A regular practice of silence is like medicine, and the long term healing properties of meditation are becoming increasingly clear through modern science.
Recently, meditation researchers have investigated how meditation impacts what is called the brain’s default mode network (DMN), which includes the self-talk that constantly chatters in the background as you go about your day.
For most of us, the DMN tends to focus on the past or the future instead of the present moment. For example, we may be vaguely aware of thoughts looping through our consciousness, such as “Why did I say something so stupid? What if I’m not good enough? What if the worst case scenario happens?”
A recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study revealed shorter neural responses in regions of the DMN of meditators compared to non-meditators, suggesting that meditating on a regular basis enhances the ability to limit negative self-talk such as dwelling on past mistakes or imagining problems in the future, allowing instead for meditators to stay in the now.
In a nutshell what it means is this: people who meditate consistently are developing an increased ability to become aware of the unhelpful thoughts that are on autopilot, and their ability to take a step back from these unhelpful thoughts keeps improving.
You have within yourself everything you need, and meditation is just one of the tools that can help you unlock your full potential.
“When a caterpillar spins its cocoon, it goes through a transformative process and then emerges as a butterfly. Similarly, when we go through a practice of meditation and prayer, we loosen our egoic grip on a sense of self that is separate from the Whole, and we become vehicles of the emergent evolutionary paradigm of love, peace, compassion, wisdom, harmony and oneness that seeks expression on the planet.” – Michael Beckwith
“Meditation and prayer have withstood the test of time. They work today as perfectly as they did for those who first practiced and perfected them.” – Michael Beckwith
“Learn to become still. And to take your attention away from what you don’t want, and all the emotional charge around it, and place your attention on what you wish to experience.” – Michael Beckwith
“Stop looking outside for help. You’re sourced and fueled and funded by a renewable resource, which is within you. It never runs out. It is your Essence. It’s your life.” – Michael Beckwith
Your subconscious is always going to be on autopilot and the stream of thoughts that your subconscious produces will always be outside of your control. What consistent meditation creates is an increased awareness of these “wild horses” that your mind creates as they come into being. And where perhaps in the past you’ve found yourself desperately clinging onto the backs of one wild horse after the other, regular meditation helps you see that you just don’t have to try and ride any of them, at all. You don’t have to do anything more than to stand behind the fence and watch, and the more you observe the clearer you can see, these thoughts are not who I am…
That is when you start to become familiar with a deeper part of you. Michael Beckwith describes it as, “… then we become vehicles of the emergent evolutionary paradigm of love, peace, compassion, wisdom, harmony and oneness that seeks expression on the planet.”
Double down on your practice of meditation and not only will you clearly begin to see the fearful ways of how the Ego thinks, you’ll also become immersed in the fearless ways of how the Soul thinks. Continue down this path and you will find yourself growing into the expression of your soul, it is the only logical conclusion.
A few affirmations to reflect upon:
- I am not my thoughts; I am the observer of my thoughts.
- I choose to focus on the present moment, where peace resides.
- The deeper I go within, the more I connect with my true self.
- My mind is a tool, not my master.
- Through stillness, I unlock the wisdom of my soul.
In your journey of self-discovery, meditation offers you the chance to break free from the endless loop of negative self-talk and connect with the deeper, wiser part of yourself. Take this opportunity to practice silence, observe your mind, and allow your soul to lead the way.
Have a beautiful Sunday peeps!
– pierre –
Today’s LIVE meditation is: Finding silence.