Set aside 10-15 minutes each day to meditate and breath

This has been a really calming, fun exercise for me lately. It makes me feel sort of creative, and sort of like a kid again at the same time! It really puts me in a zen state of mind, too. I highly recommend it!

I got the opportunity to study and speak with Mark Whitwell last weekend, and he broke it all down and made it so simple! Now I’m finding it much easier to take a few moments each day to move with my breath, then follow that with just sitting with my breath for a little while.

One of the things he said is that you can’t really try to meditate. Just sit and rest and let your mind go where it will. Eventually it will calm down and meditation will come naturally. Seeking it only makes it harder to find and creates stress. He called it a “gift”, like sleep. You can’t make yourself sleep no matter how hard you try. The best you can do is just enjoy the rest and let what happens happen. All the striving makes it ever more elusive.

The guy wrote a great book called “Yoga of Heart” – if you get a chance, pick it up! Very interesting stuff!

The other night I was watching The Dog Whisperer right before bed, and after turning it off, I lay there and meditated on cultivating “calm, assertive energy” in my own life.

It seems to be working fabulously on the dogs who used to harass me on my daily walk/run, but it seems like this approach would also work wonders with problem people.

If only I could be like Cesar when I grow up!