jillygirl

(By Ed & Deb Shapiro)

When you honor the wisdom in your heart, then you act from this core of your being. You experience it in those moments when your needs and worries quietly dissolve and confusion or pain no longer dominates. Tears may spontaneously arise and there is a sensation of great warmth and peace. It is the letting-go of fear and the need to control. Try the meditation below to get more deeply in touch with this loving center of your being.

Opening Heart Meditation:

Settle your body in an upright and seated posture. Bring your focus to the natural flow of your breath as it enters and leaves your body. Just watch your breath as your mind settles.

Now bring your attention to the heart space in the center of your chest. And just breathe in and out of this space. As you do so, with each in-breathe feel your heart gently opening and softening; with each out-breathe release any tension or resistance.

As you do this, silently repeat, “My heart is opening and softening.” You may experience great joy or even sadness. Let the feelings come and go, while you just keep breathing into your heart space.

Stay here as long as you wish. When you are ready, take a deep breath and let it go. Gently open your eyes and take the peace of your heart with you through your day…

Ed and Deb Shapiro are the authors of Be The Change, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World. They are featured weekly contributors to Oprah.com, HuffingtonPost.com and Care2.com. They have three meditation CDs: Metta: Loving Kindness and Forgiveness, Samadhi: Breath Awareness and Insight and Yoga Nidra: Inner Conscious Relaxation.

 

I hear the term well-being thrown around all the time and while I had an idea of what it meant, I decided to look it up and see what the dictionary definition said.  This is what I most commonly found: “A contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous.”

I love that! And then going deeper, what do happy, healthy, and prosperous each mean? For everyone, it can be something very different.

By getting clear on what each aspect of well-being means to you, as well as pondering how attaining an ideal state of each will affect your life for the better, it becomes easy to make a priority of creating a lifestyle that brings optimum happiness, healthfulness, and prosperity, ultimately resulting in a balanced, glorious state of well-being.

What increases your sense of well-being? Some ideas include:

Gratitude, Learning/Trying New Things, Genuine Friendships, Lot of Laughter, Eating Fresh Produce, Drinking Pure Water, Animal Friends, More Compassion, Less Judgement, Sunshine & Nature, Yoga & Meditation, Doing What You Love!, Positive Environment (people, surroundings, etc.), Contribution (through career or charitable work), Creativity & Art, Movement & Dance, and Play!

And then where does “WellBEing” come from… why the BE? Much more than doing, attaining, striving, reacting, it is the BEing that most matters. When not in action (mind or body), who are you? What is your state? Joyful? Content? Blissful? Angry? Sad? Still? Ultimately it’s your state of BEing that makes you Well… or not.

“Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same.” Francesca Reigler

“For everyone, well-being is a journey. The secret is committing to that journey and taking those first steps with hope and belief in yourself.”  Deepak Chopra

Be sure to comment below with your own ideas!

What is your favorite inspirational quote?  One of my favorites is below… it has really rung true this year and it’s something I keep reminding myself of!

No matter who tries to hold you down (including yourself & mind), know that beautiful things, creations, and transformations are right around the corner. Stay in integrity, put your  into your soulful offerings to the world and no one can stop you!

Please share with me your favorite inspirational quotes 🙂