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Become More Creative - The Secret You Need to Know!
Would you like to enhance your creativity? Do you think that increased creativity is something that would improve your life?
Before you answer yes or no to that question, take some time to explore what the word “creativity” means to...
Meditation Improves Your Attention
Buddhist monks have claimed for centuries that meditation helps
increase attention and concentration. New findings offer support
for this notion.
Increases Thickness of Brain Regions
Researchers at Harvard Medical School examined...
Practing Staying Present To The Now
Transformational Counseling is about assisting others to transform their life. Transformational Counseling is a process of assisting others to learn how to let go of the past and live fully in the present. To live fully in the present is to become...
Stronger Willpower Today
Have you ever wished you had stronger willpower? How can you make yourself stop doing things you don't want to do? There are ways, and the first thing to do is to redefine the concept of willpower. Self Awareness Instead Of Willpower It's hard...
The Positive Effects of Ambient Music
Ambient nature sounds have the ability to aid sleep, reduce stress, and provide a relaxing atmosphere for activities such as yoga, tai-chi, and meditation.
Most of us spend our days surrounded by the sounds of vehicles, televisions, and office...
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My Fear of Heights and a Hot Air Balloon
I've been terrified of heights for as long as I can remember and
still I insist on white knuckle experiences.
On occasion I've thought it'd be a great idea for my family and
me to ride in glass elevators, take rides on Ferris wheels
(large or small), check out revolving restaurants atop towers -
not only is this alone terrifying, vertigo also gets thrown in
for good measure. Then there was my absolute fear of flying
which thankfully has been dealt with successfully.
Hot air ballooning is a different kettle of fish. Now I know hot
air balloons fly (sort of) however there are no in-flight
rations, flight attendants, movies, headsets, or pressurized
cabins. There is just a big balloon (also called an envelope - I
paid attention during the pre-flight briefing), a basket, a gas
burner and a group of excited people. To me this was not flying,
more like drifting and floating randomly above the earth.
What possessed me to voluntarily take a hot air balloon flight
I'll never know.
A flight was booked and as luck would have it, perfect weather
conditions. We arrived at the departure point on a cool, crisp
morning before the sun rose. The other passengers had already
arrived and were eagerly awaiting the pre-flight briefing before
take-off.
That was the good bit.
Fear washed through me, it became difficult to breathe, and my
heart was pounding rapidly. It took supreme effort to keep my
panic in check and instead, not wishing to put a damper on
anyone's enthusiasm, tried to appear as nonchalant as possible.
As time for take-off approached my fear intensified. Finally, as
the ropes were released from the basket and the balloon slowly
made its way upward, my knees turned to jelly and the urge to
rid myself of the previous night's dinner became overwhelming.
Totally trapped I silently screamed as we rose higher and higher
from the ground.
What did I do next to overcome this panic?
I changed my state.
I remembered to breathe, and with that was able to centre myself
(knowledge of meditation helps!) to step fully into the present
moment. It also helped to shift my focus and become more
curious, about the purple hills I could see on the horizon.
My focus then shifted to experiencing how serene it was up in
the sky, only occasionally hearing the sound of the burner as it
blasted hot air into the balloon above.
From experiencing this serenity my focus turned to the burner
and
feeling the heat of the flames.
Happy with experiencing what I was, I began asking myself
probing questions about my fear. With each answer I would then
ask "and what is important about that?"
Remaining centred and controlling my breathing, I continued to
answer each question fully to myself until there was nothing
left to ask.
From answering my own questions I discovered my fear was based
on the fact that there was no jet engine, steering wheel, seat
belts, escape chute and we were in a basket attached to a really
big balloon!
From those answers I then:
*Determined that the likelihood of disaster was minimal to nil.
*Knew the present moment was the safest place for me.
*Future paced me. I imagined myself eating my champagne
breakfast with the other passengers after the balloon flight,
and retelling my story.
*Realised I was actually having an experience of a lifetime
which I probably will never do again and decided to make the
most of it.
Not only that, the captain seemed to know what he was doing
(always encouraging), I knew the equipment was in great shape (I
had a good look), and there was someone following the balloon in
a vehicle below.
Taking several deep breaths, I refocused on my internal world
and connected with peace again, silently giving thanks to my
years of meditation practise.
At last I was able to truly enjoy this exhilarating experience!
The peace and tranquillity above the earth with the sun rising
in the East, and the green rolling hills below was absolutely
awesome - I was in heaven!
Being in the present moment, focusing on controlled breathing,
as well as becoming centred helped enormously in dealing with my
anxiety. Not only that by asking the question "and what is
important about that?" got to the heart of my fear.
Try asking yourself that question sometime when a need crops up.
You might be surprised as what you discover about yourself.
Michaela Scherr
Transformational Coach
About the author:
Copyright requirements are that it remains with Michaela Scherr
and for the link to be clickable or 'live'. See
http://www.michaelascherr.com
Michaela is a Transformational Coach, certified practitioner of
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), writer and intuitive who is
totally committed to helping others create positive and action
oriented changes to their lives.
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Learning Meditation Home Page |
Introduction to the basics of meditation and the reduction of stress. |
www.learningmeditation.com |
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Meditation Room |
Choose freely and feel free to perform more than one meditation. ... Allow some time for your meditation. These meditations last from 3 - 10 minutes. ... |
www.learningmeditation.com |
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Meditation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
An introduction to different traditions, forms, techniques, and benefits. Includes links to other resources. |
en.wikipedia.org |
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World Wide Online Meditation Center |
Contains colorful, clear, concise meditation instruction on a variety of meditation methods from various spiritual teachings, plus tranquil meditation tapes ... |
www.meditationcenter.com |
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The Transcendental Meditation (TM) Program - Official website. How ... |
Meditation validated by over 600 scientific studies. The best meditation against stress. Online video! Personal instruction and lifetime follow-up. |
www.tm.org |
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Vipassana Meditation Website |
Homepage of the organization which offers Vipassana Meditation courses as taught by SN Goenka. |
www.dhamma.org |
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Welcome to Meditation Mount |
Meditation training programs and group meditation as a service to humanity. Worldwide organization based in Ojai, California. |
www.meditation.com |
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Guided meditations on mindfulness, peace, the 23rd Psalm, the way ... |
Come into the present moment with this 10-minute mindfulness meditation narrated by ... Experience a flow of positive energy with this meditation on peace ... |
www.beliefnet.com |
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Meditation Station Presented By The Meditation Society Of America |
Meditation Society of America's web site. Dedicated to sharing meditation techniques and concepts from all traditions. |
www.meditationsociety.com |
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Wildmind | Learn Meditation Online |
Wildmind provides a complete guide to simple meditation techniques. |
www.wildmind.org |
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Meditation |
An article By Dr Tom J. Chalko explaining the process and stressing the need for a spiritual teacher. |
www.thiaoouba.com |
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Free Learn to Meditate, online meditation - Meditation Australia. |
Details of activities, events, and classes in Wollongong University, Australia. Also offer a free online Meditation course. |
meditation.org.au |
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Meditation, Home, what is meditation, types of meditation ... |
Meditation Meditation is an alternative therapy. It can be broadly classified under the mind-body medicine. More and more doctors are prescribing meditation ... |
1stholistic.com |
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Sivananda Yoga - Meditation |
Introduction to the Official Web site of the Internationa Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. Lots of information on Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, ... |
www.sivananda.org |
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Stress Reducers: Articles index |
yellow arrow button, Choose a Virtual Meditation Slide Show for Your ... yellow arrow button, Meditation and Relaxation: 20 Minutes A Day Can Make A ... |
www.selfhelpmagazine.com |
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Zen Mountain Monastery: Zen Meditation Instructions |
Detailed instructions from Zen Mountain Monastery on how to practice Zen meditation. |
www.mro.org |
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Meditation and concentration |
meditation concentration ability. ... Online fire meditation use it and develop concentration ability; Online flash meditation look at the screen and ajust ... |
www.ababasoft.com |
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Siddha Yoga path - Gurumayi - Swami Muktananda founder |
Under the guidance and teachings of Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, Siddha Yoga meditation students embrace the spiritual practices of yoga. |
www.siddhayoga.org |
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Meditation Handbook |
Survey of seven meditation techniques for beginners. |
home.att.net |
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Healing Music|Meditation Music|Self Help products |
Healing Products offers healing music for your Mind, Body & Soul at low prices. Use sound and music to heal and relax. |
www.healingproducts.com |
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