"The breath is the intersection of the body and mind"
- Thich Nhat Hanh
This quotation embodies a potent thought. When you become consciously aware of your breath, an energetic bridge into a meditative state of being is created. The breath offers a very visceral and tactile touch stone, an energetic threshold that can move you directly into a conscious awareness of your connection to spirit.
More...
The art of daily meditation has the capacity to guide you deeply into a heightened state of conscious awareness through a sacred breath connection. Meditation and conscious breath awareness also ground you into the present moment and can greatly affect, and positively shift, issues such as stress, anxiety, fear, panic, dissociation, which in turn can facilitate a greater sense of control, well-being, and empowerment.
I have been meditating since I was a little girl. At the time I had no idea what meditation was or that I was meditating. It came to me as second nature. It was just a part of how I navigated and survived my childhood. The process of meditation seemed to always be there, a soulful healing ally, always and ever present, within those young moments of growth and challenge.
I had my first out-of-body experience when I was fourteen years old. The experience was directly facilitated by a meditative state of being and a profoundly deep consciously aware connection to my breath. There was no pushing on my part or attempting to facilitate any sort of occurrence for myself. It just spontaneously happened.
Meditation has always been a part of my life experience, one that continues to present day. These lifelong experiences have taught me several key and important things about the art of meditation:
So, how do you get started? Begin at the beginning by becoming intimate with your breath. Become mindfully aware of the quality of your breath. Engage your breath in relation to your conscious level of awareness by asking yourself daily:
Becoming mindful of your breath in relation to your level of conscious awareness is a huge first step in clearing the way toward a successful daily meditative practice.
Want a little more guidance? Check out my Quick Tip Video: Connecting with your Breath.
We are now seeing scientific research supporting a plethora of positive and healing effects experienced when one engages in a daily meditation practice.
Want to know more about meditation research?
Check out: scholar.harvard.edu/sara_lazar/publications
