The Meditation for Transformation Course

Your abilities to help you succeed

14 minutes

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Read the summary

Meditation Exercise #1

Download the 15 abilities, as a PDF, for your study

Guided Meditation #1

A guided meditation into letting go, to get connected to then fall naturally in the peace and calm that is deep within us.

20 minutes

Meditation to Transform Yourself

17 minutes

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Read the Summary

Meditation Exercise #2

Guided Meditation #2

A great meditation to do in the morning. Wake up, get connected and focused to start your day.

24 min

Guided Meditation #3

A deep and profound  meditation guided by Ian & Rose on facing your doubt and fear.

 63min

transcript lesson 1

Your abilities to help you succeed

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“The obstacles and weaknesses you have in your material life are the same,

or stem from the same root as your obstacles and weaknesses in your meditation practice.”

Do you know what your strengths are?
Do you know what your weaknesses are? Do you know what slows you down or holds you back? Do you know what your excuses are?
These are all questions that can help us find out who we are, to discover and contemplate what it means to “know thyself.” Knowing yourself is a key part of the path to higher consciousness.

Your innate skills and abilities
It is important to contemplate, reflect and meditate on your ability to meditate. There is also an important link to recognise between your abilities to live your life and your abilities to go within and find the answers that you are looking for.
The following is a list of abilities that are innate to us. We have these to draw from when we go within. They help us to go deeper. They will help us to overcome any of the many obstacles we might encounter. They help us succeed in meditation and in daily life.

The 15 abilities

1. The ability to feel your spiritual desire is the most important of all because it is how you become more open to inner assistance and guidance. This sets forces in motion that help you use any of the other abilities.
2. The ability to change your state of consciousness from closed to open, from negative to positive.
3. The ability to connect to a Higher Power.
4. The ability to release and let go of pent-up feelings (such as anger or resentment).
5. The ability to just sit and be still without expectations.
6. The ability to feel love and compassion for self and others.
7. The ability to calmly hold your attention on one subject (either a question or a problem that you want to solve).
8. The ability to relax.
9. The ability to empty the mind.
10. The ability to let go and to detect a change in your consciousness. 
11. The ability to know the difference between your true self and your ego self, and how to detach from the ego self (also called letting go with awareness, or witnessing).
12. The ability to listen, and to know when to act on what you hear. 
13. The ability to know when something is true or not true.
14. The ability to open your heart.
15. The ability to get through an obstacle, like fear for instance.

Exercise:
Read over the list of abilities again and decide, which ones are your 2 weakest and which are your 2 strongest?

Overcoming your obstacles
Understanding the common obstacles that can arise during meditation can help you navigate and overcome them. We have addressed most of them, but here are a few challenges you may encounter:

1. Restless Mind: It's common to experience a restless mind during meditation. You may find it challenging to quiet the constant stream of thoughts and distractions that arise. It is important that you persevere and do not give in to what your mind tells you. For instance after much discomfort, your mind might tell you “it is not my night, I think I am better of finishing my project”. Do whatever you have to do to not give in to the mind's “better ideas” and stop your meditation. Stay with it. Become stronger than the excuses and the discomfort. They will pass. When you succeed at staying in meditation anyway, you break life long sub-conscious patterns and programming that are part of the cause of your suffering in life. This is so important, and it must be conquered.
2. Lack of Consistency: Establishing a consistent meditation practice is a must yet it can be difficult due to life's demands and busy schedules. However, consistency is of key importance, because as with everything in life “practice makes perfect” - to get the most out of your meditation practice, do it often, every day if possible. Try setting aside a dedicated period of time for meditation each day, even if it's just a few minutes. Gradually increase the duration as you build a routine that works for you. We will talk on how to precisely succeed in this later on.
3. Physical Discomfort: Physical discomfort, such as back pain, stiffness, or restlessness, can arise during meditation. It's important to find a comfortable posture that works for you. Explore different positions, use props if needed, and listen to your body. At the same time listen carefully to your body and it gives us signals of what is going on inside of us. Sometimes the pain is part of the healing process. And most of all, move when it feels like you need to move. Sometimes your body might naturally move into stretches, stretch. Or you feel an urge to stand up and dance, dance. Your body has its own intelligence and it knows how it needs to move to free itself. There is a way to persevere through discomfort that can show your determination and grit. Always trust your own instincts with your body and if you have an injury or a medical recommendation, take that into consideration so that you always protect and take care of your body.
4. Impatience and Expectations: It's natural to have expectations and to desire immediate results from meditation. However, it's important to remember that meditation is a journey, not a destination. Practice patience and let go of any attachment to specific outcomes. Embrace the process and trust that the benefits will unfold in their own time.
5. Difficulty Letting Go: Letting go of attachments, judgments, and expectations can be challenging. During meditation, thoughts and emotions may arise, and it's important to approach them with an accepting, non-judgmental attitude. Cultivate mindfulness and self-compassion, allowing yourself to observe and let go of any clinging or resistance.

Remember, your meditation practice is unique to you. Overcoming these obstacles will strengthen your practice and allow you to experience the transformative power of meditation.

Summary

• The 15 abilities will help us to overcome any of the many obstacles we might encounter. They help us to succeed in meditation and in daily life.
• When thoughts distract us in meditation, and you succeed at staying in meditation anyways, you break life long sub-conscious patterns, programming, that are part of the cause of the ways we suffer in life. This is so important, and it must be conquered. This is a victory as so much of our suffering will fall away.

MEDITATION EXERCISE-1

1.Which of the 15 abilities would you consider are your 2 weakest? And which 2 would you consider are your strongest? Why?

2. For the next week, have your spiritual focus be on one of your weakest abilities. Put this ability ‘in the gym’ so to speak. Be creative and find ways to strengthen this ability. How can you practice it more.
In the evening, do some journaling. Contemplate and write down about questions like: How did I apply this ability today? Where did I strengthen it? What can I do to further strengthen this ability?

3. What obstacle keeps you from meditating or going deeper into your meditations?
Meditate on this obstacle. What is true about it, what is untrue? What can I do to overcome this obstacle?

transcript lesson 2

Meditate to transform yourself

To help us understand meditation as the powerful transformational tool that it is, I need to first explain more about the nervous system.

A powerful line of questioning that comes naturally in the search for meaning of life is questioning along the lines of: Who am I? or What am I? The thing is, you are not this body with all of its emotions and desires. You are also not this mind with all it’s thoughts and beliefs. Take an example: if you were to lose your arm, would there be any less of you? No - If you were to lose your leg as well, would there be less of you? No.

The truth is we are of spirit; a soul that has taken birth into this material world in a physical body. Through this body is how we experience life. Your physical body is the vehicle in which you navigate through this world, and it is through your nervous system that your soul can experience this world. Through all your senses of smell, taste, hearing, touch and by feeling you can receive and send out impressions. It truly is a miraculous situation - what a precious gift life in these bodies is indeed.

MEDITATION AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

Our nervous system receives input, and needs time to process it, digest it, and clear it. When we work in a stressful environment or a noisy place, our nervous system can receive so many impulses and energies, that for some of us it is too much too fast, and our system has a difficult time processing it. An extreme example for instance is traumatic experiences. Neuroscientific research has discovered that traumatic experiences sit around the end of the nerve endings in the form of a sticky substance that is difficult to remove. In others words, they block the energy flow through your nervous system. When the energy cannot flow freely through your nervous system it starts to get stagnant. When something is stagnant there is less life force energy and eventually it dies. We either grow or die. An unfortunate and all too common result is mental illness, emotional illness or physical illness. This could take the form of anxiety, depression, burn out, auto immune diseases, to name a few. So this nervous system needs to be open and flowing in order to be healthy. When it is open and healthy it can cope with so much more input. The good news is that you have everything you need within you to open, heal and change.

I want to give you myself as an example. I am privileged to live in a beautiful place in the mountains, with almost no one around. Completely quiet. Twice a month I need to go to the town to do shopping. There, so many energies, thoughts, noises come at me. The unconscious reaction of my body is to contract; my shoulders pull inwards, my head lowers, my breathing becomes shallow; my nervous system is trying to protect itself from all of the new input. Through being aware and breathing, I can decide to not shut down and to stay open to the world. Then in the evening when I am at home, I practice meditation to release the tension and reconnect with myself and with Spirit.

When the nervous system is contracted, stuck, and stressed out, it is very difficult to go within into meditation. Ultimately I believe we all want to feel our connection, but when our being is not open, which includes our nervous system, our heart, and our mind, it is very challenging to connect. When your being is open, the connection is right there. A most interesting fact is that the Light and the Love enter into our body through our nervous system. Thus, in order to connect, so that we can be filled with the love and the light, our entire being needs to open. We will talk further about how to open your heart, mind, and body later in this book.

An example of one of the true benefits of meditation is helping the nervous system to deal with life and open up. So lets look more deeply into the benefits of meditation.

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

People can and should practice meditation for their own personal reasons. Here we merely want to look at some of the benefits of the practice.

Lets go back again to the question: Who are you? You have had some glimpses that you are so much more than what you believe, feel or have experienced about yourself. There is a wealth of riches to be found within. We all have a True Self that lays buried deep inside underneath waiting to be uncovered, waiting to be set free, waiting to be self realised. It is a most rewarding journey of self discovery and our spiritual endeavour is the fastest and most direct way I know of how to get there.

Every time when we go within we receive another piece of the puzzle. Each piece found brings more peace, love, light and self awareness to our consciousness. Use these moments to strengthen your trust and faith, and your determination and let it fuel your desire for more.

The most common obstacles we all have to face in one way or another is fear. As we venture deeper and deeper, we might be afraid of what we might find. Afraid of what we might need to feel or perhaps apprehensive of the changes we will need to make. There are things buried deep inside of us that have been buried there for a good reason - well that is what we think. We have to remember that those moments in life were we buried stuff, decided to take on a belief or concept etc., we did not do this in full consciousness. Most of these things were taken on whilst we were young, mostly as a child. In our effort to survive we took on different ways of being and thinking and along this journey we lost parts of ourselves. Meditation is a powerful way to go back in there, and uncover these places in order to find yourself again. You will practice letting go, you will find deep healing at times, you will find forgiveness for yourself and others, and your heart will increase with the capacity to feel compassion.

So face your fears. Do not let them stop you from meditating, do not let them lead you astray and take the ‘easy road’. There is no easy road. There is only the road that you must travel on to awaken. That is all. Later on in this book we will share with you a powerful way to face your fears.

For those of you who have been on your way for a while now, this part of the work is not endless. There will come a time where you cross a 50% line, and the work on yourself will continue, but with more ease and grace. From this moment on it is important for you to help others if you have not done so already. So is there an end? Well... if God, the Universe, all of the Unconditional Love is constantly expanding and growing, what do you think we are? That’s right, always expanding and growing. Never not.

DEALING WITH OUR HUMANNESS

One of the most important aspects of dealing with our human selves is being aware of our state. At any one moment in life we are in a certain state; a state of mind, emotion, heart, and consciousness. The states that we spend the most time in have a direct influence on our quality of life, our relationships, our enjoyment of life, and our fulfillment. You can always change your state of being. First you must activate the self-awareness to notice what state you are in at any time of the day. Then you need to do something to change your state. Furthermore, there is a personal transformation to go through to change your natural go-to inner state of being. Through practicing meditation, you can change your state and transform yourself. You can change your state by using your awareness and letting go in the moment. When that works, great, but when awareness is not enough, then meditation can truly help you to go deep enough so you can let go and change your state.

Coming to a better, more desirable state means going through various layers and waves of release, and releasing internal pressure, pent up emotions, thoughts, and internal ego states. There is so much letting go that needs to happen in life; opening up the body, heart, and mind and creating space for spiritual growth. This is what meditation can be extremely helpful for.

Another part of dealing with one’s human self is dealing with the mind, and this is what meditation is famous for. Yes, the more you practice, the better your understanding will be about yourself, your life, and your thoughts. Meditation helps us to deal with our mind. The ability to calm the monkey mind, to have better control over your thinking, is much needed in a world where people act on their impulses and keep in place a kind of separation, or states of the ego.

Finding higher truths: Meditation constantly brings us through various journeys that result in deeper understanding of life and of ourselves. There are many things to discover that one could call higher truths. Important blocks in the way to find higher truths are the many concepts and beliefs we hold about ourselves, others and God. These need to come into the Light so they can be let go of.

Spiritual matters and especially spiritual connection, are probably the most significant phenomena you can experience through meditation. It is each person’s birth right to have and nurture a personal spiritual connection. One does not need to have any belief system to have a live and personal connection and relationship with the divine. God’s love is for everyone.

“Your work is to discover your world within and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”

~ The Buddha

SUMMARY

• In order to connect, so that we can be filled with the love and the light, our entire being needs to open.
• The Light and the Love enters into our bodies through our nervous system. This is how you become a light worker.
• Your meditation can help you to go deep enough so you can let go and change your state.
• Meditation helps us to deal with our mind and our humanity.
• Every time when we go within we receive another piece of the puzzle. Each piece found brings more peace, love, light and self awareness to our consciousness
• Face your fears and do not let them stop you from meditating or prevent you from even starting.

MEDITATION EXERCISE 2

1. Make a list of all your fears that could surface as you go deeper within.
2. What are you most afraid to feel, or experience, or encounter, when you go within?
3. Meditate on your list. For each fear you could ask yourself: “should this fear stop me from meditating?”. Face your fears.
4. What is the next piece of the puzzle of your own transformation that you would like to discover?