Meditation

How to Shut Down the Inner Struggle

Do you wake up some days with two conversations going on in your head?

You toss and turn, there is a tug of war going on about deciding what to do.

One voice says, “stay where you are”, “don’t do anything”, “watch out”, “you can’t do this” which is the limiting voice of the ego. The ego doesn’t like growth, risks, vulnerability and the potential for failure. It’s all about keeping you safe so it thinks.

But how are you to grow and expand in this lifetime without stepping into the arena of challenge, of taking a chance? Stretching yourself beyond your current limits? You can’t.

The good news is the more you grow, the more that nagging voice will show up. So, recognize it as a very good sign and tell it “I heard you, not to worry, I’ve got this”.

Honestly, I have been hearing it a lot lately. Whenever I start thinking big and reaching for my dreams, my ego starts screaming at me. If I listened to it I would have accomplished none of the great things that I have done in my life.

One side of your brain supports everything you do. That is the loving side that doesn’t get caught in fear. You can call it spirit, the Universe or your higher self. The name doesn’t really matter but what it says to you does.

The more you nurture your relationship with the loving part of the brain, the fearful voice diminishes.

How do you build your connection to that loving voice in your head?

Simple. Stop multi-tasking. Your brain isn’t wired to do two things at once. When you multi task you are inadvertently weakening your efforts. Things don’t come out as well as they could have. Your brain is feeling split and starts letting you know by negative self-talk or even condemnation.
Meditation is the fastest way to discover the voice within that comes from your soul. Just allow 5-10 minutes for your mind to settle down. Then just breath and listen.
Journaling is another powerful practice that allows your soul to speak to you. Allow it to flow, no need to push and question intensely.
Oracle cards are fabulous. I use various angel decks, Law of Attraction or Kuan Yin. The cards I pull inspire a wonderful internal dialogue with my higher self.

Now when that crippling internal struggle starts, you can decipher who is speaking to you and acknowledge the voice. It is so much fun standing in your power and making powerful choices that take you places that you used to dream about.

Remembering Loved Ones

It was Memorial Day this past weekend and everywhere you looked or read there were posts about remembering our service men and women who gave their lives for their country. What mixed emotions for their families. They are so proud of their sacrifice and yet still feel the pain of their loss.

There is also remembering those that we loved who have passed. It can be a span of many years and you still feel the sadness. I went to the cemetery to plant flowers at my mother and father’s grave. I think it is also part of an old religious tradition that I was introduced to as a child when I would accompany my mother to my grandmother’s grave for Memorial Day and Christmas time. I have often joked that if I didn’t go lightning would probably strike my car or a tree close by me as a warning to get my ass over there.

Surprisingly when I got to the cemetery early Sunday morning, it was so busy. There were flags everywhere on the military graves and fresh flowers or plantings on so many others. I am so glad I went. However, I left feeling sad that they are no longer with me but I know they are always in my heart.

When I got home, I decided to meditate which stirred up more feelings of loss for my beautiful niece. I held a tiny little pillow in my hands for about thirty minutes that she gave me for her last Christmas before she died. It was so beautiful, I could feel her presence so close to me. My heart was exploding with love.

I realized something right then. What a beautiful spiritual practice this is to feel a deeper connection to a lost loved one.

If you have someone you would like to “spiritually connect” with, hold a picture or an item that belonged to them.

Close your eyes and just feel the energy of the item in your hand.

Send your love to them.

Visualize a ray of light coming out of your heart and touching the item in your hand.

Embrace the stillness and allow your feelings of love to expand from your heart.

Just be open to anything you feel.

You may want to journal afterwards any thoughts or images that you experienced.

I had a powerful realization that my loved ones are very close to me and I should never feel alone. I may not be able to physically see them but my spiritual eyes can.

I hope you will try this mediation. Be patient and practice.

I am a ray of love to all my friends and family

Journal Prompt: What emotions are emerging from your new meditation?

Start your Day Right with a Morning Practice

Wouldn’t it be great to start the day feeling peaceful, focused, and inspired? Every day I start my morning feeling centered and at peace. My secret is having a morning practice. Having a daily set of rituals helps you feel grounded in your body, mind, and soul. Taking time to renew helps you be more creative, productive and energized throughout the day.

I have a meditation tray with all my favorite things that make me feel centered. It has photographs of people I love, a statue of Buddha, a rosary, and other treasured items. I am diligent of meditating every day. I created a special meditation room in my home. Sometimes I light a candle before I begin. There I can pray, meditate, and find my focus for the day.

Here’s some ideas for things to include in your morning practice.

1) Start the day with coffee, tea, or water

2) Exercise – This can be some stretches, yoga, or a morning walk with the dog.

3) Journal – Writing a few notes in your journal is a way to capture what’s on your mind. You can start with a journal prompt, writing about the day to come, what you discovered in prayer, meditation, a daily focus… whatever comes to mind. There are no rules.

4) Prayer/Meditation – Slow down and breath. Take time to reconnect to the Divine within you. Listen to the quiet whispers of your soul. Ask for guidance. You will be surprised how centered and focused you can be with just a few minutes of morning prayer to ground you.

5) Personal Development – Dedicate yourself to be a lifelong learner. Read a chapter from your favorite book. Listen to a podcast. Do a daily devotional. Read a newsletter from industry experts. I have a Library of Love I look to for daily growth. In it are titles like “Simple Abundance” abd “Finding your Own North Star”.

6) Get inspired – Uplift your soul. This can be reading an affirmation like “I am happy, healthy, and free”. It may be a word like “courage” that you want to embrace for the day. Perhaps you found an inspirational quote that sparked your interest. I like to spend 10 minutes internalizing my daily affirmation.

7) Be Grateful – The more your count your blessings, the more blessings you have to count. Take time to recognize what’s wonderful in your world. When you appreciate and take joy in what you have, the universe sends you more.

8) Dream and Visualize your Day – What would you like to have, be do? Take a few moments to close your eyes. Imagine what you’d like to see happen. Feel it in your heart. When you feel excited and focus on what you want, it will attract it. What you think about, you bring about. Create a dream map on the wall. Have a dream chest with items and pictures that inspire you. Start a dream folder with pictures about what you’d like to attract into your life.

9) Make a plan – What three things if you did them would make the biggest impact for you? Tackle the biggest task first while you are sharp and full of energy.

So instead of turning on the computer, hopping into your email, and letting the day control you, setup a morning practice. It gives you a beautiful, centered time just for yourself. By easing into your day, you’ll find more joy and stamina to tackle the day.

Consistency means “Adhering to Principles”

In Alpha Chick, my mission is to help you discover your path to purpose and power. One of the steps on the path involves establishing new principles in your life. Principles are like pillars; they create support and a solid foundation for your life.

Once you have taken the time to establish new principles in your life, adhering to them becomes easier. When you become distracted by painful events, pulling you off your path of purpose and power, you can utilize the principles you have instilled into your life. Everything in life requires support, our physical bodies, our minds and everything we engage in has a form of support associated with it.

If you do not take time from your “busyness” to create support for yourself, then your life becomes unmanageable and you lose consistency. Consistency can create comfort for many and enormous angst when it disappears.

How could you create consistency in your life?

1. Daily spiritual/meditation practice. Focusing within rather than concentrating on external circumstances.

2. Accepting yourself just as you are and understanding that all that happens has a purpose for your individual growth.

By developing powerful principles to live by and utilizing them, you empower yourself and attract that which you seek. Consistency is not a daily “habit”. It pulls much more divine energy into it for personal fulfillment.

Start to establish consistency for yourself and please share with us here the rewards you receive.

Live Faithfully,
Mal Duane

Mal Duane is a certified Personal Life Coach with more than 23 years in recovery from alcoholism, who has overcome devastating life challenges using the steps in the Alpha Chick Process. Her personal mission is to help women excel in all areas of their lives from business to personal relationships and attract that which they most desire, as she has, through a connection to the divine power within. Her book Alpha Chick, Five Steps for Moving from Pain to Power is coming in February 2012.

Be sure to subscribe to this blog for regular Alpha Chick updates and invitation to the Alpha Chick telesummit coming soon

The Power of Meditation

People always ask me how something can have power when you are just sitting for a period of time doing nothing. The power that I speak of is not the kind that lifts twenty pound weights. I am speaking of the internal power that you are born with but are never taught to discover. This power will surface to our sub conscious then conscious minds during the process of meditation. It is like turning a light on so we can see who we really are in the mirror. Not the image contrived by our crazy ego or the result of our past experiences.

There is no right way or wrong way, just your way to meditate. It is simply what feels most comfortable for you. At first we are challenged by just being still. In this crazy world of instant gratification and communication, stillness is almost obsolete. I can only say with practice and time, we can slow the raging compulsive desire to be constantly “doing”. It is alright to use music or reading to slow yourself down. Start with taking a few cleansing breaths, breathing in through your nose and exhale through your mouth.

I personally have an area in my home that I go to every morning. This is my sacred space. There is a large tray with some colorful miniature Buddha’s, a beautifully scented candle and some exquisite mala beads that I got as a gift. I have a small vase with colorful flowers and a picture of my parents. I like listening to a CD of Gregorian chanting or Brain Waves technology. My mind slowly slips away, allowing my soulful sub- conscious to emerge. I can feel my connection to all the universal energy around me and a beautiful light expands within me. It is such an amazing feeling of grace, peacefulness and empowerment.

Over time the feeling becomes more pronounced and you may even receive guidance about issues that trouble you. Clarity about your life will appear that you never experienced before. The sense of urgency you once felt dissolves. Meditation is the foundation for the first step of personal transformation which is Focus. It takes time to build this foundation for the next four steps, so be patient.

Here is a link to a great video that has an amazing sound track to support your mediation.

What three steps could you take daily to implement a meditation practice?

Create a special place?
Allocate ten minutes daily to start?
Have a special photograph of loved ones or something that makes you happy?

I would love to follow your progress.

Live Faithfully and with Focus,
Mal Duane

Be sure to subscribe to this blog for regular Alpha Chick updates and invitation to the Alpha Chick telesummit coming soon