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Anthony Quintiliani, Ph.D, LADC

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June 15, 2019 By Admin

In-Depth Means to Discover and Be Your True Self

In-Depth Means to Discover and Be Your True Self

Henry David Thoreau reminded us that it is not what you look at, but it is what you see that matters. How do you SEE yourself?  John Muir reminded us that the sun shines in us as well as in our souls. Do you find “the healing light” in your soul? The following “thinkers” have provided some interested self-search methods for us to consider; try some of these to find your own true self and be grateful.

Arvni Nan Futuronsky, Thomas Moore, and Christopher Germer – According to these people, finding the true center of the true self requires a mindfully deep questing processes, which may include regular silent meditation and inner self-contemplation. Being stuck in past struggles, painful experiences, and general suffering block not only finding our true self but also it’s healing capacities. Likewise being stuck in anxiety, fear, depression, loneliness, trauma, addictions (including “I-Smartphone” addiction), self-doubt, and non-stop critical thinking – all harm our true self and keep us in cyclical patterns of suffering and despair. Samsara is dominant here. These are very serious problems, and they are not overcome without considerable personal effort.  However, locating and “seeing” the good of your true self will enable you to grow and be happier. Confirm and affirm yourself! Use your self-leadership to experience pure self-compassion and maintain a mindfully oriented mind.  Find your strengths and pleasures in art, literature, poetry, nature, metaphors, myth, random movements, and facial expressions of pleasure.  Spend more personal and silent time in nature. Study, experience, and appreciate these many resources of the self. With regular practice improved habits of mind-body realities will occur in both self-narratives and behavioral ways. You must practice regularly. Trade some “worry time” for beneficial practice time.

J. Belmont in Embrace Your Greatness.. recommends that you unconditionally and radically accept yourself as being “good enough” (D.W. Winnicott). It is not a problem to have human imperfections; our race if loaded with imperfections – it is normal. Our highly competitive and sometimes violent society, however, entrains us to focus on negatives in life. Even our brain is designed to emphasize negatives; the human Limbic System is designed for survival, thus our focus on negatives may be part of our genetic heritage to survive. To improve regularly practice letting go of your inner critical voices – your own inner voice as well as critical, projected voices from others. Do not respond to typical, habitual, conditioned “shoulds.” Emphasize and take advantage of your own possible post-traumatic growth. Seek it in yourself and it will be there. Pay very close attention to your personal strengths, and take the time to list them and read them periodically. Meditate, practice yoga, and remain mindful daily.

Other Things to Do

  1. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – If you know this approach, use it’s diffusion and distancing techniques often. Clarification here is beyond the scope of this post. Google it, or look up information available on this blog site.
  2. Kundalini Yoga – Certain easy and energetic practices of taking in and pushing out may be helpful . The approach using your arms to take into the body something you want and saying “YES” with louder and louder force might help you.  Likewise, using your arms to push out something you do not want and saying “NO” (with louder force) in the process can be helpful. Teaching you this is beyond the scope of this post.  Google it.
  3. Likewise using Loving Kindness Meditation and Yoga Nidra processes are often helpful to us humans. Once again, it is not the focus of this blog post to teach you these practices. Google them, or look them up elsewhere in this blog site. Practice! Practice! Practice!

For more information you may wish to refer to Belmont, J. (2019). Embrace Your Greatness…Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC  

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

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Filed Under: Compassion, Featured, Self Care, Self Esteem, True Self, Well Being, Yoga Tagged With: BE YOUR TRUE SELF, EMBRACE YOUR GREATNESS, J BELMONT, KUNDALINI YOGA, MINDFUL HAPPINESS, SAMSARA, TRUE SELF

January 6, 2016 By Admin

Brief Kirtan Kriya Meditation and Research

 A Practice To  Help Prevent Alzheimer Disease

Kirtan Kriya meditation is part of the ancient Kundalini yoga tradition.  Current clinical research dealing with prevention of Alzheimer disease supports its use in medical meditation.  As G. Harrison (The Beatles fame) noted: As you move attention beyond yourself, you may find peace of mind is there.  Sanskrit root words for kundalini include meanings such as spiraled or MindfulHappiness-Meditationcoiled, earth (or single cell), bestows perpetual consciousness expressing beginning and end. Sanskrit translations for Kirtan Kriya include such things as sound with movement to balance mind-body emotions/energies to a higher self and true essence. The sounds used come from Sat Nam, which are interpreted as my true essence. Kundalini practices like Kirtan Kriya open up our experience to the inner and outer life forces.  Some refer to this experience as spiritual uplift. Since the Kirtan Kriya meditation requires ONLY 12 minutes to do, there is NO EXCUSE about not having time to practice.  Today neuroscientists suggest that the hands, fingers, and finger tips have much larger representation (the homunculus) within the power and functions of the human brain. Apparently, like so many other ancient meditation and yogic traditions, early practitioners were quite advanced regarding their understanding of mind-body-brain interactions.

Current Research Finding regarding Kirtan Kriya Meditation

According to research (multiple studies) completed by the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation, the 12 minute Kirtan Kriya meditation improves memory loss, sleep quality, inflammation (down regulates AlzheimersResearchFoundationinflammatory genes), psychological well-being, spiritual well-being, telomerase level (enzyme that slows cell aging), energy level, and stress response. Furthermore, there were no negative side effects using kirtan kriya meditation; in some people emotional emergence or Kundalini crisis can be experienced as highly uncomfortable.     Instructions appear below.

Kirtan Kriya Meditation in Kundalini Yoga

Preliminary Instructions

  1. You will sit in meditation position (pillow or chair) with your back straight and eyes closed.
  2. You will breathe naturally and remain calm.
  3. You will place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth (84 acupuncture points influencing blood flow, motor-sensory, and occipital parts of the brain).
  4. You will be saying the sounds of: Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa. This will be like gentle singing.
  5. You will be saying these sounds in various ways (silent, out loud, etc.).
  6. As you say the sounds, you will be touching specific finger tips to the tip of your thumb (mudra).
  7. As you say the sounds, you will imagine/visulaize the energy coming into the top of your head, descending into the midbrain, and leaving your head via the mid-forehead (third eye area). This is the important L-Form.
  8. At the end of the 12 minutes meditation, you will inhale very deeply, move arms/hands up over your head, then exhale fully and move arms in a sweeping motion back down.

You may want to review these steps before actually doing the meditation as noted below.

Operational Instructions for Kirtan Kriya Meditation

Kirtan-Kriya-Meditation_MindfulHappiness

1) Sit with your back straight and your eyes closed.

2) Breathe naturally without manipulation of the breath.

3) Gently place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, and keep it there.

4) Bring your visual imagery to “see” the L-Form.

5) For two minutes say out loud  Saa, Taa, Naa, Maa with these formats. Touch tip of thumb with the tip of the index finger for Saa; touch thumb tip with middle finger tip for Taa; touch thumb tip with ring finger tip for Naa; and, touch thumb tip with small finger tip for Maa. Remember to visualize energy flow via the L-Form.

6) Repeat the same process for two minutes (sounds and touching thumb tip with finger tips), for but this time whisper the four sounds.  Visualize the L-Form.

7)  Repeat the same process for four minutes as you touch thumb tip with finger tips, but this time say the four sounds silently to yourself. Remember the L-Form.

8) Repeat for two minutes whispering the four sounds while touching finger tips with thumb tip. Use the L-Form.

9) Repeat for two minutes out loud, including the same hand mudra steps while visualizing the L-Form.

10) Inhale very deeply and raise your hands/arms over your head.

11) Exhale fully and with a sweeping motion move hands/arms back down.

12) Simply sit quietly for about one minute.  Reflect on your experience.

For more information refer to Dharma Singh Khalsa (2014).  A White Paper: Yoga and Medical Meditation as Alzheimer’s Prevention Medicine. Tucson, AZ: Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation.

By Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, VermontChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

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Filed Under: Benefits of Meditation, Benefits of Mindfulness, Featured, Kirtan Kriya, Spiriuality, Yoga Tagged With: ALZHEIMERS PREVENTION, KIRTAN KRIYA, KUNDALINI YOGA, MEDITATION, MINDFULNESS, PRACTICE

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