Articles of Interest

Four Simple Ways To Relax The Body and Mind
By Matt Clarkson
Author of "Secrets of Meditation, Energy and Manifestation"
www.SecretsofMeditation.com

Life is tough. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do, we all have to face many difficult and stressful situations. Being at the effect of life can leave us feeling stressed, worried, angry, confused and frustrated.

And the way we feel affects everything in our lives. When we feel bad, everything seems much worse than it is. A bad mood is like a filter that prevents us from seeing the positive things in life. Every little thing seems like another irritation.

If that's something you can relate to -- take heart -- we all know what it's like to feel stressed and frustrated. The important thing is to have the tools to recover quickly and naturally, find yourself again, and get back on track.

Here are four tips to help you relax the body and mind:

1. Take A Break

When things are starting to get out of hand and you can feel yourself reaching threshold, STOP. Finish what you're doing.
Take a break before you start anything new.

If someone is driving you mad, make an excuse and leave the room! Go and take a walk. Get some fresh air, find some calm within and then prepare yourself to get stuck in again!

2. Listen To Relaxing Music

Music can have a powerful effect on your state. I'm sure there have been times when you heard a piece of music and suddenly you felt great. We all know songs that make you tap your foot or remind you of being in love.

Create a collection of music to help you relax and feel good.
Make a tape of those songs that make you smile to help you unwind. Play it as often as you can...when you're at home, when you're working, when you're in your car. You'll be surprised how good you'll begin to feel.

3. Avoid Stimulants

Tea, coffee, fizzy drinks and chocolate all contain caffeine.
Over the course of the day, this can add to your stress level considerably.

Why not prepare yourself a healthy alternative? Bottled water, freshly squeezed fruit juice and herbal teas are excellent for maintaining your body's natural water balance and helping you keep cool under pressure.

4. Use A Soothing Voice

Use a relaxed and soothing tone of voice, not just out loud, but also when you talk to yourself. A soft, low, melodious tone opens up the relaxation circuits in your mind and helps you stay calm even in heated situations.

A friend of mine once told me "Life is a struggle. But once you accept that, it becomes a lot easier."

We can learn to deal with life's challenges by setting aside some time to go to work on ourselves, developing a state of acceptance. When we can learn to calm our minds and separate ourselves from our problems, we are on the road to significant improvement.

Matt Clarkson has created a free mini course teaching simple meditation exercises for busy people. Each "daily meditation" is an exercise, inspirational message or tip to help you calm the mind and reduce stress. If your health is important to you, click here now.

Four Little Known Secrets of Meditation, Energy and Manifestation
By Matt Clarkson
Author of "Secrets of Meditation, Energy and Manifestation"
www.SecretsofMeditation.com

Secret #1: The True Purpose of Meditation

Many people feel a sense of fascination when confronted with the possibility of mystic visions, psychic intuition and heightened mental functioning. While meditators often report these sorts of improvements, these experiences should not be the primary reason for practice. The purpose of meditation is to bring us back to ourselves.

As we become healthier, happier and realize greater self-awareness, the other benefits of meditation begin to follow naturally -- improved mental functioning, greater intuition as well as greater access to unconscious resources and abilities.

Secret #2: Distraction Does Not Equal Failure

Meditation is not work in the sense that you have to "force"
yourself to concentrate completely for long periods of time. If we consciously try to prevent thinking, it's going to have a negative impact on the meditation.

Instead, whenever we become lost in thought or confusion, we simply acknowledge those thoughts and then gently return the attention to the object of the meditation. We do this as many times as distraction or thought occurs. Eventually, the mind becomes calmer and discursive thought begins to slow.

Secret #3: Insight Alone Is Not Enough

Insight alone will not transform our lives. Meditation is likely to help us by giving us larger perspectives and increasing clarity of thought. But although our sense of inner guidance might become stronger, unless we ACT on that guidance, we will never manifest the changes we truly want in our lives.

This doesn't just mean we need to take action in our outer world, for example, having an honest conversation with a friend or paying a bill.

It also means we must actively request the assistance of the unconscious in a clear and persistent way. When you do that, as I teach in "Secrets of Meditation, Energy and Manifestation," you find yourself magnetically drawn toward your dreams with an irresistible impulse.

Secret #4: Learn To Let Go

Once you have made your request, it's important that you let go.
Don't be concerned with HOW you're going to get what you truly want in your life. Needing to know how can hamper the process of making it manifest in the outer world. Learn to trust your unconscious.

Some changes -- perhaps all of them -- will happen automatically.
I have personally found that many of my destructive habits simply dropped away with minimal conscious effort.

For me, this was achieved not by self-discipline and will power, but rather a “letting go” and a realization that spiritual growth is a natural process powered by parts of ourselves that know more than we can understand consciously.

As we let go consciously and receive more input from these parts, we learn to trust this feeling, this feeling that we are in safe hands and that something amazing is about to happen.

Matt Clarkson has created a free mini course teaching simple meditation exercises for busy people. Each "daily meditation" is an exercise, inspirational message or tip to help you calm the mind and reduce stress. If your health is important to you, click here now.