveled 33, 243 miles and I discovered some of the most amazing places in America.

I had a long list of places I could see myself moving to – places with great weather, loads of options for outdoor enthusiasts, spiritual communities, great art, music, etc. But in the end, I chose the most unlikely of places – I chose to move back to Ohio after 30 years and vowing I would never returned but … my family are all here and ultimately it was my relationship to them that mattered most. So happiness to me is more about who is taking up space in my heart and nurturing those seeds.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

The fact that you are here, making meditation and journeying a part of your everyday life is a huge contribution to helping to shift the world. We can only change the world, truly, by the work we do within ourselves. We raise our vibration, our awareness, and that ripples out into the world in such a beautiful and meaningful way. I’m grateful that I can be a part of your journey in some way and to be a witness to all the goodness you bring forward. Love, Dakota.

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How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

I was 18 and had just finished high school when a close friend took me to a meditation lecture. The speaker, who seemed extremely peaceful, told us that meditation would change our lives in wonderful ways. So I signed up, took the course, and it did indeed change my life in wonderful ways.

All the ways that meditation has impacted my life are too numerous to include here. But here are some of the major changes I experienced right out of the gate. Physically, I felt much more relaxed, and my energy level – which had been very low – immediately skyrocketed. The frequent headaches I had been having stopped completely within the first week.

On a spiritual level, I felt more at peace and in the flow, and new insights about my life and about “Life” began pouring into my mind, as though the floodgates had suddenly opened.

How does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

My meditation experiences vary from day to day. Some days they’re deeply relaxing, and some days just slightly relaxing. Some days they’re mildly blissful, and some days extremely blissful. Sometimes I feel a wonderful lightness, sometimes I feel the heavy restfulness of Yoga Nidra, and sometimes I fall asleep. Some days my mind is fairly quiet, while other days there are a fair amount of thoughts… but I’m okay with that. I learned early on, that days when there are more thoughts are simply part of a natural cycle.

For me, the bottom line is putting aside expectations and “shoulds,” and accepting whatever happens in each meditation… confident that whatever I experience, valuable growth and transformation are taking place at a deep level of my being.

What are the top 3 most valuable pieces of life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

#1 Learn to trust that the Universe has your back. One way to develop this trust is to pay attention to those times when the support of the Universe is being demonstrated in your life – especially when you are taking risks.

#2 We are currently going through a long cycle of accelerated consciousness evolution, and one of its side effects is that everything is amplified – our emotions, thoughts, perceptions, reactions, world events, etc. Because we’re experiencing everything so intensely, try to be gentle with yourself, and try to give others a bit of slack as well.

#3 Learn to rely on your inner wisdom. This is especially important with regards to spiritual teachings. Rather than accepting without question what a meditation teacher, yoga teacher, guru, etc. tells you, I suggest you assess it with a gut-check and a bit of common sense before embracing it as true and/or acting on it.

What is your favourite quote?

“Penetrate into the essence of all being and significance, and release the fragrance of that inner attainment for the guidance and benefit of others.” ~ Meher Baba

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

Meditate regularly. Meditation facilitates your spiritual evolution, and the more quickly each of us evolves, the more quickly humanity as a whole will evolve beyond our current problems.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

It helped me discover and live my life’s purpose.

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

My biggest challenge was acting as my mother’s caregiver for the last 4 years of her life. She was a warm, likeable, easy-going person, and a good mother and friend. But when she became ill with both emphysema and osteoporosis, the combination of pain, difficulty getting sufficient oxygen, and the medication she was taking, turned her into a “patient from hell.” So the challenge was not just meeting the normal demands that caregivers face (which are very high on the list of stressors), but acting with the loving-kindness I felt she deserved.

How did I get through it? Meditation was a huge help in managing the stress. And the Universe did come through with timely assistance on occasions when it was sorely needed. But beyond that, it was mostly just toughing it out – summoning as much inner strength and compassion as I could, in order to keep my impulses in check… the impulse to react with anger, to defend myself, and to try to reason with my mother in her unreasonable state.

This challenge strengthened me, humbled me, and revealed the inner resources that are available when I dig deep within myself.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

For me, it’s simply a feeling. Sometimes I feel happy – sometimes not. Sometimes the feeling of happiness is triggered by external circumstances – sometimes not.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

Make a commitment to meditate regularly. These three steps will help you keep it:

#1. Pick a number of days per week that’s do-able for you. Seven is a good number, 🙂 but maybe four or five days are more realistic for you.

#2. Choose a length of time that’s comfortable for you. Regardless of what you may have heard, longer meditations are not necessarily better. For most individuals, between 15 and 30 minutes is sufficient for producing good results.

#3. Choose a time of day that’s “your meditation time.” Unless you have a total aversion to structure, this will make it easier to maintain your practice.

~ Light & peace, Jim Malloy

Get to Know Your Mindbliss Authors

How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

I got into meditation at a young age. My mother was a member of the Inner Peace Movement in Berkeley, CA.

How meditation impacts my life is it aligns me to what is available to all of us within the universe. It has built a solid bridge with my Angels, guides, teachers and ascended masters. The bridge or connection is so strong now that I do not have to meditate to connect, they are always there supporting me as I support humanity. This allows me to connect with people all around the globe and to better support them with personal change and empowerment.

Describe your meditation experience, how does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

Well everyone’s experience is different. For me personally when I meditate with music or no music, I feel this energy wrap around the back of my head. It’s like a buzzing energy or vibration. I allow that energy to build and move upward to the crown of my head. Next, I visualize myself sitting on an old tree stump, connecting me to Mother Earth. Then I visualize the top of my head opens up like a lotus flower and then beams of light come out and connect me with the stars, planets, sun, and beyond. I then draw that energy down into my body watching it swirl and mix with the Earth’s energy. Now I am ready to receive, listen and enjoy what comes.

When I listen to a guided meditation, my focus is relaxation and allowing the spoken words to gently guide me. I set the intention to being open to change and to trust the person guiding me. If my mind wants to drift, I allow it. I allow my third eye to give me any messages or images that might support me with my intention to change. I do my best to leave my ego and judgmental mind outside the room. If I allow my mind to pick it apart or question what is being said, I am not allow or receiving. I am trying control, manipulate and/or change the message. Therefore, trusting and going with the flow is best.

If you struggle with time and it feels like work, I don’t try to meditate because your mind is not in the right place. One should be open and willing to commit the full time to receive the gifts the sender is speaking to you in a guided meditation.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

#1 Be your authentic self and know your worth.

#2 Live your truth.

#3 We are one: The light in me is the same light within you and this light is one with God/Love/Source/Universe. We are one in the same. Therefore, you matter because there is no separation.

What is your favorite quote?

“Your PURPOSE has nothing to do with what you do. Your purpose is about discovering and nurturing who TRULY are, to know and love yourself at the DEEPEST level and to guide yourself back HOME when you lose your way.” ~ Kris Carr

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

Spread kindness. Step outside the box of comfort and give a smile to a stranger, say hello, open the door for someone, do a random act of kindness, and/or say something kind to someone who needs to be reminded that they matter.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

The biggest benefit of meditation is all the positive rewards you can receive by taking the time to do it. You can achieve peace of mind, the wonderful sense of relief, a healing, new perspective, release of trapped emotions, enlightenment, and the list can go and on.

Meditation creates the platform for you to clear the space, leave the baggage outside the door, put your ego on the shelf, have your authentic self-step forward, and open yourself up to endless positive possibilities in personal empowerment.

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

The biggest challenge I had to overcome was PTSD in 2017. I learned that the one’s that created the PTSD trauma actually gave me a gift in the end because I always wanted to know what happened to me during a 1 year period when I was 4 years old.

This was something my soul NEEDED to experience, learn and release in order for my soul to expand back into the vibration of LOVE. Trust me, it was hard to accept that it was a gift because I wanted to stay attached to blame, but from a soul perspective it was a gift. I just had to step out of the human ego and mindset.

How I overcame the PTSD was using EMDR and my method of forgiveness. The EMDR revealed the repressed memories that created the PTSD triggers around the two people. The forgiveness was to SEE them from a soul perspective and not a human perspective. Because if I imagined them as they are in human form, I would experience resistance. When I saw them as love and light (the same light within us all), the forgiveness was simple. I spoke from my heart, I could feel their acceptance and forgiveness in exchange, and knew that it set us both free.

The lesson I learned was I discovered a deeper level of love, understand, compassion, and forgiveness with myself and with others. It also deepened my connection with God, my Angels, guides and spiritual teachers. I realized people do chose to come into this world as pure evil because they accepted that role to teach us forgiveness, love, compassion, mercy, and meaning. It all depends on how we view it. It’s why they say, “Love your enemies.” The love will neutralize their hatred because you chose to rise above it and stand in your truth/knowing/light/worth.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

Love this question. Happiness to me is all around me. You just have expand your awareness.

For me it could be the frost on a leaf that makes me smile, the sound of my cat snoring, the sun warming my skin, the smell of food cooking, the twinkle of love in my son’s eye, a warm embrace, and much more.

Happiness to me is close to being constantly grateful for all I have, do and see in the world around me. It’s a choice and I chose to feel, see, hear, and experience happiness as a way of life.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

Six inches above our heads is all the information and resources you need within the universe. It’s like a highway of knowledge. So, imagine above your head is an endless highway of thoughts pass by constantly.

Everyday we have between 60,000 to 80,000 thoughts a day. A good majority of those thoughts just pass by and we apply no meaning to it. But when someone makes us mad or says the wrong thing, we can grab hold of that thought. We give it meaning and purpose. Then we can start to stew on it and obsess over it. Having more thoughts around that one thought pattern.

Then that one thought gets anchored in and we are stuck. Attracting more and more of those same thought patterns and experiences. Our thoughts create our reality.

I created my PTSD and I too got stuck. I had to learn to ALLOW those negative thoughts to just pass on by with all those other thoughts. I no longer wanted to give the negative thoughts meaning, purpose or control over my life.

I learned to talk less about my story and focus more on who I wanted to be and how I want to live.

So, ask yourself what do you want to see, feel, hear, and experience in the world around you? For me, it is this… I see, feel, hear, and experience love in the world around me. I see love in everyone and everything. I purposely set this intention and send it out into the world. I affirm that I am bless and therefore I am. And when someone is does something unkind, I stop do a self-inventory as to how or why I attracted this into my life. If they are unkind, where have I been unkind? Has it been to myself or another person.

A thought is just a thought until we attach to it. At times it is best to just let some thoughts go and return to a place of being neutral. We are all perfectly imperfect. We are all just trying to find our own way within this highway of endless thoughts. When we learn to just let go of the thoughts that trigger us, then we really learn the meaning of inner peace.

Love, Keri Logan.

Get to Know Your Mindbliss Author

How did you get into meditation and how has meditation impacted your life?

I found Meditation with a teaching called ascension, which is very similar to TM meditation, it was huge impact in my life because I learn how to find inner peace and make that peace my priority.

Describe your meditation experience, how does it feel when you are in a meditative state?

When I am in a meditation state, I feel completely relaxed, and aware, with stillness embracing my state of mind, with no emotions only a deep state of bliss.

What is the top 3 most valuable life advice you can give from your life experience so far?

#1 This life is to be present and not duelling in past or future thoughts, be present.

#2 In my life experience, to be full of compassion and empath is gate way to a true spiritual path.

#3 In the small details of life, next to people you love there is great accomplishments, just be there, with no need to become something else.

What is your favorite quote?

“True happiness come from making others joyful.”

What is something easy and simple that we can do right now to make the world a better place?

Take action with empathy in mind because we are all connected, maybe not in so obvious ways, but it is a fact that we share one earth, and we are one family, empathy opens the doors to a higher understanding of our human goals.

What would you say has been the biggest benefit from meditation?

Inner peace but remember we have around 150,000 thoughts a day, but not all of these thoughts are useful, many of them are altering our perception of the present moment and taking us away from life, our true life is happening in the now, we call it the present because it is really a gift to be present.

In our life, we are time travelers inside a spaceship, and we are traveling all the time to the future. Every second is different, and we have the the opportunity to look out the windows of our spaceship and enjoy each second of our space travels, or we can go inside our spaceship and dwell with each room of the spaceship. Each room may represent our past or our future, and by dwelling in them we are missing all the fun of looking out the window, which would be the window of the present (the here and now.)

What is the biggest challenge you had to overcome? How did you overcome it? And what lessons did you learn from it?

The biggest challenge I had to overcome is fear, 7 years ago my daughter was kidnapped for 3 days in Mexico, and I had to have inner peace to overcome the horrors of the moment. That inner peace helped me to gather the strength and faith that everything would be all right.

I and many others made choices while we were in the state of meditation and within this inner peace space, to overcome this very, very difficult moment. From this I realise that we are here to learn inner peace. Inner peace is gate way to many other things. From that inner peace you have higher perspectives and make choices that can benefit not only you but others.

When you think about happiness, how do you define that for yourself?

Happiness is an emotion that comes and goes, but inner peace can be always there, this is better than Happiness, but in my life music has played a big part of that happiness and joy, and when I have inner peace, music becomes a direct communication with the divine.

Do you have a message for our Mindbliss Community?

“Be yourself, but that doesn’t include suffering. Our true self goes beyond the programs and conditioning of our society and genes, so find a tool that can bring to you this never ending inner peace and I am sure you will find this inside our Mindbliss App.”                     ~ Love, Pablo Arrelano