Category Archives: meditation

Masters of the Journey Ideals and Principles

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The Masters of the Journey: Transformational Community offers you a list of our developing guiding principles. Would you consider getting involved with our new community of support for your spiritual goals?

1. Take responsibility for your life
2. Do not blame or make excuses
3. Love Yourself & accept all parts even weaknesses-flaws-imperfections
4. Grounding (daily as a practice)
5. Meditation (daily as a practice)
6. Keep your eyes up! Look to the Horizon
7. Set goals – celebrate success. Honor and celebrate your challenges.
8. Never give up on your passion & your dreams
9. Love Nature & Mother Earth… Appreciate the beauty of life. Find Beauty Every Day
10. Learn to Listen:
A. Be Focused
B. Maintain Eye Contact
C. Mind clear of strong judgement/other thoughts of response
D. Ask Supportive, clarifying Questions

11. Be open for Love and Connection (learn to share and to love)
12. Learn better to control: stress, fear, anxiety – Learn to Let Go
13. Practice the skill of self-acceptance- then develop self-love
14. Love and Protect all Children- Cherish their souls – Celebrate youthful enthusiasm, Innocence
15. Daily exercise and meditation is important
16. Build a solid Foundation – self-care/grounding, open your heart to unconditional love & then share it – Love unconditionally
17. Oneness: ALL of us are on the pilgrimage together some of us are more conscious than others – reach around & give all those you touch support and assistance so WE can all evolve together.
18. Embrace each moment as best you can! Each moment is a microcosm of all life & all consciousness – GRACE
19. Build a healthy support team –Find Your Courage – Celebrate your process & the success/gifts of learning.
20. Find Your Passion! Live your Passion! NO excuses! Along the way, do something good everyday- Perform a daily “Mitzvah” (a good deed)
21. Honor your mentors & healthy role models. Learn to bask in the wisdom they share (or provide to you)
22. Look to Create Good in the World. Do not miss the opportunity to acknowledge & celebrate good deeds & creative demonstrations of passion!
23. Turn off TV & Media – Read – Discuss – Learn to THINK for YOURSELF!! Do not blindly accept other people’s perceptions NO ONE! (Certainly not mine….)
24. Follow Your Heart! Listen to your Gut! Follow guidance & honor these strong messages
25. If you are striving to grow up to the heavens find solid roots to feed, nurture, & build a strong foundation for your work.
26. Do not be Lazy! Consciousness requires effort. (It is worth it!) Do not close your eyes to the daily experience of life. Rest & meditation are good. Lethargy & avoidance are not nearly as helpful.
27. Never stop learning or challenging yourself… Do not pretend that you know it all.

A partner with common values can be helpful & also a trap. Do not be a closed system.

Live with no fear of Death or Dying. Or, learn enough about dying so the thought of this transition does not get in the way of Living!

Get a mentor who is old, wise, & can share their lessons from living through their challenges! Honor their insights & wisdom though you do not have to agree with all their beliefs and insights. Their insights can offer you perspective & depth to your thinking.

DO NOT Avoid people with handicaps & challenges. They can teach you how to overcome limitations. We are all unique & loved creatures!

    DANCE like no one is watching! Live with passion and reckless abandon!

The Healing Tone

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We all resonate with certain sounds, vibrations, emotions, and frequencies. Sometimes certain tones create healing or spiritual well-being. Sometimes certain tones create discord or unrest. Our society is so filled with high frequency emanations that though we do not consciously experience these impulses, we often respond by feeling stressed or out of balance.

I challenge you to find the tone or the music that creates health or healing for you and then bask in it! Each one of us is different and so one of us need to find the unique frequency that would allow us to feel best. At different times, we might require different tones.

If you can lose yourself in the tone/vibration and can find the perfect moment of integration and presence, then you will find that your mind, body, and spirit are aligned. This can be healing. This moment of alignment is one where you can be most creative and productive. It is remembered as a”special” moment in time and space.

Connect with the tones that offer you a moment of presence and alignment.

Dangers of Ignoring the Impact of Stress

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Why are we in denial?

Have you ever experienced any stress? Is the world more stressful now than it was 20 years ago? Have you ever experienced physical or emotional symptoms that are made worse as a response to stress? Do you believe that the best solution to stress is getting drunk or taking drugs?

I ask these questions many times per month to groups I train or individuals I coach. Without exception, people respond by saying that there is plenty of stress out in the world. It can be a distraction and effect physical and emotional health.

Now I ask you, what do you do, on a daily basis, to control your responses to stress? Do you meditate or practice stress management for 20 minutes per day? Most people say that they are too busy for 20 minutes of relaxation. People think that there is some easier way to control stress like taking medication. It is not convenient to practice stress management, so why bother to do it? The other response that many people use when confronted by the challenges of stress is to a point a finger and then blame someone or something else, rather that to take any responsibility for ones own habitual response to life’s stress.

Do not believe me without testing this out for yourself, but most people find that by practicing 20 minutes of deep relaxation, daily, they will actually save time and energy. Research suggests that 20 minutes of deep relaxation can take the place of as much as 2 hours of sleep and the sleep that you do get will be deeper and more restful. When I first heard this statistic I did not believe it, as most of you will not. I tested the statement and after 3 months I discovered that I required less sleep. Instead of needing 8.5 hours of sleep, I was getting rested with only 7 hours of sleep. So I invested 20 minutes and required 1.5 hours less sleep time. I came out ahead by one hour and ten minutes. Many of my Executive Coaching clients, after I convince them to try the 20 minutes of stress management, report that they get more work done in less time, with less energy, because they are better able to focus and make fewer mistakes. I challenge you to try this activity for 8-12 weeks and find the benefits that will surface.

People resist trying new things even if these “new things” are good for them. In fact, people are so overwhelmed that most of us are apathetic about taking good care of ourselves. We simply do not have the energy to care… Making time, even just 20 minutes per day, is painful and difficult. Motivation is low for using stress management preventively. Stress can cause headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia, rapid heart rates, anxiety, depression, GI complaints, sexual dysfunction, back or neck pain, and poor quality of life, and yet most people would rather develop annoying or dangerous symptoms rather than practice stress management…

Most people have an unconscious need to get beaten up by stress as if it were their badge of honor for surviving our hectic world… There are a few genetic immunes who thrive on stress, with no sleep, and they make the rest of us mere mortals look bad. These “immunes” are in denial and stress will eventually affect their health or their relationships in negative ways. In Japan there is a word “Karoshi” which translates; people who work themselves to death. There is an addiction to work in our society and we need to be aware that the long term consequences of this attitude are high costs to our health, relationships, and quality of life.

When we are younger, we can get away with not sleeping or self-care. We are young and strong and flexible, but as we get older, we lose our flexibility and our strength. We have to learn how to do things smarter instead of “muscling through.” If we don’t, we will pay the price and our denial will not save us from our suffering.

Things in life that are the most stressful are the things that you care the most about but that you can not control. The only thing that you can control is the way that you respond in these difficult situations but this can take time and effort.

Please take your head out of the sand and take good care of yourself. Even if this means spending 20 minutes per day with stress management. It will save you time, energy, and even money in the long run.

L. John Mason, Ph.D. is the country’s leading expert on stress management and the author of the best selling “Guide to Stress Reduction.” Since 1977, he has offered Executive Coaching and Training. In 1978, he opened the Stress Education Center www.dstress.com.

Unique Path to Higher Consciousness

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Are you happy with your life and find joy every day? Do you know YOUR “purpose”? Do you wish there was something more in your life? Perhaps: peace, connection, community, spirit, or even life balance? Have you considered what you could be doing differently to find greater fulfillment?

Or, would you like to better control fear and anxiety? Would you like to live each day with greater personal satisfaction?

If these questions stimulate something in you then maybe you are on a path to develop your higher consciousness. Would you be open minded enough to look at a spiritual development program (and community) that is NOT based on religion, churches, gurus, celebrities, ashrams, denial, rigid philosophy, or old school mind control? There is a new way to connect with higher consciousness that does not follow older, controlling dogmas or ego filled leaders. Masters of the Journey: A Transformational Community allows you to be the Master. The process invites you to celebrate and share your past life lessons with other fellow pilgrims who are on the path toward raising their spiritual consciousness. These fellow Spiritual Warriors are available to support you and to be witness to the story of your learning. The value to these fellow pilgrims comes from the sharing of stories and the trainings that enhance the process of growth.

Trainings will vary from: stress management, meditation skills, communication techniques, learning to be present and grounded, development of intuition, using biofeedback, and learning how to control anxiety while tapping unconditional love and higher consciousness. The Master of the Journey believe that we are all interconnected (and one) and it benefits ALL of us to assist and support all the fellow travelers. We will set up webinars, conference calls, trainings, retreats, and Master Mind groups so people can participate in ways that are best for their individual requirements. BUT, most importantly, the trainings and the community offer you an opportunity to live your life with greater purpose and satisfaction!

So are you ready to participate in this new endeavor? Would you like to move forward every day of your life? Would you like to join a community of pilgrims moving more consciously through life?

Contact us through our Facebook page at Masters of the Journey’s Facebook pagewww.facebook.com/mastersofthejourney and look for website (in development) at www.mastersofthejourney.com You can also contact us through the Stress Education Center at www.dstress.com Anyhow, good luck on your journey. FIND your unbridled passion for life!

Meditation for Stress Management

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For thousands of years practitioners of meditation have used various forms of meditation for stress management and as a tool leading toward “enlightenment.” I have had personal experience using 4 forms of meditation for stress management and to a lesser degree for personal “enlightenment.” Each form has been described as an “Eastern” philosophical approach but all have been researched and used successful in Western cultures without religious or deep philosophical barriers. In fact, I would not put these techniques into a box that creates limitation for religious or philosophical reasons.

I will describe these 4 forms and the benefits that I have experienced without deep historical or philosophical backgrounds.

1. A Yogic breathing practice. At the core of every stress management technique that I teach, I ask clients to become fully “present” by breathing slowly and diaphragmatically. Yoga is an ideal form of reflection that asks the user to focus upon their bodies in positive ways while remaining in the present moment. It has been used for maybe 5,000 years. I ask my clients to lie back comfortably in a peaceful environment and to breathe slowly, focusing on cool air coming in with the inhale and then the warm breath as they exhale. To gradually slow breathing to 4 or 5 breaths per minute will gradually slow their heart rate and can help to reduce blood pressure (researched by Western scientists.) This is simple and effective.

2. Zen meditation is a mindfulness exercise that asks the user to keep their eyes open and to learn how to “soft focus” on the world which surrounds them. Breathing slowly and watching a candle burn or bubbles in the fish tank or the waves rolling up unto the beach or a campfire or a stream flowing will all give a similar result. A good exercise is to go for a short walk, moving at about 2/3’s of your normal pace, and feel the pressure of your toes and heels landing on the ground. Taking 50 slow steps can help create a more peaceful consciousness especially if you can also feel for the warmth of the sun or smell the fragrance of the woods/grass or listen for the soothing sounds of running water.

3. TM (Transcendental Meditation) was very popular in the 60’s and early 1970’s. It was a form process of sitting for 20 minutes (or longer) and holding your attention on a word or phrase by repeating this word over and over. Sanskrit words like “Ram ma” were assigned based on your “vibrational pattern” by your teacher. I like to use a word like love or peace. The difficulty for many Western people is that it requires a lot of mental discipline to “quiet the mind” and remain on the simple word/phrase. The skill of concentration requires motivation and lots of practice.

4. I learned a form of Kundalini meditation that was very “enlightening” to me in my mid-20’s. It was a 20 minute exercise that has 3 parts. The first 10 minutes, “focusing,” are spent holding my attention on an “uplifting” word or phrase. I used the words love, peace, or calm. After 3 months my mind cooperated better and was not so distracted. The second 10 minutes, “meditation,” are spent letting the mind watch images flow through as if I were watching a blank movie screen or blank TV. Thoughts that flowed through my consciousness during this section of the meditation were sometimes very revealing and interesting. The third section, “closing down,” was to take 3 deep breaths at the end, picturing myself surrounded and protected by white light. This ritual was useful for me and I had some pleasantly surprising revelations using this technique.

If you require instruction or support with getting started and using meditation, look for classes or workshops in your area. Some people find coaches or teachers to learn meditation. I found a group to meditate with (one time per week) and over several months this was very beneficial for me.

Meditation does not have to be a religion or dogmatic philosophy. It can be a mental, physical, and spiritual practice which allows you to “connect” your mind and body, in the present moment. Studies have indicated that even 20 minutes of meditation can take the place of up to 2 hours of sleep and you can be more focused and productive in your daily activities.

Western style meditation can be found in practices such as Autogenic Training and visualizations. Consider learning more at the Stress Education Center’s website at www.dstress.com.