The conclusions of a long-term study by medical researcher Sara Lazar show that regular mediation is good for your brain. Discover how, why and why you’d be bonkers to miss out on the benefits!
What Are Your Meditation Excuses?
We’ve all got them.
All the reasons why we can’t meditate.
We don’t have time.
We’re too tired.
There’s too much to do.
It doesn’t “work” for us.
But what if we could see meditation as a solution, to help us get more done, rather than an obligation that takes up time?
It is said that meditation and prayer are two sides of the same coin.
When Archbishop Desmond Tutu was asked how long he prays every day, it is said he answered:
“I am so busy, if I want to get everything done, I cannot pray for less than 2 hours per day.”
This one stopped me in my tracks.
I’m guessing that, although I feel I’m really busy, someone like Desmond Tutu might be just a teeny bit busier?
And he says he can’t get it all done, without that meditative prayer space?
Time to review my excuses!
The 3 stages of meditation help us see how meditating more could achieve the results implied by Desmond Tutu’s answer.
- Relaxation
If we’re tense, we can’t meditate.
Being more physically, mentally and emotionally relaxed helps us think more clearly and – surprise, surprise- get more done. - Concentration
Meditation is about being able to hold our focus on something (or nothing!), while the mind does whatever it likes in the background. That’s how we can come to a place of inner peace, when the world around us is full of noise and busy-ness.
Being focused helps tame our distractable, “grasshopper mind” to pay attention to the present moment. Being aware, concentrating and focusing on what we’re doing dramatically cuts down the time we waste, without realising, every day. - Meditation
The act of meditating brings us back into the present moment.
It helps us connect with our inner wisdom.
It helps us release attachments and dissolve denial, so we can see the Truth of a situation, rather than our projection.
It gets us back in flow with our Higher energies and helps life unfold before us, with less effort and less pain.
Easy to see how this could help us get more “done” with less “doing”.
So I’m off to practice “being” for a while, whilst this message settles for me.
Then I’ll see how much more I achieve today!
What are your favourite meditation excuses?
How could you perhaps find the time to slot in a little more space to “be” today?
What would it take for you to make that commitment to yourself?
Is there support you need? Who might you ask for help?
Please share via the comments box below – or you could join in the discussion on our Facebook Group: Meditation Journey
With love, namaste,
Clare x
Beyond Alchemy Meditation Club: What Is Mindfulness?
Here’s an exclusive resource for our meditation club members.
What is mindfulness?
Discover what mindfulness is, why it’s so important and simple steps you can take to make it part of everyday life, to transform your experience and help you feel calmer, happier and less stressed.
Hope you enjoy it! Please let us know how you get on, via the discussions on the Facebook club.
Thank You For Joining The Beyond Alchemy Meditation Club
Thank you for signing up for your free 3 month trial of the Beyond Alchemy Meditation Club.
We really hope you are going to enjoy it!
To get started, please go to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=112208265479166 and click “Request to join“.
We will then set up your membership of the group within 1 working day.
Please include the PayPal receipt number you were sent by PayPal (in case your Facebook user name isn’t obvious from your PayPal email address!).
We really look forward to getting to know you better.
With love,
Namaste,
Clare Josa & Peter Briant
But Meditation Is Sooo Boring, Isn’t It?
Yes, meditation can be really, really boring. I’m with you on that one! But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here’s a whistle-stop tour of ten top reasons why people find meditation boring and what you can do about it.
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I can’t sit still for that long! It makes my legs hurt and my back ache.
We live in a society where being busy and multi-tasking are badges of honour that we wear with pride. The idea of sitting still and “doing nothing” is a shocker!
Enjoying meditation is about acceptance – accepting your surroundings, accepting your body and accepting your mind.
Being still is ok. If it hurts, then it’s worth getting advice on your posture. We’ll be covering this one in much more detail over the next few months!
. - My mind races even more when I’m quiet.
Only this morning a student reminded me of this one. And it’s true. When we stop “doing” stuff we instantly become more aware of our mind, so it feels like it is racing more than usual.
Again, the trick with this one is acceptance. It’s ok. Just let it get on with chattering away and don’t try to fight it or ignore it. It will eventually get the idea and calm down. Then you can start teaching it how to focus! 😉
. - I haven’t got time to meditate.
It’s true. Our lives are already full and we don’t have time to meditate.
Or do we?
It’s funny how, for example, if we fall in love, we suddenly find all these evenings and weekends to spend with that wonderful new person. We watch less TV, we use our time more purposefully.
Is it really too much for our mind, body and soul to ask for 10-20 minutes of our time?
. - I’ve got better things to do than sit around and think of nothing.
Yes!
“Thinking of nothing” – one of those oxymoron thingies! :0
Meditation isn’t about switching off our thoughts. It’s about getting into the present moment, rather than being victim to the well-rehearsed mental scripts we normally play out on auto-pilot. It’s about setting yourself free. Still got better things to do?
. -
Even navel-gazing gets boring, in the end.
Navel-gazing – yes, that would get very boring, after a short while. Luckily the intention behind the life choices surrounding meditation isn’t about random navel-gazing, but about focused observation of your own habits and behaviours, with a view to becoming the witness, choosing how to respond, rather than being at the mercy of uncontrollable emotions and stress!
. - I did it for a while, but then I quit.
Sometimes it just isn’t our time to learn to reconnect with who we really are. But that’s rarely the case. Usually giving up on meditation means you weren’t getting what you were hoping for. Then it’s time to find yourself a decent teacher or class, to help keep you motivated and guide you on your journey. Even if you know where you want to go, it can still be useful to ask for directions.
. - It didn’t do anything for me – I just sat there, getting bored.
I hear this one so often.
The fact is that learning to meditate is like any other skill: you need to learn the techniques and then practice them. If a technique isn’t working for you, ask your teacher for help. Or try a different book. There are so many ways of meditating that it should be easy and fresh, not stale and boring.
. - I found it really hard to concentrate, so I gave up.
Meditation isn’t about sitting still and emptying your mind. It’s about learning how to quieten the body and then the mind, so you can begin to train your mind to focus. Only then will you be able to concentrate.
So rather than giving ourselves a hard time and giving up, you might want to join a practice group or meditate with a CD / MP3 to guide you, to help you learn to focus and concentrate.
It’s also worth checking out whether you’re too tired to meditate!
. - Meditation isn’t for me – I don’t believe in all that stuff.
A friend of mine was told that her meditation class advert couldn’t go in the village (Church) magazine because it “wasn’t appropriate”. Many people are scared that they have to change their beliefs or go against their religion, in order to meditate.
Whilst it is true that many meditation paths have belief systems to help students on their journey, it isn’t necessary to subscribe to any particular dogma, in order to meditate.
Meditating is about reconnecting with who you really are – your Source – your Divine Aspect, in whatever way works for you. Surely that’s a good thing?
. - Meditation is really difficult.
This one is a common misconception. Somehow meditating involves getting in the lotus position – also known as turning your legs into a pretzel – and chanting or sitting still for days on end!
Luckily the truth is that you can meditate any time, any place, whatever you’re doing. Yes, it helps to sit still in a certain way, when you’re learning. But true meditation is about being alive in the present moment, in full awareness. That just takes practice!
Most of us try too hard to meditate. Once you’ve got the techniques under your belt, your practice should become as effortless as possible – you just need dedication.
I will be covering each of these problems in more detail over the next few weeks, so if you want to make sure you’re getting the low-down on how to make meditation work for you, make sure you’re signed up to our Beyond Alchemy blog feed.
Meditation & Mindfulness Workshops & Classes
If you know anyone who might like to give meditation a try, how about telling them about our meditation & mindfulness workshops and weekly classes near Forest Row, East Grinstead, East Sussex (UK)? www.MeditationForestRow.com
Beyond Alchemy Mediatation Club
If you live too far away to make it to the course, you could sign up for the 28 Day Mediation Challenge – it’s a 4 week online course that takes you through the fundamentals of how to meditate, as well as helping you with an inspired blend of modern psychology, so you can easily create that new meditation habit.
www.28DayMeditationChallenge.com
Soultuitive Coaching Lab – Practitioner – Join September 2024
This page is for the September 2024 start date.
This bursary rate and membership payment plan is intended to help support those who wouldn't be able to join this programme, otherwise.
Please only use it if you are paying for the membership and training yourself, rather than via your employer, and only if you genuinely cannot afford the regular fee for this certification programme.
If your employer wants to fund this, please get in touch.
The Natural Resilience Method® Facilitator / Imposter Syndrome First-Aider certification programme for 2024 is £2,995 + VAT. But if you are paying for this yourself, we have a number of bursary places available for each cohort. If the 'Count Me In!' button, below, is still working, then that means that we still have a bursary rate place available for you. If not, it will take you to a waiting list page.
Instead of paying the flat-rate, up-front fee of £2,995 + VAT, you get access to this life-changing programme as a bursary-rate membership for just £249.80 per month, including VAT.
You would make an initial payment of £249.80 today, which secures your place. Then you make 11 monthly payments of £249.80, which don't start until the first day of your cohort's training.
This comes to a total of £2,995.20 including VAT), instead of £3,594.
This saves you £600.
Here's how the payments work:
1
Confirm Your Place
Pay £249.80 (incl. VAT) today to confirm your place on the September 2024 cohort. You'll get the welcome pack with 'what to expect' and diary dates in the next 5 minutes.
2
11 x Monthly Payments
Your eleven monthly payments of £249.80 (incl. VAT) automatically start on the first day of your cohort. This covers your bursary-rate course fee, saving you over £600 compared with the regular rate.
3
Post-Grad Membership
A year after the course start date, your monthly payment automatically drops to just £49 (incl. VAT), with no tie-in, whilst upgrading you to get exclusive post-grad bonuses and support.
There are only a small number of bursary-rate places in each cohort.
If the 'Count Me In!' button below works, then it means there is still one available for you.
The next intakes start on 15th January or 9th September 2024.
You get a full year's membership of the Natural Resilience Method® Facilitator / Imposter Syndrome First-Aider programme, which includes 12 months' access to:
The Full Live Course
12 months' access to the online training and support materials, including your built-in Virtual Journal
Client Support Materials
Specially designed teaching materials for you to support your 1:1 clients with learning core concepts
Private Podcast
Have Clare as a Mentor In Your Pocket™ with the private podcast, which you can also use to play meditations & techniques to clients
Tutorial Calls
8 x twice-monthly small-group tutorial calls and monthly all-student Q&A calls for the rest of the 12 months
Private Discussion Forum
A private discussion forum, just for your cohort, built into each lesson, to share the journey & get answers to your questions
Certification
Fully certified for a year after you complete the course - essential if you need to get insurance, and to reassure clients
Institute of Leadership & Management
Upon successful completion, you're eligible to join the UK's Institute of Leadership & Management, who certify this qualification, as a Full Member (at a discounted rate), giving you the post-nominals "MInstLM"
After your first year, if you've loved what you've been doing and want to keep access and continue on this journey to further deepen your skills, your monthly payment automatically drops to just £49 per month (incl. VAT). This means you keep access to everything above, for as long as you're a member.
Plus as a post-grad member, you also get upgraded to have access to:
- Member-only post-grad CPD, including courses and masterclasses with Clare
- Invitation-only membership of our post-grad community, including a private discussion forum to share your journey, support each other, and get answers to your questions about your 1:1 work
- Monthly coaching supervision calls, just for post-grad members, led by Clare and her specially trained Master Coaches, to support you in your 1:1 work
- Continued certification (essential for insurance - renewed annually, upon evidence of attending at least 6 hours of supervision calls or CPD)
- Half-price fee on Clare's Transformation Toolkit training, if you want to gift it / sell it to clients, to do the 'heavy lifting' for you on teaching the 'how-to', freeing you up to spend more time facilitating the breakthroughs
- A VIP Pass to the annual conference (virtual), each year, with full replay access and exclusive grad-only breakout rooms
After your initial 11 months at £249.80 per month, there's no further tie-in: you could cancel your £49 per month at any time, and would keep the remainder of your current year's certification, but would lose access to the training materials, support, community and other membership benefits.
Note: In many countries you can offset your membership as a legitimate personal development or professional membership cost. Please check with your accountant, if you're unsure about this.
Is It A Yes?
To confirm your place on your chosen cohort, please make your initial payment of £249.80.
Then on 9th September 2024, your eleven monthly payments of £249.80 will start. One year after your course starts, your payments automatically drop to £49 (incl. VAT) per month for your post-grad membership, for as long as you want to stay a member.
Here's where to confirm your place:
I can't wait to share this journey with you, helping you to help others with Imposter Syndrome, burnout and toxic resilience!
Clare
PS Got questions first? Here's where to get in touch.
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