Evolve Within

Here is today's channeled message from my Angels. Hope this message resonates with you and brings you some inspiration for the day.

Today's message is all about being grateful.

Today’s message is all about dealing with life’s storms.

For thousands of years, people around the world have walked labyrinths for relaxation and spiritual purposes. As you meander through a labyrinth’s circuitous form, you shift your awareness back and forth from right brain to left brain, creating harmony. One of the oldest labyrinth designs features seven “circuits” that correspond to the seven tones of the musical scale, the seven colors of the visible spectrum, the seven main chakras in the body, and the seven bodies in our solar system that can be seen with the naked eye. These relationships may explain why winding your way through a labyrinth balances the body’s energy fields and inspires inner peace.

**Interestingly, you don’t have to walk a labyrinth to experience its calming benefits. You can simply use a design and run your finger through the circuits and see what happens.**

(From the book ‘The Best Meditations on the Planet, by Dr. Martin Hart & Skye Alexander)

Daytime stress often causes sleep dysfunction. You lie awake in bed, rehashing the events of the day and worrying about tomorrow’s challenges, too keyed up to relax. When you don’t get a good nights sleep, you’re also likely to be more anxious and stressed out during the day. It’s a vicious cycle.

A study presented at the twenty-third Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in June 2009, and published in ScienceDaily, showed that meditation is effective in treating sleep problems. According to Ramadevi Gourineni, MD, director of the insomnia program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, insomnia results from being in a state of hyperarousal around the clock. The following meditation helps you unwind at bedtime, so you enjoy more restful sleep. It also reduces stress during the day.

**Perform this meditation each night as soon as you go to bed, to unwind and sleep better.**

(From the book ‘The Best Meditations on the Planet, by Dr. Martin Hart & Skye Alexander)

According to the American Institute of Stress, workplace stress costs the United States $300 billion annually in medical care and employee absenteeism. A three-month study, published in 1993 in the journal Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, examined workers in the automotive industry to determine the effects of meditation on stress reduction. The study found that employees who meditated regularly experienced decreases in job tension, anxiety, fatigue, and health complaints.

It’s not always easy to change conditions in your work environment. However, this meditation technique helps you deal with annoying people, workplace noise, and other stress by turning down the volume.

(From the book ‘The Best Meditations on the Planet, by Dr. Martin Hart & Skye Alexander)

What’s your favourite element - air, fire, water, or earth? When you are in the presence of this element do you feel more at peace, more connected to your Soul and Spirit? Perhaps you feel more alive near a lake, a river or the ocean (water). Or maybe walking in the woods is an enchanting experience for you (earth). Do you feel a sense of liberation when standing high in a hill with the wind at your face (air)? Or a special connection with a burning fire (fire)? Whenever life’s pressures build or the storms of responsibilities crash about you, you can always find a safe harbor within your particular element. The following meditation will help you. (From the book ‘The Best Meditations on the Planet, by Dr. Martin Hart & Skye Alexander)

According to a theory proposed by Daniel Goleman, author of The Meditative Mind, and Tara Bennett-Goleman, author of Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart, meditation affects the relationship between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex in the brain. The amygdala governs fear responses and is linked with aggression; the prefrontal cortex causes you to pause, stay calm, and think before taking action. Meditation increases activity in the prefrontal cortex so it prevails over the amygdala, thereby reducing tension, anxiety, and irritability. The following meditation lets you wash away everyday annoyances and stress whenever you wash your body. Perform this simple practice in the morning, at night, or any time you wish to cleanse yourself of irritations. (From the book ‘The Best Meditations on the Planet, by Dr. Martin Hart & Skye Alexander)

Computers make our lives easier in some ways, but they also add frustration and increase the demand to produce more, faster. Sitting at a computer for hours on end puts pressure on your neck and shoulders as well. Charles L. Raison, MD, clinical director of the Mind-Body Program at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, found in a six-week study that meditation has a positive effect on participants’ responses to both physical and emotional stress. This “waking” meditation, or directed, outward form of meditation, loosens tight muscles, relaxes your mind, and relieves general tension. (From the book ‘The Best Meditations on the Planet, by Dr. Martin Hart & Skye Alexander)

Linda E. Carlson, PhD, and her colleagues at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, conducted an eight-week meditation study involving sixty-three patients (published in 2005 in the International Journal of Behavioural Medicine). The researchers found that meditation significantly decreased sleep dysfunction in the study’s participants and improved their overall quality of sleep. Many types of mediation emphasize paying attention to your breath as a way to clear your mind and quiet your body. The following meditation, based on an ancient yogic breathing technique, balances the body’s yin (receptive/passive) and yang (assertive/active) energies and produces a calm, tranquil state. Practice this technique every night when you go to bed to help you relax and sleep better. (From the book ‘The Best Meditations on the Planet, by Dr. Martin Hart & Skye Alexander)