MEDITATE!

What if there was something that could help you choose love when you're frustrated? Help you lose weight? Soothe relationships? Improve your health? Transform you into a money magnet? And it's free?

That magic something is meditation.

Want to be happy? Meditate. Overweight? Meditate. Problem in your marriage? Meditate. Health issues? Meditate. Never have enough money? Meditate. Stressed out by your crazy family? Definitely meditate!

Years ago I offered a workshop entitled "Meditation to Look Younger, Feel Thinner, Be Richer and Less Stressed!" Meditation does all this and more. It's the secret to accessing your internal - and eternal - connection to Divine Spirit.

Many people are confused about what mediation is and how to do it. Because meditation is free, people often fail to see its value. How sad. Of all the spiritual books I've read, workshops I've attended, energy sessions I've received and given, nothing I've found produced more lasting and significant results than consistent meditation. I'm not an authority on meditation. I just know it works.

When I first learned to meditate, I was a full-time working mother, getting my MBA in night school and caring for chronically ill parents. I didn't have a lot of extra time and usually felt overwhelmed, exhausted and was constantly sick. Once I committed to a consistent meditation practice, I was more productive, found it easier to sleep and felt emotionally and physically strong. Over a short period of time, meditation moved me from frustrated to relaxed, upset to calm, and hopeless to hopeful. Meditation made the difference.

So what is meditation? It's a process of consciously relaxing your mind to transcend the never-ending flow of thoughts. Think of it as a conscious way to detach from your constant mind chatter into a mindful place of peace. It may take you a few tries to get the hang of this, but I guarantee there is nothing I've found that will make positive changes in your life faster than a consistent meditation practice. Nothing.

Why meditate? Countless medical, scientific and spiritual sources tout the benefits of consistent meditation. A few common benefits widely reported by people who consistently meditate include:

• Feeling happier and more at peace

• Increased social skills and feeling of "connectedness"

• Reduction or elimination of "stress eating" thus leading to lower weight

• Calmer thought patterns which can reduce "impulse buying" issues

• Lowered blood pressure and heart rate

• More relaxed muscles (some say they even appear younger once meditation drains stress from the face!)

• Increased brain function with improved memory and greater clarity

• Improved creativity and problem solving

• Greater pain tolerance

• Reduced overall stress (and reaction to specific stress triggers)

The most important benefit to those wishing to live a life of love is that of feeling connected to God, Source and the Universal Life-force Energy. No matter what name you identify with, the result is you feel a part of "the energy that runs through all things." You realize you're part of the pulse of the Universe as you go about your day, contributing your unique vibration to that of the whole. You're connected to the mighty oak tree and the smallest flower, connected to the quiet mountain stream as well as the roaring ocean, connected to the homeless man in your town and to your country's highest political leader. We're all one through the Divine Spark that burns within each one of us. Meditation makes this clear. It's much harder to criticize someone or something which you feel deeply connected to. And it's much easier to recognize the bonds that unite you.

A consistent meditation practice not only makes you aware of this Divine Spark but quiets the mind enough for you to actually hear the Divine guidance offered to you. In most Western cultures, the ego is so noisy that people never hear - or choose to ignore, or even worse, doubt - the whispers of Truth that are presented each and every moment. Meditation helps access that information to use in everyday decisions and allows you to develop and trust your innate intuitive abilities. The little voice within that has all the answers is suddenly available and easier to discern.

Let's be clear. A consistent meditation practice certainly doesn't mean you avoid problems or life challenges. But it does help you weather those issues with more grace and ease than ever before. You still make mistakes. Meditation gives you the rudder to right your actions more quickly, however, and get back on the path you truly want to explore. It'll help eliminate a good portion of the "noise" around you that comes in the form of gossip, fear and anger. You'll be better equipped to deal with those as well.

I've found that some of my coaching clients failed at meditation either because they used a technique that was uncomfortable for them or they just didn't understand how to begin or sustain a daily practice. Every client who faithfully meditated every day, even for as little as five minutes, achieved positive results.

I know what you're thinking. "I don't have time to meditate." "I tried it once and still felt crappy." "I can't sit in a position like a pretzel and chant." "What will my friends and family think?" Let's address those barriers one by one.

"I don't have time to meditate." I've heard meditation experts state that beginning with as little as five minutes a day, consistent meditators can quickly achieve positive results. Now come on - you don't have five minutes a day? How much time a day do you typically spend complaining or thinking negative thoughts? Use that time to meditate.

"I tried it once and still felt crappy." You once tried to walk and fell down, but you got back up and eventually learned to walk. Perhaps after several failed attempts you learned to ride a bike. You probably weren't a great driver at first, or a good cook or efficient at using your computer programs - it all took practice. So does meditation. Committing to a regular consistent practice of meditation is what yields the results you want.

"I can't sit in a position like a pretzel and chant." Luckily this is not required. There are many simple ways to comfortably meditate and I'll list a few techniques later in this chapter.

"What will my friends and family think?" They'll probably think you're calmer, happier and seem healthier and more fun to be around. And they'll probably want to know what you're doing so they can do it too!

Like everything else in life that's beneficial, you have to decide you want the desired benefit to wholeheartedly commit to the practice. So do you want to look younger, feel thinner, be richer and less...