meditation music Learn How to Cope With Placing Your Elderly Parent in a Nursing Home

TRANSITIONS

Acknowledging that this is a time of transition and knowing that things will not be as they once were is a good first step in care-taking. Because difficult and unsettling emotions surface keeping a journal to process them is helpful. Issues, disputes, and unsettled business can make for a heavy burden if you carry it alone. If you have a trusted friend, minister, rabbi or someone you deeply respect around you to discuss your feelings or simply listen without judgment your burden will be lighter. Your parent may also need a counselor or someone in which they can confide and share their feelings. Often the facility will make this service available.

In my own situation I needed to move my mother closer to my residence to manage her care in the assisted living facility. I could not give her the skilled care she needed. As I write this now it almost seems like moving her happened overnight without much forethought or concern. Indeed the opposite is true. I planned long and hard about it. Being the independent person she was, she resisted this move with all her might like your parent may do with you. She didn’t want to go into a nursing home…period. Even though you may plan the move very carefully and with as much love as you can, be prepared for your parent to be angry, irritated, upset, resistant, and uncooperative. This was the case with my parent. Even though she traveled the 12-hour drive in a huge motor coach with 2 drivers she was very upset when she arrived. Be prepared. Even though you may put your heart and soul into making the transition as easy as possible it may be hard for your independent parent and you.

THE FIRST FEW DAYS AND AFTERWARD

The first few days can also be a trying time for both you and your parent. He or she is in a new place and has lost independence. They may lash out at you, the nurses, nurse aides, or other residents. For example, upon arriving in the nursing home my mom complained about everything including: her roommate’s bathroom habits, the food, her inability to sleep on the bed, the aides checking her in “the middle of the night.” But finally after several months she seemed like she had made the transition well. She and her roommate, “Ava”, became great friends and she grew to like most of the staff. No matter how your situation unfolds this time may hold deeper meaning for you both. It can be looked at as an extraordinary journey into facing aging and possibly the death of your parent. Indeed it can be a time of facing your own fears about losing your parent and facing your own aging process.

BEING THEIR CHEERLEADER

Making major decisions for your parent may put you in the position of medical or financial advocate.. If your parent has a living will, and has named their durable power of medical attorney and durable power of financial attorney review those documents. If this is not set up you may want to consult a lawyer if you haven’t done so already. Talk to your parent about this. Sure, these are difficult subjects but must be done! Parents may not be able to handle their own finances or medical treatments alone. You are there to assist and possibly take over when they need you to do so.

In my case, I drove my mother to many doctor’s appointments, answered calls from the facility, and discussed her care with all of her doctors. I was her cheerleader too, encouraging her when she was down or depressed. This took enormous strength on my part because even though I loved my mother very much she was not a cheerleader for me as I was growing up. When I was five she began full-time “shift work” in a factory. Although I had wonderful grandparents caring for me they couldn’t fill the void that mom created when she was gone. I had questions, concerns and problems as any kid does and they only multiplied throughout my teenage years. She wasn’t a cheerleader for me when I needed her but now she needed me to act as hers.

Old wounds may open up. Processing them is significant to the care you can offer your parent and taking care of yourself. Strive to talk with your trusted friends, minister or rabbi. They are there for you. Encourage your parent to utilize the counseling services at the facility.

UNUSUAL BEHAVIORS

Don’t be surprised if your parent displays unusual behaviors. They may be forgetful, may display dementia and get upset. He or she may have medical problems that color their day. At times it may be all you can do to visit or advocate.

Sometimes advocating proved to be more than I could give. My mother resented me for moving her and putting her in the “old age home.” She had dementia and would say the most bizarre things. Once evening my mother called me a total of 15 times wanting me to help her locate my brother. You see if she didn’t talk to him everyday this unwarranted fear set in and she imagined that he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere.

This type of behavior began to happen daily until the social worker of the facility called a “team meeting.” My brother and I were present along with the head nurse, the physical therapist and social worker. They suggested that arranging a phone call between my brother and her at a specified time everyday might alleviate mom’s anxiety. That time was 9:30 am. Then, she would call me around 5:00 PM daily. Everyone on the floor knew of this arrangement and helped mom make the calls. It worked out very well.

Don’t hesitate to seek the help of the professionals at the facility. They have lots of experience and can often offer many suggestions that make life more pleasant for everyone involved.

DIFFICULT TIMES

There are going to be some difficult days. Your parent may not be feeling well, may be depressed or feel as it they have nothing to live for. You may have to dig deep inside yourself to find the compassion and strength to companion them.

In my own situation, there were days when I’d walk into my mother’s room and she’d be lying on her bed with the shades drawn down. She had osteoarthritis in her left hip, which caused severe pain. On these days it was all I could do to comfort her. Providing energy therapy gave her some relief, which would enable her to get up off the bed, walk to dinner and the library. The hip pain was like fighting an old but familiar enemy because she was also fighting depression. She often spoke about how she wanted to die and go to her “permanent home.” When I heard this repeatedly it began to affect me adversely. On one hand I listened with compassion for a time but I also had to detach lest I became depressed myself.

You will find that you can only do so much. You cannot stop the aging process but you can be there to listen, to advocate and to make like bearable for your aging parent.

MAKING GOOD MEMORIES

You and your parent can make good memories during this stage of their life. If you participate in the activities that the facility offers with your parent many times you will find that you actually enjoy yourself. If they are able to leave for outings encourage them to do so. There’s nothing better than a ride on a lovely summer day, visiting family in their homes or lunch out. Do it as often as they are willing and able. You won’t regret it. In fact these memories will be some of the one you treasure the most.

In my case, sometimes when I came to visit my mother was fully engaged in circle ball and chair exercises or playing a game of bingo. These were fun times and I would often participate. It was fun encouraging all of the residents to do their best to hit the ball. They enjoyed it too and often there would be plenty of smiles. On some afternoons, we sat outside on the benches under the awning of the building. These were among my favorite times as the trees and flowers were in full bloom. Other residents would come out too and we’d have lively conversations albeit loud ones as most of them were hard of hearing. Sometimes it would just be mom and I talking about our happy memories or retracing our family tree.

Again, help them get out and enjoy life as often as possible. The nursing home may have a van that takes residents out for activities. Help your parent find the activities they like encourage them to join in.

SELF CARE

Self care is a must for anyone that is a caretaker. Often care-takers don’t want to take out time for themselves. This is not good thinking. In order to take care of others you must first practice self-care! What good can you possibly to your elderly parent or anyone else if you are emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually depleted? The answer is: you cannot.

What brings you joy? What brings a smile to your lips? Is it a walk in nature? Time alone in meditation? Exercise? Reading a book quietly? Vacationing? Listening to good music? Gardening? Baking? Meeting up with friends? Playing with your pet? Enjoying time with children? Whatever fills you up do it! I created a comfortable chair in my home where I would meditate. I had a candle, prayer beads, scripture and other inspirational books on the side table. An iPod with meditation music and headphones were there too. Feeling God’s presence with me on this journey sustained me through it all.

Those times when I visited my children and granddaughter were happy times that lifted me out of the caretaker-problem solver role. To see new life and the excitement it brings warmed my heart like nothing else.

I exercised by riding my bicycle when the weather was good. I promised myself that I would not take my cell phone on the ride and for that hour no one could contact me. It was I riding in nature. I’d ride out to my favorite spot on the trail and feel re-energized by the beauty surrounding me. Most of the time I felt as if I could face anything when I returned. I knew I had to do what was life-giving for me so I could be there for her. This and the support of friends, my spiritual director, good books and faith was what helped me through this time of my life.

FINAL PASSAGE

It is very hard to witness your parent weakening and becoming frail. Not many of us want to face losing a parent no matter how ill they are. You may bargain with God, deny the situation, become angry or very sad. This is a time of life that all of us face someday. But your parent may be looking toward the next life and being out of pain. When thinking of them instead of yourself you may be able to accept their impending death.

“She had been in the emergency rooms of local hospitals over 25 times in the year and a half that she was here,” I reasoned. At 92 she was tired of fighting this hard battle with the arsenal of drugs and invasive procedures. She was ready to go home. But was I ready to let go? Well, whether I was ready or not, it was going to happen.

You may think of how you could have or should have done things better or differently. You may think about how you could have been kinder, gentler or a better problem solver. All these thoughts may go through your mind. If you’ve done the best you could do and were there for your parent, then you should have no regrets. Sure, it’s still hard and you may be grieving but time does help. Also, to honor the memory of your parent you may consider donating to a charity, planting a tree in your yard, or spending time volunteering in your community. These activities help others but they do help you as well. Above all, know that you have walked a difficult journey and give yourself time to heal.

A very good website to visit for further information on care-taking is http://www.agingcare.com
Listening to music while you are meditating – not a good idea. … Anything you do with the thought that you are meditating is meditating. There are many ways to meditate. Personally, I find music to be distracting, but paying attention to sounds in your environment is part of insight meditation.

Types of meditation
Loving-kindness meditation. With the many types of meditation to try, there should be one to suit most individuals. …
Body scan or progressive relaxation. …
Mindfulness meditation. …
Breath awareness meditation. …
Kundalini yoga. …
Zen meditation. …
Transcendental Meditation.

Meditation is a habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts. You can use it to increase awareness of yourself and your surroundings. Many people think of it as a way to reduce stress and develop concentration.
Basic meditation music simply provides a way for an individual to go deeper with their meditation by adding a new layer to their experience. … Unlike many other music forms, the binaural beats work with the brain to develop a frequency most associated with relaxation.

relaxing music Most Fertile Period – The Right Time For Motherhood

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Meditation music is music performed to aid in the practice of meditation. It can have a specific religious content, but also more recently has been associated with modern composers who use meditation techniques in their process of composition, or who compose such music with no particular religious group as a focus.

brain wave monitor | relaxing music artists
The most fertile period allows a woman to get pregnant quickly. It is quite clear to all that, a woman becomes pregnant only when the sperms of the male come into contact with the ovum. Every month the woman’s body discharges blood from the body through vagina. This is menstruation. Just before this cycle of discharge, the ovaries present in the woman’s body release the ovum or the egg, which goes through the fallopian tube to the uterus. If the woman has made love and the sperm of the male partner is present in the uterus, then the egg and the sperm come into contact and fertilization takes place. This is the entire process of fertilization. However, the important thing to understand is that you are fertile right before you are going to start your period. Therefore, it is important to calculate fertile period. Pregnancy planning helps in this process.

Determining The Most Fertile Period

The menstruation cycle of a woman can be classified into two parts, pre-ovulation and post ovulation. The duration of this cycle varies according to the constitution of women. In some women, it is for three days, in some weaker women it may last for 6-7 days. Moreover, some women have a cycle of 25 days, some have a cycle of 35 days i.e. in some cases, it is earlier than a month and in others, it is delayed. Therefore, it is necessary to find out the exact timing of the cycle. Within a week of menstruation, the ovum starts to develop in the ovaries. The uterine lining becomes thick and gets ready for implantation. On the fourteenth day, the ovaries release the ovum or the egg, which travels to the uterus. Over here, it meets the sperm, if it is there, and results in pregnancy. Therefore, it pays to calculate fertile period. This fertilized egg now implants itself on the uterine lining and starts to develop into a fetus.

How It Works

It is important to note that the sperm can remain active inside the vagina for three days, while the ovum remains alive for only about one day. Therefore, these days are the most fertile time periods for the women and it is important to know are you fertile right before you are going to start your period. In case the sperm is not present, then the egg breaks down and passes through the vagina along with the uterine lining, which forms the menstruation cycle of the woman.

In this way, you are most fertile 14 days before you start your period. Another way to find out your most fertile period is to measure your basal body temperature using a basal thermometer. Your body temperature raises little bit during ovulation. Other ways include saliva tests, examination of your cervix, and checking your cervix mucous. During ovulation, some women also experience pain in their abdomen. This is another indication that your most fertile period has started.

If you and your partner make love during this fertile period then there is a greater chance that your lovemaking results in pregnancy. On the reverse, women who do not wish to become mothers yet should avoid making love during this period. You can take the help of Chinese calendar or ovulation predictor kit to find out your most fertile period. Another important thing to learn here is to remain stress free. Tension of any kind has an adverse effect on the ovulation process. Listen to music, do meditation for some time, read books and journals and watch TV to pass time. Never brood as it leads to stress.
Listening to music while you are meditating – not a good idea. … Anything you do with the thought that you are meditating is meditating. There are many ways to meditate. Personally, I find music to be distracting, but paying attention to sounds in your environment is part of insight meditation.

meditation music Learn Ramana Maharshi’s Meditation Technique for Enlightenment

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At the most mundane level, self inquiry is asking “Who am I?” In asking this question, your attention reverses back onto itself, the mind becomes still and for however long it lasts, you experience nothing but pure consciousness, pure attention itself. Dualistic subject/object perception is gone and there is only the experience of one infinite consciousness.

The amazing thing about this meditation technique is that it uses the mind to stop the mind. “Who am I” is not an intellectual question, instead it is a question to cut right through the intellectual mind. Because if you really look to find the answer, you will find that your name, body and occupation is not what you are.

Certainly intellectually, these things would be your answer. But if you really inquire into the nature of what you are in this moment, you move past all mental definitions and come to something which cannot be put into words, something that actually silences the words.

So in practicing the self inquiry technique, in asking “Who am I,” your attention moves inward instead of outward, past intellectual knowledge to that which cannot be described or defined. You begin to experience what is here beyond your thinking, beyond all ideas and definitions of what you know intellectually. This experience of pure consciousness, pure attention is often referred to as the Self, Atman, the feeling of ‘I am,’ stillness, silence, the void and the absence of me.

All of these words may point in the direction of what is here, but it is necessary to note that the words themselves are not the answer. The answer is the silence, the mystery that is there every time you ask the question. You use the self inquiry meditation technique to take you to the essence of what is here beyond thought and in that you learn to remain in that essence, to rest in pure consciousness.

When you begin practicing the self inquiry meditation technique, you may ask “who am I?” and the experience of pure consciousness may only last a moment before you are again caught up in thinking. So then you repeat the question to again take you out of thinking and into your natural state of pure consciousness. At first, it may be that you ask “who am I” with every inhale and then on the exhale you experience what is here beyond thinking.

But as you improve, you can remain in your natural state of pure consciousness for longer and longer periods of time. At first, the experience of pure being may last 2 seconds, then 5 seconds, even 30 seconds before you are again get caught up in thinking.

But with practice, you come to a point where the question is no longer needed; you come to a point where the feeling of pure consciousness becomes dominant enough that your attention can remain in that without actually needing to use the question any longer.

It is here the meditation technique no longer becomes an inquiry, but rather you simply relax into pure being, you surrender in pure consciousness. You begin to be able to directly experience this moment beyond mental perception, without having to use your mind. You begin to experience that you are not your thoughts, but the consciousness behind the thinking, the consciousness from where the thoughts arise and disappear on their own.

It is important to note that a large part of Ramana Maharshi’s teaching has been overlooked, and that is the Guru himself. Ramana Maharshi radiated Shaktipat, the energy of enlightenment. Just by sitting in Ramana Maharshi’s presence, people would effortlessly experience deep states of bliss and self realization, without having to practice any meditation technique.

You can receive this same Shaktipat by listening to a very unique meditation CD. Simply by listening to meditation music, this Shaktipat is awakened in you and you effortlessly attain deep states of meditation and bliss.

Click on the “Shaktipat Meditation Music” link below to hear free samples and experience it for yourself.
Listening to music while you are meditating – not a good idea. … Anything you do with the thought that you are meditating is meditating. There are many ways to meditate. Personally, I find music to be distracting, but paying attention to sounds in your environment is part of insight meditation.

sleep meditation How to Liberate Yourself From Emotional Burdens and Family Strife – 16 Ways to Work Your Thing Out

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It is therefore essential to know how to free yourself from an emotional burden. It begins with you being yourself and not what others expect you to be. I recently lived this which is why it is easy to share 16 ways to work your thing out and liberate yourself from the weight of family strife and emotional dysfunction.

This inescapable duty to observe oneself: if someone else is observing me, naturally I have to observe myself too; if none observe me, I have to observe myself all the closer. –Kafka

1 – OBSERVE: Keep your mouth shut and pay attention to the actions and reactions of others, the emotional triggers and the intended messages which go oft awry resulting in arguments, criticism, accusations and recrimination.

2 – DO NOT TAKE SIDES: Taking sides is a very bad idea; you are setting yourself up for mischief and playing their games not only weakens you but also draws you into a maelstrom of negativity.

3 – DO NOT JUDGE: Observe your reactions and innate prejudices which arise. You have been off the scene a long time and do not know the dynamics of the situation. Stay out of it.

When your prejudices come to the fore (and we all have them), take them out and shine the cleansing light of lucidity on them. Question the reason for their existence; are they valid and why; are they true, is that who you are now?

These questions tend to call negative memories to mind out of which encourages this attitude. What they have “awakened” in you could continue long after the particular family issues have been clarified if you do not deal with them immediately.

Try loving the people you now judge. I won’t explain how to love them. Just try. Understand, accept, and love. Go ahead. –James M. Lynch

4 – MEDITATE OR PRAY (WHICHEVER SUITS BEST): Or paint, journal, go for walks, listen to music, dance, exercise, be quiet, and so on. These activities help you focus and (re)gain inner harmony in the midst of the family’s neuroses.

5 – ASK FOR HELP: When you begin to feel overwhelmed or when you yourself become a hit and run victim of verbal violence, ask the Universe, God, Mohammed or whatever you pray to for guidance. You will be answered; I guarantee it! Another perspective is priceless.

6 – BE GRATEFUL: Offer gratitude every day for the good in your life particularly during rocky times. Cry if you feel like it; that loosens the restricting bonds you placed on your heart.

7 – TELL YOUR STORY: It lifts the unsuspected weight from your shoulders when it falls on a listening ear. The objective is not to whine or complain. No; it is to tell your story and share your feelings. You will gain an understanding of what you have been living when you externalize it.

The universe works in mysterious ways and you will hear the words needed to inspire and comfort you. It is a great way to get stuff off your chest with an understanding, neutral, external party and ease your aching heart.

Our only security is our ability to change. –John Lilly

8 – BE AUTHENTIC: Faking what you do not feel, taking sides, lying to make others feel comfortable, allowing yourself to be drawn into other people’s drama is counter-productive on every level.

Reacting to triggers is par for the course in families – they know them best. Instead, minimise the damage by analysing the situation, then ask yourself “Is it worth it to respond”.

Say what you think even when you feel uncomfortable. Express how you feel if it would make you feel better; it might put others on the defensive but that is their problem. This is very healthy.

Speak your mind to clear the air without casting aspersions on peoples characters or criticising them in any way. Being authentic does not mean getting in anyone’s face. Such actions are for “small people” and I know you are bigger than that!

One often contradicts an opinion when what is uncongenial is really the tone in which it was conveyed. –Friedrich Nietzsche

9 – STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE YOU DO NOT LIKE (INCLUDING FAMILY MEMBERS): This is a very important self-preservation strategy when you share the same roof. There will be less angst on your part when you distance yourself from the verbal stone-throwing and guilt manipulation.

Create a haven for yourself in your room, the garden, on a park bench, etc. You are an adult and you have no explanations to offer when you wish to be on your own. Be aware however that it will not be appreciated.

10- FIND PEOPLE YOU LIKE: Broaden your horizons. It is a great opportunity to create new friendships and network. Even if your environment is familiar, events dictate a change of atmosphere. Join a group, start a new activity with people you do not know.

11- FOCUS ON YOUR OWN NEEDS: Whether you are looking for a new job or making a life change, focussing on your own needs blocks out much of the conflict and dysfunction. A peaceful feeling returns when you concentrate on your desires.

A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are. –Unknown

12- DO NOT TRY TO DEFEND YOURSELF: Resist this instinctive reaction when you feel attacked. It is a fruitless exercise as the “attack” is a ploy to draw you back into the story. Not reacting will make you feel uncomfortable but that is just your ego “talking”. Ignore it.

Sometimes you are the one creating the problem because of your feelings of insecurity and others are simply reacting to it. Be honest and take responsibility for it.

13- ACCEPT WHAT YOU CANNOT CHANGE: Accept people as they are because they will not change. You are expected to adapt and conform to expectations which is the real “issue” behind the conflict. Wishing it was different will not change it.

Acceptance brings change, lightens your spirit and creates a distance between you and the group and this immediately negates conflict. You then become the observer of yourself and everyone else and you will regain control of your emotions.

The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind. –William Blake

14- EXPRESS YOUR ANGER: I am sure you know the saying sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me. It is way off the mark.

There is nothing more hurtful than words spoken in resentment and recrimination; they resound and rebound in one’s head. They are intended to wound and are not easily forgotten.

When I say express your anger, I do not mean scream and shout or revile and insult. Raise your voice if you want to and let the anger out. It is essential for your well-being and I truly mean this.

Cast no verbal stones – even in the heat of the moment – as they are counter-productive even when you are correct. You cannot be “right” because that is a judgement call. What you say is your truth; express yourself and get it over with. It too will pass.

When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free. –Catherine Ponder

15- FORGIVE: When people refuse to act like adults and take responsibility for their actions and emotions, they make themselves small. Be the bigger person.

And each time you think “why can’t she/he be…”, stop immediately and say instead I’m sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you, I love you.. This is the Hawaiian Ho’oponopono Prayer of Forgiveness; simple, powerful and most importantly, it works!

It is a heart-to-heart “talk” for one unless you want to say it to someone, which you can. Do this and watch it gradually work its magic. Useful on all occasions particularly when falling asleep at night.

16- MOVE ON: You have done your best and that is good enough; your experiences are your teachers. Stop beating yourself up; accept your share of responsibility in the story, say thank you verbally or mentally, let go and move on. When you make this emotional shift, proximity becomes a non-issue.

THE BOTTOMLINE

Whilst it is true that families are meant to comfort and nurture, sometimes it just does not work out that way. It then becomes a moot point when you have already slain the beasts that weren’t. The new friends you make will create the nucleus of your “real” family.

Be you. Trying to fit someone else’s mould never works. If you cannot fix it, forget it. If people do not like who you are, then find those who do.

Liberating yourself from an emotional burden has a simple starting point as Kafka says: You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
Listening to music while you are meditating – not a good idea. … Anything you do with the thought that you are meditating is meditating. There are many ways to meditate. Personally, I find music to be distracting, but paying attention to sounds in your environment is part of insight meditation.

relaxing music Not Another Headache

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It is estimated that almost 90 percent of all headaches are caused by stress or tension, factors that can be controlled. If you experience very bad or unusual headaches, you should consult your doctor. A very painful or unusual headache can be a symptom of a serious medical illness that requires proper medical management and care.

There are three general categories of headache and these are tension, cluster and migraine headaches.

1. Tension headache, also referred to as muscle contraction headache, is caused by muscle tightening at the back and shoulders. This is usually due to physical and emotional stress. The pain is usually described as a feeling of pressure, a band around the head or pain all over the head. Believed to be the most common cause of head pain, tension headache may be caused by working in awkward conditions and poor posture. Stress, anxiety and depression usually trigger tension headache. Tension headache is considered chronic when this occurs two or more times weekly for several months or longer. A visit to your doctor is advised.

The following are symptoms of tension headache.

a. A non-pulsing steady pain.

b. There is a feeling of pressure, tightness and fullness over the top of the head or back of the neck.

c. Occasional nausea or vomiting may be experienced.

Tension headache can usually be remedied by home treatment. Although aspirin or acetaminophen can relieve the pain, prolonged use is discouraged because of the reported accompanying adverse side effects. Home care treatment is a better pain management alternative than pain relievers. This can be done by taking a hot or cold shower and massaging the neck muscles. Lying in a dark room may also provide relief. Pain can also be relieved if you learn how to relax using meditation, biofeedback, visualization, music and hypnosis.

2. Cluster Headache is a very painful type of headache that mainly affects middle-aged men. A cluster headache doesn’t usually present a sign before it begins or when it’s going to end. This usually lasts 30 minutes to 2 hours before recurring. The pain usually worsens when a person lies down during an attack. Over the counter pain relievers do not prove helpful in relieving this type of headache. Inhaling 100 percent oxygen often brings relief.

Cluster headache exhibits these symptoms: A steady pain around one eye that usually occurs at the same time each day or evening. There is nasal congestion at one side of the face accompanied by watering and redness of one eye alongside the nasal congestion.

3. Migraine headache is caused by the widening of the blood vessels in the head. The person may experience nausea hence migraine headache is sometimes referred to as sick headache. Those who experience migraine may see bright spots or flashes of lights just before the headache strikes. There is over sensitivity to light. That’s why a person suffering from a migraine headache wants to stay in a dark area. If you experience migraine headache, try to stay in a dark place and lie down placing a cool damp cloth on your forehead. The symptoms of migraine headaches include pulsating pain, pain that occurs mostly on one side of the head and an experience of a pre-headache phase that commonly includes distorted vision, abdominal pain and nausea.

Migraine headache is commonly triggered by stress, excitement, caffeine, bright light, hunger, fatigue and certain foods.
Listening to music while you are meditating – not a good idea. … Anything you do with the thought that you are meditating is meditating. There are many ways to meditate. Personally, I find music to be distracting, but paying attention to sounds in your environment is part of insight meditation.

sleep meditation The Benefits of a Phone Psychic Reading – Burn Bright – Not Out

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Unbeknown to me at the time, I was stretching myself too far. Taking on extra shifts, helping at the children’s school while racing the clock to keep the home fires burning.

My friends, family and work colleagues would often ask me how I managed to do so much? I couldn’t tell them I was questioning that myself, along with my sanity!! The happy go lucky person they saw was exhausted, emotionally confused and drained. I thought if I worked harder and smarter I could get myself back on track. Looking back now, it is funny how things work out. Trying to work harder and smarter pushed me to my breaking point. I was suffering from burn out. Go figure!

I needed a month off work to recharge my batteries while thinking about the direction I wanted my life to take in the future, and at what cost to my health?

It felt quite foreign to me; to be resting instead of ‘DOING’. after all I was usually running around managing everything perfectly before wasn’t I??

I decided my life was too precious to not enjoy it. My burn out had forced me to make some changes toward removing stress from my life. I needed some help to find direction in my life, so I decided to have a psychic phone reading to help me find the clarity I was needing.

This was to become my new life mantra! Here are some of the ideas I came up with to create my new life, to walk my walk, talk my talk and live by my Burn Bright – Not out mantra.

Follow Your Heart

Previously I had walked (or in my case RUN) to the beat of everyone else’s drum. I burnt out trying to live up to what others expected of me. I was not honouring myself, I felt disappointed for not following the direction my heart was offering. I decided to get to know who I was again. Taking time to find out what made my heart sing. I wanted to lift my heavy energy and discover what brought me enjoyment. I began to shine when I allowed myself to follow my heart and walk my own path.

See the Flip Side

I taught myself, one step at a time to watch my thoughts and feelings.

Rather than getting bogged down in the ‘drama’ learn to flip the situation/ problem. I chose to look at what benefits may actually come from this so called terrible situation. What opportunities may come after this storm passes? What does this situation actually make ME feel, rather than joining in on what everyone else feels, I learnt to take the time to have and explore my own thoughts and opinions.

It is not always easy to look beyond the problem at hand, or to hold positive thoughts when things seem to be going wrong.

Sometimes what seems like a bad situation can be an opportunity to make positive change. Be the change you want to see is a message that was frequently shared during my phone psychic readings.

Compassion verses Competition

Taking the time to stop and listen to someone who is having their own problems or difficulties can be a healing process for both parties. It is human nature to be competitive and at times feel the need to defend ourselves or behaviour. If we are too busy stressing over our own issues, we are more open to being competitive and defensive, often leading to being misinterpreted, misunderstood and at times creating relationship breakdowns.

We have all found ourselves at times feeling the need to compete against others, or sit in judgement of their choices.

Refocus your perspective, stop and find your compassionate side. Allow others to have their time to express their thoughts and feelings, while choosing not to become entangled in their energy. Once you start being aware of your thoughts and actions, allowing your compassion for others to be present, you will feel more positive within yourself. Meanwhile those you showed compassion and understanding will feel more validated. They will feel their problems, opinions and perspectives are also important.

I call that a win win situation.

Release the build up

When we live in overdrive like ‘my old life’, our heads are rarely in a state of clear thinking. Often feeling heavy frustrated and confused, we may think we have everything under control. Only to find ourselves juggling many unfinished projects at once.

Due to the lack of clear thinking, we often remain stuck in this never ending cycle of non achievement, often repeating the same cycle over and over again. I don’t need to tell you how draining that can be.

Find ways to de-clutter your thinking.

You will find yourself achieving more, using less energy in your progression, often finding yourself becoming more efficient in many directions of your life. There are no hard and fast rules to spring cleaning your mind, so take the time to experiment with a few different activities to see what works best for you.

The following suggestions may help, or find your own favourite activities that allow your head some quiet time.

Meditation, reading, gardening, walking, listening to music, spending time in nature etc. Are all great ways to release the build up in your head? There are endless ways to find this peace and quiet, start finding yours today.

Toxic Situations and Relationships

As you practise ways to simplify your life, you may notice some of the relationships and situations in your life, may very well be one of the areas that you need to take a good look at. For example – you may come away from certain people or situations feeling drained and totally wiped out. Take some time to recognise how good or not so good you feel when you around certain people or repetitive situations. Honour yourself by either reducing the time you spend interacting with these people and make a conscious point not to keep repeating unhealthy experiences or relationships.

Small changes to the way you feel about who you are and where you are heading in your life often bring big changes to the way you now handle things. You will find yourself attracting new and more like minded people and positive opportunities into your life.

Is Your Compass Correct

I was burning the candle at both ends while working hard to build a strong and successful career. Although I was enjoying what my work involved, I would often find myself feeling tense and stressed by the time I arrived at work. I found myself struggling to stay motivated and productive. I started to notice feeling physically sick each morning as I drove to work.

I could no longer ignore that fact this uncomfortable feeling was associated with my work. I learnt to be guided by my inner compass. I needed time out to create moments of peace. Moments to think about what was right for me, to feel what it was like to feel my own feelings.

If it felt right, I would do more of it. If it felt wrong, I stepped away from it, consciously distracting my thoughts and feelings back to what felt right. One step at a time guiding myself back in the right direction.

I chose to resign from my position and follow what felt right. Now I am not saying if you are having a hard time at work that you just throw in the towel and give up! Just take the time to ‘check’ your feelings before, during and after work.

Check for ways of improving difficult situations. Once you can identify what is not working you can then find ways to correct them and change. Affirmations are great for creating positive changes in life. Imagine how great it would feel looking forward to going to work each day and enjoying it.

Be Kind to Yourself

We all know that life has lots of good moments, and some not so good moments. How you choose to respond and react to the good and the not so good, will actually effect your future progression. If you take the time to enjoy what is important to you, you will gradually work your way towards achieving your long term goals. You will have the time, energy, $$$, relationship or whatever it is you are working towards.

The kinder you are to yourself and others, the simpler your life will become. After all, we are meant to enjoy life. Try it!! What have you got to lose?
Listening to music while you are meditating – not a good idea. … Anything you do with the thought that you are meditating is meditating. There are many ways to meditate. Personally, I find music to be distracting, but paying attention to sounds in your environment is part of insight meditation.

Brainwave Entrainment The Thrilling Alternative to Sexual Hypnosis

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Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain’s ‘frequency following’ response, encouraging the brainwaves to align to the frequency of a given beat.
zen meditation music | brainwave meaning
There are many things to note about sexual hypnosis, and that while it has been around for a long time, one thing that you need to know is the power of this form of sensual mind programming that has been around for a long time, the thing to note is that the true power of this form of hypnosis is something that cannot be ascertained for a long time.

For one thing, there are many people out there who have decided that they needed a better method out there for them to actually try and sensually seduce other people from a distance. One thing to note is that the true power of sexual hypnosis is not in the hypnosis itself, it is about the state of the mind that you are in and how you can read the other person. For one thing, you need to actually be confident and charismatic, and this is really one of the most important things that you need to know about, because it is part and parcel of the whole sensual process.

One thing to note is that the primal feelings of sensuality and sexuality is that they are attracted to more primal things like pure confidence. Sure, one thing that always works is good looks but how far does that go when you are talking about sensuality and attraction. Primal feelings and the subconscious in the mind are indeed the most important things to have when trying to hypnotize someone into liking you.

This is because the main receiver of all the sensuality is of course the actual brain, and the brain is the one that controls all the aphrodisiac functions of the mind. The other thing that you need to know about is the way to read other people, and how their body language actually tells you plenty of things about the sensuality of the person and how much they are attracted to you. This is the primal thing that you need to be aware of to actually know whether or not someone is actually attracted to you at all. If they lean towards you, seem to hang around your every word, touch you, maintain some sort of body contact, laugh at things that you say, touch their hair or their face unknowingly when you do something, then they are definitely interested in you as a person, and it is up to you to use these hypnotic suggestions to actually get something out of this.

And this is where your confidence and state of mind comes in, and if you are lacking in these areas you can turn towards technology like brainwave entrainment or even autogenics to help you get back that confidence so you can play people like a flute and sensually attract them. With this, you have found the thrilling alternative to sexual hypnosis and a no fail programme that would allow you to actually capitalise on your powers within and seduce someone. With this, you will never have a lonely night anymore.
Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain? ?requency following?response, encouraging the brainwaves to align to the frequency of a given beat.

This ?requency following?response of brainwave entrainment can be seen in action with those prone to epilepsy. If a strobe flashes at their seizure frequency, the brain will ?ntrain?to the flashing light, resulting in a seizure.

On the positive side, this same mechanism is commonly used to induce many brainwave states; such as a trance, enhanced focus, relaxation, meditation or sleep induction. The brainwave entrainment effectively pushes the entire brain into a certain state.

Brainwave entrainment works for almost everyone. It is a great way to lead your mind into states that you might usually have difficulty reaching, allowing you to experience what those states feel like.

THE HYPE
There is a lot of marketing hype around brainwave entrainment. It is sold with promises of increasing IQ, promoting weight loss, ?ind-tripping? enhancing creativity, concentration, inducing spiritual states and more.

While these claims are not entirely true, they are not altogether false either. In practice, the claims are based on an overly-simplistic view of how the brain and the brainwaves function.
THE RUB
People are very seldom deficient in a certain brainwave type in all areas of their brain. Usually the distribution is much spottier, with an excess in one area and a deficiency in another.

We are all different, especially when it comes to the distribution of our brainwaves. Boosting a certain brainwave state may be beneficial for one person, and emotionally uncomfortable for another. Without knowing each person? starting position, entrainment can be rather ?it and miss?

If brainwave entrainment leaves you with unwanted side-effects (see below) or discomfort, you?e probably encouraging a range of brainwaves that are already excessive in some area of your brain. The way around this is to get a brain map to see what your brain? strengths and weaknesses are, and see what (if any) brainwaves could use some encouragement.

Brainwave Entrainment A Career in the Biotechnology Sector

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Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain’s ‘frequency following’ response, encouraging the brainwaves to align to the frequency of a given beat.
soothing meditation music | theta brain waves
Biotechnology sector in India is fast developing at a great pace. A flourishing career awaits students in the biotechnology sector, where professionals harness cellular and bio-molecular processes in order to develop different techniques and products which help in improving our lives and overall health of the planet. Over the last few years, students are showing keen interest towards the biotechnology field. Biotechnology, along with its different sub-fields, offers a vast array of career opportunities.

In order to break into the biotechnology sector, you should plan your career right from your school. You must complete your class 12th with subjects, like biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. After finishing your schooling, you can opt for the right undergraduate courses like BSC or Btech in biotechnology from colleges, spread throughout the nation.

The eligibility criteria for getting into these undergraduate courses vary from one college to another. However, for most of the undergraduate courses, you need to sit for the below entrance examinations-

1= The joint entrance examination for IITs
2= All India Engineering Entrance Examination to get admission into different NITs and regional engineering colleges.

Other than these examinations, engineering colleges also conduct their own engineering examinations. Those who are interested in higher studies can go for MBA in biotechnology. For the Masters program, you should either hold a graduate degree in biotechnology or any other subject related to biological science. Moreover, a graduate degree in subjects like biology, chemistry, botany, pharmacy or zoology is also acceptable for masters programs.

After the post-graduate program, you can apply for the doctoral degree in biotechnology.

Top colleges offering biotechnology courses in India are-

1= All IITs (Indian Institute of Technology)
2= All NITs (National Institute of Technology)
3= PSG College of Technology
4= Thapar University
5= BMS College of Engineering
6= University Institute of Engineering & Technology
7= Acharya Institute of Technology
8= M.V.J. College of Engineering

Biotechnology job prospects

Biotechnology is a vast field, which incorporates different sub-fields. Moreover, there is a burgeoning demand for bio-technical experts in a diversified array of industries and sectors. Below are some of the common areas, where there is a high demand of biotechnology experts-

1= Agriculture
2= Animal Husbandry
3= Environment Protection
4= Genetic Engineering
5= Health Care
6= Medicine
7= Drug designing and manufacturing
8= Industrial Research and Development

Further, career opportunities in biotechnology are immense. Those who are specialized in various sub-fields can easily find biotechnology jobs both in private and government divisions. If you are possessing a post graduate degree in biotechnology, then you can explore opportunities in a wide range of industries. There are various reputed biotechnology colleges and institutes in India, where you can find teaching jobs also. There is an equal demand of bio technologists in foreign countries, especially, USA and UK.

There are unrivaled opportunities exist in textile, cosmetics, and chemical sectors.

Some of the leading biotechnology companies situated in India are-

1= All India Biotech Association (AIBA), New Delhi
2= Biotech Consortium India Limited, New Delhi
3= Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, Kerala (RGCB)
4= Amersham Pharmacia Biotech Asia Pacific Ltd., Chennai
5= BrainWave Bioinformatics Ltd., Chennai
6= Aristo Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Mumbai
7= Catalyst Pharma Consulting , Mumbai
8= Thapar Group
9= Indian Vaccines Corporation
10= Indo American Hybrid Seeds
11= Excel Industries Limited, Mumbai
12= Bincon India Limited
13= Bivcol
14= Hindustan Antibiotics
15= Sisco Research Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai
16= Hi Tech Bio Laboratories, Pune
17= Piramal Healthcare
18= Hindustan Lever
19= Sun Pharma
20= Cadila
21= Dr. Reddy’s Labs

Recently, the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology has invited applications for different biotechnology job posts.

The biotechnology job roles which you can assume are Research Scientist, Research Associate, Marketing personnel, Business Development Officer, Sales Representative, Biotech Engineer, and Lab Technician. After the multimedia, biotechnology is ranked second in terms of career opportunities.

Salary packages

On an average, a biotechnologist can earn around Rs 3-5 lakh/annum. If you are possessing higher education degrees, then your salary would be much higher. Also, if you have done your education from reputed colleges like IIT, your package as a fresher could even reach to Rs 20-30 lakh/annum.

Scope of biotechnology

Under its ‘Make In India’ campaign, the government has decided to boost the biotechnology sector of the country. Also, the Department of Biotechnology has established various bio-tech parks in different parts of the country, where there is a constant demand of competent professionals. There are various foreign investors, which have invested in India’s bio-tech sector, like Limagrain (France), Mylan Inc. (USA), Hospira (USA) and Fresenius (Singapore). As per market reports, the Indian bio-tech sector will grow around 30% and reach $100 billion by 2025. Various other tax incentives, like 100% rebate on own research & development initiatives, 150% tax deduction for research & development expenditure, etc; will ignite the growth in the sector and thus, more job opportunities will be produced in the field.
Brainwave entrainment is a method to stimulate the brain into entering a specific state by using a pulsing sound, light, or electromagnetic field. The pulses elicit the brain? ?requency following?response, encouraging the brainwaves to align to the frequency of a given beat.

brain waves Yoga for the Home

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While yoga can restore the flow of Ch’i through our bodies, the same yogic practices of meditation, sacred movement, sound, and ceremony can also create balance, flow, prosperity and peace in our homes. Thousands of years ago, people knew that meditation, ritual and ceremony were an essential part of keeping the harmony between humanity and nature in balance. While this is a tradition lost to most of us in our modern culture, yoga holds a key to its revival.

Clear the Clutter: One of the first steps in any yogic practice is to clear and still the mind. This allows us to align us with the Source of our Being. Similarly, when we clear our homes of external clutter, we allow the vibrations of a natural order to permeate our surroundings.

Breath: Perhaps one of the most powerful tools in yoga is the use of the breath to align us with the divine cosmic breath. This cosmic breath is the rhythm of life itself. The cycles of the seasons represent the inhale and exhale of all life. In the winter, when the force of life is receding, it is not a good time to start new activities, but to dissolve old attachments and connections, to go within
In the spring, when life is bursting forth with abundance, it is a time for new projects and activities. By synchronizing our home activities with the cycles of nature, we align ourselves with the natural pulsation of Life.

Balance: Achieving balance of mind, body and spirit is a core aim of any yogic practice. In our homes, this is achieved by paying attention to the five elements: earth (body), water (emotions), air (mind), fire (spirit), ether (prana or sound). Become mindful that your home has a balanced representation of each of the elements. A home that is predominantly governed by one of these elements over the others will bring its inhabitants out of balance
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Movement: In yoga, certain movements of the body can stimulate the production of certain hormones, and restore the flow of Ch’i in the body. Likewise, homes that incorporate aspects of sacred movement will rejuvenate the environment. For instance, in properties containing labyrinths, there is a curious absence of negative earth energy currents. Similarly, rituals such as sacred dance, like the twirling of the Sufi dances, when done with awareness and intention, can transform negative vibrational energies in an environment.

Sound: Nada Yoga means “union through sound.” It is the ancient spiritual art and science of inner transformation through sound and tone. Russill Paul, author of The Yoga of Sound, states, “Through Nada Yoga, we can fine-tune our bodies and our minds to resonate with the harmony in all of creation, from atoms and cells to flowers and planets.” Throughout the world, temples have employed sound to vibrate heaven into the sacred meridians of the earth.

The Vedas state that mantras chanted continually have the power to purify and rejuvenated the environment. When we offer sound as vibrational medicine for our homes, the result is a harmonizing of our environment with that “music of the spheres.”

Form: The asanas of yoga were first devised to mirror the forms in nature. In so doing, our bodies and minds were put into tune with that natural order. The same is true of architecture that patterns the harmonics found in Nature. Nature does not have straight angles, it flows in curves and spirals, and so when we see examples of spirals, like a winding staircase, or the flow of water in a waterfall, we feel an instant harmony in environments that pattern Nature. Certain mathematical harmonics attuned to Nature achieve similar results. The architectural harmonizing with nature has been a main focus in the building of cathedrals and temples throughout the world.

Ceremony: In yoga, the yajnas, or fire sacrifices, are a ceremonial bridge between the inner and outer worlds, between human and the divine. Fire transforms all things into their most subtle essence. Whether applying the spiritual fire of spiritual practice (tapas) or the actual fire of a candle flame, fire transmutes and refines both our inner and outer environments. The ritual of placing a problem at the fire of a candle each night relieves the mind of the problem. Rituals dedicated to the divine fire, are known to purify the environment on physical as well as subtle levels.

Now is the perfect time to make our homes our temples–places where the sacred vibrations radiate out to heal our families and communities. While our modern times have created more complex problems, they have also created different solutions to the same age-old quest: creating sacred space on earth. By harmonizing the vibrations of our space, and creating sacredness among the mundane, we can transform our homes into sanctuaries of harmony.
Listening to music while you are meditating – not a good idea. … Anything you do with the thought that you are meditating is meditating. There are many ways to meditate. Personally, I find music to be distracting, but paying attention to sounds in your environment is part of insight meditation.

meditation music The Reactive Mind and How It Holds Us Back

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Serenity of Beingness, at the top of the tone scale, is a state of serene happiness and contentment. This is a spiritual state of tranquility and joy, and we can catch glimpses of it, from time to time.
Just below that the words “Action,” “Games” and “Postulates” simply means that you are able to act, and have become cause over life. I.e. you are actively involved in the game of life and want to succeed and win.

[But remember winning must not come at a negative cost to your own character or standards of morality and personal ethics! In order for you to consistently reach the higher tones, your ethical standards will need to be maintained at a high level!]

At these high level’s you are able to postulate a positive outcome or goal (i.e. construct a mental image or strategy and then make it so) and strive / drive for it, overcome obstacles in your way and make your goal a reality.

All of the upper tones (up to Serenity of Beingness) comes from the attainment of not unknown goals. This means essentially that we can achieve goals we set for ourselves and we are surviving and doing well! This gives us a wonderful feeling of contentment and success; we are winning at living. Examples include the feeling we have shortly after we have done well in an exam, after having studied hard for it. A business we have started has just concluded a big contract. Or we have just managed to play a difficult song (or musical piece) perfectly, that we have been practicing for a while. Or we have just listened to a wonderful, uplifting piece of music, seen a beautiful sunrise or sunset, been hugged suddenly by our spouse or watched our child take their first steps etc. The list is endless.

You don’t need to read too much into the tone scale, except that you should always aim to be happy and constructive in your life and should strive towards the attainment of achievable goals, rather than be overwhelmed by life and unhappy. Its really that simple.

You will also need to reject all negativity that will sap your positive intentions, as this will bring you down the tone scale! Remember that your spiritual state need not be tied to other people or your current circumstances. Believe it or not, if you are a spiritually aware person, then it is actually possible to be happy and content even if life is hard at the moment or difficult or unfair.

[As a quick aside, the Maslow’s Need’s Hierarchy, states that you need to cater for your basic needs first, before you can consider the philosophical and esoteric. I agree with this to a point, but feel that inner tone and happiness needs to be attained first and should not necessarily have to follow, or be attached to the attainment of “stuff.” One can see this as BE, DO then HAVE as opposed to want to HAVE, and then DO to have in order to BE.]

Let’s continue…

If you are down tone and angry, or frustrated or depressed, you will not be able to succeed well in life and you will be frustrated. If you are positive and happy, then achievement of your goals in life will be a easy and bring joy! It is really that simple.

Here is something else for you to think about. This extends the idea above, but with some more in depth thoughts on why it is that we tend to slip down tone. This information is offered up to you to accept or reject as you feel is right. I.e. only accept it if you can see the inherent wisdom and merit in the argument. Remember that this is a philosophical discussion and you don’t have to accept what I say if you don’t want to. And if you don’t feel like proceeding further with this section (you may already be an up tone person, or you may not really be interested (i.e. you could be at the tone of disinterest or boredom for example) or you may already have developed other coping mechanisms [religion, yoga etc.]). If so then you can ignore the rest of the discussion and just focus on continuing to BE up tone and happy, positively playing your your goals in life and making constant forward progress!

That said, let’s proceed further…

Remember that the difference between humans and animals is our ability to THINK about what we THINK! This is called analysis.

Humans essentially have two types of minds (i.e. brain activity that facilitates thinking):

1. The Analytical Mind or thinking mind. This is a part of our mind that allows us to be logical and to think over problems and find solutions to them. With the analytical mind we are able to navigate through the game of life and solve problems by finding solutions. If we are up tone, then we can do this without allowing failures (and distractions) in life to get on top of us and depress us / defeat us and side track us from our goals.

Put another way: We know that sometimes life gives us lemons, but because we are intelligent and analytical we refuse to be bitter, and also we know how to make lemonade! i.e. we are able to bounce back and can turn negatives into positives.

Know that we all fail at times in our life. These difficult times, if we are up tone, open to them and allow them, can teach us very important life lessons, and will allow us to get better at what we do and grow. Remember that in order to learn how to walk or ride a bicycle etc. we needed to fall down a few times.

2. The Reactive Mind or survival mind. This is a defensive brain activity that comes down with us from our distant past. This brain activity is a flight or fight activity. I.e. It is supposed to kick in faster than our analytical brain activity (often over-riding it) and its purpose is to save our skin if there is a sudden threat to our survival. i.e. don’t think now… RUN or FIGHT, for your life!

This reactive mind is very different from the analytical mind. It can be compared to a loyal dog that, while it loves you totally and is always there for you, it is actually really quite thick. In fact it is so thick that we could honestly say that it is as thick as a brick or even a brush!

The reactive mind can be further explained by the following example:

Imagine that you pass a hot plate on a stove. You see it is red hot. Your analytical brain, which hopefully knows a little about heat, says… beware! danger! don’t go near that!
But your reactive mind, if it has had similar experiences with burns before, like an alarm system going off in your body, will come alive and start warning you at every level in your system of the danger. Fear and adrenaline is its primary alarm, but there are many others, like anxiety, restlessness, nervousness, agitation, trepidation, concern etc.

Imagine now that you don’t see the hot plate (or possibly you have never seen a hot plate before in your life and don’t understand the danger) and you accidentally put your hand on the hot plate. Your reactive mind will kick in immediately and try to save you by activating physical responses at lightning speed to get you out of trouble. Adrenaline, nerves, pain, fear, etc. will all cause you to jump away from the hot plate and react almost without thinking (without analysis) to the threat. Hopefully before your hand is too badly burned!

Apart from getting you out of trouble, the reactive mind will also record every vivid detail of the unpleasant incident (in micro-seconds) with the sole purpose of updating its surveillance program, while also looking to implement upgraded warning systems for you (here you can think of chemical reactions in your body, which cause effects on you via your reactions and emotional tone – and in an effort to control you and your responses).

The best warning system, and this your loyal reactive mind firmly believes, is if there is danger, or something seems to be occurring that has caused you pain or danger before, then it is AWAYS BEST to avoid it and find a reason to stay far away from the threat!

OK! My loyal, yes and also thick as a brush, dog brain, is now watching over me. Cool! Is’t that a good thing? I hear you say!

Well, I don’t fully agree and will explain why, as we proceed further with this discussion.

Remember that the reactive mind is survival instinct and it overrides the relatively slower brain process of your analytical mind. Because the reactive mind has highlighted areas in life that are a threat, every time you go near these, or something similar, the reactive mind will wake up and start warning (irritating, agitating, complaining and nagging) you of the danger, if it feels that it has arisen again. But this is so cool. A permanently awake watch dog. Isn’t it? You say.

Not really, I say!

The reason can be explained by this short story.

Imagine a fish (a Salmon for example, and the Salmon can be a he or her, but for our purposes for now the Salmon is a he) is swimming up a river. While it swims lazily upstream, its mind is constantly taking in the colors, shades, water temperature, the lie of the river bed, the shape of the underwater foliage etc. It is constantly (through inputs from its senses) monitoring and recording what is happening in its immediate environment! The reactive mind, ever loyal and faithful, reports back periodically saying “all is ok, we are safe, don’t worry boss. I’m on guard!” Acknowledging this at a subconscious level, the fish proceeds with its swim upstream.

Then suddenly the Salmon is attacked by a bigger, more ferocious and very hungry Tiger fish which comes at it out of nowhere! In the sudden flurry of activity, there is frantic movement and rows of teeth are seen flashing and snapping for the Salmon. The bigger fish is hell bent on making the Salmon its dinner! The next thing the Salmon knows is that the bigger fish has clamped down on the Salmon’s tail with its jaws and is trying to kill him. PAIN! FEAR! The Salmon’s reactive mind immediately kicks in: This is much faster than the analytical mind. In fact the reactive mind overrides the analytical mind because, if it does not, the analytical mind can slow the fish’s reactions and body down. This definitely not the time for introspection and analysis, but rather the time for fight or (flight) swim away!!!

The reactive mind, in a flash of energy and communication, followed by burst of chemicals released into the system of the fish, says to the Salmon in a micro second: you can’t win, here is some adrenaline, now don’t think, let’s just GET AWAY!!! Quick!, thrash!, move!, jerk out of the jaws on your tail if you want to live! etc. and before the Salmon realizes it he managed to thrash and break free, dashing for freedom. Luckily the Salmon gets away this time to live another day. Phew that was a close call! And my tail hurts! Every vivid detail of the incident and the pain (even days after the incident – while the fish recovers) is recorded by the reactive mind, and a mental package about the attack is stored in the reactive mind of the Salmon (we can think of it as a let’s learn from this, we survived, mental recording).

Imagine that in time the Salmon recovers from its wounds.

Now imagine the Salmon a few years later and he is going up a similar river, but this river is actually over a 1000 kilometers away from the first river.

The Salmon does not know it, but at the top of the river is a wonderful clear pond where he could be very happy for the rest of his days, there are no natural predators (or fishermen with rods) and he can live safely, find lots of food and even a mate that can bring companionship and a family etc.

But the reactive mind, which still carries (in a huge store room of survival memories) a vivid memory file of the previous attack, and deep in the subconscious of the Salmon (and like it happened yesterday) this memory (with all its horrific pictures and feelings) suddenly starts to come alive! Remember that the alarm systems of the reactive mind are always fully operational. They are just waiting to kick in at any time to warn the Salmon if a similar situation happens again. I mean one river is exactly the same as another 1000 kilometers away, isn’t it?

Alarm bells are going off. For some reason the reactive mind believes that it sees water plants on the river bed that look similar to those of before and the water temperature is also almost the same. And the shape of the river bed seems similar and aren’t those shadows like before when we got attacked! The loyal dog brain starts barking: “Woof woof! Wake up master!” With just a few things similar to the time before, when the salmon narrowly escaped with its life, the reactive mind comes fully awake and pours all the horrible memories and feelings of the previous attack back into the mind and body of the Salmon. It says… Are you sure it’s safe? Be careful! Don’t go there its dangerous, and swim (run) away now! NOW! QUICKLY BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE OR ELSE YOU COULD DIE!!!

And for no logical reason whatsoever, that the Salmon fully understands, the fish experiences sudden anxiety, fear and trepidation and, without thinking further, decides to abandon the trip up the river. It turns around and swims in the opposite direction. And the Salmon loses out on the wonderful opportunities that existed higher up the river.

Why?

Because the reactive mind is very powerful (and basic in its operation) and it is excellent at overriding the logic of the analytical mind’s best intentions, and for reasons that may not be true or logical.

If you remember, I told you the reactive mind was loyal, but also really stupid, and actually as thick as a brush!

You can think of the reactive mind as a huge messy storehouse of emotions. Or a field full of hidden landmines. Or even a nest of hornets. Often, if we are feeling tired or irritable and emotional, what has happened is that something in our day, or in our thoughts, has triggered (restimulated) a stored emotion in the reactive mind and it is this that makes us emotional, tired or frustrated. We have opened the gate and walked into the field and stepped on or tripped an emotional mine and it has gone off. Or you can say you have poked a nest of hornets and they are now all flying around, angry and stinging you. You will find that after a good sleep the stirred up emotions have gone away again. The dust from the explosion has settled or the hornets have calmed down and are now settled back in their nest again. You have stopped restimulating the reactive mind and given yourself time to let its effects settle down and stop affecting you.

The truth is that we are all constantly being micro-managed and controlled, to a lesser or greater extent, by our reactive mind, and most of the time we don’t even realize that it is happening.

With our best interests at heart and with its best intentions, the reactive mind (like a loyal thick dog), works against us, and in many subtle ways, keeps tripping us up. This can become extremely debilitating if we don’t understand what is happening, how it works and the fact that it is often extremely illogical and misplaced and why this can be so very detrimental to us and frustrating to our achievement of our goals.

Here are a few examples of where the reactive mind can really undermine us. There are many examples in our life and more are being created day by day if we let our dog brain have its way. As you read this possibly you can think of times in your life when you were controlled and pulled off target by your reactive mind.

Possibly we fail a math’s test at school and we feel so terrible and useless that the reactive mind can’t help but kick in and start to try and protect us. i.e. it believes that this pain we are feeling is bad for us, and the terrible experience needs to be avoided at all costs into the future. Or we have had a very bad experience with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or have been through a tough divorce, and we have been terribly let down. This pain of failure and disappointment and heartache is so terrible that it must be avoided at all costs, our reactive mind decides. Or we tried to learn a musical instrument before, and could not do it because we were honestly attempting to do something that was, in fact, far to advanced for us and we were really not ready to handle the complexity yet and gave up in frustration.

The examples are endless.

The reactive mind is great at overriding the analytical mind and excuses (manufactured by the reactive mind), as to why the goal should not be reached, come out thick and fast. I am stupid, I can’t work with figures, my mother and father were not mathematically inclined. I was born with two left feet, I don’t have what it takes, I have ADHD, I don’t have a good memory, I am a klutz etc. And these excuses are all part of the complex mechanism the reactive mind has to keep you away from the danger it firmly believes lies in wait if we continue to proceed on this painful and stupid course of action we have decided upon.

Because of the illogical inputs we are receiving from the reactive mind, which are really not tied to life and death decisions, but are rather just from an overzealous, loyal (but often very stupid) alarm system (that is working just the way it did thousands of years ago, but is not really needed now a days, as much), we are now made its unwitting victim and keep getting tripped up by it.

To avoid failures and the feelings of emotional pain that these can bring, we suddenly find we are no longer positively involved or even interested in our math’s at school. We are now even finding every way possible to avoid paying attention in class or doing our practice which is so desperately needed to become better at math’s. We feel tired (and overwhelmed) all the time, and each time we go into the math’s class we are fidgety and cannot concentrate. We are also exhausted at home each time we open the math’s textbook so even the homework is shoddily done. You really should not be doing this, the reactive mind asserts constantly. It’s dangerous, you know! Each time we try to study we yawn and feel very fatigued and distracted, which is a well known reactive mind (physical / chemical) output to control the body, override the analytical mind, so the dog brain can get its way and get you safely out of danger. (from a math’s example… a bunch of numbers on a page… ridiculous isn’t it!)

And, as they say in the classics, things go progressively from bad to worse, because by not working steadily towards our goal, we fail more tests and a vicious cycle is now in effect and is constantly reinforcing itself each time we are side tracked from our goal. Our feelings of failure and our reactive mind stores of negative energy are getting bigger and more powerful and these will eventually drive us systematically down the tone scale, towards failure and depression (or worse), if we continue to let our dog brain (as thick as a brush) have its way.

In relationships instead of actively trying to make a new relationship work and being positive about the outcome, we (controlled by the reactive mind) are negative, trepidatious and almost willing the new chance at a relationship to fail before we start (remember that logically two people are like two rivers, and are not the same!), or instead of enthusiastically practicing the new instrument and passionately learning everything we can about it, we practice half hearted or skip opportunities to practice and we don’t make progress. Why, because the loyal (thick as a brush) reactive mind in us tells us over and over we can’t do it and should not be doing it.

Using alarms and intricate surveillance programs we are warned to stay away, avoid, be careful, this is really not cool and definitely not good for you, remember the last time you did this, have you forgotten the failure? It was very painful! The negative, avoidance signals that come to us from the reactive mind actually meddle with our analytical mind, and meddle with our positive intentions. If we let them, they will drag us down tone and can doom our positivity and constructive efforts to failure, that is, unless we see, understand and fight against the reactive mind and its illogical, negative control over, and ultimately jeopardizing our analytically constructed goals and positive (best) intentions.

The reactive mind is simply trying to protect us and does not know that it is being totally illogical and stupid.

By realizing this, being able to see how the dog brain is negatively affecting us, and by working against its effect and constantly rejecting its control and pushing ourselves constantly up tone, we can defeat the reactive mind by re-programming it with opposite positive thoughts, assertions and actions. I.e. re-train the dog! This is really easy to do and simply involves loads of positivity and an intention to keep focused on our goals, and not get side tracked, and to always strive to be and stay up tone and not to give in to old dog brain.

Within a few weeks of positive input you can fully re-program the reactive mind, and it will start to leave you alone to make the most of your life, instead of tripping you up at every turn.

Remember the secret of avoiding a trap is knowing of its existence!

You have it in your power to move up the tone scale and towards positivity and action and success in your life, if you allow YOU (via your analytical mind [not your reactive mind]) to take you there systematically and a step at a time! The choice is yours to open the gate and step into the mine field or poke the hornets nest. Don’t give in to past failures or listen to your reactive mind telling you, once again, that you should not go where you need, do what you must to achieve your goals, or try to convince you that you cannot achieve you goals, or you don’t have what it takes.

YOU DO!

TALENT CAN BE GROWN!

JUST DO IT!

TAKE SMALL STEPS INITIALLY, AND KEEPING AT IT, A STEP AT A TIME, YOU MUST AND WILL GET THERE!

BE GENTLE ON YOURSELF. ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY.

KEEP AT IT!

IF YOU GO AT IT SYSTEMATICALLY, AND KEEP AT IT, SOON YOU WILL BE AMAZED WHAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED.

A really cool way to get rid of negativity and reduce the effects of the reactive mind can be found in offset freequencies audio meditation which can be used over and over again, for a short period of time daily (less than a half an hour) in a hypnosis / resting environment to quickly get your reactive mind to settle down, and get you back up tone and productive.

But always remember the simple solution:

DON’T WORRY! BE HAPPY!
Listening to music while you are meditating – not a good idea. … Anything you do with the thought that you are meditating is meditating. There are many ways to meditate. Personally, I find music to be distracting, but paying attention to sounds in your environment is part of insight meditation.