meditation

This episode of Meditation Summer Camp is all about Spaciousness. Creative problem solving and moments of clarity come from this place of spaciousness. Join me for a 10 minute guided meditation that uses visualization to help you make space and become more clear.

Download the audio below!

Audio File: 

Meditation Summer Camp - Spaciousness.mp3

Hey Friends! I know I'm behind on the meditation summer camp! I was ACTUAL summer camp ... well not really, but I was at the beach for a week! There's nothing better than sitting and walking by the ocean waves.

I'll get a new podcast episode up this week. In the meantime, here are a few resources to help your meditation practice:

How to Sit for Meditation by Amy Ippoliti:
If you're having difficulty getting physically comfortable in to meditate, Amy has some great alignment pointers in this brief video. Don't forget you can also use a chair, the sofa, or prop yourself up with some pillows in bed! That totally counts.

Erich Schiffmann's Talks: Erich has a ton of talks available to download for free. He does an excellent and inspiring job of explaining what it means to meditate and why you should do it. He also assigns "homework", and gives generally awesome life-affirming lectures. Also check out his main website, Freedom Style Yoga.

iPhone Apps:

• imeditate with Erich Schiffmann: This is my favorite app to help me keep up my meditation practice when I travel. You can choose a talk and a duration, and a bell will ring at the end of the practice. $4.99
• Ambience: I use this app when I teach meditation classes at the gym to help mask the sound of all the banging and grunting. There's a huge library of ambient sounds you can download and mix into playlists. Also, the nature sounds are nice for helping you fall asleep! $2.99
• Insight Timer: I just downloaded this one and haven't tried it out yet, because I don't usually time my meditation practice. This looks like a nice timer, a little fancier than the one that comes standard in the iPhone utilities. $1.99

Let me know if you have any favorite meditation resources to share! I'll be back with a podcast later this week!

I created this five-week series so that you might be inspired to create a daily meditation practice of your own. I promise it will be easy and fun, and I promise I won't talk to you in a corny new-agey voice. I'm keeping it real, here. Meditating doesn't have to be a big deal. All you have to do is give yourself permission to be still... and then see what happens.

That being said, meditation can also be a profound experience if you make space for that to happen. I like to think of meditation as a practice of listening to God. You might be more comfortable thinking of it as listening to your inner self, or you might give the practice another meaning that works for you.

This is how it will go:

Each episode, I'll talk to you for a few minutes to get you started, then I'll set you free so that you can enjoy your own practice. In ten minutes, you'll hear a chime. At that point, you can take a deep breath and go about the rest of your day. You're always welcome to sit longer or stop the podcast at any time to make it shorter. I'm just offering some suggestions and guidance to get you on your way to create a practice that you will enjoy enough to keep up on your own.

I recommend setting aside at least ten minutes every day to sit and be quiet. In addition to this podcast, I'll be posting other helpful tips and resources about meditation here at my blog. If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know!

Thanks for listening.

Audio File: 

Meditation Summer Camp - Centering and Breathing.mp3