Meditation

Regular and Monday Meditations are no longer held. However, meditation is often used as part of a get-together, on-line or face-to-face, and information on these pages may be useful to those joining in.

Joining in 'in spirit'. To tune in just be aware that the meditation is taking place and see what comes up for you, or if you are used to meditating just go into your quiet space, with an intention to maintain an energy for the highest good of all. You may feel to light a candle or read some inspiring verse. Whatever feels right to you. Do try the tuning in method. I do it regularly and find I am aware of a calm that comes from just the intention, as I mentioned. All the best, Nora.

Distance Meditation & Healing

We’ve all had the experience of thinking about someone we haven’t seen in a while when Hey Presto! - they phone us or we bump into them in the street. “What a coincidence”, we think – or we would if we hadn’t experienced it so many times that it goes beyond coincidence, beyond the realm of “chance”. Well this has been pondered by greater minds than you and I my friends and it turns out that there is a school of thought that says we are all part of a universal “field”, all inter-connected to each other and in fact to everything in the known – and unknown – universe. The people who populate this school of thought with immense knowledge are Quantum Physicists and the like – folk who talk about String Theory and Chaos Theory and, and, and...

I say never mind all that. Because this school is also informed – and has been for many millennia before scientists were ever heard of – by Mystics and Healers, Shamans and Druids, Prophets and Enlightened Beings. They have been preaching and teaching for a long time about the inter-connectedness of everything – of everybody. Never mind the whys and the hows, fascinating as they may well be, never mind the mind-boggling science involved. Never mind the fact that these Quantum scientists are talking about events that happen faster than the speed of light. All we have to mind is our experiences, our beliefs, our intentions.

I have experienced getting a feeling about a relative on the far side of the world and calling them only for them to ask how I always seem to know they’re troubled. I believe that we are all connected in ways I don’t even understand - don’t have to understand and finally it is my intention when I sit down to meditate or heal with a group to connect with their Higher selves no matter how far apart we may be in time, space, dimension or Realm. That’s the key for me, the how, the why... and that’s faster (and more reliable) than the world-wide-web will EVER be!

Pat F.

The Meditation Experience

Physics informs us everything is composed of energetic particles, and these are continually interacting. This means that we and the energy around us is flowing and exchanging continually – the eastern traditions call it chi.

Some people sense these energies and changes more strongly than others. When we walk into a room or meet other people we interact with the energy of the room or person – there may be a feeling of homeliness and comfort or sometimes a feeling of disturbance, of something not 'right'. We are endlessly picking up information about a place and whatever is in the space whether we consciously realise this or not.

Setting the meditation space

Those that arrive first on the evening or the person 'leading' the evening set the ambience of the room with candles, lower the lights and often place a central candle or items that have pleasant associations for us. Whilst doing this we have an attitude of blessing the room and those that will be present. We set the intention that everything occurring during the evening is for the highest good of all.

Centering yourself on arrival

To be in balance with the room and all those in meditation with you, you can use this short exercise of centering: Close your eyes, take three deep breaths and relax. Feel your whole body in a restful state then imagine a central light somewhere in your body, it doesn't matter where – maybe your head, your heart area or around your navel.

Having established this place of light within you, you now place your attention above your head and 'see' a beautiful warm sun shining brightly. From this a golden thread of light emerges and links, through the top of your head, to the light within you. Next you imagine this light leaving your body through the soles of your feet and going deep into the earth, to the core. Be aware of the linking of yourself between the outer sun, your inner light and the centre of the earth.

Having set up your connections now imagine you are sitting in a bubble of white, blue or gold light, and that this extends about two feet from your body. Imagine expanding and contracting this light until you feel a state of comfort. You can also imagine changing it from being stationary to spinning around you. Once you have done this exercise a few times it becomes almost automatic.

Brain and Body Activity During Meditation

It is now accepted that your brain waves alter during meditation and hence bodily energy fields change and you become more open to sensing energies. In the Alpha state we are in a relaxed state of light meditation. During meditation we move between that and the Theta state. During this type of brain activity we may experience day dreaming, creativity, meditation, paranormal phenomena, ESP or shamanic journeys.

Relaxation is a passive state, achieved by a warm bath, reclining in a chair or watching TV. Meditation is an active process. It is different to relaxation, although the two are linked. In meditation we start by concentrating on something, maybe a visualisation story, an object, music, a beautiful sunset, any activity that occupies our brains and allows us to slow down thoughts. We intentionally quieten our busy brains. We are contacting within ourselves a place that is peaceful, rejuvenating and meaningful.

There are physiological effects of meditation including reduced blood pressure and decreased metabolic rate. You will hear people's tummies rumbling. You may find you need to swallow more. As you meditate your awareness grows and you may begin to notice aches and pains in your body, or changes in temperature. When quietening your mind it becomes calmer and more aware of these day to day feelings. As you sit you will find they go away of their own accord. Sometimes they are caused by an awkward sitting position and sometimes they are just normal adjustments in your body.

Closing the meditation

With this understanding that we have been in an altered state of being, it is obvious that a meditation should be ended calmly and slowly, as different people have different experiences and we need to make sure by the end of the evening that all are back in their Beta state. It is good to bring the experience of the meditation into your consciousness of everyday life but not to be 'up in the air' with it. We do this by 'grounding'. Often we have become so accustomed to the Theta brainwave pattern that we do not recognise within ourselves that we are not in a Beta state.

We thus send a message to the brain and body that we need to be able to react and respond to the world of everyday life by doing something physical. We may ring a bell, physically touch the floor, rub our hands together and tap over your body to awaken your muscles and circulation. This is an important part of the meditation experience.

It is also a good idea to re-affirm your place on the earth by imagining yourself in the bubble of white, blue or gold light. We finish the meditation and healing evening with a drink which supports the grounding process.

To everything there is a season

Just as, in the external world, the seasons move between quiet preparation and strength, from the hibernation of winter to full abundance of summer so accessing the internal world in meditation moves from setting the intention (equating to Samhain) through the deep inward perspective of the meditation (summer solstice) to the closure and return.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 - To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted....

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