Love Your Children? Hate the Chaos?

Don't get me wrong. I love my children – immensely, unconditionally – and would not trade, give away or accept any other option that might be presented to me. But (and this is BIG "but") I hate the chaos that came with being a mother. Before having children, I adhered to a daily ritual of getting a coffee in the morning, sitting down to write my three pages of "stress dump," and then 20 minutes of meditation focusing on being centered and having a proactive day.

I truly thought I would be able to keep some (if not all) of this ritual in place once my son, who is now three, was born. But reality set in quite quickly, and it took me almost 10 months to find my groove again. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it, but I did. Then in May 2011 I gave birth to my daughter, and the groove I was able to find is once again changing.

Chaotic? Yes. Manageable? Yes. What did it take? Three simple steps (Remember Coach Karen's three simple steps to managing chaos and emergency life situations is I.C.E.) and a lot of self-patience!

Continue reading here.

Concentration and Meditation

I am a firm believer that meditation can happen just about anywhere we find ourselves. The important element is being able to concentrate long enough to receive not only the inspirational benefits of meditation but also the overall health and wellness benefits. If you are like most people, concentrating is the piece that keeps you from feeling as if you are experiencing successful meditation. I would like to share with you a few useful tips I personally use to help me concentrate when meditating—no matter if I am sitting in a quiet, warm and familiar place such as my practicum room or on a noisy airplane.

Perfection!
One of most important things to remember when meditating: all is in perfection! If you are interrupted or lose focus after just a few minutes, take a breath! Do not let the “shortness” of the meditation get in the way of what even a few minutes can bring to you.

Continue reading here.

Finding Your Balance Amidst Chaos

We have a great new blog entry about finding and maintaining your personal balance up on Beauty Forever Network. Click here to learn more about how establishing and maintaining a ritual or routine, along with regular journaling, can help you find balance.

Understanding Tarot

Are you curious about the history and use of tarot cards? Click here to go to our website to read our new article about understanding tarot.

How to do a Concentration Meditation

Another area of focus which you might be interested in considering regarding meditating and bringing this stress reducer into your daily life. Enjoy!

How to do a Concentration Meditation
Source: Wikihow.com

This type of meditation can really help you focus. It will take time to get into the correct mental state, but once you do, you'll be able to improve your life.
Steps

1. Sit down or stand very still.
   
2. If you choose to sit put your palms on your lap or knees. If you are standing, let your arms fall naturally at your side.
   
3. Relax.
   
4. Breathe naturally, but deeper than normal.
   
5. Be attentive to your breath, in and out.
   
6. Count your breath from one to ten (Don't count loudly. Just count in your mind). Example: Breath in, count one; Breath out, count two; Breath in, count three.
   
7. When you have counted to ten, repeat counting from one to ten.
   
8. Think nothing. If thought enters your mind, acknowledge it, then go back to become aware of your breath.
   
9. Relax.
   
10. Continue.
    
11. Stop your meditation when you want to.
    

Tips

• Benefits: Your concentration will increase; You will develop self-confidence; You will develop reflex skill in your martial art training.
  
• Breathe with your stomach. When you breathe in make sure your stomach goes out. When you breathe out make sure your stomach goes in.
  
• If you try to think of nothing you will be thinking. Try not to think of not thinking anything.
  
• It helps to concentrate on a single very simple thing in your mind such as a plain white circle with a black outline. You could also concentrate on the sound of yourself breathing.
  
• It is recommended that you obtain direct instruction from a meditation teacher.
  

Sources and Citations

• 5min - A great video about how to meditate 5min is a videopedia for instructinal videos. Source of images in this article, shared with permission.
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Do Concentration Meditation. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.