Meditation as a doorway

When people are new to a spiritual path, one of the first recommendations you hear is "meditate". Everyone is resistant to this. What is meditation and why are we resistant to it? Why is meditation beneficial? Is it beneficial? Does everyone have to do it?

First let me say that there are no shoulds. I know amazing healers and mediums that meditate, and I know awesome one who do not. I can really only speak of my experience and how meditation opened the doorway for me. We are resistant to meditation because we are conditioned to be fully focused on our physical lives and tasks. We spend much if not most of our time doing things -working, driving, shopping, cleaning, taking care of people, watching TV, using our phones, etc. etc. The invention of the smartphone completely caters to the nonstop drive of the mind - finding anything to distract itself. Not to say work isn't done, or there aren't productive things that you do during the day, but the main point being that there is not much emphasis put on quieting the mind. We are taught to live fully in the mind-to consume as much information and fulfill every urge and desire of the mind. In our culture we do not encourage reflective time to quiet the mind and look within for more. This is what meditation is for me.

Meditation is time dedicated to opening your inner awareness; your heart, your Spirit and letting your mind sit in the back seat. It is time to train yourself to let your Spirit come forward and talk to you. It is time to discover yourself as a multi-sensory being, instead of relying and existing in only the "what you see is what you get" mentality that so often dominates every day life. Meditation is about opening the inner doorway, finding the world that lies behind your eyes. It is infinite, and you are an integral part of it all.

After my brother died, my best friend bought me a series of distance Reiki treatments to assist me in dealing with my profound and insurmountable grief. I have to admit I was skeptical. How could someone far away (her in Denver, CO and me in Philadelphia, PA) affect any kind of change whatsoever in me? But she did. As a matter of fact the immediate affects after one treatment were so deep and powerful that my perceptions about the whole spiritual healing thing were changed in one swift moment. I wanted to know more - how was it possible to feel so different so fast? What had happened and how could I keep this awesome change going? I had felt so stuck in my life and this one treatment had opened a doorway for me. I wanted to know how I could keep this going-I wanted change and I wanted to understand more.

The first thing my healer recommended to me was that I begin meditating, 2 times a day for 10-15min each time. She told me that my Higher Self, my Spirit, my soul, needed room to work in, room to begin to bring my Spirit into my conscious mind and awareness.

I found some time alone in a room where is could shut the doer and be left alone. I chose to do it late at night after I put my son in bed, after I hung out with my husband so I could feel free and easy about taking some time to myself. I didn't use any music or

candles or anything. I just closed the door, set the intention to myself to meditate, as in "OK, I am meditating now" and closed my eyes.

Instead of focusing on closing my thoughts out, I focused on opening my awareness to the energy I was sensing around me. I could feel a light, high presence with me; I could feel waves of energy around me. It was all kind of mixing together, but I could feel there was more than just me there. I could sense there were other energies there, giving me energy, trying to connect with me by letting me know they were there.  What did I do? Was I scared? No, I was not. One of the first things I felt when becoming aware if Spirit was the gentle, loving energy of these beings. One of the primary barriers in connecting with any Spirit is fear, but once you realize that 99% of the time the Spirit that is around you is completely loving, high and from the Divine Light, the more you can relax and trust you are safe and protected, because you are. But you can learn to protect yourself in meditation and any time at all.  Look for upcoming posts on psychic protection. Also, check out this awesome resource here)

My first connections in Spirit were angels then came power animals, archangels, deceased loved ones and spirit guides. I began to see past lives. I have seen the Other Side and how our deceased loved ones continue to live on. I have seen temples and the Akashic records. All of these experiences have shown me how infinite and loving the universe is and how much spiritual support we have. Meditation was my doorway. The more I let myself enter the world that lie begin my eyes, the more I was able to release fear and doubt, connect with Spirit and let my own Spirit take the driver's seat in my life.

One of the things I recommend when meditating is to have a notebook handy to record the feelings, sensations and experiences you have in your meditations. Writing it down right after is important as often meditations and connecting with Spirit feels like a dream space-at the time it is super clear, but the memories fade fast! Writing it down will record your experiences so you can refer back and see your development, but also writing it down serves to bring into the physical world what you have experienced in the Spiritual. World. Writing it down anchors your experience and allows you to really digest it, absorb it and accept it as real, because it is.

Meditating is setting aside time to connect to your Spirit. By setting aside this time for your self, you are affirming that you trust, value and respect your self and your Spirit. This very act and intention serve to open you to the truth within and will help you attune yourself more with your own Spirit and by default, other Spirits like Guides, Angels and Loved Ones.

There is no one right way to meditate. The important thing is to set aside the time and have the intention to quiet your mind and look within. You will surprise yourself with what you find!

With love on your journey,

Ashley