Yanni's Blog

Dear Friends,

Because Social Media has really blossomed in the last few years as a way of exchanging information and ideas, I have begun to regularly post articles and quotes on my Facebook page instead of posting them here on my Blog.

So, if you would like to keep up with those postings, please go to either of my Facebook pages listed below and become a Fan. Then you can receive my postings on a regular basis.

http://www.facebook.com/YanniManiates

http://www.facebook.com/InsideOutJourneys

As well, please check out the "Categories"/Subjects and "Archives" section at the bottom of the right-hand column of my blog site here. There you will find over four years of my previous blogs and podcasts. It is a very rich resource of inspiring information on Intuition, Meditation and Spirituality.

Also, please explore my primary web site: http://www.InsideOutJourneys.com

In addition, look at my newly revised and expanded book and audio package Magical Keys to Self-Mastery at http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com

Many Blessings!

Yanni

Posted by Yanni at 8:20 PM | Permalink

Because I have too many commitments on my plate presently, I will temporarily not be posting any blogs or podcasts for the next few months. I expect to start posting again in the late Fall of 2010.

In the interim, please check out the "Categories"/Subjects and "Archives" section at the bottom of the right-hand column of my blog site. There you will find over four years of my previous blogs and podcasts. It is a very rich resource of inspiring information on Intuition, Meditation and Spirituality.

As well, please check out my primary web site: http://www.InsideOutJourneys.com

As well, check out my newly revised and expanded book and audio package Magical Keys to Self-Mastery at http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com

Many Blessings!

Yanni

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Because I have too many commitments on my plate presently, I will temporarily not be posting any blogs or podcasts for the next few months. I expect to start posting again in the Fall of 2010.

In the interim, please check out the Archives section at the bottom of the right-hand column of my blog site. There you will find over four years of my previous blogs and podcasts. It is a very rich resource of inspiring information on Intuition, Meditation and Spirituality.

As well, I have not had a chance to record the meditation for this podcast. If you would like to receive a free copy of the mp3 version of my meditation CD: Peace of Mind is Breath Away: Breathing Free Meditations, please email me at: yanni.maniates@verizon.net and I'll send you a link to it for freee.

Many Blessings!

Yanni

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

This is Part XXII of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

What follows in this blog post is the text of the abdominal breathing meditation which I have recorded as the June 25th, 2009 Podcast. Feel free to either listen to my recording or make your own. As well, read through the text below to get a feel for what you can do to calm yourself down during the day.

Close your eyes now and get nice and comfortable... First thing I would like you to do is to just become aware of your physical body. Notice your feet, how and where they touch the floor. Notice, as well, how you are sitting in your chair, where your body touches the chair and the placement of your arms...

And now become aware, as well, of your whole body. Do a body-scan from the top of your head down to the bottoms of your feet. Just notice if there are any areas that are tight or tense or sore. Or maybe there are areas that feel relaxed. Just have an awareness, not a judgment. Just an awareness of how your body feels.....

Become aware, as well, of your mood, just an awareness of it, don't try to change it.... And your energy level, just an awareness, an objective awareness of how you are right now.

And now I would like you to place your attention on your abdomen and your breathing. I would like you to notice as you breathe in that your abdomen expands slightly. And as you exhale, your abdomen contracts slightly. Now don't force a change in your breathing pattern in order to expand your abdomen; I'm not asking you to change anything, just notice it. Breathing in, the abdomen expands slightly. Breathing out, exhaling, the abdomen contracts, slightly.

So just continue to be aware of your breath, your breathing, your abdomen expanding and your abdomen contracting. Just have an awareness of your breath, your breathing. If there are any distractions or noises that you might hear in the background or foreground, just ignore them. Any thoughts that may come to your mind now; just ignore them, they are not important. Or even any emotions that might bubble up; just ignore them, let them go, let yourself be still and let yourself be quiet.

What I would like you to do now is to begin to see if you can do ten full breaths, a full breath is one inhalation and one exhalation, without getting lost in your thoughts. Find your own rhythm and just see if you can do ten full breaths without losing track. Breathing in, breathing out, without getting lost in your thoughts, emotions or any distractions. Just be present within the stillness of yourself, for it is in that stillness that you will find the real you, that is, a human "being" and not a human "doing."

Continue counting your inhalations and your exhalations. If you lose count and don't make it to ten, that's fine. Start again and start counting all over again. Some thoughts or emotions may make it into your awareness as you do this, but just ignore them and keep counting your breath. Just do you best to keep your primary awareness on your breath. Allow everything else to fade away to recede.

If you get to ten, then just continue counting beyond the ten, just counting the breath, keeping your focus on your abdomen. When you focus on your abdomen and count your breath, it helps to calm you down. It draws the energies down that are bouncing around in your head and grounds them in your belly so to speak. This is a great breath to do whenever you feel anxious, worried or just plain hyper. Just breathe in and breathe out and note the rise and fall of your abdomen as you do.

As you continue, you might even notice or feel that your breathing has become deeper and slower. Your blood pressure is going down and your pulse is slowing. You are releasing relaxation hormones into your blood stream. Physiologically you have made a significant change in your blood chemistry in just these few minutes. Whereas before you may have been in a fight or flight state and your body was tense and poised to run or attack and filled with stress hormones, now you are in a relaxed state, a peaceful state, a healing state. Continue the counting of the breath, the inhalation and the exhalation for a few more breaths....

And now you can begin to let go of your focus on your breath... Make note of what your mood is now.... What your energy level feels like... As you did at the beginning just do a quick body scan from head to toe and just feel, sense, see how your body is doing now....And now become aware of your feet, your abdomen, your chest, your hands, your head, your breathing and your breath. Take a few conscious breaths and begin to come up and out. When you are ready you can begin to open your eyes, with a soft focus, so much more relaxed, so much more at peace, than when we began.

This is Part XXII of a twenty-two part blog.

Hope that you have enjoyed this mini-course on meditation. Wishing you all the best!

Peace be with you!

Yanni

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XXI Podcast"

(length 5:00 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XXI of a twenty-two part part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it is best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

What follows are some suggestions on how to prepare to sit in a formal meditation:

Now, in terms of how you sit or what you do when you meditate, the most important thing is to make sure you are comfortable. If you have the flexibility to go into the yoga lotus or the half-lotus position, then certainly do so. If you don't have the flexibility, then I would not suggest you do that. You can meditate very effectively sitting comfortably in straight backed chair. This is the way I do it all the time.

Just sit up straight with you spine erect, but not rigid. It is best that your legs are on the ground and are not crossed. Your hands are in your lap, palms up or down, whatever is most comfortable for you. If at any point during the meditation you are uncomfortable, then shift. Move around a bit. If you need to cough, do so. Don't spend ten minutes suppressing a cough or being physically uncomfortable and then conclude that you can't meditate. As well, breathe in and out of your nostrils and not your mouth.

The most important thing to remember is to make sure you are comfortable while you are doing meditation. I might add, though, not so comfortable that you fall asleep. By the way, I do not recommend that you lie on the floor or a bed when you meditate because you are very likely to fall asleep. Lie down only if you have a significant back problem. So, again, the idea is to be as comfortable as possible, yet still alert; and, most importantly, enjoy the experience of "being" with yourself.

Also, make sure that wherever you do the meditation is quiet and let all your "significant others" know that this is your quiet time to take care of yourself.

On my next podcast of June 25,2009 I will lead you in a guided abdominal breathing meditation.

This is Part XXI of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XX Podcast"

(length 4:40 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XX of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

In conclusion, regarding the many different meditation techniques that are out there, I have been teaching meditation for twenty years and practicing for forty. From my point of view every type or school of meditation is just a technique. Whatever you are most comfortable with and whatever works best for you is the right one for you to do. That is my take on it. So, if a technique works for you, it is the right one! And if at times you need to change the type of meditation you are doing, then certainly do so.

But I have found that working with the breath is the place most meditative traditions begin and that is why I am focusing on it in this mini-course. If you can master this one simple technique, you are well on your way to a much more health full and peace full life.

And finally, I have come to see that meditation is the greatest tool or gift that I have been given in my life because it has taught me to find the deep well of peace that dwells within me and to discover the ground to my Being. It has taught me to be the Master of my mind and thus the Master of my life. It has taught me how to come to know my Self, that is, my Higher Self--my "most significant other."

There is so much more I can say, but I hope this brief introduction to meditation has been helpful.

Blessings and Peace!

Remember: Peace of Mind is a Breath or a Thought or an Image Away

In the next blog post, number XXI, I share with you directions on how best to meditate. In the concluding blog post, number XXII, I post the text of a 5-6 minute abdominal breathing meditation that I have recorded for the June 25, 2009 podcast. EnJoy!

This is Part XX of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XIX Podcast"

(length 4:36 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XIX of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

So, again, as I mentioned earlier, meditation is very much like the numerous personal hygiene habits that you already practice such as taking a shower, brushing and flossing your teeth, washing your clothes and keeping your house clean. Meditation is like taking your daily shower or keeping the house of your mind clean. I would not go without doing this.

When you hands are dirty, do you wash them? When your thoughts are junky, do you clean them up? Why not?

Lastly, I would like to address an issue that comes up a lot for people who are beginning to meditate or starting up again. One of the things they often say to me is how can I find any more time in my already jam packed day to do this - it is going to stress me out even more?

Again, as I mentioned earlier there is enough time in the day. There really is! You don't have to sit in meditation for an hour--though if you want to, you certainly can--but you can find time to meditate in the car or when you waiting in line or in those in between times in your day. You just have to remember.

Give yourself a break from all your incessant thinking to calm down and refresh your mind and body. As you build this habit into your life, you will come back to it more and more because it gives you life and energy.

In time, more and more you will learn to respond from a place of a deep conscious full breath, rather than from a place of hyperventilation. You cannot have a negative emotion or thought when you are breathing deeply and fully. Your mind is as clear as it can be when you are breathing fully and deeply.

So, why not live your life clear? Why not live your life with your brain having as much oxygen as possible so that you can make decisions with all of its capacity engaged? As well, you can be physiologically a lot less tense and so much relaxed and balanced.

This is Part XIX of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XVIII Podcast"

(length 4:54 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XVIII of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

Let me be clear, though. I am not saying don't get angry. Situations arise where anger is appropriate. But what should you do with your anger? Anger is really a trigger for you to take action, which is either to get out of the situation or to express yourself appropriately. But when anger arises it is not good to hold the anger in and do nothing with it because then it burns you up inside and implodes within you or you eventually explode it out there in an inappropriate manner. So you either implode it within you or explode out. Or you deal with it appropriately.

When you feel anger, take ten deep breaths and then decide the appropriate action to take. Don't be angry and act angry. First be aware you are angry, take it as a cue to take action, take ten deep breaths and then act appropriately. Find an appropriate way to express what is important to you or wait for an appropriate time to express it.

Stephen Covey the author of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" explains that between every stimulus and every response, there is always at least a brief lapse of time. The gift of what you learn with meditation is to increase that amount of time between the stimulus and your response so that you can make a conscious, volitional, intentional, effective, intelligent response rather than a habitual, spur of the moment one that can get you in trouble.

This applies not only to your interactions with another person, but also relative to yourself. Sometimes we get caught up in negative mental patterns either about another person or about ourselves. But if you just notice you are doing this and stop and say to yourself, "Whoa, wait a minute, what good is this doing me?" Then you can literally change your whole physiology, your blood chemistry and, as well, take the most appropriate action. You can stop and take ten deep breaths and then decide what action to take. In this way, you neither internalize nor externalize what you are feeling or thinking in an inappropriate way.

This is Part XVIII of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 2:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XVII Podcast"

(length 4:35 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XVII of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

As I come to the conclusion here, I feel that I must mention the following given that there is usually quite a bit of resistance to practicing meditation regularly.

There are times when we sit down to meditate and we find that our mind is in super hyper-overdrive. [By the way, this happens to me, too, and I have practicing for over 40 years.] Even when this happens to you, just stay with it. Don't give up. Just observe the patterns of thought that you are having and do the best you can to simply observe the thoughts and patterns. In doing so, you are at least taking the edge off of them and eventually you will learn how to better and better detach from them completely.

As well, do not resist the thoughts you are having either because "what you resist, persists." What you must do is to allow the thoughts to flow by and away from you. In other words, don't identify with the thoughts and end up getting caught up or enmeshed in them. Just observe them as neutrally as possible. Even if something comes up in your mind that needs to be dealt with, just let it go for now and know that it will come back later when it is the proper time to deal with it. Eighty percent of what we worry about never happens anyhow, so why be in overdrive thinking about "stuff" all the time!

As well, it is worth noting in this regard that a lot of our internal dialogue is self-critical. As you practice meditation, you'll notice that you are constantly dumping on yourself or you are projecting that dumpy dumpster stuff out onto somebody else. It is not doing you any good if you are dumping on yourself or another. Actually it is just dumping catabolic stress hormones into your system. And like the Buddha said, if you hold anger or resentment toward someone else, it is like taking hot coals and holding them in your hand. Why in heaven's name would you want to do that?

This is Part XVII of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XVI Podcast"

(length 4:25 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XVI of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

So, what is a healthy, balanced amount of breaths per minute? Eight is. Be assured, though, that you don't have to be a Yogi to attain this or have bells on your toes and rings on your nose. Again, a normal amount of breaths per minute is eight. What most of us usually do is fourteen to fifteen, if not even more.

At eight breaths per minute we are breathing deeply enough to fully use all of our lung capacity and fully oxygenate our bodies. Why we usually breathe in a shallow manner is because we are tense and this tension causes us to not get enough oxygen into our systems.

And, again, the reason we are not getting enough oxygen is because we are only using 40% of the capacity of our lungs. We are only using, at best, the top two thirds of our lungs. By the way, researchers have found that anyone with a cardiovascular problem, no matter what the problem, is a shallow breather.

Interestingly, when these same researchers taught their subjects to breathe deeply, they were able to help them lower their blood pressure and were even able to begin the process of helping them reverse other cardiovascular conditions from getting worse and prevent other conditions from arising at all.

Dean Ornish, MD, has done a lot of research and work in this area. He has a number of best selling books on this topic. His approach regarding cardiovascular issues revolves around teaching his patients how to eat a healthy diet and practice meditation. For him meditation is as important a part of his program as is diet.

This is Part XVI of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XV Podcast"



(length 4:39 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XV of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

The value of breathing in deeply and pushing the diaphragm down lies in the fact that this action allows the lungs to fully oxygenate, to fully be used. Because we are so tense most of the time, we don't breathe deeply enough to expand our diaphragm. Actually, our diaphragm barely moves and as a result we are not using the bottom third of our lungs when we breathe.

Well, so what does that mean? It means that we are only getting 40% of the oxygenation we could potentially get. What does that mean? It means brain freeze when there is not enough oxygen going to your brain.

It means that your cells age more rapidly than necessary. For example, your red blood cells are recreated every 120 days. In other words after 120 days all of your red blood cells have died off and have been replaced with new ones. And what do you think is the primary nutrient for red blood cells? It is not food, it is oxygen.

So, every time we breathe in a shallow, tense manner we are depriving our red blood cells of the primary nutrition they need. As a result of this deprivation the next generation of red blood cells we create is less healthy and vital than the first one and so on down the line. So, we are gradually and consistently wearing and tearing ourselves down and diminishing the quality of our cells and therefore our lives because of tense improper breathing and thinking.

Also, it is important to note that the average number of breaths per minute that most people take is somewhere between thirteen to fifteen breaths. This number of breaths is not occurring when you are really hyped out. It actually occurs when you are functioning relatively "normally." What is significant here is that starting at fourteen breaths and up per minute you are clinically in a stress cycle.

This is Part XV of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 12:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XIV Podcast"

(length 4:50 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XIV of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

If you want to change, you have to change something. Most people are willing to change their physical diet. But I would urge you to realize that changing one's mental diet is just as important, if not perhaps more important. In order to change, you must change your mind first or you will never change. You will remain the same.

As Henry Ford wrote, "Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you are right." So, what you constantly think about manifests in your life. Believe you can change and you will. Believe you can't and you won't. Junky thoughts create a junky life.

One more piece I would to focus on is the value of deep or conscious breathing. I would like to spend a little time now explaining the mechanism of breathing.

We all have lungs. They are pear shaped by virtue of the way they were formed. As well, gravity helps them to be pear shaped or wider at the bottom and thinner at the top. What researchers have found is that during each minute you are breathing, the top third of your lungs process approximately three ounces of blood per minute--in other words, the oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange. The middle third of your lungs process twenty-two ounces of blood per minute and the bottom third of your lungs process thirty-six ounces of blood per minute. Obviously a lot exchange is happening in the bottom third.

Why I am bringing this up is because most people do not breathe deeply and fully enough. They have what are called "frozen" diaphragms. The diaphragm is a muscle that separates the heart cavity from the abdominal cavity. It is concave when it is in a relaxed mode. Thus, when you breathe in, you push down on it and elongate it. That is what creates the Buddha belly or the expansion of your abdomen when you inhale. It is your diaphragm going down and pushing out that causes your belly to expand.

This is Part XIV of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XIII Podcast"

(length 4:44 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XIII of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

Regarding multi-tasking, if you have deal with multiple issues at the same time, that is fine some of the time. But you don't need to be "doing" all the time. As I mentioned earlier, in this regard Deepak Chopra has said: "We are human 'beings.' We are not human 'doings'."

So, we have to learn to not just be "doing" all the time. When I get burnt out from being on the computer too long, I just go lie on the floor and breathe for five minutes. Then I go back to my computer and I can work again. Five minutes, I feel fine and I am back.

Yeah, I know, I work out of my home. OK. But I also had a job with a corner office in New York on 5th Avenue. But I would still close the door. People knew that when my door was closed, if you came in there, you were in trouble. Come in when the door is open, it is OK. I would close the door for just five minutes. I would either lie on the couch or sit in my chair. By doing this I could clear enough tension with my abdominal breathing to feel refreshed enough to work again.

So maybe you work in a cubicle or parent many children. Whatever? In the car, during a break, whenever, you can find a minute or two to consciously breath. And what is so neat about all this and what will end up happening is that you will remember in the middle of a stressful situation, instead of hyperventilating, to instead breathe. And then you can make a decision about what to do in the situation that is centered and grounded, and therefore, most likely to be constructive.

We can make conscious, intelligent, effective choices. But if we are habitually programmed or simply chose to respond in dysfunctional ways, we will continue responding dysfunctionally.

This is Part XIII of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XII Podcast"

(length 5:02 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XII of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

So, meditation is a way, in a sense, to kind of cleanse your mind, so to speak, as well as your emotions, to clean out a little bit, chill out, come to another place with it all--to let go of some of the junk and tension that is there.

So, do these abdominal breaths for at least three minutes at a time. It only takes three minutes to switch from having catabolic, stress hormones being released into your blood stream to having relaxation or anabolic, healing hormones being released into your system. It really just takes three minutes and in that time you can feel physiologically very different--so much better. Modern science has found that simply by practicing this breathing technique, you can profoundly change the composition of your blood chemistry in your body in just three minutes.

Actually, I recommend five minutes, simply because it takes a minute or so to get into the state initially and you definitely want to come out of it slowly for at least a minute or so. Regardless, this is not a lot of time given the benefits that you gain. There are enough breaks in the day to do this a few times a day.

As I mentioned earlier, I do this on the grocery or the bank line if they are long. I can stand on line and get angry or cranky or I can stand there and just breathe and relax. Just breathe! Just focus on my breathing. Then my mind gets away from thinking, "God this is taking forever!"

Or I can do the breathing while in traffic or during totally boring meetings. Instead of sitting there and getting all uptight, I can just focus on my breath. If you are not thinking about something negative, then your body is not experiencing negativity. A tense mind is what creates a tense body.

This is Part XII of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part XI Podcast"

(length 4:53 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part XI of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

So, whenever you are feeling upset or worried, anxious, or overly excited, remember to breathe into your belly. Your abdomen naturally expands and contracts when you are breathing. Just feel your abdomen rise on the inhalation and then on the exhalation feel your abdomen fall. By doing this you can calm yourself down. This is called abdominal breathing.

So, to explain in more detail, breathe in for a count of 4 as your abdomen expands, then hold for a count of 1-2, imagining any tension that is in there being gathered on the hold. Then on the exhalation, the length of the exhalation does not matter, release. Do this while breathing in and out through your nostrils. Do your best to do ten full breaths of this abdominal breathing without losing count--without getting lost in your thoughts.

As I mentioned earlier, you can do this simple exercise in most any setting: while waiting at the chiropractor's, standing in line at the bank or grocery store, during a meeting, you can even do it while driving your car with your eyes open, of course.

So, when you are feeling these emotions, just breathe down into your abdomen.

Life too often brings us situations where we can get upset, overly excited or anxious or worried. But consider this, if your hands are dirty, you would want to wash them. Wouldn't you? So if you are full of tension, isn't that a kind of a mental dirt? Wouldn't you want to wash it off?

We all practice physical hygiene, take showers, brush and floss our teeth, which we do every day; Right? and we wash our hands if they are really dirty. Right? But do we ever think of regularly cleaning off this other "debris." I would say that doing this is as important as our physical hygiene.

This is Part XI of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part X Podcast"



(length 4:14 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part X of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

If something stressful happens, the calmer you can remain the wiser and more sensibly you will respond. If you are constantly freaking out, then you are just going to respond in a way that is usually not very appropriate. So, what I am saying here is that most people don't realize that the calmer they are the better they are able to respond to any given situation.

Yes, again there are certain situations where being proactive is good, of course, but if we are always anticipating and always being hyper-vigilant, oh my God, we are always on guard. How can you ever be relaxed? How can you enjoy your life?

Also, it is interesting to note that depending on the kind of stress you are experiencing, the tension gets stored in specific areas of your body. If you are into a lot of worry, anxiety, being very upset and/or overly excited, the tension goes into your abdominal area.

When you are in any of these emotional states what happens is that your adrenals are going crazy and are in overdrive and as a result they are secreting stress hormones. As well, your digestive track is compromised thus you don't eat when you are stressed because there are no digestive juices being secreted. Or you do eat and your food is poorly digested and minimally absorbed. As well, your pancreas is overworked and your blood sugar goes berserk. Do this enough and you end up with diabetes. Also your spleen gets all stressed out which compromises up your immune system. So when we are overly worried and anxious we store a lot of tension in this area and negatively affect a lot of organs.

This is Part X of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part IX Podcast"



(length 4:28 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part IX of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

The mind creates all kind of havoc when it is in overdrive and anything that is in overdrive too long eventually crashes or causes crashes. Run your computer with too many programs all at once and it just freezes up on you. And then you have to do whatever you have to do to get it back up and running again. The same thing applies when you overload your mind with fear, worry, anger, etc, you create a systems breakdown within your body. Modern science is substantiating this.

The mind is not meant to be going or multi-tasking all the time. Believe me, when I started learning about all of this, I thought that what I have just been saying was a pile of poop. It was like, "Right?" I was convinced that I had to always be thinking and anticipating everything. I thought I was a human "doing" and a human "thinking" rather than a human "being" as Deepak Chopra writes.

So, despite my Southern Mediterranean ancestry which I conveniently blame for everything wrong with me--you know, all that over excitability that we kind of get into--but despite my ancestry, my over excitability does not have to be the way I function in life. I can use my ancestry and upbringing as an excuse for my "problems," but my life is really completely in my control if I learn how to "catastrophyze" and "awfulize" less and less.

If you can remember to just take slow, long deep breaths as often as you can and focus on your breath, then your mind will chill out and your body will relax. When you do this, you come back to what is really important. Matter of fact, what is really most important comes to you more easily because you are calmer and, therefore, more aware.

This is Part IX of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part VIII Podcast"



(length 4:09 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part VIII of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

Another way of saying what I am saying is that if you put "junk food" in your body, you know you will end up with a junky body eventually. What most people don't realize is that if you have a lot of junky thoughts, you will, also, have a junky body and, as well, as end up with junky experiences in your life.

Whatever you focus on, you end up experiencing in life. Whatever you are looking at, you see. That is just the way it works. The purpose of explaining all of this is not to turn you into a meditating junkie or a guru or have you go off to the Himalayas, take your clothes off and wander around eating berries. I mean unless that is your idea of a good time. It is not mine, I might add. Eating berries are OK, but I would rather buy them at a grocery store.

What I am suggesting is that when you were a child you knew how to breathe correctly and you knew how to relax. Kids know how to find the "zone." But as time went on, you acquired patterns that taught you that "thinking" or "doing" or "worrying" all the time somehow was good.

Now am I saying here; "Don't think?" No, not at all! Am I saying don't be proactive? No, not at all! What I am saying is that this organ, the mind, is meant to slow down periodically or to go into neutral. Just like your car does. If your mind does not take periodic breaks, you don't sleep well at night. It is, also, why you may feel jittery and can't focus. It is very likely why you overeat. As well, it has many other negative ramifications.

This is Part VIII of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part VII Podcast"



(length 6:54 minutes)



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Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part VII of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

But even though what you were worrying about doesn't actually happen to you, you still physiologically have the experience as if you did. You may have been taught if you worry about things, they won't happen or you will better anticipate what to do. But worrying all the time really wears your body down because of all the catabolic hormones you release into your body.

I would suggest that if you proactively come up with a plan for something that you think might happen, let the plan sit and don't worry or think about it again. This way you will not be wearing your body out with stress hormones. When the time comes to act, you will know what to do and you will do what is best for the situation.

But if you "awfulize" all the time, you then send stress hormones throughout your system and catabolize or breaking down your system. So, worrying all the time will eventually trigger whatever genetic weaknesses you may have to come to the surface. If you are not doing all this "awfulizing and catastophyzing", then the genetic predispositions may never surface or may surface in a way that is not significant.

So we don't choose the genetic predispositions we inherit, but we do choose, to a greater degree, which ones are triggered and to which degree they are triggered by our mental and emotional behavior, as well as our diet.

So, it is so important to understand that meditation is an integral and essential component in attaining wellness. It is as important as diet and exercise in terms of physiological well-being. Most people don't associate meditation with being physiologically well. But the connection is essential.

This is Part VII of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part VI Podcast"



(length 4:14 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part VI of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

Before we get to the meditation exercise, I would like to share the following regarding the physiological value of meditation. There are studies showing that just mediation by itself can actually help to not only prevent heart disease but to actually reverse it. It has been found that by meditating regularly plaque can actually be sloughed off of the arteries. This can occur because when you meditate you release hormones into your body that heal and repair--that is, anabolic hormones. When you are having stressful, negative thoughts your body does not release these hormones. It releases, instead, catabolic hormones that tear down your body.

Your body is always striving to maintain and attain homeostasis or balance. If you stop creating tension, you give it a chance to find this balance and healing.

When a rhinoceros is charging, you need to run or fight, in other words, the fight or flight response. And so, when under stress, you release hormones that give you the energy to run like the dickens or fight to the death, but in the process you are tearing your body down from the inside-out.

Also, it is interesting to note that modern science has discovered that whatever we imagine, we experience physiologically. So, if you just imagine something negative, your body responds physiologically as if it is having the negative experience. So that is why worry is totally useless and detrimental to do because 80% or 90% of what worry about does not even happen.

This is Part VI of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award-winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part V Podcast"



(length 4:31 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part V of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

As well, please note that you can do the breathing meditation/exercise that I will share with you later on with your eyes wide open, while you are standing in line at the bank or a grocery store, while attending a boring meeting, etc., in any setting where you don't need to be putting your complete attention on anything in particular. You don't have to sit for hours in meditation to get its benefits.

You can even do this while driving your car with your eyes open, of course. No, I'm not crazy! You can do this while driving. I always do it. As I drive to teach a class or to any destination, for that matter, instead of thinking about the hundreds of things that I may need to do, I choose instead to just BE, to be present and conscious with myself, with my body and with my breath. This way I am more relaxed while I am driving and as a result of being more relaxed, I am much more alert.

So, instead of incessantly thinking, I give myself a break from all that "thinking" and "doing" and just consciously breathe all the way to my destination. As well, I do this as often as I can in as many other settings as possible.

Again with regard to driving, you really are much more alert when you are relaxed. Accidents occur when you are distracted and usually you are distracted because you are overly caught up in some emotional or mental drama in your mind. By doing this technique, you will actually be much, much more alert and relaxed while driving and you also will be much more relaxed when you reach your destination. You will respond more effectively to any stimulus that occurs while you are driving and you will be aware of a lot more of what is going on than you would be if your mind were overly cluttered and distracted by too many thoughts.

This is Part V of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part IV Podcast"



(length 4:02 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part IV of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

So, meditation can help you to learn how to slow your mind down enough so that you can consciously and proactively choose what you think about and how you feel. Yes, there are stressors or "buttons" that will get pushed, and will cause you to "loose it;" that's called "life." But one can still choose how one reacts, no matter what is happening or has happened. You can choose to "loose" it completely or just step back and be objective with regard to what is going on.

So, the key here is to learn how to bring forth the relaxation response more and more often during your day instead staying stuck in a constant state of overdrive, of over-thinking. In other words how can you minimize being hyper during the day? How can you minimize the fight or flight response?

You can minimize it by creating many little mini-breaks during your day to help calm yourself down. All you need is three minutes at a time. I will outline a breathing exercise shortly that will change your blood chemistry from one that is overloaded with stress hormones to one that is full of healing relaxation hormones. All you need is three minutes. And in those three minutes you will have affected a profound physiological change in your body and you will feel quite different.

The whole point of teaching you this breathing meditation is to help you to remember to take regular breaks from your incessant "thinking" and "doing" so that you can give your mind a respite and your body a breather, physiologically.

This is Part IV of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award-winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part III Podcast"



(length 4:04 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part III of a twenty-two part mini-course in Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

Our bodies were not built to live under the mental stresses of this age nor were they meant to be sedentary. Now, I am not suggesting that you go into a cave, eat wild berries, roam the forests and meditate for the rest of your life, and forget all of your responsibilities.

But what we can do is to learn how to lessen the intensity of the over-stimulation that we experience. Our bodies are not capable of handling this over-stimulation for long periods of time without significantly breaking down, be it physiologically or emotionally.

So, what meditation does, and it has been around for many millennia, is to help you to slow down and to feel physiologically and emotionally better and more balanced. This is the incredible gift that meditation freely offers anyone willing to experiment with it.

What we do not realize is that our minds do not think on their own; we choose what we think about. It may seem at times that we don't choose our thoughts and that we don't choose our emotional reactions and that our minds and emotions have a "mind of their own." But, in fact, you can learn to choose what you think about and you can learn to choose how you feel.

You can choose to "awfulize" or you can choose to see the best in yourself and your situation.

There can be a big difference in how you experience an event. It depends on whether you see the cup half-empty or half-full. How you choose to perceive an event determines how you physiologically and emotionally experience it.

This is Part III of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award-winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part II Podcast"



(length 4:33 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part II of a twenty-two part mini-course on Meditation in which I discuss the benefits of Meditation, how to best do it and use it and then lead you in a guided meditation at the end. In order to get the most out of these blogs and podcasts, it would be best for you to go back and start with the first blog entry on January 25, 2009.

Negative or intense thoughts release stress hormones and relaxing, happy thoughts release relaxation hormones. The hormones have more complicated names than that, but so be it in this kind of a presentation.

So, as your mind slows and calms down, so does your body. And not only does your body slow and calm down so that it is not as tense, but, as an added benefit, the relaxation hormones you are now releasing are "anabolic," that is, they actually build up or heal your body.

In contrast, when you secrete stress hormones, you create a "catabolic" effect; that is, an effect that breaks down your body. So when you are stressed you are creating an environment within yourself physiologically that is literally breaking you down (catabolism). That is why there are a lot of stress related illnesses. Some experts believe that nearly 80% of all doctor visits are stress related.

So, therefore, in order to be as fit physiologically as you can, it really is important to learn how to master your mind. You need to learn how to allow your mind to go into a neutral state more often than it does now. [By the way, there is nothing wrong with multi-tasking. It is a very useful function. But the problem occurs when you are multi-tasking all or most of the time.] Our human bodies have been around a very long time and there really is only about a 1.0% difference between the makeup of a Neanderthal's body and ours.

So, we were created to function optimally by being, as our ancestors were, physically active. As well, we are not made to be as mentally over-stimulated as we are with all the data and information and "doing" and "thinking" we engage in in this modern technological age.

This is Part II of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award-winning book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Meditation--A Way to Become Physically, Mentally and Metaphysically Fit, Part I Podcast"



(length 4:32 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Starting today and continuing through the next twenty-two weeks of blogs and podcasts, I will be offering a course on Meditation. The first twenty one posts will be a discussion about Meditation, its benefits and how to best use it and do it. In the last post I will lead you in a guided meditation.

Most people discount meditation when they speak of getting fit. They usually think of fitness solely in terms of doing exercise and eating a proper diet. From my point of view it is not only physical fitness that we want to aim towards, but there is also a mental and psychological or even a metaphysical fitness that I personally believe is primary in attaining well rounded health and wellness.

What meditation really helps one learn how to do is to slow down and quiet the mind. Of course, you might well ask, "What good does that do?" Actually slowing the mind down is a very valuable skill to learn because every thought and feeling that we have gets expressed in every cell in our body.

This happens because every thought and feeling we have creates synaptic exchanges in our brain which then creates a hormonal response. So, a hormone of some kind, either a stress or relaxation one, is released as result of the kinds of thoughts and feelings we have. These hormones, courtesy of our cardiovascular system, are then pumped throughout our whole body and bathe all our cells. So that when you are angry about something, the cells in your big toe are bathed in an anger hormone and you now have an angry big toe, so to speak.

So, too, with being uptight or anxious, when you are uptight or anxious it is not just something that is going on in your mind, it is something that also is happening in you physiologically--in your body. So the kinds of thoughts and feelings you have determine whether a stress or a relaxation hormone is released into your bloodstream and that then determines what your body is experiencing.

This is Part I of a twenty-two part blog.

Please go to the following link if you have interest in my award-wining book on Meditation and Intuition: http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com/

As well, if you have interest in my Meditation CDs, please go to the following link:
http://www.LearnMastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The Keys to Awakening and Ascension Podcast, Part II"



(length 5:21 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part II of a two Part blog. Go to my blog entry of 01/11/10 for Part I.

How can you live your life not knowing who you ARE?

It is the most important question you can ask yourself. It is the most important quest you can embark on in your life. And it is precisely why you have incarnated this time.

Your purpose in coming forth in this dimension at this time is to come to truly, finally and completely "Know Thy Self." To finally without a scintilla of a doubt know who you ARE so that you can embody and experience that "knowing" throughout the rest of your eternity.

In other words you have come forth this time to totally "get" this lesson and to then move on to greater and greater experiences and realizations of the Love of God/Goddess.

For each one of you the process of getting the answer to the question of "Who AM I?" will be different. So, there is no one way to find the answer nor is there the same answer for every one.

But as you ask the question, you begin to eliminate who you are not and then eventually you come to know who you are.

You will know that you are there, that is, that you have found the answer, when you have stopped asking the question. For there is no answer to the question of ´"Who AM I." Actually, there is not even the question. There is just the profound experience of your Self as God/Goddess.

And when that "knowing" comes over you, you know you "know" who you are and why you are, but it no longer matters!

For now you have found your Self and all your questions have now turned into answers.

So, what was once a big "WHY" no longer matters. And the big "WHY" has now turned into a big "Y" that stands for and sees it all as one big "YES!"

So, seek ye first your Self and all will be added!

NB Please do think about what you have just read, just "feel" it; don't think it and you then will "know" if it resonates with you.

This is Part II of a two part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The Keys to Awakening and Ascension, Part I, Podcast"



(length 4:33 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Actually, becoming awakened is very simple. Just learn how to "be present" with your Self and this will allow you to be "awakened" to who you really are. As well, it will help you to know all you need to know about your current life circumstances and about others.

But what does "being present" with your Self really mean? It means just sitting and listening to your self. Listening initially to the dissonance of fear, anger and confusion that by default keeps running in your mind; and then letting all that static fade away so that finally, in the Silence, you get to hear your real Self.

And there, in the presence of your Self, you know you "know" and then you are finally, truly, and irrevocably free from all the limiting beliefs that block you from knowing and "being" who you ARE.

It is in this place and space of communion, connection and Embrace that you will find the answer to the most important question you could ever ask of yourself: "Who AM I?" And the answer that you find will be one that will help you to realize and take ownership of the fact that you are loved, whole, and free and that you have eternal value!

For this precisely is what awakening really is--knowing who you really ARE in all your magnificence and splendor! "Being present" with your Self is the key that will help you to open the doors to the mystery and majesty of who you really are.

This will allow you to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, Nirvana, Valhalla, the place that is your true domicile, your real home--a place of profound love, truth, and wisdom.

So, just sit with your Self for awhile each day this week and ask that you can come to "Know Thy Self!" Ask sincerely and "be present" to listen; and believe me, all the forces of Heaven will come to your side to assist you.

Doing this is a marvelous opportunity to be present with your "most significant other"--your Self!

How can you live your life not knowing who you ARE?

This is Part I of a two part blog. Part II will be posted on 01/18/10

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Suffering Teaches How to Become Masters of Love, Podcast, Part VI"



(length 6:54 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part VI of a six part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please see my previous entries of 11/30/09 for Part I, of 12/07/09 for Part II, of 12/14/09 for Part III, of 12/21/09 for Part IV and of 12/28/00 for Part V.

Below are a series of affirmations or phrases I have created and use to help me to stay in a place of unconditional Love:

Be assured that if you follow anyone other than your Self, you will surely get lost.

Take the time to really "listen" to your Self and all will become crystal clear.

God/Goddess loves you no matter what because in doing so, He/She loves Him/Herself.

Don't take your life's experiences personally, these experiences are not who you ARE! They are just steps on your path to Awakening! You ARE so much more!

Hang in there! You CAN do it! And actually you ARE doing it!

Trust the process and most importantly Trust your Self!

Fear is the ultimate illusion. Empowerment the ultimate Truth!

It's all a series of conclusions about a series of delusions.

When you appreciate something, you allow yourself to fully receive it!

Rather than "making the best of it," "make it the best!"

Love is being unconditionally present for yourself and another!

Make your Life a Meditation, not a Race; Proceed at the Speed of Grace and Trust.

In conclusion I would like to share a channeled passage from Kryon:

There seems to be so much sorrow on the planet. Can you work within the framework of the test before you? Can you put on your armor and shields of sacredness and walk through the sorrow, fear and disappointment of what other Humans have done, without judgment of them or without being discouraged? The more light you carry, the more you will see that which is sorrowful on Earth. Only the masters can "see" these things as reasonable within the scheme of why you're here. It is important that the Lighthouses are not distracted by the storms as they shine their lights. Otherwise, they become useless.

So, it is so, so important to not let your ego determine the perspective you have on the experiences you or others are having.

Please remember to go into meditation regularly and quiet your mind and open your heart so that you might allow the wisdom, love and light of your Higher Self to illuminate and reveal the path before you!

May you dwell Peace!

The gift that suffering bestows upon us is that it teaches us how to become Masters of Love!

This is Part VI of a six part blog entry.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Suffering Teaches How to Become Masters of Love, Podcast, Part V"



(length 5:16 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part V of a six part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please see my previous entries of 11/30/09 for Part I, of 12/07/09 for Part II, of 12/14/09 for Part III and of 12/21/09 for Part IV.

So, when you can unconditionally accept everything and everyone, you have learned the ultimate lesson of what Love is all about. It is in this state of acceptance that the illusions of lack, insufficiency, fear, and inadequacy all disappear and the reality of your beauty, majesty, wisdom, power and eternal value become very clear and bright.

All that you previously interpreted with your ego's eyes as failure and "suffering" is now seen as just steps leadings you out of the illusion of your separateness and aloneness and instead into the realms of Oneness, Light and Love that your Higher Self or Soul dwells in eternally.

Even the Awakened One, the Buddha, said:

But once all this "suffering" is seen as the illusion that it really is, then the true Light of who you really are finally awakens within you and then you can own, know, integrate and embody it in a way that it becomes you and you become IT.

So, let go of your ego's desire to have things always go your way, i.e. the way you "think" they should--that is, the way your ego mind wants them to go. Let your Soul instead be in the driver's seat.

Let go of the need to hold onto things that are already as you desire so they will continue to be what you want. Believe me, they never will remain the same. The only constant in this universe is "change."

Let go of trying to control others, you never will!

Let go of your fears, projections, illusions and defenses.

Let go of the need to make others wrong or right or to judge them.

Just dwell in the Light of your Soul by sitting in meditation and all will be revealed to you! "Be still and know!" Listen to the "still, small voice within!" It will lead you to your true Self.

This is part V of a six Part blog entry.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Suffering Teaches How to Become Masters of Love, Podcast, Part IV"



(length 4:19 minutes)

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Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part VI of a six part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please see my previous entries of 11/30/09 for Part I, of 12/07/09 for Part II and of 12/14/09 for Part III.

Love is not an emotion; it is a state of being. It is a state of acceptance and profound understanding. It sees all experiences with the heart of unconditionality and it knows that all is in Divine Order and that all is moving towards the Highest Good.

Love from the ego has emotions attached. Love from the soul, does not. That's what it's all about: learning how to develop the "detached," "impersonal," and "open" heart. The heart and mind that are free from the fears, illusions and false beliefs that distort reality.

Many equate the word love with the human emotion that many mistake as and for love. Unconditional Love is a state of being and not an emotion. It is a stable, harmonious and balanced state through which there can be no judgment, no fear, no indecision, and no uncertainty. It is a pure state of acceptance, trust and knowing. It is a Soul state, not a mind state.

This state of love is not a denial of reality, but rather an acceptance and true appreciation of it! It is an understanding that all of life is an eternal journey into a greater and greater ability to love, appreciate and embrace more and more of one's experiences and more and more of the Universe!

This is part IV of a six Part blog entry.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Suffering Teaches How to Become Masters of Love, Podcast, Part III"



(length 4:42 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part III of a six part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please see my previous entries of 11/30/09 for Part I and of 12/07/09 for Part II.

Our purpose here on this planet is not to acquire information and "things," but to learn how to really love. And so when we are at our lowest and yet are still able to reach up to love, reach within to love and reach out for love, we then truly will have mastered what Love is all about. For by reaching out for love, we shed light into the darkness. We turn chaos into order. We transform lead into gold. We truly tap into the essence of love and become the Master Alchemist! We turn all our "suffering" or our illusions into Gold!

If in the depths of despair you seek Love's guidance and surrender fully to its loving embrace, then truly you have learned what it means to have "Love" and that "knowing" will remain with you and continue to grow within you throughout eternity.

Love gives eternity and meaning to life--nothing else can or does. But if, on the other hand, you just make love an intellectual exercise, you learn nothing about love and are left empty and unfulfilled.

So, when your body is not functioning well, but you can still love it, you then have learned what it means to love unconditionally.

When your best friend or lover has left you and yet you can still love yourself, you have learned how to truly love yourself.

When you finances have bottomed out, but you can still appreciate the wonder and beauty of life and of yourself and still know that you are good and can thrive, you have learned what it means to love.

And when another has harmed you and you can still love them and yourself, truly you have learned what love is.

This is part III of a six Part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Suffering Teaches How to Become Masters of Love, Podcast, Part II"



(length 4:11 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part II of a six part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please see my previous entry of 11/30/09 for Part I.

We create our reality. Everything that "happens to us" is part of a master plan or blueprint that is helping us to "become," grow and heal in ways that will truly allow us to develop and manifest all the potential within us. Truly, all is in Divine Order and Divine Timing and as we learn to look at our experiences through the eyes and heart of our Soul and not through the myopic vision of our ego, we get to see the bigger picture and put it all into proper context and perspective.

It is our Soul that is leading us into the experiences that It knows will help us to truly come to know who we really are in the quickest and, believe it or not, the least painful way possible. Whether we presently get it or not, what looks, to our ego, like a long and torturous path, is really the shortest route to a true understanding and picture of who we really are.

Seeing our experiences through our Soul's perspective will lead us away from where our limited awareness is presently focused to an unlimited, eternal and infinite vision of who we really are and will put into perspective why we are experiencing what we are experiencing.

So, it is those who have experienced the greatest sense of loss and suffering in their lives who have risen to the greatest heights and depths of wisdom and love.

This is Part II of a six part blog entry.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Suffering Teaches How to Become Masters of Love, Podcast, Part I"



(length 4:18 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part I of a six part blog,

The gift that suffering provides us is that it teaches us how to become Masters of Love! But how you might ask?

That which we call "suffering" is an experience we create for ourselves so that we can refine or increase our ability to love ourselves, love another and love the whole of the creation. When we "suffer" we ultimately feel abandoned and alone. As well, we feel that we are unworthy and unlovable. But all of this is just the ultimate illusion, an illusion that has us believing that we are somehow separate from God/Goddess and somehow undeserving of His/Her love.

We are meant to have dominion over or be the stewards or nurturers of all of creation. But that dominion or stewardship is not one of "possession," but it is a stewardship of love. It is the dominion of one who is the caretaker and caregiver. It is not a "hording of things," but it is a stewardship of nurturing and caring for all. And the way that we earn that dominion is to be more and more able to love, appreciate, nurture and embrace it all, no matter what.

But how does one learn to "love/appreciate" it all, no matter what.

Most of us believe that suffering is something that is inflicted upon us by an outside force. Whether it is illness, financial ruin, relationship issues, natural disasters, etc., we see ourselves as a "victim" of circumstances.

The problem with this way of looking at the experiences you are having is that by seeing yourself as a "victim," you are giving away your ownership of the situation and are therefore, giving away your "power" to change it.

This is Part I of a six part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"How to Reprogram Your Self-Image, Podcast Part VIII"

(length 05:45 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part VIII of an eight part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please go back and read Parts I, II, III, IV, V, VI & VII on 10/5/ /12/ /19/ /26/ and 11/2/ /09/ and /16/ 2009 respectively.

Some More Phrases to Read, Feel and Visualize, con't:

XIX
I am free.
I am whole.
I am one.
I am free to receive and give.
I am good.
I am worthy.
I release my limiting memories, fears, and feelings; I bless them for what they have taught me.
I am truly blessed.

So, work or "play" with these phrases. Certainly make up more of your own. As you do this you will be tilling the soil of your soul and planting and nurturing the "seeds of greatness" that are within you.

We are so much more than we "think" we are. In other words we are so much more than what our limited programming allows us to believe we are. We are "gods and goddesses in training" as Deepak Chopra has written.

Or as I am wont to say: "We are chips off the old holographic block called God/Goddess who have come forth to embody the Divine in finite three dimensional form." We are truly made in His/Her Image.

This is Part VIII of an eight part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"How to Reprogram Your Self-Image, Podcast Part VII"

(length 05:06 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part VII of an eight part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please go back and read Parts I, II, III, IV, V & VI on 10/5/ /12/ /19/ /26/ and 11/2/ and /09/ 2009 respectively.

Some More Phrases to Read, Feel and Visualize, con't:

XV
I am amidst a beautiful spiritual family.
Doors will open easily and quickly for me.
I am who I AM in this current of time.
God/Goddess is pleased with me.
I am truly worthy of a fulfilling, loving, lasting relationship that is perfect for me.

XVI
I ignore the Here
I ignore the Present.
I pretend There.
I fantasize my Dreams.
I pretend what I intend.
I Relax, Enjoy, Pretend, Trust, and Believe.
I always, without ceasing, intentionally and consciously INTEND any and every moment of my life. I never forget and always remember--ever being mindful of what my priorities and passions are.

XVII
I want it!
I will figure it out!
It's easy!
The universe is on my side.
The universe is a friendly place.

XVIII
This ______ is who I am, what I do, what I was born to be and do. [Fill in the blank.]
I struggle because I still haven't come to terms with it.
As I do, a calming will come.
I am a channel for understanding and wisdom. When I get this, my fears will cease.

This is Part VII of an eight part Blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"How to Reprogram Your Self-Image, Podcast Part VI"

(length 04:46 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part VI of an eight part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please go back and read Parts I, II, III, IV & V on 10/5/ /12/ /19/ /26/ and 11/2/09 respectively.

Some More Phrases to Read, Feel and Visualize, con't:

XI
Nothing serious can or will be allowed to happen to me.
I feel the anger and fears and pain, but I joyfully live my life anyway. All this can do is to slow me down at worst, but it can never stop me.
I am safe and will succeed without pain.
Failure is impossible--even if I try to fail.
I can not fail; it will not be allowed.

XII
I am gentle with myself.
I am a beautiful precious child of God/Goddess.
God/Goddess would let nothing happen to me.
I am eternally, lovingly held in the Embrace.

XII
I can feel fearful, a failure, and unworthy, but it has no bearing on reality.
With regard to money, I always affirm: "In God I trust."
Whenever I am concerned about money or whenever I am receiving it, I see three times as much.

XIV
SHINE
It takes work to hide.
I confront, embrace and conquer my fears and shine brightly in the world.
I claim the piece of the Grand Puzzle that I AM.
I ease into my life--the true current--and surrender into it.

This is Part VI of an eight part Blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"How to Reprogram Your Self-Image, Podcast Part V"

(length 05:41 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Some More Phrases to Read, Feel and Visualize, con't:

VII
I listen to my inner voice.
I respectfully and in a detached manner demand of the Universe what I want.
I am very clear about what I want.
I clearly and confidently claim and affirm my love-ability and worthiness.
I notice the negative judgments, but just treat them like another opinion that I don't have to give any power to.

VII
I AM SAFE
I am safe to live my truth.
I am safe to be a powerful spiritual person.
I am safe to have people honor and respect me.
I am safe to expand and go to more and more places.
I am safe to find others to help me in my work.
I receive love, blessing, support and praise.

IX
I can tell and reassure my body that I am healthy now.
My body is my friend, it is just letting me know what is happening and if a healing is necessary.
I pay attention to my body like it was a baby.

X
I can tell and reassure my mind that I am psychologically healthy and grounded.
The very fearful and angry emotions can continue to happen, but they are for my amusement only.
Life will go on and on and I will succeed at finding personal and professional mastery.

This is Part V of an eight part Blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"How to Reprogram Your Self-Image, Podcast Part IV"

(length 05:44 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part IV of an eight part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please go back and read Parts I, II & III on 10/5 /12/ /19/ 2009 respectively.

Some More Phrases to Read, Feel and Visualize, con't:

IV
The trick is that I know the agenda; and the agenda is:
Steadily, step by step, I will connect with larger and larger numbers of people.
I will steadily and increasingly uncover my gifts and they will be appreciated and sought after by many.
I will enjoy what I do and it will all flow effortlessly.

V
I externally put myself out there persistently.
Inwardly, I gently hammer away with positive self-talk, affirmations and visualizations in order to change the negative programs inside.
I am truly ready.
I am truly worthy.
I truly can handle it.
I am truly good enough.
I feel an inner grace, peace, and strength.
I am truly worthy of praise.
I am truly worthy of love.
I am truly worthy of attention.
I am truly worthy of _________. [Fill in the blank.]

VI
I clearly call in what I want, not as a request but as a demand because I know I am worthy.
I want ________ income for my work.
I want to look forward to and always enjoy my work.
I want to feel good about myself.
I want to feel free to express my creativity and to be praised by others for expressing it.
I am ready
I can handle it; no problem.
I want it NOW.

This is Part IV of an eight part Blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"How to Reprogram Your Self-Image, Podcast Part III"

(length 06:23 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part III of an eight part blog. In order to understand and make best use of what follows, please go back and read Parts I & II on 10/5/09 and 10/12/09 respectively.

Some Phrases to Read, Feel and Visualize:

I.
I invest in Faith, Hope and Love, but not in worry or fear.
I face my fears and embrace them.
It is my beliefs and interpretations of events that are the problem.
All is in Divine Timing and Order.
I see the wisdom of the situation(s) I am in.
I see my life through the eyes and Heart of my Soul.
I am Loved!

II Believe and Say:
I truly want this_________.
I truly deserve this_________________. [Fill in the blanks.]
It's truly in alignment with my Soul's purpose.
I am worthy and deserving of good!

[You get to fill in the blanks here. It can be something internal or external. Go for it!]
[See my blog posts of 09 /07 /14/ 21/ 28/ 2009 for suggestions on what to put in the blanks.]

III
I believe that I deserve only good and that all things come to me on a silver platter.
I am used to being praised, honored, and wanted.
Others see the treasure in me; they do not see the childhood distortion that I incorrectly "think" I am.
I am totally convinced of my value.

There is only Light and Goodness-Anticipate it!!!

This is Part III of an eight part Blog. See my blog entries of 10/5/09 and 10/12/09 for Parts I & II.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"How to Reprogram Your Self-Image, Podcast Part II"

(length 05:08 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

This is Part II of an eight part blog. See my blog entry of 10/5/09 for Part I in order to get the full context of what is in today's blog post.

So, what follows is a series of phrases that you can repeat over and over again. Some may appeal to you more than others, so go with those that jump out at you first. Repeat them with feeling and visualization as often as you can remember in a day.

Work with each set of phrases for at least twenty-one days or until you feel you've "got it." Some phrases may take a lot longer than twenty-one days to really sink in, so don't try to rush any of this.

Work with up to three sets of phrases at a time, but not more. And keep doing it and keep doing it. At any point, please feel free to add any phrases you come up with on your own or modify any of the ones I have suggested.

Really get into this and "own" the process. By doing so, you will ensure your success. Trust that in time you will significantly have changed your internal terrain and your self-image so much that you will no longer recognize your (old) self.

In practicing this process you are becoming a master gardener of your mind. You are weeding out what no longer serves you and are feeding and nurturing yourself with what really does. Have fun!

Remember, you get to write the script of your life! You get to be the author or author-ity in your life. It doesn't matter what old, dysfunctional programs you presently have running in your subconscious mind, this process will act like an anti-virus software and clear out of you all malicious, unwanted, stale, dysfunctional programs.

This is Part II of an eight part Blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"How to Reprogram Your Self-Image, Podcast Part I"

(length 05:03 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

I thought that I would share with you in my next series of blog entries further ideas and techniques that I have gathered and used over the years on how to change my internal terrain.

All change is an inside job! So, in order to change we must change how we feel and think about ourselves. But usually most of us are not in touch with what our own internal dialogue is nor are we aware of what our internal self-image is. In other words, most of us are not in touch with how we see ourselves nor are we in touch with how we think and feel about ourselves.

Often, our estimation of ourselves is a lot less generous and accurate than what others see about us. Often we are our own worst enemy and our own worst critic. How we see ourselves, whether it is a conscious process or not, greatly determines how others see us and it also determines what we attract into our lives.

So changing all this is of paramount importance if we want to change how we experience life. What follows are a series of internal dialogue exercises or affirmations that I have used over the years to reprogram my self-image.

Please read through them slowly. They are meant to be savored and not swallowed. They are meant to be repeated over and over again not only as words, but also they are meant to be "felt" and "seen," that is visualized.

Please go to my blog entry of 08/31/09 for an envisioning exercise that will help you learn how to really "see" and "feel" these phrases. The actual phrases will follow in Part III of this blog on 10/19/09. My next blog, Part II, on 10/12/09 will give more information on how to use these phrases.

This is Part I of an eight part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The Power of Visualization: Peace of Mind is an Image Away, Podcast, Part VI" Podcast

(length 06:58 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Worry creates more worry: Joy creates more Joy! You get to choose!

This is Part VI of a six part blog.

What follows is a simple, yet highly effective visualization technique that can help you to imagine and manifest all the good you ever wanted in your life. Since you are imagining or visualizing all the time, anyhow, why not do it consciously and intentionally. Why not create what you want?

Envisioning in Order to Achieve a Desired Outcome/Goal

I. Decide what outcome you want to work on, e.g., to meditate regularly; to laugh a lot; to be true to oneself in all circumstances; to not experience stress in specific situations; to lose weight; to effortlessly create abundance; to improve your health; to feel self-esteem and confidence in specific situations; to get a raise, to get a new job, a new house, etc.

II. Get very specific about what you want, e.g., I want to meditate once a day for ten minutes; I want to listen to my Higher Self in all situations and at all times; I want to weigh 100 pounds and be a size four; I want to be relaxed and feel confident every time I meet new people, etc.

III. Get quiet. Take three deep breaths into your abdomen. Now start relaxing your body. Begin with relaxing the top of your head and slowly and gradually relax your forehead, eyelids, cheek, jaw, chin, neck, throat, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, chest, back, abdomen, pelvis, thighs, knees, calves, ankles and feet. Breath deeply into any area that feels especially tense.

IV. Know that now that you are in this relaxed state you are able to access your subconscious mind and your super-conscious mind and that anything that you visualize clearly and think positively about will definitely come to pass. So, see yourself succeeding: truly believe and expect yourself to achieve your ideal manifestation. Envision as many scenes as you can with you being successful at achieving your goal. Really feel it! Really praise yourself! Use your imagination to bring other people into the scene. Hear them tell you how excited they are about how healthy, successful, and good you look, etc. See it and really Feel it! Really feel how good it would be to already have accomplished your desire. Feel as if you have already accomplished it. This is how you can create new manifestations in your life and use your imagination to bring the desired results you want into your life.

V. Worry creates more worry: Joy creates more Joy! You get to choose!

VI. Thank yourself for taking the time to consciously create your life.

VII. Bring yourself slowly out of this relaxed state.

VIII. Do this as often as you can; at least once a day.

This is Part VI of a six part blog.

If you would like to know more about the power of visualization, please check out my Meditation CD: Peace of Mind is an Image Away: Visualization Meditations.

You can hear a sampler at: http://www.learnmastery.com/AudioTapesByYanni.htm

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The Power of Visualization: Peace of Mind is an Image Away, Podcast, Part V" Podcast

(length 04:25 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Worry creates more worry: Joy creates more Joy! You get to choose!

This is Part V of a six part blog.

In order to help you get a better grasp on the role and power of visualization, I thought the following two quotes would be quite helpful:

"Although research in this field is still in its infancy, we have already found that visualization has a definite effect on the body's EEG, or electrical field. Physiologist Edmund Jacobson has shown, for example, that if you imagine yourself running, small but measurable amounts of contraction actually take place in the muscle you use for jogging." [This certainly happens when we dream.]

"Anatomists have demonstrated that there are pathways between the part of the brain where our pictures are stored and the autonomic nervous system which controls such so-called "involuntary" activities as sweating, blood pressure, and digestion. These same pathways link the autonomic nervous system and the pituitary and adrenal cortex. The end result is that a picture in the mind has an impact on every cell in our bodies."

These two quotes come from a book entitled: Visualization, by Adelaide Bry.

So, what we imagine, we experience viscerally in our bodies. Our imagination has a very, very powerful effect on our bodies.

As well, what we imagine, we experience as real psychologically. And by doing so we then we attract more of what we are imagining or visualizing into our life experiences. So, we really can't afford the luxury of a negative imagination! It gets us into a lot of trouble!

Please see my next blog entry for a simple, yet highly effective visualization technique that can help you to imagine and manifest all the good you ever wanted in your life.

This is Part V of a six part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 2:51 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The Power of Visualization: Peace of Mind is an Image Away, Podcast, Part IV" Podcast

(length 04:08 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Worry creates more worry: Joy creates more Joy! You get to choose!

This is Part IV of a six part blog.

Why not be relaxed in dealing with events rather than be totally stressed out in dealing with them?

Am I saying don't be proactive and anticipate things? No, not at all! What I am suggesting is that you "see" and expect the best of all possible outcomes and then you will be in a better place to respond wisely and effectively to what does in fact happen.

So, why would you want to be stressed out all the time? Worrying can not and will not bring you the results you are looking for. It will only make you feel lousy and create unnecessary and unhealthy tension in your body. As well, it will attract more worry.

As you begin to slow down and meditate on a regular basis you will notice the incessant, fearful, worrisome, angry, confused, disoriented thinking and imaginings that you have constantly playing around in your mind; but by observing all of this you can then learn how to instead shift away from all this static and noise into more positive thoughts and imaginings.

So, what I am suggesting here is that you can learn how to avoid your landmines of negative thinking and imaginings, and by doing so you will feel better and be physically and psychologically so much happier and so much more at peace. As well, you will attract more good into your life.

Peace of mind is an image away. You can learn to see/imagine the best in everyone and everything, including yourself! You can learn to not only make "the best of it." You can learn to make your life the best!

So, give your self some time now to imagine the best! It will transform your life.

This is Part IV of a six part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 2:49 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The Power of Visualization: Peace of Mind is an Image Away, Podcast, Part III" Podcast

(length 03:42 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Worry creates more worry: Joy creates more Joy! You get to choose!

This is Part III of a six part blog.

Negative imaginings create enormous tension in your body. Because what you imagine, you experience as real in every cell in your body. And so learning to consciously visualize the most positive outcome and to see the best in yourself, in others and in any situation you are in is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself because this is what is really going to help you to relax and be at peace.

If you were to stop and observe your imaginings you would begin to realize how often they are caught up in "seeing" the worst. You will see how often you "awfulize" and "catastrophize" a situation. You will notice how often you worry.

You can change this and then change how you feel physiologically and emotionally and also change what you experience practically in your life. You can choose to experience peace, happiness, joy and fulfillment every moment by what you choose to focus on and how you choose to interpret events.

We create an enormous amount of stress on ourselves physiologically and emotionally when we worry. Eighty to ninety percent of what we worry about does not happen. So, why worry, so much? Why create so much tension in our bodies and minds?

This is Part III of a six part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 2:46 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The Power of Visualization: Peace of Mind is an Image Away, Podcast, Part II" Podcast

(length 03:43 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Worry creates more worry: Joy creates more Joy! You get to choose!

This is Part II of a six part blog.

Why it is so important to learn how to positively visualize is because what you imagine, you experience physiologically, emotionally and practically in your life. Science has discovered that when you visualize something, your mind and body respond to your imaginings as if they are real.

So perceived threats and or positive fantasies are both experienced as real by your body whether you are conscious of the effect they are having on you or not. Therefore, it is so important to consciously choose what you imagine, to choose what you "space out" on, to choose what you place your mental attention upon.

You have a choice as to whether you are engaging in happy imaginings or not. Being happy or at peace is a choice you make each moment by the thoughts you choose, the images you envision or the feelings you allow yourself to experience.

It is not about what is happening around you or "to" you. It is about the choices you make each moment. It's about how you choose to "see" things; about how you choose to interpret them and what meaning you give to them.

Peace of Mind is an image away or a thought away.

This is Part II of a six part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"The Power of Visualization: Peace of Mind is an Image Away, Podcast, Part I" Podcast

(length 04:02 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Worry creates more worry: Joy creates more Joy! You get to choose!

This is Part I of a six part blog.

Some of you may be thinking as you start to read this: "I'm not so sure that I can visualize very well." But if I were to ask you what your bedroom looks like, your living room, or a loved one, I am sure that you can easily bring a picture to mind as to what they look like. And by doing so, you have successfully visualized. This is all that visualization really is; we all have the inherent ability to visualize, the ability to imagine.

My goal in these series of blog entries is to teach you or remind you again how important it is to know how to consciously visualize or "space out." It is actually a gift for an adult to know how to "space out." Of course, I do not mean all the time, but at least some of the time. Actually we all "space out." We are constantly, whether we realize it or not, visualizing or imagining or spacing out on something.

So, I would like to teach you how to consciously and positively visualize or imagine; and, also, I would like to teach you why doing it regularly and consciously is so important.

Again, we all visualize all the time. But mostly we "awfulize" or "catastrophize" - in other words we imagine the worst. We worry and worry is just negative imagining or anticipating the worst. And by doing so, we create that which we worry about and draw into our lives that which we do not want.

This is Part I of a six part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Create a New Vision/Vibration for Your Self, Part IV" Podcast

(length 04:02 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

The reason most people achieve very little in comparison to what they are capable of is because they have no vision for themselves or their future, whatsoever. They feel that they are at the whim of others or at the whim of some outside force like of the Lords of Karma. But they definitely are not!

You are the captain of your ship! You are the Master of your fate!

So, create the Vision, i.e., the Vibration, and the Universe will match it. It already is doing this, whether it is happening for you consciously and volitionally or whether it is happening by default!

So, what is your dominant Vision or self-image? Release your old, worn, stagnant, crystalized, and mutated visions and Embrace the New You!

You are made in His/Her Image! Learn to reflect your Divinity, your True Image!

"Without a vision, the people will perish." "Without a vision, you will perish."

So, take the time to both write down a general vision for yourself over the next five years and then go into meditation and get a picture and a feeling of how you would look and feel when you have already achieved all that you have written down; and then come back to that image and feeling whenever you think about your life.

You are the artist who is now creating your own self-portrait. You are the author who is writing the script of your life.

Take the time to create the most beautiful and satisfying portrait and script that you can imagine. Then keep refining and defining it. And then hold that image of yourself in the foreground of your awareness all the time. This is what creation is all about.

Peace and Joy be with you! It is your birthright.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

So, you must first honestly and lovingly "Face" yourself (i.e., your thoughts and feelings) and then "Embrace" them (accept what you find) and then you can begin to gradually "Replace" them with a clear vision of who you really are and what you really want to create in your life and with your life.

Every time you have a thought or a feeling you are creating or drawing to your self something new from the universe and bringing it into your reality. You do not have to base your expectations for the future upon your past experiences, your perceived weaknesses, or anything else that reinforces your present, limited self-image. You no longer need to use your past as your frame of reference for your future, unless, of course, your past is filled with good.

By creating a clear vision of your desired state and putting energy (i.e. focus) into it regularly, you are using your mind (i.e. vibrational) power to shape the very stuff or essence of the universe into what you want.

So, to summarize, you hold this "imagined reality" in your mind to the point where your subconscious actually believes it to be so real that it goes about making it manifest in your life. Once you have this clear image in your mind, your subconscious will then attract the circumstances, people, and opportunities you need to bring about the vision you have "imagined."

Or, on the other hand, if you are not connected to a clear positive image, and are in a negative default mode of thinking and feeling, you will then attract the nightmare you dread!

This is Part III of a four part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Create a New Vision/Vibration for Your Self, Part II" Podcast

(length 03:46 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

So, one very important thing to do is to have a crystal clear vision of your life as you want it to be; one that is completely independent of the conditions of your present or your past.

Lack of absolute clarity about your desired future is the number one reason why people struggle in life.

That is why it is so, so important to take the time to get in touch with what you actually feel and think about your life and yourself. If you find some of it to be critical and uncomplimentary, then begin to change it.

The best way I know of to do this is to simply sit in meditation and listen to the predominant thoughts and feelings that arise. By the way, you can't just sit one time to get the full picture, but if you sit consistently with yourself, within just a few weeks, you will get a pretty clear picture of what your predominant thoughts and feelings are. Then because of this awareness, or "mindfulness" as the Buddhists call it, you will now be more conscious of what you are vibrating and, therefore, more able to change it.

After you have taken the time to really see your patterns, it then becomes easier for you to create a clear vision about your future and a practical plan for success.

But until you have taken the time to look within, you literally are in the "dark" about yourself. And in the dark it is very difficult to see or create a vision for your self. You really do need to shed light on the darkness within in order to create something new without.

This is Part II of a four part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 7:23 PM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Create a New Vision/Vibration for Your Self, Part I" Podcast

(length 04:01 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

The essence of all things and experiences is vibration. All our thoughts, feelings and actions have their own particular rates of vibration. These vibrations set up a resonance with whatever has a similar or identical frequency.

This is why it is so, so essential to be a very close observer of your thoughts and feelings. The way you think, feel and act creates the primary vibration of your being, i.e., your "energy signature." This fundamental "energy signature" then creates resonance with similar vibrational frequencies in the universe wherever they may be. The result is an attraction of experiences, people, challenges and opportunities that are in vibrational resonance with your own dominant frequency.

The fundamental law of "like attracts like" is immutable and eternal. Therefore, your dominant positive patterns of thought and action or your dominant negative enmeshments, entanglements, and projections are what you are living.

Thus, to draw what you want into your life, you begin by being very aware of your thoughts and feelings, i.e., your vibration. And then you make a practice of raising your vibration to match the desire or experience you want, no matter what. Most people do things the other way around. They come up with practical techniques to generate their desires and then go out and try to force them into manifestation.

However, when what you are seeking is not really in agreement deep down inside you with your dominant vibration, then you will have great difficulty making the desired result come to pass. In other words, if you want to have more money in your life, but you feel deep down inside unworthy, undereducated and unskilled, you will never attract more money into your life because you inherently do not believe it is possible for you.

This is Part I of a four part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"'Know Thy Self by Learning How to 'Listen" to Your Self, Part IV" Podcast

(length 05:31 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

This is part IV of a four part blog. Please see my last three blog entries on October 30, November 1 & 6 for parts I, II, & III.

It is in meditation where you can connect with the essence of your object of attention. It is in meditation where you can eavesdrop on your Self and on the God/Goddess within. It is in meditation where you can come to truly "Know ThySelf." Why not learn how to experience this sweet ambrosia of the gods? Why not learn how to experience your "Godness?"

As Yogananda wrote:

Meditation or consciousness focused upon itself is the ultimate revealer of who you really are, and what you truly are. You can discover an inner guidance within yourself, and that inner guidance will guide you to the destination you need to go. You have already been guided to many things which are opening you to be aware, but the greatest tool for self knowledge is Meditation.

Also, as Ramana Maharshi wrote:

Look! This little finger covers the eye and prevents the whole world from being seen. In this same way this small mind covers the whole universe and prevents Reality from being seen.

Lastly, this lovely sentence from "The Cloud of Unknowing" an anonymous medieval spiritual classic, sums it all up so beautifully:

So, learning how to still the mind through meditation helps one to learn how to truly listen to one Self and to another. It is in meditation that we access the essence and the heart of the matter, instead of getting all caught up in our heads and in the illusory surface appearance of things.

It is in meditation that we "see things clearly" and come to "know" ourselves and another. It is in this Silence where we can truly be present and Listen!

To learn more about meditation, please check out my Meditation CDs posted on my blog.

Also, to learn a lot more about Listening and Meditation please feel get a hold of my book: Magical Keys to Self-Mastery: Creating Miracles in Your Life.

http://www.MagicalKeystoSelfMastery.com

This is part IV of a four part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"'Know Thy Self by Learning How to 'Listen" to Your Self, Part III" Podcast

(length 05:21 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

This is part III of a four part blog.

In order to learn how to Listen as I have described in my two previous blog entries, one must learn to quiet the mind through meditation. Meditation is the key to learning how to listen to your Self and to another.

The best passage that I have come upon to help one to understand what the state of meditation is and how it allows one to truly be able to Listen was written by Krishnamurti. In describing meditation he wrote:

Thought comes to an end. Then there is that sense of absolute silence in the brain. All the movement of thought has ended. It has ended, but it can be brought into activity when there is necessity in the physical world. Now, it is quiet. It is silent. And where there is silence, there must be space, immense space because there is no [little] self. The self has its own limited space; it creates its own limited space. But when the self is not, which means the activity of thought is not; then there is vast silence in the brain because it is now free of all its conditioning.

And it is only where there is space and silence that something new can be that is untouched by time or thought. That may be the most holy, the most sacred--may be. You cannot give it a name. It is perhaps the unnamable. And when there is that, then there is intelligence and compassion, and love. So life is not fragmented. It is a whole, unitary process, moving and living."
It is in this state of being that Krisnamurti describes above where one can be present and listening. It is a profound state of unity with one's object of attention; and it is a profound state of the heart. It bypasses the mind and all its myopic judgments.

This is why I have for years taught and promoted the sacred art of meditation. When you learn how to meditate you can truly focus on someone and truly listen because you are totally present. You are not in your head, but you are in your heart. You are sensing things from the inside out rather than just skimming the surface by thinking about them.

This is part III of a four part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"'Know Thy Self by Learning How to 'Listen" to Your Self, Part II" Podcast

(length 05:01 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

This is part II of a four part blog. Please see my last blog entry on October 30 for part I.

There are seven kinds or aspects to "Listening:"
1) "Listening" to another."
2) "Listening" to nature.
3) "Listening" to Spirit.
4) "Listening" to your physical body.
5) "Listening" to that part of us called the little self or the ego? That part that we often do not want to own or acknowledge, that we often wish to disinherit, despite the fact that it is has some very valuable things to say to us.
6) "Listening" to our Higher Selves.
7) "Listening" to the God/Goddess within.

All these aspects of Listening require the same skill, namely learning how to be quiet. Listening actually is not a cognitive process, it is not something we do with our minds; but something we allow or open up to with our hearts.

Listening is a receptive, open, allowing, feminine state; it is not an assertive, active, masculine state. When the mind is quiet, the heart can be open; and then it can "hear;" and then, as well, it can lead the way. The mind is meant to be the servant of the heart. The heart is meant to lead.

Don't analyze anyone or anything. When you do, you are using your mind and creating separation by judging, analyzing and compartmentalizing. Instead feel first.

Don't listen to words, instead feel their energy.

Don't judge a person; get a "feel: for them first.

Don't measure anything; just "feel" its energy.

Use your heart first and then let the mind help you integrate what the heart has felt. Feel first, think last! Then you will "know."

Stop thinking and start feeling! Leave your mind behind and put your heart first!

No longer think your way through life; feel your way through life.

Listening is a communion--a joining or merging with. It is not analysis or judgment.

This is part II of a four part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"'Know Thy Self by Learning How to 'Listen" to Your Self, Part I" Podcast

(length 04:34 minutes)

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

This is part I of a four part blog.

In order to come to "Know Thy Self," one first must learn how to "Listen." For it is only by really knowing how to "Listen" that one can get "a handle one's 'Self.'" And it is only through "Listening" that we can be true to our Selves and live an empowered, passionate, fulfilled, joyful life.

Usually all we hear or listen to is the noise and static that our fearful, angry, worried ego mind produces; this noise effectively blocks out our ability to hear what is really important, what is at the core of who we are.

It is only by learning how to embrace the Silence, that we can hear anything important. It is only by being quiet that you can "hear" your Self, "hear" another, "hear" nature, "hear" Spirit, and "hear" the God/Goddess within. One must quiet the fretful ego mind in order to hear one Self and come to "know" one Self.

This is part I of a four part blog.

Posted by Yanni at 12:04 AM | Permalink

I thought that I would do something different this week and instead of doing a blog and podcast that I would direct you to a flash movie that I created entitled: Living From The Inside Out.

I feel that it best embodies what my work is all about.

Please go to the following link to view the movie:

http://www.insideoutjourneys.com/movie.cfm

If you can't click onto this link, please copy and paste it into your browser.

It's only 3 minutes long.

Many Blessings!

Yanni

The only real confidence is not self-confidence,
that is, confidence in your ego's delusions of superiority and importance.
True SELF-confidence is having the courage to listen to the "still, small voice within"
and then to act on its inspirations and promptings.

Life Mastery's Friday Weekly Podcast:

"Living From The Inside Out" Flash Movie Podcast

(length 3:12 minutes)

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Posted by Yanni at 4:00 AM | Permalink