Keep Hydrated To Keep Living Fully (637 words)

We've all heard the mantra: drink 6-8 glasses of water a day for optimum health and beauty. We take our water with us to work, carry bottles of it in the car and constantly refill our glasses throughout the day. Is it all necessary though? You bet! While the marketplace is continually filling up with special vitamin and protein-enhanced waters, the truth is a glass of plain and simple tap water can cure illness and prevent minor health annoyances.

As adults, our bodies range from 50% to 65% water, and an astounding 85% of our brains are water. It's no wonder proper hydration is crucial to good health. Adequate water intake is necessary for all the cells in your body to function � your blood, muscles, and even electrical nervous system need water. It flushes the toxins from our kidneys and helps stave off hunger. Dehydration can lead to depression, headaches, impaired motor control, chronic pain and even death. While one can go weeks without food, the human body can only go 3 days without water. Second to oxygen, water is one of life's most crucial ingredients.

Despite how inconvenient carrying water with you everywhere may seem, it's not that difficult to keep yourself properly hydrated. First things first. Staying hydrated does NOT mean drinking your three cups of coffee, bottle of iced tea and 64-oz. soda. As our bodies are made of water, it is those molecules in the water that need to be replenished each day. Caffeinated and alcoholic drinks will only further dehydrate you. Personally, I aim to drink one glass of water every hour, on the hour, which will add up to about a gallon over the course of the day. Try it for a week. I bet you'll notice clearer skin, more energy, improved memory, and you may even drop a few pounds.

In addition, water can powerfully enhance your spirituality too! Water has long been considered an important element in many spiritual and religious traditions. Consider, for example, purification through baptism rites and salt water rinses, or healing traditions that employ the use of herbal infusions.

More often than not, water is revered not for what it contributes to our spirituality, but rather for what it clears away that may be interfering with our spiritual wellness.

Keeping our spiritual channels clear is as simple as flushing impurities from our bodies and clearing mental and emotional disharmony from our minds and hearts. Adequate hydration will help with the first part, and here is a simple exercise that can help with the second part:

Each morning as you shower or bathe, imagine that the water is dissolving all pain, illness, emotional distress and past trauma you may still be carrying. Flush water over the center of your forehead and affirm, "I clear away all thoughts that do not serve my higher good. I open my mind to healing thoughts of love and wellness." Flush water over the center of your chest and affirm, "I release all stored pain and trauma from my past. I forgive those who have hurt me, and I forgive and love myself back to wholeness." Let the water cascade down your body and imagine that it is flushing away anything that may prevent you from living a joyful and spiritually fulfilling life.

You can even take this exercise a step further by infusing your drinking water with similar affirmations before ingesting it. Simply hold the bottle or glass of water between your hands and focus on positive thoughts like, "I am happy and healthy. I love my life. I am surrounded by abundance and joy. I am strong and centered." Then simply "drink in" all those great thoughts!

Water Affirmation: I wash away all impurities, negative thoughts and emotional stagnation. My mind, body and spirit are clear, clean and free.

Melt Stress Away with Meditation (553 words)

Meditation is undoubtedly one of the simplest and most effective ways to handle stress, and it's easy enough that anyone can do it and begin enjoying the benefits immediately. In fact, most people find that regular meditation helps them prevent stress from building up in the first place.

If you have ever wanted to start a meditation practice but kept putting it off because you didn't know how to get started, you'll be pleased to know that it's probably easier than you think.

Try these two easy steps for starters:

Quiet your thoughts.

One of the most helpful aspects of meditation is the way it shifts you to a state of being, rather than thinking or doing. This is accomplished by finding a quiet place to be alone and simply focusing on emptying your mind of all thoughts. That may sound impossible at first, but "emptying your mind" doesn't mean you won't still have thoughts moving in and out of your mind.

What it means instead is that you won't be attached to any of these thoughts. You simply step back mentally and observe, rather than engaging with any particular thought. You will still be aware of your thoughts, but you won't be "in" them, if that makes sense. You want to get to the place of being fully detached from your thoughts so they aren't dominating your focus any more. Simply sit back and allow your thoughts to flow effortlessly by, while you keep your focus on nothing. Slowly inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale - and you'll feel stress and inner conflict begin to melt away almost immediately. If you do notice that you have latched onto a thought and you've begun thinking again (you probably will do this several times, just out of habit), let go and gently return your focus to nothing. It does take practice to master, but you'll be amazed by the peacefulness this technique can inspire.

Create a peaceful haven in your mind.

Another great technique is to create a soothing, imaginary haven in your mind. This can be a real place you have visited before, such as a beautiful botanical garden, an ocean beach or lakefront, or a place that exists only in your own mind. This mental haven does not have to conform to the usual laws of physical reality, either. Your haven can be a serene oasis nestled between an ocean, a forest, botanical gardens - and even an amusement park! You can make it as fun, beautiful and whimsical as you like.

Spend some time "creating" this mental haven and put as much detail as you can into it. What does it smell like? Are there beautiful flowers that give off a pleasant fragrance? Can you hear birds singing? Is the breeze warm or cool on your face? Keep going until you've made it seem as real and rich as possible, and then begin spending a few minutes there each day. You want to become very familiar with the sights, sounds, scents and essence of this place, and spend enough time there that you automatically relax the moment you call up the mental image.

Then, whenever you find yourself stressed or in need of a little nurturing simply close your eyes and mentally flee to your peaceful haven for a few minutes!

Rejuvenate Yourself with Meditation (584 words)

Meditation is more often associated with states of deep relaxation, but it can also be an effective way to rejuvenate yourself and boost your energy. Fatigue and sluggishness often result from a constant flow of negative, chaotic and stressful thoughts through our minds. We may not even be aware when these types of thoughts begin taking over our focus � we just know we suddenly feel like we've got a thousand-pound weight sitting on our shoulders and we have no energy to attend to our normal activities.

The following steps will walk you through a simple process for releasing negative thoughts and boosting your energy through meditation:

1) First, purge the negative stuff.

There are a couple of ways to do this. You can either write out your dominant thoughts on a sheet of paper and tear it up, or simply close your eyes and imagine the top of your head opening up and all negative thoughts flying out and disappearing. Spend as long as you like on this step of the process, but for most people a few minutes should be plenty.

2) Shift to more positive thoughts.

Once you've purged the negative thoughts from your mind, it's a good idea to consciously work on adopting more positive thoughts � otherwise, negative thoughts will just come creeping back in.

There are a few ways you can do this:

First, think of something or someone that makes you feel happy. Think of your spouse, children, best friend, beloved parents � even your pet. Go over the reasons you love them in your mind, or recall a funny story that makes you feel uplifted.

Another option is to engage in some positive self-talk and build yourself up with encouraging words. One unfortunate side effect of negative, chaotic thinking is that we're usually picking on ourselves without even realizing it, which makes us feel even worse. Turn that tendency around by mentally or verbally listing the things you love about yourself. Think about your skills, talents, achievements, positive characteristics, and so on. Feel good about yourself and you'll find yourself feeling good about everything else too!

If neither of those options work for you, think about what does make you feel good. Spend a few minutes thinking about something that makes you feel happy or excited. It doesn't matter what you focus on, as long as it shifts you into a positive state of mind and emotion.

3) Give yourself a boost.

Those first two steps alone will go a long way in reducing fatigue and irritability, but you can take it a step further by generating some great energy to rejuvenate yourself. If possible, stand up and slowly stretch your entire body. Reach as high as you can toward the ceiling and imagine your legs stretching down with your feet planted firmly on the floor. Imagine a current of energy running up from the earth into your feet, up your legs and buzzing through your entire body. See this energy burning off any lingering fatigue and feel yourself filling with limitless energy and motivation. Smile and say aloud, "I feel fantastic!" Take a few deep breaths to clear your mind and ground yourself, then continue on with your normal activities.

These steps are incredibly helpful in a pinch, but they can be even more effective if you do them on a daily basis. Start each morning with this type of activity and you'll quickly find that you have an abundance of energy to carry you through the day.

How to Meditate All Day (619 words)

Have you ever wanted to start a daily meditation practice but rejected the idea because you felt short on time? Maybe you actually got as far as sitting quietly for 15 or 20 minutes a day, but quickly found yourself feeling stressed because it was just "one more thing" on your to-do list?

While focused meditation sessions can be beneficial, they are not always necessary in order to create a peaceful state of mind. Instead, try shifting yourself into a meditative state consistently all day long.

Here are a few simple ways to do so:

1) First, consider creating a mantra that you can recite when you begin to feel stressed. Think about your daily activities and consider which of them usually cause the most stress. Do you frequently feel pressured by a heavy workload and tight deadlines? Good mantras for that situation might be, "I always have more than enough time to complete my work," or "I am always focused and productive," or "I always finish my work easily and on time."

Once you have your mantra, all that's left to do is recite it mentally throughout the day. Even more importantly, be sure to adopt the FEELING that goes along with the words. Do so especially when you notice yourself starting to feel tense or scattered. You can even create general mantras to use any time, such as, "All is well. I am at peace. I am calm and centered."

2) Take advantage of silence as often as you can! Many people think that meditation has to include the act of tying their body in knots and sitting perfectly still for a few hours, but meditation is really about quieting your THOUGHTS. And one major cause of scattered thoughts is external noise and distraction.

Think about all of the noise you encounter from outside sources on a daily basis. Telephones ringing, pagers beeping, cell phones ringing or vibrating, email notifications chiming, traffic whooshing by (or crawling along with plenty of horns blaring), people demanding your attention, televisions and radios droning in the background wherever you go, and so on. And in the midst of all that, your poor mind is trying desperately to focus on important tasks, remember chores and errands that must be done, and more. And you wonder why you feel so exhausted and scattered every day!

There's no way to completely eliminate external distractions, but you can make it a habit to take advantage of silence whenever possible. Turn off your car radio while you drive to and from work. Have lunch in a nearby park instead of a loud cafe. You can even slip into the rest room for two minutes just to center yourself and breathe deeply if you have no other options!

3) Finally, slow down your pace with everything you do. Most of us are used to rushing so we can accomplish as much as possible each day, but rushing itself just creates more stress. Ironically, the more stressed we are, the more scattered our thoughts and the less productive we are.

Instead, make it a habit to move at a moderate pace as often as you can. You might be thinking that you'll end up getting less done, but usually the opposite ends up being true! Slowing down allows you to focus better on your tasks. You'll be able to think more clearly and avoid making mistakes that would require still more time to fix.

These techniques do take a bit of practice to master, so be patient with yourself. Adopting a meditative mind-set is a moment-to-moment process of recognizing when you feel stressed and making a conscious choice to shift back into a state of peace and well-being.

Simple Ways to Begin Meditating (502 words)

A regular meditation practice can be rewarding and beneficial in many ways, but the act of sitting completely still and silent for a long time is intimidating to some people. Either they struggle with random thoughts that they can't seem to quiet down, or they simply grow bored and end up abandoning their meditation routine.

Have you had similar challenges with your own meditation practice? If so, take a look at the following alternate methods of meditation. They are less intense than traditional meditation techniques and therefore easier for many beginners.

1) Get back to nature.

When it comes right down to it, meditation is nothing more than the practice of quieting your thoughts and focusing on something soothing. Natural settings provide the perfect forum for releasing stress and connecting to soothing sights and sounds!

Choose a beautiful natural setting and take a slow, leisurely walk through it. Pay close attention to the beauty surrounding you, the breeze on your face, and the feeling of your feet moving in a steady rhythm.

Another option is to simply sit silently and observe nature. There are few things more calming than listening to the birds sing or a brook babbling softly nearby, while watching various forms of wildlife go about their daily routines. Just a few minutes of this every day can soothe even chronic stress away.

2) Immerse yourself in music.

Listening to music while you relax is also another form of meditation, especially if you focus on the notes and consciously release feelings of tension, irritation and negativity. Try to choose music that has few lyrics, or at least soothing or inspiring lyrics. Sit or lie in a comfortable position and allow your mind to drift pleasantly with the music. You can engage in some creative visualization if you like, or just relax and enjoy the experience.

As an alternative to music, you can also purchase audio recordings of natural sounds like ocean waves, rain and storms, wind and wind chimes, birdsong or whale songs, and more.

3) Practice mindfulness.

Sometimes meditation is a simple matter of staying in the present moment, rather than allowing your thoughts to drift forward or backward in time. Try focusing solely on whatever activity you happen to be engaged in at the present time.

Make it a point to consciously detach from external distractions and thoughts that are unrelated to your current activity and simply concentrate on BEING in this moment. It may take some practice at first, but the more you do it the more easily you'll be able to remain in a state of mindfulness.

When you tune in and focus your full attention on an activity, you automatically let go of worries about the future and regrets, anger and sadness about the past. You are here in the present moment only; and therefore not stressed or anxious. You can do this with both physical and mental activities, such as household chores, work related tasks, errands and shopping, cleaning and organizing, and much more.

Rest, Relax And Recharge (649 words)

It's unfortunate, but in today's society it is far too common for adults to drag on day after day, lacking the sleep their bodies desperately need. There is often too much to do and too little time, and so we take that time we need away from our sleep. Workaholics aren't the only ones who sacrifice their sleep � college students and work at home parents are also known to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, getting maybe 4-5 hours of sleep each night. Our bodies don't appreciate this, and in fact not getting enough rest can spell disaster.

At least two major studies (using a million or so subjects) have shown that those who get less than 7 hours of sleep each night have a much higher mortality rate than those who sleep more. There are many reasons our bodies begin to break down without adequate rest. Without the ability to completely recharge after a full day of running all its processes, the systems get sluggish, organs perform less than optimally, and the body itself becomes stressed. No longer does it have the ability to recuperate, to heal, or be properly nourished. It shuts down from the inside out.

If you need help getting extra sleep, try avoiding caffeine 6-8 hours prior to bedtime, getting regular exercise (early in the day), and sleeping in a dark and quiet room. Some people may even need a midday nap to give their body the daily rest it needs for optimum wellness. Quiet activities such as reading a book or watching a television show in bed can also aid in relaxation, but be sure to avoid activities that are taxing on your thought processes � the most common cause of insomnia includes the inability to stop thinking or worrying about what life may bring.

You may also want to get into the habit of setting aside quiet time to let your mind recharge during the course of the day. If you're like most people, you've probably got a lot of distractions and demands on your focus throughout the day, and such constant busyness can be incredibly draining.

If the thought of setting aside time to rest your mind seems like an unattainable luxury for you, you may be surprised to learn that it doesn't have to take as long as you probably think. Try using the first 5 or 10 minutes of your lunch hour to step outside and clear your mind of scattered thoughts. Take a few deep breaths and maybe even walk a few paces to stretch your body at the same time.

Do this again right before you go to bed in the evening, or after a particularly stressful situation. For example, if you've been cramming for 6 hours to finish a project deadline, take the next 10 or 15 minutes to sit quietly or otherwise allow your mind to rest before jumping into the next project. Sometimes that's easier said than done, but you'll notice a dramatic improvement in your level of concentration and focus if you do this regularly.

Finally, don't neglect your spiritual renewal either! You may not think your spirit is in need of rest and relaxation; after all, isn't that part of us infinite and indestructible? Most people would say so, but they would also probably agree that it's possible to dim or diminish our spiritual selves simply by neglecting them for extended periods of time. Take time each day to honor your spirit and connect with your inner essence. You can do this through meditation, journaling, dance, prayer, creative pursuits, or any other activity that makes you feel in touch with the deepest part of you.

Relaxation Affirmation: I give myself permission to rest, relax and recharge. I deserve to feel peaceful and serene in all areas of my life. I choose to release all tension, worry, fear and stress now.

Enhancing Meditation with Aromatherapy (443 words)

Meditation alone can be incredibly healing and restorative, but it is also possible to enhance the benefits by combining it with other modalities like music, color therapy, and holding or placing specific gems and crystals on the body while meditating.

Aromatherapy is another option that works well with meditation because specific scents can easily inspire corresponding moods and enhance visual imagery. Depending on the purpose of your meditation, you could choose various scents that would complement it. For example, some scents might induce a sense of peace and well-being while others would be better for boosting confidence, enhancing mental clarity or stimulating creativity.

Below you'll find recommendations for various scents that will complement different types of meditation. There are a few ways to disperse the scent through the room, including burning scented incense, warming essential oils in a diffuser, or even dabbing some on a scarf and draping it around your neck.

For energy and motivation:

To boost your energy, motivation and personal power, try a meditation that boosts your mood first, like visualizing an inspiring or exciting scene. You can imagine something that hasn't happened yet, remember something wonderful that happened in the past, or even recite empowering affirmations mentally.

For invigorating aromatherapy scents, go with "spicy" choices like those associated with warmth and energy. Try cinnamon, ginger, cedar, orange, lemon, grapefruit, patchouli, mint, nutmeg, allspice, coffee, or mocha.

For peace and serenity:

To induce a peaceful, serene state of mind choose relaxing imagery, like envisioning yourself relaxing on a beach, walking slowly through a quiet forest, or even soaking in a warm bath.

You'll also want to choose softer scents to go along with the meditation, and floral scents usually work well for this purpose. Try violet, lavender, gardenia, carnation, rose, jasmine, honeysuckle, magnolia, or lilac.

For healing and well-being:

Healing meditations can include anything that inspires a sense of well-being. One popular choice is envisioning a cloud of beautiful light flowing around and through your body, dissolving all illness and discomfort. You can make the light any color you want, as well as adjusting the brightness or softness, or focusing it on specific areas that hurt.

Scents associated with health and wellness are often those with light, pleasant scents. Floral scents also work well for this type of meditation, or you might try "greener" herbal scents like eucalyptus, myrrh, sandalwood, basil, rosemary, clove, or vanilla.

These are only suggestions; feel free to change them according to your own preferences. There are no "right or wrong" scents to be used in aromatherapy. Simply choose scents that you enjoy and seem to work best for your purposes and you can't go wrong.