"Water Your Root"

Let’s imagine that you and I are walking through an apple orchard together. All the trees look nice and healthy. They are all a vibrant bright green and bearing beautiful rosy apples. As we walk through the orchard we come across a tree that doesn’t look as healthy as the others. This tree is beginning to wilt. The apples on the tree look shriveled. The leaves are drying up and the limbs are sagging toward the ground.

We also find the farmer of this land dashing around the tree trying frantically to help the poor thing by brushing away all the dirt and dust off the branches. He’s spraying the apples with water and trying to polish them. He’s sprinkling water on the withering leaves. With all this effort he is seeing no signs of any relief. He looks distraught as all his efforts have been in vain.

Now anyone with even a little knowledge of how plants grow knows that this guy is wasting his time going from branch to branch, leaf to leaf, apple to apple. We know that there is one easy action that will address all the problems of the sickly tree: Water the root to enjoy healthy looking fruit.

Sounds obvious to us, but sometimes we get caught up in the details of life and become blind to the path of least resistance. “So,” you may ask, “how does this analogy relate to my daily life?”

The apple tree represents you as an individual. All the different branches represent the different roles you play in your life and everyone plays many different roles. We are sons or daughters, parents, employers, employees, customers, students, educators and so on. All of these different roles we play from moment to moment, require some sort of action on our part and from that action there is always some sort of fruit of our labor. Whether or not our action is performed with ease or with certain degree of difficulty will determine how we feel about that particular role we play.

If there is a lot of stress associated with being an employee then we may feel our effectiveness is being compromised. If there is a lot of tension between family members then relationships can feel cumbersome and strained by even the smallest things.

All of these different aspects of our self can be nourished with one simple solution: meditation. Watering the root of yourself means getting to that calm place within and residing there for a little while. When we come out of meditation we feel relaxed and peaceful. No matter what role we step into in that next moment we have that inner sense of well-being and calmness that we know exists within us. We can act from there instead of from a place of stress and frustration. The more we access our inner peace the more we bring it out into the world naturally and the better all of our roles and relationships become.

You have the power to make it a great day.

“Pulling the Arrow Back”

Last time I shared with you some reasons why taking some “me time” a.k.a. meditation is important. This week I’d like to further elaborate on “why” it is important. A teacher of mine once said that all progress in life happens through the interplay between rest and activity. Ok, well let’s take a closer look at this statement together with the help of the bow and arrow analogy.

Let’s pretend a bow and arrow is something new to us, something we’ve never seen before. We might think it slightly absurd that in order to hit the target in front of us that we must first pull the arrow back in the opposite direction, but the mechanics of the bow say that we should pull back the arrow. So we do as we’re instructed, we pull back the arrow, line up the target in our sights then we let go and BAM! The arrow goes flying toward the target with great speed, covering many yards when we only pulled the arrow back a few inches.

By the simple act of pulling the arrow back a little ways on the bow we create potential energy for the arrow to soar through the air. The act of meditation has the same potential in our daily lives. When we are confronted with a whole days worth of activities, it might seem counter-productive to take a few minutes to sit quietly, but like the arrow in the analogy you will go further and be more productive if you have taken some time to “pull back” and recharge yourself.

One of the benefits of meditating is that we achieve a deep state of rest while remaining completely awake. While meditating the body is inactive but not asleep, and the mind remains awake. We’ll call this a state of wakeful-resting. This is contrary to the state of deep sleep when the body and mind are in a state of rest and are not awake. It is also contrary to the waking state when both body and mind are awake and active. Studies have shown that by accessing this state of wakeful-resting the person gains a deep sense of relaxation, relief from stress and it also provides insight into our life.

So let’s all do ourselves a favor this week and find some time to “pull the arrow back” so to speak. Close your eyes, rest in the silence, in the wakefully-rested state. Know that you are gaining potential momentum for the rest of your day. When you are ready to come out of meditation don’t forget to take a few minutes to allow the mind to transition from the deep state of rest to the state of activity. This is an important step. Allow the mind to wander for a few minutes. When you are ready to take on the day know that you have pulled back your arrow and set your sights. Now it’s time for action!

Have fun and make it a great day!

Stephen Cardinal

“It’s time for me”

In this hustle-bustle busy world we live in today where we are connected to everyone via cellphones, social networks, and 24-hour news channels it is rare that we find someone that says, “Hey, it looks like you could use a little break.” It is usually quite the contrary! This world of ours wants more for less from all of us and I am here to say that maybe, just maybe we need to step up and say, “I require some good old me time today!” Besides, you are the only person that can give this gift to yourself, because no one else will. We ourselves expect more and more of ourselves each year with the added New Year’s Resolutions on top of personal goals and promises we make to ourselves throughout the year.

I can tell you that from living and traveling in many different places over the years I have learned that the benefits of so called “me time” is one of the best things we can give to ourselves. Over the years of my personal research in this field I have found that one of the best ways to really get a good dose of relaxing “me time” is with a simple technique of meditation. I know meditation can be foreign to a lot of us, but if you take some time to explore it you will be all the more better off, but don’t just take my word for it, the proof is in experience itself.

If you have not learned a formal technique my suggestion is find a comfortable seat, close your eyes, and simply pay attention to your breath. To start out take three slow deep breathes. Now, simply allow breathing to happen. Notice that it goes in and out without any effort on your part. It just....happens.

Our mind is an active creature so naturally it will want to wonder off on a number of tangents, and that’s ok, it’s doing it’s thing, now you do your’s and gently bring your mind back to observing your breath. Don’t mind the noise outside, watch your breath. Don’t mind the time, watch the breath. Inhale....exhale....

After you feel you have spent enough time in this relaxed state, introduce the thought to yourself that, “I am planning to get up.” Take a few minutes to stop watching the breath and allow your mind to wonder again. Let it go wild! After a few minutes have gone by peek open your eyes and if you feel the light to be too much, keep your eyes closed for a minute more and then try it again.

The most important part is to be easy with yourself. The rest of the world will be waiting to get more and more out of you, so you take the time you need to transition from that place inner calm to the world of go go go!!

Have a good time and make it a great day.

Stephen Cardinal