Am I in Yet?

MendMaker Exercise: Session written and explained by your coach Claire Anstey

Connect To Your Inner Wisdom

Knowing that you are working with your "inner" you is a bit like losing your virginity. You're not sure you can feel anything and you're too scared to say anything. And anyhow what exactly are you meant to feel? How long should it take? When will the euphoria start and will it be just like in the movies?

My tag line for quite a while was "it's the journey that creates the dream". I was so bloody proud of my profound self that I even had these little cotton labels made up and put them on everything. They were the same labels your mum got with your name on for your school uniform so that you didn't forget your pants after a fun filled naked sprawl in the sand pit aged 9. Then I got to my 'dream' and I realised I'd been on the wrong fucking train for 5 years.

You see, the journey not only creates your dream, the journey is your dream. You are already living it. You don't need to be miserable whilst waiting to get to a destination. You just need to keep checking that you're still on the right route and to do that you need to switch on your internal sat nav. Your beer belly, my friend, is just about to become your new best friend. Your gut is where your instinct lies; it's the core quality that you were born with. It's that inner knowing that (when listened to) tells you exactly where to go and what decision to make and never gets it wrong. You see all these hippy types talk about your inner child, your soul, your inner you and basically it is all saying the same thing. Your gut instinct is where it is at. We spend all these years learning what is right and what is wrong and the irony is we knew all the answers all along.

So how do we find it again? How do you tune in to this core when you need to make a decision? One way to do it is through meditation. Meditation enables us to tune back into our intuition. Practice allows us to block out the craziness of the bollocks that eats at our personalities and it brings out our natural wisdom and clarity.

Now before you think that this session is about to serve you up recipes for tofu and tree hugging this is open eyed meditation. It is powerfully strong and also enables you to not look like a mass murderer on the bus but still reap the benefits. People have also been known to do this at raves in order to enhance their consciousness instead of using pills and puff.

TASK

Read over the exercise notes below and then give it a shot. There is absolutely no right or wrong with meditation, it is about what works for you.

1: Find a relaxed position. A chair is often best as it supports your back. We don't need to be rocking any hard core yoga positions with this exercise.

2: Focus on your breathing, keeping your mouth closed, breathing in and out through your nose. Take your mind to your stomach; make sure that your breath is coming deep from within your gut, just under your belly button. Take as long as you need on this, breathe in and out and let the world around you just fall away.

3: Relax as you breathe. Let the tension go from the different parts of your body. How you wish to do this is up to you, you may want to work up from your toes or start with the bits that feel the tightest.

4: If any thoughts enter your mind, notice that they are there but don't engage with them. Your thoughts are like clouds: just let them appear and float away. Your focus is on your breathing. Notice how you feel centered and find that point of peace within you. It feels like you're almost stepping back from the outside and going inwards. When you feel like you have stepped back from the outside world you are in touch with that internal Sat Nav, and intuitive intellect that knows what's best for you.

If you do find yourself engaging in your thoughts and your attention keeps diverting don't be hard on yourself. It really isn't a problem just breathe deeply into that gut and bring your focus back to a point. of peace within you. Some days your brain will just be manic, and it will naturally take a bit longer.

5: If you are still finding concentration hard and your thoughts are causing mayhem in your brain, set up two focus points. Focus your left eye on one object and your right eye on another. This is very difficult to do so it will keep you in charge of your conscious mind and allow for your subconscious to almost sneak in. This is what's called a progressive meditation which means that your experience will intensify the more you practice.

6. By stepping back and focusing on your breathing you not only get in touch with your clever bugger of a core you also create spaces between your thoughts. If you feel like you are backed in a corner, if you can't work things out for yourself or have some kind of writers' block this meditation allows you to re-engage with your creative juices by creating the space within your mind for it to happen. You will never fail to amaze yourself with the ingenuity and creativity that enters your mind during this point. Take it all in, allow for it and then let the thought pass like a cloud and make another space for another moment of your unique creative wisdom.

7. You can spend as long as you wish on your meditation. Practicing 10 minutes in the morning to energize you and 10 minutes before bed to close down the desktop of your day will give you a good restful sleep. Use the alarm on your mobile to time yourself so that you don't keep trying to check how long you have been going. 10 minutes feels like a lifetime at first but you will get the hang of it and using a timer really helps.

8. Remember, practice will make perfect.

Play with your open eyed meditation, being able to literally draw back from the world around you is extremely helpful. Your horrible rush hour train to work can become an energizing trip that will guarantee you stay on the right path the whole day. This method also allows for you to connect straight to your core intellect and inner you at any time allowing for your instinct to guide and advise you when you are not sure what action to take or which choice to make.

If you have a decision to make, do this exercise and allow that inner intellect to do what it does best.