Tag: awareness

What Is Spiritual Alchemy and How Can You Practice It?

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A blue and gold butterfly is shown in front of a blurred background of greenery and flowers

Like ancient Egyptian and Greek scientists before them, European scientists and philosophers of the Middle Ages believed that everything in the world was made up of four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water.  They saw these four elements as having specific qualities and properties that could be manipulated to create new substances. As a result, the early chemists, or alchemists as they came to be called, became focused on turning base metals, such as lead, into higher metals, such as gold. This sounds like the pursuit of wealth and power. And given human nature, for some of these alchemists,…

What Is Higher Consciousness and How to Achieve It Through Meditation

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A woman is going up the stairs. The photo is taken from downstairs, so we look at her from below. It looks like there's a long corridor after the stairs.

Have you ever wondered about higher states of consciousness? What they are, and how some people reach them? Do you ever wonder if you could reach a higher state of consciousness yourself? And if you could, what would that look like? Many people have different notions or ideas about what it means to achieve states of higher consciousness.  Some imagine yogis living high in the mountains, devoting their lives exclusively to the pursuit of higher consciousness. Others imagine it as a spiritual practice that leads to a sudden and complete awakening, or so-called enlightenment. And of course some people think…

Practice Makes Imperfect in Meditation and I’m Okay with That

A sea surfer on a skimboard in the middle of the sea seems to be surfing alone. The sea surfer seems to be a young woman but the photo is in black and white making it difficult to tell.

Practice has been given a bit of a bum rap. Whether it’s sports of some kind, one of the arts, or any other discipline of the mind or body, we often expect the impossible out of practice. That is, we expect to be made perfect at the pursuit. Or at least some aspect of the pursuit. And then we take it as a personal failure when that doesn’t happen. Does this sound familiar to you in your meditation practice? If so, would you like to change that? There is another way of looking at perfection and imperfection – in meditation…

How Long Is Long Enough in Meditation?

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An hourglass on gravel. The sand amount is roughly equal for both ends.

Even if you have just 5 minutes to relax, doesn’t it feel great? There are days when you can relish a 5-minute break as though it were a mini-vacation. But with meditation – how long is long enough? What if you have just 1 minute? Can you experience benefits from a mere 60 seconds of meditation? Let’s find out. One Minute Together  We’re going to do a single minute of breath meditation, together, with eyes closed or open.  All we’ll do for one minute is gently notice the breath, coming in…and going out. Move at your own pace, gently and…