Leading a fulfilling life is all about seeking out new opportunities and continually challenging ourselves. If we don’t seek out change, we may find an imbalance occurring, which can leave us feeling creatively unfulfilled. This is never a conducive mindset for working towards what we want to achieve. When we feel inspired, we are in a much better position to put our dreams into action, as we have the strength and the courage to follow them through. We have to constantly be aware of the dialogue that we have with ourselves so we are helping to facilitate a strong and healthy approach to life, rather than fostering a negative outlook that can very easily extinguish our creativity. These meditations will help clear away the blocks so that we can successfully balance all the aspects of our lives.

 

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RELEASE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

In order to maintain a balanced and positive outlook on life, we need to curb negative thinking. We all have, at times, found ourselves with a trail of unhelpful thoughts as we go about our day. These thoughts can range from worrying over a deadline to not having enough time to meet friends, job performance, or general feelings of frustration…The list can seem endless. We also tend to dwell on these thoughts, so they ultimately become an all-consuming presence in our lives. The following meditation can be useful when we need to readdress the negative balance.

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1.) Find a comfortable spot in your home where you can sit for this meditation. Begin by bringing your awareness to your breath as this will help you to relax and focus on the meditation. You can gently close your eyes.

2.) Focus on a particular thought that you have recently been dwelling on and that has distracted and clouded your thinking. Just allow the thought to run through your mind as you build a picture of what has been worrying you. Try not to get involved with the thought on an emotional level, instead become the observer of your thought, as if it is running through your mind like a mini-movie; this can help you to see the problem in a more objective light.

3.) Now think what your normal response would be to the issue that you are thinking about. What happens when you feel upset? Do you get angry, passive-aggressive, or maybe you just walk away? Spend a few moments considering and understanding your usual reaction.

4.) For this next step, keep the issue that has been troubling you at the forefront, but this time see yourself handling the situation in a constructive and pragmatic way that enables you to remain balanced and in control. Think about the words you would use and the steps you would take to deal with the situation head on. How does it now feel to go about your day without the baggage that comes with continual over-thinking? What have you gained from releasing this negativity? What is your mindset like once you relinquish the need to hold on to negative thoughts?

5.) When you feel you have come to the end of the meditation, bring your awareness back to the breath and gently open your eyes.

To conclude: This meditation can be used as often as you like. It works as a helpful reminder to maintain a positive and balanced mindset.

Once we make the decision to tackle our negative thoughts, it allows us to rein in our over-thinking and replace habitual negativity with thoughts that are more conducive to happiness and creativity.

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FIND YOUR PATH

In order to feel more fulfilled in our lives, we need to find out what makes us happy and what it is that gives us that surge of excitement. The trouble is, finding out what we really want can also be rather difficult, as the thing we are looking for may seem intangible at times; we can sense that there is something more but we can’t always put our finger on precisely what that is. Meditation can be used as a kind of sounding board to play around with ideas, dreams, and aspirations; your very own space to start building towards your goals.

 

1.) Find a comfortable place to sit. For this exercise, you can close your eyes or keep them open, just as long as you pick a specific point in the room on which to focus. Ask yourself the question: “What is it I want to do?” You don't have to analyze it or think about it in great detail, just throw it out into the room. It can help to ask the question aloud.

2.) Bring your attention to your breathing and allow yourself to ruminate gently on the question you have asked, without thinking too hard or wracking your brain for an answer. Just trust what comes up (even if at this moment you have drawn a blank) and remain firmly in the moment by keeping your breath as the point of focus. If we allow ourselves to be relaxed and open we encourage inspiration to strike.

3.) The answer may come up unexpectedly or further into the meditation. Try not to feel that the answer has to be perfectly in line with what you were hoping for; it doesn’t have to be something on a grand scale, like your ultimate career objective, instead it could be something more immediate, such as deciding that you would like to go traveling. It’s good to remember that what we want is always changing and evolving, so don’t be concerned if you find that your goals and objectives are different from what you originally thought.

4.) When the answer comes to the fore, ask yourself why you haven’t yet made strides towards achieving this objective; it may be due to financial reasons, time constraints, or perhaps you simply haven’t given it much thought. Now is the time to think about what you could do to move towards realizing this goal for yourself.

5.) The next step is to visualize achieving this objective; how do you feel now? Is there a sense of satisfaction? Do you feel content, exhilarated, relieved? If we get a sense of what the reality could potentially feel like, it then begins to take shape as an idea; visualization is that first step to realizing what it is we want.

6.) This exercise can be used any time you decide you want to make a change, to help you ascertain what is most important to you right now.

To conclude: Our path doesn’t have to follow a set structure and can change to accommodate our needs. If we think about what we truly want for ourselves we will likely come up with one or two ideas that we have not previously considered. This meditation will help you to clarify both your immediate goals and your dreams for the future.

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SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE

Day-to-day life can be made immeasurably easier when we cut back and make more use of those items that truly have value to us. If we think about the items we are continually drawn to, they are likely to have deeper meaning for us, or they are necessary for day-to-day living. Yet, we often find that superfluous items we probably don’t remember purchasing or receiving have invaded our personal space. The following exercise will help you ask yourself the ultimate consumer question: do I really need this?

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1.) Find the room in your home where you tend to store most of your purchases and unused gifts. You may have a closet or drawer where, along with your clothes, you have stowed away items for when they might come in useful. Spend a few moments, sitting wherever is comfortable with your feet planted firmly on the ground, and bring your attention to your breath.

2.) Think about the items you see in this room and how many times you have used them. Are they of value to you? Have they been worth the cost? Are the items worth the space they currently take up in your home? I know we don’t often pay this much attention to inanimate things, but when we start to focus on what we want and choose to surround ourselves with, we can see with clarity the items that have surreptitiously encroached on our personal space.

3.) Now focus on one item in particular and meditate on the following questions: Would you miss the item if you didn’t have it? Is it something you get regular use out of? By asking simple questions you start to get a picture of the value that you have placed on the item. If you have come back with a resounding “yes” to both questions, they clearly have value to you and are worth keeping.

To conclude: Next time you go shopping, just take a moment to ask yourself whether the item you covet will be of use to you and whether it would add value to your life. The exercise simply brings to light what it is that works for us, so that we can have the things we want and need.

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LOOK TO THE FUTURE

This particular meditation enables us to start to plan for things to come, to visualize and help create our future, giving us clarity in understanding our goals, all the while remaining grounded in the here and now. For this exercise, you will need a notepad and a pen

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1.) Get comfortable in your meditation area, gently close your eyes, and find your center by breathing gently, keeping your focus on the rise and fall of your chest. Focus on your breath for as long as you wish as this helps to calm and balance you before the visualization.

2.) Allow yourself to be calm and, when you feel ready, in your own time, gently open your eyes, place the notepad on your lap, and write down your hopes and dreams for the future. They don’t have to be in chronological order or have any specific correlation, just write down ideas, phrases, or even feelings, which relate to what you hope to achieve. You can scrawl over the page in large letters, small letters, or even use illustrations if you are feeling particularly creative; it should be your thoughts and feelings, uninhibited by your impulse to dilute your dreams in any way. This is not the time for modest thinking—really state your dreams with clarity and intent. Remember, this sheet of paper is for your eyes only.

3.) Once you have filled the paper with your ideas and musings, spend the next few minutes simply looking over the page to get a sense of what you are pulled towards and what ideas and thoughts jump off the page; what is the dream you yearn for the most? Choose the one that you are drawn to, not the dream you think you ought to pick.

4.) Close your eyes to return to the meditation. Focus on your breath and then, after a few moments, bring your chosen goal to the fore in your mind. Ask yourself a few questions in order to gain clarity on what it is you wish to achieve:

Why have I chosen this particular ambition?

What would it mean to my life if I achieved it?

What are the steps I now need to take to get there?

You don't have to answer all the questions in this one meditation session. This exercise could even be carried out over the course of a week, in which you give yourself the time to work through the questions.

5.) Once you have asked yourself the questions, simply allow yourself to ruminate on those thoughts at your own pace. You might like to refocus on your breath and then, if an idea or thought comes up, make a note of it. Try not to analyze the thoughts or feelings, even if you think they appear silly or overambitious; whatever may come up, just allow it to evolve organically. Remember, everything that has ever been achieved started with an idea, so allow yourself the same time to think and create.

6.) When you feel that you have come to the end of the meditation, sit quietly for a few moments. This allows the information to assimilate and you can look back on your notes with fresh eyes.

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