Contemplations

Is it true what they say about regular meditation? Walking the talk....

2010-01-30T04:18:00.000-08:00

I've never been a consistent meditator. Except once, I had 3 months off a few years ago so I meditated for about half an hour everyday. I didn't notice any difference (except feeling generally more positive) but I remember my sister Katrina saw me that Christmas (I have 5 sisters and 2 brothers) and raved about my calm energy.

My other sister, Karen, went to a seminar last weekend and said she could pick the regular meditators easily (she was right every time she asked) as they exuded a certain energy to her. Will being a regular meditator for some time change me? There's only one way to find out. I've set myself the task of meditating every day for a minimum of 15 minutes (you don't experience anything by talking about it - talk is cheap).

Last week I was a meditation superwoman and managed to meditate for an hour most days. Not necessary, of course, you only need to meditate for 10 minutes a day to get benefits, but I want to complete the meditation teaching course this year and I'm experimenting with all different sorts of meditations. If you're going to meditate, it should be enjoyable - doing a meditation you don't like is boring, tiring and irritating and who needs that? Luckily, there are so many ways to meditate.

I like to try a few meditations in the hour session so I don't get bored. I chop and change according to my mood. There's focusing on the breath. There's sitting quietly and focusing on the sounds going on around you. There's a colour meditation, where you imagine every cell in your body being infused with a colour on every in-breath. Repeat for 5 to 10 minutes. There's listening to a meditation music cd ( I bought a cd called tibetan meditation music, with spiritual chants and flutes, very pleasant to listen to, you can get it at Sydney's Adyar bookshop). There's staring at an object (candles are good for this). There's repeating a mantra, either out loud or in your mind. There's mantras I've tried like "om" and "earth air fire water" but my favourite mantra so far is a buddhist mantra where you send love to yourself. It goes like this:-

May I be happy
May I be peaceful and at ease
May I be filled with loving kindness
May I be well.

You can visualise yourself as a small child (while you're repeating this mantra out loud or in your mind) if desired. This is a beautiful mantra - sending love to yourself feels fantastic! I finish the hour session with creative visualisation and affirmations.

I'll leave you with a quote from Greer Allica, author of "Meditation is powerful":-

Your thoughts are your liberators and your oppressors. Your thoughts can make war or preace. Through your thoughts, anything is possible. You can make miracles.... or you can destroy yourself. The choice is yours.

We dreamed a dream

2010-01-17T00:54:00.000-08:00

Just watched Susan Boyle on Youtube singing "I dreamed a dream". She sure made an impact with her performance, not only blowing away the audience and the judges but the world, scoring over 120 million hits on Youtube, cracking America, being interviewed on Oprah, making international news and scoring a record deal. And what a performance it is! It's a very emotional, inspiring thing to watch... a big lesson on not judging a book by it's cover.

However, I was very disappointed when she lost confidence in herself and all the international attention got to her nerves... she performed the song not even half as well in the finals of the 2009 singing competition (and even then she still managed to come second). You could see the face on the judges drop with disappointment (you can check all this out on Youtube) because they knew she could have done better. Nevertheless, she's gone from an unknown to having a great career happening now.
It's a harsh reality that society is very visually focused and worships beauty and youth and also equates success with it. Good on Susan Boyle, shaking up the tree of superficiality and judgement, forcing people to rethink their views and making her own dreams come true at the same time. What a chick!

Speaking of dreams, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung estimated that he interpreted around 80,000 dreams during his lifetime. Dreams to Jung were a friend and guide and he used his own dreams to help him make decisions. He saw dreams as not only pertaining to the dreamer, but as part of a bigger picture relating to the world we reside in, having a universal quality. Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud also took dreams seriously and saw them as symbolic of our unconscious needs, desires and conflicts. He saw all dream imagery as symbolic, for example a cave represents a vagina, a tower a penis.

The custom of sleeping at holy places to stimulate particular dreams has been practiced in the ancient and classical world, also with the pagan Celts and the early Christians.

I spotted a "dream catcher" at a new age shop only a few weeks ago. It's a Native American device you hang over your bed to stop you having bad dreams.

Dreams are a great way of accessing unconscious information, except that they speak a different language and you have to uncrack the code. How to do this? Keep a notebook and pen by your bedside, and as soon as the dream ends, write it down straight away before it's forgotten. Keep going over the images in the dreams in the notebook and ponder about what they mean to you personally.

Recommended reading: Interpreting Dreams a History of Dream Analysis by Richard Craze.

Many roads leading to one path

2010-01-06T01:38:00.000-08:00

There's different types of religion, astrology, feng shui, meditations.... and so it is with palmistry. There's many diverse methods and approaches to this art all over the world. To give examples I've seen a lot of different stuff on bookshelves about palmistry: Chinese palmistry, Indian palmistry, runic palmistry, palmistry for lovers, etc. There's also a book by Richard Unger, "Lifeprints" which claims to decipher your life purpose from your fingerprint patterns.

Then there's different reading methods: predictive palmistry where fortune telling is emphasised, non-predictive palmistry where it's all about character analysis, psychic palmistry where a lot of intuition is used, scientific investigation into palmistry where research is carried out and research papers published, etcetera etcetera. In parts of India and Asia some palmists only read the thumbs.

I actually blend two different palmistry reading methods from two different palmists into my palmistry readings, that of renowned British palmist, Johnny Fincham and my former palmistry teacher, Paul Fenton-Smith. Both are well known palmists with published books on the subject and they've made frequent media appearances. Paul Fenton-Smith regularly reads hands on television.

Giving palmistry readings has given me a heightened awareness of my own humanity and connectedness to others and that words have great power and impact, you must choose them wisely if you really want to help people. I've learnt a lot about people through this art, I've gained confidence in giving readings and lost my self consciousness. It's good for your people skills. All in all a cool experience! As long as I find other people interesting, I won't bore of reading their hands.

Recommended reading: The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry by Johnny Fincham
Palmistry revealed by Paul Fenton-Smith

What's in a name?

2009-12-11T18:02:00.000-08:00

In Chinese astrology (Paht Chee) a person's astrological chart is made up of symbolic natural elements which can include the elements of fire, earth, water, wood and metal. It's believed that to have a fortunate life, you should ideally have all of these elements included in your astrological chart. But very often some people have one, two or even three elements missing from their chart. This is seen as creating an imbalance in the chart, however, never fear, there are cures to remedy this situation. For example, if after having your Chinese astrological chart done it is discovered that the element of earth is missing from your chart, you compensate for this imbalance by adding the earth element artificially/symbolically. This can be done by:

1. Surrounding yourself with the element that's
     missing, eg. if the earth element is missing,
    placing crystals and decorative rocks in your
     home;
2.  Wear colours that represent the missing element,
3.  Adding the element into your name (eg. "crystal" or "jade"
     for the earth element).

Chinese astrology isn't the only area in metaphysics where people can change their names to improve their lives. In numerology (the study of numbers) names can be converted into numbers and it's believed that these numbers have a vibration which have an effect on our lives. Keen followers of numerology seeking to improve their lives can and do deliberately change their name for this purpose.

Out of curiosity, I rang up the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Sydney to ask how you go about legally changing your name and was quoted a cost of $140. Changing your name's a big deal, well I think so anyway. It's part of your identity, after all, you look at it all your life on your cards, etc. and changing it is a bit like tampering with a sacred cow. In numerology your name is believed to part of your destiny.    Changing your name might be an interesting experiment though, for those game enough to take the plunge!

Recommended reading on Chinese Astrology: Lillian Too's Eight Characters by Lillian Too.

Should you do predictions with palmistry?

2009-12-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Should you do predictions with palmistry? I was taught how to do this several years ago when I did a palmistry course. I believe in the possibility of fate and destiny, but surely it’s not our role to play God and dictate someone’s future for them?

Predictions in palmistry are traditionally read from the lifeline (the line that curves around the thumb, sweeps roughly out to the centre of the palm and ends somewhere underneath the thumb, see picture). The lines of our hand reflect the past events of our lives as well as our deliberate attempts at self improvement. These lines are not concrete and can change in as quickly as a matter of weeks. So it stands to reason then, that if you do predictions based on these lines, you are not guaranteed of getting accurate results.

The future is not fixed and we can change the course of our lives with our own free will. The idea of a concrete, fixed fate is not valid and takes away our responsibility for our own lives. One can argue that you can predict the future for a client and then tell them that the future isn't fixed and it's only possibilities, that they have free will to alter the course of their lives despite what’s foretold on their hands. But some people may take what you tell them very seriously and any wrong choice of words about their future might have a bad affect on them, causing them unnecessary worry or anxiety.

The value of palmistry lies not in receiving predictions which may have questionable accuracy, but in character analysis, so that we can get to know ourselves better.

Why do we always look towards the future for the answers to our problems when eventually the future will decay and kill us through old age and death?

The past is gone and there is no guaranteed future. All we have is the present. Let’s grab as much happiness as we possibly can, TODAY.

About Meditation

2009-11-27T04:19:00.000-08:00

I'm doing a Meditation Facilitator's certificate at Nature Care College at the moment, on every Tuesday night. It's a course to be a meditation teacher, it's part-time and runs for a year. It's been really interesting so far and I've been enjoying it. Because of the course, I've been meditating regularly and I'm really liking the sense of calmness it's giving me - I just could get addicted to it!

Meditation's been practised for thousands of years, and is just about focusing your mind on a subject and holding it there. You might have an image about meditation being mystical, holy or to do with eastern religions. Actually meditation is very practical and down to earth and you don't need to have a faith or particular belief, be part of an elite group or belong to a certain religion to do it. It can be done by anyone, anywhere. You may even think you need to set aside too much time in a day to do it or that you're too busy to do it. In fact, there are meditations you can do that can take from 2 to 5 minutes and can be done while you're waiting in a bank queue or waiting in your car in traffic. Meditation doesn't even have to be stationary. You can turn walking, swimming or dancing into a meditation. To reap the long term benefits of meditation however, you need to do it every day if you can for a minimum of 10 minutes to a maximum of 1 hour.

Reading about and studying meditation has really opened my eyes to the vastly different ways you can do it that I had no idea about. We've tried many different meditations in class, some I've liked, some I haven't. But this is okay, as the whole point of the classes are to record our experiences of each meditation in a journal and choose which ones resonate the most, ultimately leading to the development of our own personal meditation practice.

Meditation can be used as a powerful tool for personal growth and development. You can use it to not only calm the mind, but to heal body, mind and spirit, problem solve, open your heart through cultivating love and compassion and manifest your dreams through creative visualisation. Creative visualisation is an active meditation technique where you form a mental picture of the desired results of your goals (for example, picturing yourself at your ideal weight or with your ideal partner). The basis of this practise is the understanding that our thoughts are energy that attract our circumstances and events to us like magnets. So we use our thoughts to magnetise our goals into reality.

Recommended reading: The Meditation Bible by Madonna Gauding;
Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain;
The 5-Minute Meditator by Eric Harrison.

Discovering Aura-Soma

2009-11-21T01:40:00.000-08:00

About 3 weeks ago, I went to see an Aura-Soma practitioner at the Rocks in Sydney. I've been interested in colour therapy and healing for a while now (I also love doing colour meditations) and I was curious about what Aura-Soma was all about. The lady quoted me $65 for the session and it took around half an hour, done at her crystal shop. She showed me a brightly lit cabinet of dual coloured liquid bottles, known as Equilibrium bottles and asked me to imagine I was on a desert island and could only bring 4 bottles with me. Which 4 bottles would I choose? We sat down together with my 4 bottles and she analysed my character, past issues and challenges - everything was accurate! Then she said what I needed was more clarity about my life goals and direction and suggested I take home with me one Equilibrium bottle as the remedy, and to apply the oil twice a day. Did it make any difference? It sure did, I felt a lot clearer about my general life direction after 3 days of using the bottle.

A woman named Vicky Wall founded Aura-Soma, which came to her as an inspiration after prayer and meditation. It was introduced to the world in 1983. Aura-Soma is soul therapy using dual coloured liquids that interact with the human aura to help support spiritual balance to a person. The liquids contain plant extracts, essential oils and extracts of precious and semiprecious stones. The choice of bottles and the order in which they are chosen reflect character, past difficulties and suggested remedies to overcome challenges.

For more information about Aura-Soma, check out: http://www.aura-soma.com.au/

Coffee shop palmistry

2009-09-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

Becoming a palmist is not just a matter of reading a book or going to a course - you've got to practice (or you should if you call yourself a palmist)- a LOT - before you charge. The reason for this is that it's like learning a language, you've got to keep on practicing and get this language into your brain, become acquainted with it to become really good at it. And the only way to get acquainted with it is through practicing on a real, live human being, not through the theory of a book or course!

Even practicing without charging the person any money can be a daunting, nerve-wracking experience when you first start out. The more people you practice on, however, the more you're confidence builds, your self-consciousness fades and your skills develop.

To gain experience, I decided to host "coffee and chat" mornings through a social club where I could read people's hands for practice at no charge at a city cafe. I always let people know that I'm not a "fortune telling" palmist and there is no predictions, just character analysis. Afterwards, they go back to their coffee and chatting and I read for another person and so on. I never minded the effort it took as back then I looked on palmistry as just a hobby, and I was just indulging a hobby.

What continues to fascinate me about palmistry is that you discover an awful lot about someone in a very short space of time!

Over the years, I've read for around sixty people at the cafes around Sydney. I still have "coffee shop palmistry" mornings with the club once a month just for the fun of it, and afterwards jot down in my journal all of the hand markings and my observations. Now I'm going to read for only one person (it'll get drawn out of a hat)and the reading will go for around an hour and afterwards I'll join the group for coffee and chatting.

Reading at the Mind, Body and Spirit Festival

2009-09-11T19:52:00.001-07:00

Read at the Mind Body Spirit Festival for the first time earlier this year in the psychic reading room in Sydney. The room is absolutely massive, swamped by rows of readers, all with their individually highly decorated tables - crystals, bright, pretty tablecloth, books, ornaments, cds and whatnot. Every reader has an allocated seat, seat number and name badge. I had the plainest table in the hall - I just bought a white tablecloth, a small see through ruler, notebook, pen and little torch (for seeing the skin patterns on the hand) and a handful of crystals (to assist with intuition and communicating clearly).

It felt good to be an individualist - out of about sixty readers (all reading Tarot cards) I was the only Palmist, and I wasn't giving any predictions, I was just analysing their character through examining their hands.

Out of the sixty people reading in the hall I counted about four men - the rest were women. The female reader sat behind me did Reiki work and Tarot readings full time and had been reading at the festival for nine years. A reader at the side of me who looked to be in her sixties was motherly, caring and friendly and liked to hold her customer's hands and do a brief palm reading for a few seconds before launching into her Tarot readings (to establish a connection and energy flow she told me).

The atmosphere in there was hectic. Readings start at 10.00am and finish at 7.00pm and it's a 25 minute reading for each customer. The queues are massive - the readers are in high demand and don't stop from the time they sit down until 7.00pm. Ushers are constantly checking to see when the readers are finished so they can send them new customers. Two huge water tanks are at the front so the readers can fill up their water bottles (all that talking gives you a dry throat).

The lunch break is for one hour, with two 15 minute tea breaks. My next door neighbour reader gave me some motherly advice: if you want to cope, make sure you have those breaks! She said some people try to push themselves and have only minimum breaks to get more money, but this is not a good idea. After the first day of readings, I had to agree with her. It's a hard slog, your customers start to become a blur after a while and after a few hours, you're brain starts to feel overworked and whimpering for rest.

The organiser told me to pack my lunch and to my detriment, I didn't listen to him. The queue to get food, even a coffee, is massive and the food court was right on the other end of Darling Harbour. I had to power walk to the food court, grab a pizza and power walk/jog back to the psychic reading room, just in time for my next customer.

The next day I managed to organise myself a little better and bought my lunch, snacks and a magazine, came extra early and centred myself with a brief meditation, stuck to my reading times and had a much more relaxing day. Still hectic, but I was on top of it. Out of the whole weekend, I read for 21 people, 4 men and 17 women, from teenagers to seventy year olds. Lots of hard work, but good fun!