Valerie Barrow: Today is Tuesday, the first Tuesday of the month. It’s the 7th of the 7th, 2020. Which adds up to 9 which is a lovely number, will always connect with Cosmic Sai Baba.
This book is desigend as a self-teaching workbook.
Each topic:
My purpose in writing this book is to share my experience and to pass on the benefits that meditation has brought into
my life.
Many people are curious about meditation but are hesitant to explore it, perhaps due to fear of the unknown and lack of understanding of what meditation is. Some people are recommended to meditate as part of a health strategy, but don’t know how to begin. Others may associate meditation with cults or may genuinely believe that it is an anti-religious practice.
People who meditate regularly come from many diverse cultures and backgrounds. My own religious upbringing was in the Church of England, nowadays known in Australia as the Anglican Church. I attended a high school in England that had been founded in 1838 as a school for the daughters of missionaries and every school day began with prayers and hymn singing, which I enjoyed. Our religious education was Christian but non-sectarian with a healthy emphasis on responsible behaviour, honourable and respectful treatment of fellow human beings and acceptance and respect for the beliefs of others notwithstanding that such beliefs might differ from our own.
My introduction to meditation came through attending a course in Yoga and Stress Management run at the local evening college by teachers from the Satyananda Yoga School in Sydney. I enrolled in this course as a way of managing chronic back pain, but found that I gained much more than pain management from the tuition. It was my first experience of the philosophies and attitudes of non-Christian religions and became part of my on-going education in self-awareness.
Reflection set me wondering if the church services and Christian scriptures would become less meaningful once I began looking at the world through different eyes. In fact the opposite happened. I found more profound meaning once I started to listen in a different way. I also began to understand the similarities common to the major world religions and to appreciate different expressions of belief in a Divine Consciousness.
Once I began to meditate regularly, trivial conversation and gossip no longer interested me. This is evidently common amongst people who meditate regularly. I would sometimes find myself in a social situation feeling like a creature from another planet, with very little to say. At other times, unexpectedly, strangers would come and talk to me about spiritual matters and these would be wonderfully uplifting and joyful encounters.
The death of my mother, closely followed by that of a close friend, challenged my belief system, and forced me to confront my own mortality and find my own truths, rather than accepting without question the doctrines I had been taught.
In time the yoga practices, including relaxation, meditation and stress management techniques, enabled me to successfully manage my lower back pain. Since then I have met many people who find meditation contributes substantially to health management and lifestyle enhancement.
A background in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry led me to introduce relaxation techniques to students who were training for supervisory and management positions. The Hospitality Industry is a stressful, frenetic environment and I believe that employees need strategies to prevent them suffering from burnout and to help them handle the pressure of constantly dealing with people. I was often asked to make a recording of guided meditation, which I did after giving up full time work.
Eventually I was able to devote time to expanding my knowledge and working with other people. Teaching experience gave me the skills to teach meditation. Meditation practices have proved vital in dealing with a series of traumas in my life including the death of my daughter in a plane crash. This has been the greatest learning experience of all.
Meditation has opened many doors for me into areas of expanded consciousness and is now part of everything I do.
On account to the simple method, giving account of the desired outcome and allowing readers the freedom to have different outcomes, and the simple reminders at the end of chapters, many who are beginners in meditation and inner self management might find this book an important bedside companion.
Peaceful and Beautiful