Show Notes
Maggie Heart is your positive psychic and intuitive medium.
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:26] Good evening, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Positude podcast. I am your host, Maggie Hart, and I'm looking forward to spending another hour with you this week. Uplifting your spirits, promoting positivity, negating the negativity in your life, and just sharing good stuff, happy stories, some lessons on life. Hopefully you'll learn something. Hopefully you'll take away something that maybe you can share with somebody else that might help them in their struggles. But more importantly, I want you to have fun. I want you to relax, enjoy, take a deep breath, sit, and have a cup of tea or coffee with me for an hour, and let's explore life together. And when I say life, I don't mean your typical daily, humdrum, run of the mill, stressed out, worried about finances, feeling sick, having no energy, all of that tension in the workplace. I mean the new life, the life that we can create together by talking, by sharing, by learning, by growing and just experiencing how beautiful life can be and will be if we only put that energy toward that. If we only focus on the good, the positive, the pure, the loving, the joyful, all of the things that fulfill us and that make us feel whole, all of the things that make us feel healthy. And we do have the ability to make ourselves healthy. We just have to have the right mindset. We're going to talk tonight about breathing and different meditative exercises that help with some struggles that some people may be having.
[00:02:03] For all of you listeners that had been following me for many years on the original positude podcast, you may recall that at least once, twice a month, we would do some sort of meditation at the end of our episodes. And I'm looking forward to getting back into that. May not be as frequently, but we will explore those periodically. And the only reason I say that is because I only have an hour show, and so my time is pretty limited because there's just so much that I want to get through every single week. But we'll make the best of it. Before we jump into the positive stories that I'd like to share with you this evening, I'd like to remind you of one that I talked about a couple of weeks ago about the elephants and how they were trained as small babies with a rope to be tied so that they could only have a certain area that they could traverse before the rope would tug and pull them back. And so as they grew older, they became trained to realize that they could only go as far as the rope was on their foot. However, they didn't understand how powerful and strong they were, and that at any time, they could break the rope or the chain or whatever was inhibiting them from going wherever they wanted. It was a fable, folk tale thing that I had shared a couple weeks ago, but I wanted to revisit that briefly because I was actually on a social media site, and I'm not on them very often, but I do go on there to follow news, and my family sends me things through a couple of those formats. And so I saw a story that a girl had posted about a horse, and she had trained her horse to walk with a bridle, right? And she went out to the stable or out to the pasture where her horse was, and realized that she didn't have anything to lead the horse back with. She didn't have her bridle, her bit, so she pretended to slide it over the animal's head, and the horse followed her back to the stable as she led it with an imaginary lead. Isn't that amazing? So another story of a very powerful, beautiful, magnificent, strong, intellectual creature who was trained to obey and didn't challenge it, never challenged the authority. The girl who was leading the horse and put up the video was just so smug and proud of herself and happy for her ingenuity, and tricked the horse into believing that it was still under her control. And that's something that I'd like for everybody to think about. There are definitely forces at play and powers that be, that are looking at us as humanity in the very same light, although very possibly not as innocently as this young lady Washington. So it's always important to remember that we need to be cognizant of that, and that we have our own power. We need to stand in and remember how powerful we are as individuals and also as a whole. We also need to keep in mind that as innocent as something may seem, a suggestion or a decree, or a rule, or a law or a dictation may be that it's nothing, not always in our best interests. We need to use our discernment, and we need to use our individual rights to determine what's right for us as individuals and as a whole, and consequently, peacefully change the things that are not right, change the things that we don't agree with or we don't believe in, the things that aren't for ourselves and our family's best interests. And we can do this energetically as well as physically. We can set the mindset, the intention for what we want to see happen, and send the energy that way in a positive, loving thought form, seeing the results that we want to have happen. In other words, living in the moment as though we already have the results that we were striving to attain, and being thankful and grateful to creator source for having given us what we asked for.
[00:06:46] I'd like to share a story with you now of a lady who is dealing very positively with some health issues. This story comes from a website called daily inspired life and may give you a new perspective on how to view things. The story is called dancing to the music of life, rediscovering my purpose mid unexpected health struggles by Carol V. Meyer Carol is from New Zealand, and she writes, dancing can reveal all the mystery that music conceals, and she quotes Charles Baudelaire, movement is our first language. I believe we're born to dance. While we can't always choose the music life plays for us, we decide how well we will dance to it. I've always had a penchant for creativity and adventure, enjoying dance, other creative pursuits, and climbing literal and figurative mountains. I relished working in the therapeutic world. It felt more like a calling. I savored every moment. My purpose and mission fueled me. I felt honored to hold space and brighten dark places. My highlights are when I witnessed once dull and hopeless eyes light up when the person felt seen, heard, and accepted. Such is the power of compassionate presence.
[00:08:05] Then ill health struck progressively. As my health declined, I was stripped of doing what I loved. Eventually, all I had was being able to facilitate the occasional workshop when opportunity and energy aligned. Myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome is a merciless beast.
[00:08:27] In 2020, the unimaginable happened. In addition to soul destroying fatigue, I began experiencing the frequent vocal challenges of varying degrees, from total voice loss to being able to utter nothing more than a horse croak. I could no longer accept facilitation invitations because my voice was now unreliable.
[00:08:48] Uncertainty has a distinctive rhythm, the rhythm of unpredictability. As such, it is a particularly tricky dance companion. How do you befriend the unknown, the invisible, the unpredictable?
[00:09:05] I was devastated. The inability to guest facilitate the occasional workshop was more dismaying than being unable to speak normally. The final pillar upholding my ability to do what I love, had fallen. I cried. I grieved, I mourned. As time dragged on, I descended further into the abyss of inexplicable exhaustion and a plethora of symptoms. My shrinking world, pervasive sadness, and a growing sense of worthlessness expedited my descent. I felt like I was being swallowed by a damp, dark fog.
[00:09:38] After an extended period of wallowing and self pity, I reoriented to align my thinking with truth. Writing a meditation reminded me that I have intrinsic value because I'm made in the image of God, created with purpose, created for purpose. Even though at that point I was no longer certain what my purpose was, I remembered that my value or identity is not defined by what I can or cannot do. Meditation and affirmations let the truth of my inherent value percolate in my mind until it was ready to travel from my head to my heart, where it settled into the fabric of my being and became embodied wisdom. I draw in this wisdom to silence occasional value related rogue thoughts, remain hopeful, and trust that God has a plan regarding my health journey. In time, I accepted this. It is what it is. In the one hand, I hold the acceptance that for this season this is my path, while on the other hand I hold an awareness of all that is possible.
[00:10:37] So I started dancing again, swaying in sweet surrender to the melody of contentment and the rhythm of extravagant hope.
[00:10:45] Life is full of surprises, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral. Yet what matters is how we respond to those surprises.
[00:10:53] Despite ongoing voice loss and health challenges, I found new ways to make a difference. So as I navigate chronic illnesses, winding, unpredictable, unwelcome and messy path, I do so with hope.
[00:11:07] You and I may not be able to choose the music life place for us.
[00:11:11] However, we do get to choose how we will dance to it. May we dance with strength, courage and grace. The next story is by a gentleman named Brad Johnson and the story is entitled celebrating life after facing death twice.
[00:11:31] The wreck I never dreamed that an automobile driver on methane ecstasy would hit me so hard that it would tear my BMW motorcycle in half, sending pieces of it 425ft down the road. What I remember was a very loud noise flying through the air, giving someone a phone number. Pain. The sound of the sirens pain. Someone trying to fit me to a bodyboard. Excruciating pain. And then, thankfully, nothing. This is what I know from the police report, the doctors, my family, and my daughters.
[00:12:05] My right leg had two compound fractures. My right foot was crushed and pointing backwards. My left arm was broken, my pelvis broken in three places. There were numerous ribs broken, but the worst damage was the broken and fractured cervical vertebrae, including a complete break of the c one and c two. Things were so dire they put me in a coma for 21 days and had a nurse in my room 24 hours a day. For the first week.
[00:12:33] I have memories, but nothing concrete, just vague echoes of a time my subconscious tries to protect me from people coming and going friends, family, fear, pain and thirst. One of my first clear memories is looking across from my bed and seeing pictures of my family and cards from friends taped to the wall.
[00:12:52] My oldest daughter, Erica, put them up so that when I came out of the fog, I would know who I was and that I was in the loving arms of those that cared about me.
[00:13:02] Recovery from trauma this bad is difficult, and we don't do it alone. We stand on the shoulders of the doctors, nurses in our family.
[00:13:10] They were all doing everything they could to help, but I was starting to give up. It was becoming too much. I remember telling Erica, I wish they had left me on the side of the road to die. I will never forget what she said. Dad, I want you to reach inside to the tough old man that we all know is there and give me eight weeks.
[00:13:30] I didn't know if I had the strength, but for my daughters, I would try.
[00:13:34] Recovery from terrible injury is a process.
[00:13:37] You don't go from near death to a normal life in one step. There are many little steps and small victories. During that eight weeks, the metal halo holding my head in place and the cast on my arm were removed. I was allowed to eat and drink instead of taking in what I needed through a feeding tube, they got me out of bed and wheelchaired me around the hospital grounds. People were allowed to visit. I took a shower, and finally, finally, they allowed me to exercise. The eight weeks I gave my daughters were the gift I needed to get through those terrible days.
[00:14:09] I was released from the hospital after three months with a wheelchair, shower, stool, and an admonition to take it easy with the physical recovery.
[00:14:19] Going home was wonderful, scary and difficult. At first it was probably good that I didn't know things were about to get much worse.
[00:14:27] The fire two weeks after I made it out of the wheelchair, caffeine and conversation were again my morning addiction. My right foot had eleven pins holding the bones together, so it was still Mia.
[00:14:39] But the left foot worked well for both the throttle and brake on my truck, so I was able to get around. I was on crutches now, still weak from the long stint in the hospital, but slowly getting stronger.
[00:14:51] Around 07:00 one morning, smoke billowed in the sky above my house. I ignored the smoke and it was off to the coffee shop for the morning ritual.
[00:15:01] When I arrived, there was no one around except the owner and one barista. Before I had finished my coffee, the owner came running over and asked me to leave. The whole town was being evacuated. Evacuated? As I went out the door, I called my brother Scott, who was visiting for a couple of days and told him to grab my dog bella and be ready to go. We were getting out. The drive most of the way home was relatively uneventful, but that was going to change in just a few minutes. The smoke was getting thicker, the skies were getting darker, and the sense of dread was going through the roof.
[00:15:32] When I pulled into my driveway, I saw Scott banging on the door to our neighbor's house, trying to wake him up. Once the neighbor was up, it took us a few minutes to grab the dog, get in the car, and on the road. Our idea was to travel on Billy Road, which is two lanes to Clark Road, which is a four lane designated escape route from town. Both lanes on Billy were moving in the same direction, away from the fire, but traffic was at a standstill. It took 2 hours to go the 1 mile to Clark. I was starting to get really concerned. We could barely. We could see fires, hear explosions. The town was going up in flames around us, and we were barely moving.
[00:16:09] Finally, we made it to Clark Road, and that's when things went from bad to worse. In an attempt to keep traffic flowing and utilize all the escape routes, law enforcement was routing some vehicles to other main roads via side streets and back streets. We were redirected through the center of town to the skyway, another designated escape route.
[00:16:29] It was here that we really began to understand the scale of this disaster. The fire was all around us. Trees were going up in flames, not just burning like a piece of paper, starting at one end and ending up at the other. The trees suddenly exploded into flames, sucking the air out of our car. We could feel the heat. It was terrifying. Some people were so panicked, they were hitting other vehicles while trying to escape. The traffic would start to move, and we would think, we're going to make it. But then it would stop, and the road would turn into a parking lot with flames all around.
[00:17:02] Fear was our constant companion, but so was hope.
[00:17:07] The people in front of us moved. We moved.
[00:17:11] The people behind us moved. It was bumper to bumper for hours.
[00:17:15] At some point, we reached the skyway, and we thought, finally, we can get out of here. That would have been great, except that our lane was redirected down a small two lane road. And that's when the real terror started for me.
[00:17:29] After traveling a short distance, the traffic stopped and didn't move for what seemed like forever. The fire was on both sides of the road. The wind was howling, and the flames were up in the canopy of the trees. There were explosions going on all around us and I knew it was time for me to run.
[00:17:46] I pulled off to the side of the road so I wouldn't block traffic in case things opened up, jumped out, grabbed my crutches and ran. The plan was to get out of the trees, down to the grasslands and hope we could jump through the fire.
[00:18:00] I had to be very careful. My neck vertebrae was not fully healed and if I fell into something or fell and landed wrong, that would be it for me. The wind was blowing crazy hard, the flames were catching me and I was running out of strengthen. I made it maybe a third of a mile, but there wasn't much left in my tank and I was truly starting to think that maybe I wasn't going to survive when all of a sudden the traffic started to move. Cars were whizzing by when a man in a truck stops and yells, you need a ride? Not do you need a ride? I said, we sure do.
[00:18:37] The three of us jumped in his truck and to this day, I believe that man saved my life.
[00:18:42] We started our evacuation around 08:00 a.m. and got to the Enloe Hospital in Chico at 04:00 p.m. the longest day of my life. Even though all we had was the clothes on our backs, we made it out while many didn't. We are now part of an exclusive club that I hope no one else ever has to join.
[00:19:02] As I ruminate on my life before the accident and compare it to my life now, I've come to conclusion I can't let this accident, this one person under the influence, define me and who I am. I want to make a greater contribution by doing more to help others. I want to express my gratitude for being alive and being able to ride again.
[00:19:23] Celebrating life some months prior to my accident, I participated in a fundraising ride for an organization close to my heart, reading pals who help kids learn to love reading. My contribution was do what I do best, ride big miles on my motorcycle and get people to contribute a few cents per mile for the trip. It worked pretty well. We collected around $2,700 from the trip and the slideshow. So in celebration of life, yours and mine, I have decided to do another fundraising ride for reading pals. Reading Pals is a literacy program that aims to have every child reading it grade level by the time they start the 7th grade. The program works by pairing volunteers with students who are struggling or behind and having them read together.
[00:20:10] The ride is called the Continental Divide Ride. I'll ride along the spine of the Rocky Mountains from the mexican border to the canadian border for roughly 2700 miles.
[00:20:20] We are looking to spend 14 days in the mountains on mostly dirt roads, enjoying the solitude, the scenery, and the company of good friends. It's great to be writing again, and I look forward to another life experience brought to me by reading pals. We leave July 27. I can't wait. I hope you'll follow my journey. So there are two awesome stories about people who won't let life get them down and continue to do what they now have learned to do. To honor life, themselves and the things and people that they love. So there's another example of mindset and behavior changing their outlooks for the positive.
[00:21:04] Even in and especially in the cases of what seemingly are insurmountable adversities. They developed the faith, kept the faith, and continued on. Change their perspectives, change the way that they thought, saw themselves and their futures in a more positive light, and essentially are manifesting the futures that they choose to create also in the energy of creation and choosing what we want to see happen.
[00:21:36] Once we have done this, once we have focused on what we wanted, right down to the smallest detail, detail, meditated and prayed on it, put that energy out there and been thankful as though we already have it, as though we've already received it. At that point, something that also is important to mention is we need to let it go. We can't fixate on it. We can devote energy to it and see the same thing over and over in the exact same details, the way that we want it to happen. We can be thankful. We can be grateful. We can just imagine that we have it already and then let it go.
[00:22:20] Don't fixate on it. Don't. If something doesn't happen today, tomorrow, or even in a week, don't just assume that it didn't work and that it's not going to happen. You have to have that point of trust. You have to have. It's essential that you have that feeling of trust inside of you, that you know that you're going to be given what it is that you're wanting, because you have to stay in a very positive mindset. You have to keep that vibration high. So to get lost in negativity or doubt.
[00:22:55] Those are tools of the dark forces. And the reason that they utilize those tools are so. So that you cannot realize and manifest your desires. So that if you're fearful, if you're anxious, if you're doubtful, if you don't have any faith that what you want is going to transpire, it's not going to because then what's happening is that energy of fear and worry is creeping in and it's lowering your vibration. So you got to stay in that high vibration as much as you can pretty much all the time if you're able. But that's something that is work in progress, too. You need to keep focusing on that. If you see your mind going negative, if you feel like your challenges are becoming overpowering and overwhelming, stop and breathe and take a deep breath and balance yourself. Sometimes I find myself having to do this several times throughout the day. On a really, really challenging day, I'll have to stop, take a deep breath, maybe a couple of deep breaths and get back to balance. Clear my head, clear my mind and swing back to the positive. Or if a negative thought appears in my head, pops into my head, I know that that's just an attack of the ego. Primarily. Mostly the ego.
[00:24:18] In truth, the ego is part of the dark side, I think.
[00:24:22] So you got to just shift that. No, I'm not going to think about this. That's not what I want to see happen. This is what I know will happen and I'm thankful for it having already happened. Take that approach and see how successful you are. I bet it works.
[00:24:38] Some people may choose to just do the old adage batted around recently on social media. Breathe, trust, let go. See what happens. If you breathe, trust, let go and see what happens. What I would encourage you to do is do so from a positive mindset. And when I say that, what I mean is to inherently know that creator, the universe, whomever you aspire to or believe is your higher power, does have your back and will take care of it for you. Things may not happen exactly as you had anticipated or exactly as you had hoped, but it will work out for you in the long run. You just need to keep that positive, trusting mindset with that application as well and just know everything's going to be okay.
[00:25:33] Just as in the last scenario, you want to, anytime a negative thought creeps in or anxiety or fear, push that right out of your head and have that, develop that inner peace, have that mechanism inside that you breathe and you just clear yourself and calm yourself and know that it truly is going to be okay.
[00:25:57] Don't let the anxiety and the fear and the negativity override that vibration of peace, of joy, of happiness, security, that everything's going to turn out for your highest good. I'd like to share with you now one of my favorite fable stories of inspiration that I really enjoy and it kind of pertains to some situations that I was dealing with earlier this week and talking to people that are having struggles financially and they're just frustrated with life and frustrated with working all the time and they're tired and they just, they're done with the 70 hours workweek and they're done with not being appreciated and not having anything to, at least in their perspective, show for what they work for. And they're struggling with the financial situation as everybody is on a whole right now, groceries being so high and medical visits and co pays and just car repairs, the all of it.
[00:27:02] And I wanted people to try and reflect on and put more time and energy into the thought of the possibility or the thought or the possibility, both actually, of joining, putting themselves adventure where they are in control, where they are in charge of their own ship.
[00:27:30] Give some thought and prayerful meditation to the possibilities of taking something that you've always wanted and love to do and making that a, an avenue that you can pursue that would be possibly lucrative for you.
[00:27:51] Just see where you go with that mindset before you say to me, it's impossible. There's no way. I can't afford it. It can't be done. Just stop and think about it and look at all the people out there with, you know, the way the communications that we have now between the Internet and social media and all of these things.
[00:28:13] There are just so many opportunities out there for people who want to start their own businesses and work from home and give themselves not only a feeling of having control of their destiny, but just the freedom to spend more time with their families or at home, or with their pets, or with loved ones or with their garden.
[00:28:36] So just something to think about. But anyway, this motivational story is about a fishermande and not only one of my favorite things to do, but I just love the story. It's called the fisherman and the businessman.
[00:28:51] Once upon a time there was a businessman who was sitting on the beach in a small italian village. As he sat, taking a brief break from the stress of his daily schedule, he saw a fisherman rowing a small boat back into the harbor. In the boat were a few large fish.
[00:29:08] The businessman asked the fisherman, how long does it take you to catch so many fish? To which he replied, not so long. The businessman was confused. Why don't you fish for longer to catch even more. More. This is enough to feed my entire family and even offer some to my neighbors. The fisherman said, so what do you do for the rest of your day? Inquired the businessman. The fisherman replied, well, I've usually caught my fish by late morning, at which point I go home, kiss my wife and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap and read. In the evening, I go to the village to have a drink with my friends, play guitar, sing and dance into the night.
[00:29:51] Putting his entrepreneurial hat on, the businessman offered a suggestion. I have a PhD in business. I can help you become much more successful. From now on, you should spend longer at sea and catch as many fish as possible. When you've saved enough money, buy a bigger boat to catch even more fish. From there, you'll soon be able to buy more boats, set up your own company, build a production plant to can the fish and control distribution, and move to the city to control your other branches. To this, the fisherman asks. And after that the businessman laughs. After that, you'll be able to live like a king, take your company public, float your shares, and be rich.
[00:30:35] And after that? Asks the fisherman once more. After that, you can retire, move to a house by the sea, wake up early in the morning to go fishing, then return home to play with your kids, kiss your wife, take a nap in the afternoon, enjoy your join your friends in the village to drink, play guitar and dance into the night. Puzzled, the fisherman replied, but isn't that what I'm doing already?
[00:31:00] Moral of the story be content with what you have. Do you really need to keep pushing for more? Stress is often a choice. There's joy and peace and simplicity, and that's kind of where I was going with the other thought I shared before. The story is it may be something that's possible or conducive for you, especially if you put the energy into it to maybe make a little bit less, but do something different that does satisfy your soul and satisfy the needs of your family being around and be able to pay your bills at the same time. Now, if you're a materialistic person and you're worried about what everybody else has and you want the best of everything, may not work out for you that way with this kind of game plan. But then again, it might if you put your energy toward being uber successful at it, right? Who knows? So with that being said, I'm going to take a short break here in a minute. I'd like to refer everybody to my good buddy Pat Carr, whose music I play as my introduction and exit every single week on my shows and a lot of the time for my break music as well. Pat's an amazing original artist from Louis. You can reach him Atcar. He's on soundclook, he's on reverb. Nation. He's YouTube. He's just everywhere. Please reach out, support him and tell him Maggie sent you. Buy an album and just let him know how great he is because I think he's wonderful and I'm sure you will as well.
[00:32:36] Also, please support the network. Jump on the main page, check out the chat room. You can get in there and converse with like minded people. Please keep on topic and be polite and respectful at all times. However, we do have some standards that we ask that you maintain as part of being on the chat. So no meanness and yuckiness. Let's just be happy and support each other there if we can. And if not, then don't get on the chat room.
[00:33:06] Check out the other shows on the platform and we're totally listener funded. So if you enjoy my show, please support the network in any way that you can. The owner would greatly appreciate it. Buy them a cup of coffee, throw them some money for the electric bill. Whatever you can do is greatly appreciated. And if you want to be a superstar and you have your own business, why don't you contact him about possibly putting an ad on the stage? Whether it be on my show or any of the others on the network, check out the other shows. There's a lot there for you to enjoy. We have a full variety and I'm very happy to be here and I'm thankful mostly for you all for listening. Make sure you come back for the second half. We'll be back right after this musical break. Stay tuned everybody.
[00:35:54] Sadeena. Sadeena, thanks again for joining us for the second half of the Positude podcast. I am your host, Maggie Hart. And the second half we're going to talk about meditation.
[00:37:25] While I was perusing some articles to be able to effectively explain the benefits of meditation, I came across a checklist from a place called Smith center and their website was smithcenter.org dot. And while I cannot speak to the effectiveness of their company or what else they have to offer, I found the checklist most helpful because it hit on most of the key points that I'd like to be able to explain to everybody about the effectiveness of mindful breathing and meditation.
[00:37:59] On their website, it's listed as practice number two, mindful breathing meditation.
[00:38:06] The benefits are that it relieves pain, fewer side effects of chemotherapy, less nausea, fatigue and anxiety, increased immune system functioning, greater sense of control, increased self awareness, greater sense of calm, peace and happiness, greater resilience.
[00:38:28] The definitions and descriptions mindfulness is cultivating awareness of your experience in the present moment, living each moment as fully as possible.
[00:38:38] Meditation is paying attention on purpose in the present moment. Inner resource the breath and breathing, it says. The breath is the life force. Breathing gives us life. Inhaling brings oxygen to cells. Exhaling releases waste and carbon dioxide. Rhythmic breathing balances the nervous system.
[00:39:01] Under mindful breathing, it says. Gentle focus of attention on the breath coming in and going out. Not trying to change your breathing in any way. No expectations, simply awareness of the breath moment to moment.
[00:39:17] In preparation, find a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down with your neck and spine aligned. Uncross your legs and let your hands rest quietly in your lap or by your sides. Loosen any tight clothing and gently close your eyes. The reason that you want to uncross your legs is something that we were taught early on in meditation and for spiritual warfare as well, is it blocks the flow of energy if your limbs are crossed. So as well as being as in relaxed a state as possible, having your feet flat on the ground, or even if you're on a big comfy couch or sofa and you're vertically challenged like myself, having your legs in front of you, hanging loosely toward the ground is the most effective position.
[00:40:12] The reason that they tell you to wear loose clothing is so that you can be fully relaxed and not feel the bite of a jean buckle or snap up against your belly, and so that you're able to take full, deep breaths without being restricted. So being comfortably dressed is very important as well, even though it might not seem to be. Of course, if you're in an office environment or someplace that you're not able to get into a pair of yoga pants or sweats or even a comfortable pair of shorts, do the best that you can. You may be in a cubby office environment where you're able to at least unbutton the top button of your slacks or jeans or pants, or able to just lean back in your chair a little more if you have a reclining office chair and get as comfortable as you're able to, to be able to focus freely and support the those deep breaths. This site also gives a narrative to help with your mindful breathing meditation.
[00:41:15] Theirs is adapted from thich nat hands, a short teaching on mindfulness breathing.
[00:41:22] As your body settles and your eyes close, bring your awareness to your breathing. Notice the breath coming in and the breath going out. Follow the breath with your awareness. Follow the breath all the way in and follow the breath all the way out.
[00:41:38] Not trying to change it in any way, just breathing in and breathing out.
[00:41:45] Breathing in, feeling the breath as it passes through your nostrils. Breathing out, feeling the breath as it leaves your nostrils, keeping your awareness lightly and gently on your breath. Breathing mindfully in the present moment.
[00:42:03] Breathing in I know I am breathing in. Breathing out I know I am breathing out.
[00:42:09] If thoughts come in, as they always do, acknowledge the thoughts without judgment and let them go. Let them drift away like clouds floating across the sky and bring your awareness back to your breath. Back to your breathing, back to the present moment.
[00:42:28] Breathing in I know I am breathing in. Breathing out I know I am breathing out.
[00:42:35] Each time your attention moves away from the breath, distracted by a thought about something you have to remember to do, perhaps, or maybe something that is bothering you or worrying you, notice the thought, acknowledge the thought, then let it go and bring your awareness back to your breath, back to the present moment. Letting your full awareness be on the breath as it comes in and as it goes out, noticing the familiar rhythm of the breath.
[00:43:07] Breathing in I calm my body breathing out I smile.
[00:43:12] When you bring your awareness to the breath in this way, you are connecting the mind and the body in the present moment. The word for breath and the word for spirit in many languages is the same. So bringing your awareness to your breath connects mind, body and spirit in the present moment.
[00:43:30] Dwelling in the present moment I know this is a wonderful moment. Continue to mindfully breathe in this way for as long as you like, following the breath all the way in, noticing the slightest pause at the turning point as the in breath becomes the out breath, and following the breath all the way out, noticing the brief pause at the turning point as the out breath becomes the in breath, aware of the steady, familiar rhythm of the breath.
[00:43:57] Continue for ten to 15 minutes if possible, as we bring this meditation to an end, keeping your eyes closed for just a little while longer. Take a moment to notice how you are feeling. Your body, your mind, your spirit, if you like, offer gratitude for this time you have taken for yourself to be quiet, to breathe and bring yourself back into balance so slowly. Come back into the room, aware of your body in the chair, opening your eyes whenever you are ready.
[00:44:31] The applications that they give for mindful breathing meditation as a regular daily practice set aside five to ten minutes at a regular time in the morning or evening, or both to practice. If you practice every day at regular times, you will have greater access to this resource in difficult situations that arise in your daily life.
[00:44:52] Throughout the day, use mindful breathing to calm you throughout the day. When you brush your teeth, stop at a rest light, waiting for an appointment, when the phone rings, etcetera. Find your own times to use mindful breathing. Put breathe signs on your mirror, kitchen cabinet or dashboard to remind you to breathe mindfully and deeply, if only for a moment or two, in stressful situations and or emergencies. When you find yourself starting to feel tense, anxious or in pain, use your breathing to calm you. Take five mindful breaths or three breaths. Taking even one conscious breath can make a difference.
[00:45:33] So that's their technique. Give it a try, and we'll use others that I've used in the past on future shows, but for now, practice that and see how it works for you because of the state of affairs that we're in as a planet. What I'm finding more and more as I work with my clients clients, is that there seems to be an uptick in the decrease in confidence in a person.
[00:46:02] Or maybe the confidence was never there and it wasn't something that was spoken of previously. But as they searched people like myself out and looked for guidance and direction and prayerful wisdom and things like that, that they've decided to open themselves up to me and to others and talk about their feelings of insecurity. And just as a personal statement, it does seem to be something that's been on the rise since the whole Covid fiasco. So many of us were isolated and separated from our loved ones, denied physical, especially physical and emotional support and mental support in pretty much every facet.
[00:46:54] And we know that this was an orchestrated plan.
[00:46:58] And in my opinion, the plan was immensely successful on a lot of levels as far as what they were able to do to undermine the human psyche.
[00:47:10] And so what I've been seeing is people just not having the confidence in themselves that it seems that they did. When we were children, people my age, of my generation were children or younger, and people that have had confidence before, it seems to have degradated.
[00:47:32] And so this next video that I found was from a video company called Spirit Science. They're on YouTube. And while I don't particularly agree with all of their thought processes, I did find this video particularly helpful to people that I felt needed a boost.
[00:47:56] And the affirmations contained within were very positive in nature. And after having some people listen to them for a few times, they did seem to be moving in a much more positive direction. And they did seem to feel a lot better about themselves after listening to the duration of the video and practicing the affirmations contained within.
[00:48:21] So there are four affirmations in this video. The first one is, is I love myself. The second one is I trust myself. The third is I honor myself. And the fourth is, I value myself. All of these principles I feel, that are integral to a healthy psyche, to a healthy personality. Everybody has their own technique. Everybody has their own comfort level. Some people may be better with affirmations, some better with meditation.
[00:48:56] Some are able to combine their meditations with their affirmations and be able to utilize both of those in a constructive manner. But whatever your preference, whatever works best for you, I just ask that you give these techniques a try, find which one fits you best, and then customize them to your own needs. That is for this video from spirit science. The affirmations are to develop self confidence, but you can add any affirmation that you want to your daily meditation and prayer time.
[00:49:33] You can make a list that you go over every day. You can change the affirmations based on your personal needs at that moment or for that day. However, it is better if you pick a group, maybe say three or five to start. That's a healthy way to start. And just practice saying those daily. Maybe when you first wake up, morning is actually the best time to start. The positive mindset for the day, right? Is when you get out of bed and you brush your teeth and you get dressed, wash your face, have a cup of coffee, even before your cup of coffee. Those are really good times to start generating the energy that you want to create for that day. And then you can carry those affirmations with you on a note card, in your wallet, or on a sticky note. You can put them around your house.
[00:50:27] But frequently when you're feeling low throughout the day, or when you feel you need a boost, or if you're having a particularly challenging time, you can go back to those affirmations. If you don't have time to stop and do even a 32nd or minute meditation, at least you'll have the affirmations to get you through. And then, of course, if you're able, do the meditation as well. And it's also very helpful if you're able to do it.
[00:50:57] Maybe lunche if you're feeling good anyway, just as kind of a reinforcement, but then especially at bedtime. And another thing that you can do at bedtime is to take a couple of deep cleansing breaths, and on the breath in, bring fresh air into your lungs and picture it being the white, healing blessed light from above.
[00:51:21] And on the exhale, I want you to picture getting rid of all the negativity and the toxicity that you've encountered throughout the day. What you might want to do before you start this meditation. What's really effective and what I teach my clients is to do like a mental recap of the day. Were there times that you could have responded to a situation differently? Was there an instance where you could have handled a situation a little bit better to where the outcome could have been more positive?
[00:51:55] Is there something that you said that you wished you could take back all of those things? So do a reevaluation of your day and think about those things that you could have changed or you could have done differently. And visualizing yourself going back through that conversation and then using your words to correct the situation at hand. In other words, putting the words in that you would have used if you could have, and seeing how that makes you feel, or just doing a mental thank you for helping me to recognize where I could have changed things or where I could have done things differently. And then sending out maybe forgiveness or an I'm sorry, the person that you may have affronted or the person that you may have argued with, and then continuing on with your deep breaths in, bringing in your full, healing, white light energy, your God energy, your universal energy, however you choose to look at it, and then on the breath out, letting go of all the negativity and all of the well, I wish I could have done this today, or I should have done that today. Because at the end of the day, literally and figuratively, your goal is to get rid of all of the negativity and keep that positive vibration. So being thankful and grateful for everything that you were able to achieve during the day and not letting the negativity take over is absolutely essential.
[00:53:28] So in this video, the four affirmations, I love myself, I trust myself, I honor myself, I value myself. Those are so powerful.
[00:53:44] And the video explains how to do the breathing, how they do the breathing, and the person that's narrating the video, which is like this cartoon robot guy, talks about how it changed his life doing this meditation every day.
[00:54:00] Any helpful, healing meditation or affirmation that you can do throughout the course of the day is pretty much guaranteed to give you some sort of positive result. You may not experience that at the beginning, but that's another part of the energy. When you carry that positive energy, doing the affirmations and doing the meditations over and over again, it actually becomes a reality after a while. So your subconscious mind and your ego eventually loosen their jaws on the bad things, and they believe the good things that you're telling yourself in your mind. And so your mindset changes to where you actually love yourself, trust yourself, honor yourself and value yourself. The only catch with this is you need to go at it with an open mind, and you need to believe that you're actually positively changing your mindset as you broach these different modes of healing, whether it be the meditation, whether it be the affirmations, or both, you need to believe and have faith that what you're reading or what you're thinking as you read, you know, the positive stuff is actually what you are and how the situation is at hand. And it will morph into that it will, especially when we're under spiritual attack. As I've mentioned earlier and so many times on previous shows, the enemy's goal, the ego's goal, is to make you feel in a way that's not complementary to how you need to be in order to be not only healed, but to have the strength to continue on when things get tough. Something that you always want to keep in mind when you're creating your affirmations or choosing one that you'd like to adopt in the your own, is to make sure that it's always positive and loving in nature, not only to yourself, but to any other person.
[00:56:19] That's kind of a karmic thing. You don't want to wish ill upon anyone else. And sometimes our egos can get involved when we're creating our individual mantras or our individual sayings that we want to use every day and try and make sure that you're not well. I want to be more successful than Johnny, or I want to be the head of the company and have Johnny be the janitor, be, you know, downgraded, make sure that it's always positive, not only for yourself, but others. And a really big secret in this type of work, is that it? If you're working on a level where we are all connected, we are all ripple in a pond. As I've said for years, if you're working on a level where that mindset is in your heart and in your spirit, when you're doing these meditations and these mantras, keep the goal as a whole whenever possible. What I mean by that is when you're sending healing and loving energy to yourself, rather than just send it to yourself in a mantra or meditation, try sending that healing, loving, joyful, positive energy to the entirety of the planet, the entirety of your community, the entirety of your family as well as yourself. Start small and then branch outward. Or just go big. Include yourself in that. But please continue to think of others and continue to have others in your heart and in your good thoughts.
[00:58:07] That's going to benefit them, but it's also going to benefit you because it's showing source and it's showing the universe that you have the ability to love, spread joy on a worldwide level and that's only going to make the magnitude of what comes back to you that much more powerful.
[00:58:27] So having said that, I hope that you do check out that YouTube video by spirit Science and the title of that is the breath of life. Never have a bad day again. For real. And you might want to check out other videos of theirs. Like I said, I don't know agree with all of the stuff that have they have on there rather, but it's a cool video. And check out the website from Smith, what is it? Smithcenter.org and do your own research. Find something else that might be applicable to you that you might like better. It will help you to start your day and your day and hopefully continue your day. Enjoy and love and at peace. With that being said, thanks all for listening. I hope you enjoyed the show. Maybe next week we'll have time to do some current events and share a recipe as well as our music and our other topics. But in the meantime, thank you all for listening. I hope you have a wonderful week. We'll see you back here same time, same channel next week. Thanks again everybody. Have a great night. Good night.
