Meditation to quieten the inner gossip - How to switch off mental chatter

Something I come across over and over again in my practice as a Holistic Therapist are the two main culprits of ‘dis-ease’ in a human. They are mental unquiet, and lack of sleep.
The two are related of course.
Without mental peace we can rarely enjoy deep, rejuvenating sleep. It’s really that simple. So how do you go about switching off the chatter when you’ve simply tried everything? Well have you tried everything?

See, the common problem with the personality that suffers with internal chatter is that they are compulsive analysers, and inherently feel that they are responsible for everything, even their own internal monologue reinforces their obligation to ‘everything’. This merry-go-round of responsibility sometimes leads to a sense of not wanting to burden anyone with their problems, and so they slip into a state of perpetually showing those around them a very convincing façade, that only slips during the moments of complete ‘cave in’, when their frustrations have piled so high they are unable to keep back the waves of emotion that really, really, really need to crash onto a shore!

You may have a friend like this, who after finally speaking to you about some deep problem (that only needed to be aired to be defused) sighs and clasps their chest saying, ‘Oh I’m so glad I got that out! I’ve been stewing on that for months! Thankyou for listening to me…’. This person is someone who is continually suffering from mental chatter. They will often appear tired all the time, yet have a confoundingly agile brain and be quite academically prudent. This is usually because the very act of researching or studying, being intimately connected to (and to an extent controlled by) a task that has a defined outcome, is a kind of bliss for them. It distracts from the internal mind game for hours at a time and provides relief from the never ending analysing and interrogation.

The outlet for most of us confronted by a phase or bout of mental-merry-go-round, is to seek out our confidant and ‘spill it’. We verbalise our questions, misgivings, ideas and approaches to the problems or situations we are encountering. This open process is extremely healthy, if only to make us feel better, let alone actually discovering that the mountainous problem is really as small as a tussock of grass we could kick over with our left foot.

Yet the person who suffers with the Internal Gossip has the situation where this duality of personality is telling them to keep the ‘secrets’ to themselves. They have an internal dialogue with a very picky ‘friend’ who is always reassuring them that they know best, or that they ought not to burden others with their own stupid worries. The challenge for this kind of person is to take charge of this unwelcome intruder in their mind and set them straight. It would involve them standing up to a part of themselves that they have grown to trust, listen to, and confide in totally. Losing this kind of relationship with your internal self feels like abandonment, but it is the only definitive way to creating a healthy mindset. And it will take time too. It can’t happen quickly because the person has most likely spent years if not their whole lifetime creating this relationship!

Support for your emotions during a time like this is paramount, and you can try several subtle therapies to do this.

A directed meditation of some kind like Yoga Nidra or a Visualisation recording, where you are directed to relax specific areas of the body at specific times (a little distraction method here…), or to imagine specific situations and places at specific times. This ‘teaches’ you to take direction from another source, the pseudo-friend of your meditation instructor, be it a person or a recorded voice.

Walking. Simply the best kind of therapy available. Walking outside in ‘nature’ offers you a chance to be consciously with your internal gossip, in a free and uninhibited space. This internal dialogue is now unable to keep your interest for long because you have other stimuli vying for your attention. There are trees and sky and cloud. Birds flying, or streets to navigate. These things are therapeutic distraction.
‘Earthwalking’ is a kind of therapy that involves tracing your steps in a pattern that repeats until you have come to a state of Peace within. The figure eight, the Infinity Symbol, is a simple and powerful first pattern to attempt this kind of meditation with, and is soothing in shape and participation as well.

Flower Essence Remedies are common the world over, and if you haven’t tried them yet then this may be as good a time as any to investigate their subtle and supportive help. Bach Flower Remedies include the essence of White Chestnut, which is specifically for defusing this internal dialogue situation. Paired with the essence of Star of Bethlehem flower, which provides comfort, these two can lead to the kind of support you will benefit from during the process of dismantling your Internal Gossip. You may also like to ask for the essence of Impatiens, to stop jitters and racing speech, as an extra ‘back-up’ support in the blend.

Aromatherapy - using some heavy duty ‘grounding’ oils from roots and sap. Something like Vetiver, Patchouli, Rosewood and Cedarwood, can instantly calm and send the energy downwards to connect with the Base or Root Chakra. This reconnection to the Root Chakra can defuse the energy surge to the Crown Chakra, where all this mental internalisation is going on. Take the energy away from the area and redirect it. Simple.

The biggest step for anyone who is a chronic analyser is to accept that they are being manipulated by themselves. Some analysers have learnt to speak to their Internal Gossip succinctly and ask that the real issue be presented now, and not to have all the endless talking carried on. They ask that the issue that is behind this situation be revealed quickly without the need for all the extra avenues to be investigated. People like this have found a way to exist with their thought processes in a private and healthy way. If this is not where you can manage to get to though, you will benefit from seeking counselling and accepting help with your internal mental struggle. A new and brighter future filled with a deep internal peace awaits you, so please make the effort to give yourself a break, and use some supportive therapies along the way so you are not having to do this ‘all on your own’.

Jannette is a Holistic Therapist who operates her own consultancy in
Brisbane, Australia. She offers various treatments to encourage optimum energy
flow in mind, body and spirit, involving Meditation Techniques, Bach Flower
Remedies and Reiki. She is also a qualified Holistic Feng Shui consultant with
interests in Aromatherapy, Sound Therapy and Crystal Therapy. You can contact
Jannette by email at jthtc@yahoo.com.au

Flying Stars FengShui Forecast - What to expect in 2008

(yes,...it's a compass...ancient Chinese style...just to confuse the beejeeses out of you)


Flying Stars is the ancient form of Feng Shui used by the elite of China, and developed in secrecy from Master to student over a period of some thousands of years. It has been incorporated into the often complex and confounding cultural and ‘traditional’ Feng Shui we are more used to seeing in the media, but rarely are the ‘bones’ of this study revealed as simply as Flying Stars can and does. This is because until approximately 1980, it was not even taught to Westerners. The following Forecast is a simple and holistic view (told in my language) of the incoming influence for 2008. I hope it carries with it some guidance and a message that will be useful for you.

This ancient form of Feng Shui uses the numbers 1-9 to track energy influences. It is not numerology, although there will be some correlations you will notice, if you’ve ever studied numerology. Each year, a new energy influence comes into dominance over the period of the new Solar Cycle, which occurs somewhere within the last week of January and the first week of February. Commonly, it is given the date February 4th.

2008 sees the Annual Star 1, The Angel of Sheng Chi, coming into dominance. This beautiful energy is a welcome reprieve from the energy of the 2 Star, that influenced 2007, and which brought with it a lot of personal responsibility issues, especially towards our health. We may have had a year where some aspect of the connection between our emotional, psychological and spiritual health impacted upon our physical health. Such was the energy of the 2 Star, it is Mother after all, and if you don’t listen to her asking you to take care of yourself, she will smack your bum J...or bring up some long forgotten happening and make you ‘deal with it’.

The Angel of Sheng Chi is associated with ideas, wisdom and expression, but it is also associated with danger! Sometimes the passions and interests that will inspire ideas and the expression of them, is indeed quite dangerous. All in all though, this is a beautiful energy influence and will encourage an optimistic outlook from most that choose channel it into their daily lives.

It is a Water number and will therefore be useful for emotional dealings. The Trigram (an ancient form of writing using three lines to describe an energy) has been translated as ‘Deep Waters’, ‘The Abyss’, and so indicates that this kind of energy can be used to explore our inner Self, to find/recapture/reacquaint oneself with integral parts of our Self that may have been neglected/removed/damaged. Being like water, it will seek to find the easiest way around something, but will also be beguilingly powerful.

The bodily associations are the Ears, sexual organs, Blood, and Kidneys. This indicates that this Star 1 energy influence has a lot to do with what moves us deeply, profoundly, primitively; what we connect with intimately, the information we receive and where we direct it, what we can utilise and what we get rid of, what we ‘expel’ as not useful. It is like a process of ‘stimulation, utilisation, and expulsion’, when viewed like this, in the context of bodily associations. It displays a primary need, and serves a necessary function, much like the search for Love that most humans depict in the story of their lives.

The season associated with Star 1 is Winter, so things are happening beneath the surface, so to speak, on a quiet energetic level, accumulating and conserving at the same time. Quite complex but also quiet in its complexity. J (fear not all you gregarious types, for 2009 is to be ruled by Star 9, The Angel of Vigour and Vivacity!...you just gotta pull back the band on the slingshot for a year and ponder your navel…happily)

If there is one thing I’ve noticed about Star 1 energy when meditating with it, or coming into contact with it, is that it brings a definitive signature of ‘Hope’. Its that feeling that comes when you realise a situation is able to be resolved or improved, from a previous standpoint, where all looked quite bleak. It’s the heaving sigh of relief, the break in the clouds, the shaft of sunlight, the brightest, most twinklingest star in the sky. It carries with it that kind of energy. And I accept that this is quite contradictory when considering it’s Trigram name of ‘The Abyss’ and ‘Deep Waters’, which sounds ‘ominous extremis’. Sometimes solutions require more courage than staying in a relative safety zone of despair. And really, solutions are a process of one foot in front of another. This forward progression in stages is the essence of ideas, expression, wisdom; the characteristics of Star 1 energy.

As we are coming to understand, all the answers lie deep within us. We search in vain if we search for something to bestow upon us all the good things in life; all the solutions, because we have them inside all along. Perhaps this is the real energy of 2008? The energy that finally makes us realise and wake up to the undeniable fact that we are not only radiant, but the vehicle, driver, navigator and mechanic of our radiance too!

Wishing you a Prosperous, Peaceful and Beautifully Simple 2008.
Jannette

A more in depth look at Directional Energy and a Monthly Forecast will be
available in the February issue of ‘Holistic Feng Shui MiniZine’. To subscribe
to this e-zine, please visit www.fengshuiconnections.bravehost.com,
and send your details via the Sign Up page. This is a complimentary service
hosted by Jannette Tibbs Holistic Therapy Connections.

Feng Shui Guidance - What do you want out of 2008?

If you could sit here now, do a constructive, directed daydream about your ideal year and what it would contain, how would you express this ideal in actions?

We may desire a year filled with the normal wishes for…
financial balance/abundance
relationship peace
loving family
career progression
nourishing experiences
success, etc.
Often obstacles that are present now are preventing these ideals eventuating into our current reality.

So how do you remove obstacles easily?
What can Feng Shui tell you about that!?
Isn’t it just for locating the best places for sleeping and eating and working etc?
Yes, and much, much more.

Observing the energy of your space (which is the basis of Feng Shui) you can clear obstacles in your life NOW that can make way for your ideal year to flow to you easily. How? Feng Shui is a study of energy movement, and at its core is the basic principle that everything in this universe is connected. If we change an aspect of our physical reality, it can manifest as a change in our active reality. It’s a very basic use of what is called The Law of Attraction or the Law of Resonance. (yes, The Secret really isn’t a secret at all) Everything is connected; therefore we can change our reality by changing our environment.

Here are the Top Tips for changing your reality by observing energy in your space, and making changes to your environment accordingly.

Examine your immediate environment at home and work.
Remove anything that does not support a specific purpose or that can not support a positive aspect of who you are now. That means possessions that are in the way, broken, unloved, unused etc. You get it…the basic de-cluttering exercise!

Identify what is currently draining energy flow, or preventing energy flow right NOW.
Make a list if necessary and then take part in a plan of action to eliminate as many ‘expenses’ as possible, and make as many potential ‘wealth streams’ flow towards you as you can. Doing ONE action is going to improve your energy flow, so this is a valuable exercise to undertake no matter what!
Wealth means different things to different people. (Eg: someone who is financially wealthy may be emotionally depleted, and may wish to open up emotionally nourishing wealth streams. Conversely someone who has a rich emotional connection with friends and family may have depleted finances, and so have to focus on opening financial wealth streams…)

Clear and clean the most pertinent areas of your space that relate to your main ideals for 2008.
North – Career and Life Purpose
Northwest – Travel and Helpful People (Assistance)
West – Creativity and Children
Southwest – Relationships
South – Reputation
Southeast – Growth and Wealth
East – Health and Family
Northeast - Knowledge and Self Cultivation
Place symbolic representations of your ‘ideals’ for any of these subjects, and use them to set up a ‘resonance space’ in your home or work. Eg: certificates of achievement in the South, pictures of family in the East, a study area in the Northeast, etc.

Face the most auspicious directions for 2008 while working.
Each year there are certain energy influences that shift, and mapping these was a large and involved exercise of the ancient Feng Shui Masters. Next year there is only one most auspicious direction to face while working (or for any long periods of time) and it is the South, specifically 135˚ to 225˚.
(If you can’t sit facing within this arc of SE, S, SW direction, then sitting side on is considered ok too. Sitting with your back to this energy influence can bring a potential for misfortune to occur)

Use the most auspicious locations of your building to invite success for endeavours.
Again, this was part of ancient Feng Shui knowledge and was considered extremely important to ensure success and avoid misfortune and obstacles. For 2008 it will be advisable to use:
East – for inviting Wealths
SE – for inviting future Wealths
Centre – for inviting Ideas
These three locations within a building will be supported by having the areas cleared and cleaned, set up for their purpose, and utilised with intentions for success!

Avoid the most inauspicious locations…
Avoiding the energy influences that invite obstacles into our lives is just as important as focussing on the helpful influences. Next year it will be best to keep the South and Northwest areas of our buildings clean, tidy and quiet. It is also pertinent to hang a beautiful six rod metal wind chime in these areas. This is an ancient Feng Shui remedy to ward of misfortune and remove ‘obstacle energy’.

Set yourself and ‘energy frequency’ for the year ahead.
Identify your main desire for 2008, and construct an affirmation or mantra that will pull this reality closer to you each time you focus on it. Eg: my main plan for 2007 was to, well, Plan. I constructed ‘Great things are happening to me NOW’, so that each time I felt slightly uninspired, dejected, or tired, I could refocus on the reality where amazing things were coming to me. This also had the effect of making me ‘think positive’ as I examined occurrences, helpful and unhelpful, for the ‘greatness’ within them.
Visually represent this frequency. You may like to set up a dream poster with your mantra written on it, and put pictures of things that resonate that energy around it during the year. Make it a year long project. You could do this on your computer as a screen saver or desktop file that grows throughout the year.
Use sound to represent the frequency. You may want to pick a ‘soundtrack’ to the year! A song or playlist that reflects this energetic frequency. Or you may use a chime or gong, or special bell to bring an awareness of this frequency to you.

Whatever your wishes are for 2008 and the future, I wish you Success in Easy, Simple and Prosperous ways.

Blessings
Jannette

related articles...

Feng Shui ways to Abundance and Gratitude

Space Clearing a Domestic Home

Jannette is a Senior Holistic Feng Shui Practitioner,
completing her formal studies at The Centre of Holistic Feng Shui on the Gold
Coast, Queensland.

She operates Jannette Tibbs Holistic Therapy
Connections, a consultancy in Brisbane, Queensland, offering a selection of
energy conscious treatments for home or business, body and spirit.

Jannette is also a passionate Bach Flower Remedy therapist, Reiki II
practitioner, and Meditation teacher, as well has having an interest in Crystal
Therapy, Aromatherapy and Sound Therapy.
Contact:
jthtc@yahoo.com.au
07 3273 4120 or 0427 152 756
www.fengshuiconnections.bravehost.com

Feng Shui ways to Abundance and Gratitude

There are many ways of attracting Abundance in traditional Feng Shui folklore and superstition, but all you have to do are two very basic energy observations and see the results effortlessly occur.

The Wealth Bowl / Vase
This concept is useful to identify the gratitude you have for the wealths in your life, and to bring your resonance to an ‘abundant’ level.

Make a space in your South East area of your home and prepare a beautiful bowl or vase to fill with your messages of gratitude and wishes for abundance.

On small note paper, write down the things you are most grateful for NOW. They do not have to be elaborate explanations, just things like, ‘I am grateful for my house’, ‘……. my health’, ‘…….my daughter/son’, ‘………… my partner/friend’, ‘……….my ‘…..’ etc.

You can even write down that you are grateful for the recent rain, or the day out you had recently, or the upcoming plans you may have made. Anything that links you to a feeling of gratitude.

Each day or week, write down a wish for some kind of wealth. You may start off with a wish for more Time, the next may be for more Money, better Health, and so on.

Once a week write down again your gratitude list, and pop it into the bowl. You can lift the energy of the bowl with pretty flowers, statues of divine beings and a beautiful silk table runner. Burning Lemon and Orange oil is also symbolic of abundance and will make you feel ‘UP’ too!

This kind of exercise promotes Focus, which can in turn encourage an Intention to improve those areas of your existence that are the subject of your wishes.

Space Clearing
Maintaining the energetic signature of our spaces, big or small, is an ongoing process, and should be like regular ‘housekeeping’. Inviting in fresh new Chi (‘Chi’ is the vital force of the universe) to stimulate a space will also have the effect of ‘flushing out’ or removing unwanted or stagnating energy.

Pick a set of days to de-clutter and re-organise the most unruly places in your building. Removing a percentage of ‘clutter’ and unused material from your space equals inviting in the approximate amount of fresh new experience into your Life!

If it has not been used in two years, then it is obsolete. If it has been ‘in need of repair’ for a long time, it probably needs to be replaced. Remove items that are unloved, unused, unwanted, broken, not appropriate and either sell them, give them away or send them to the tip.

Clean the physical space. Wash windows and walls and floors. Inside cupboards generally need a wipe over. Have soiled carpets cleaned and have curtains laundered as these two hold a LOT of stagnant energy. Use environmentally and humanly safe products for cleaning. Bi Carbonate of Soda with White Vinegar has a thousand and one uses, even in the washing machine and dishwasher, so use a friendly alternative and remove the possibility of ill-health from harsh chemicals.

Perform a kind of ceremony that means something to YOU. This may be as simple as opening up the doors and windows one morning for a few hours, playing soothing music and lighting scented candles, aromatherapy burners or incense. Or you may choose something more elaborate like a full Feng Shui Space Clearing. The choice is yours,… it is your space after all.

After completing the work, and the ceremony, you can bless your space with thanks for its protection and function. This is a link to the Gratitude you feel towards this space, whether it is your home or your workplace, it provides a valuable function, so give thanks to it for being able to do this for you.

As you have removed so much unwanted energy in the form of dirt and possessions, you will find that new energy effortlessly arrives for you in many different ways. Abundance comes in many forms, so be on the look out for those pleasant feelings of a job well done, and the rewards that go with it!

You can read more about a Space Clearing for a Domestic Home here.

Jannette operates her own Holistic Feng Shui consultancy in Brisbane,
offering a selection of energy conscious treatments for home or business, body
and spirit. She can be contacted via email:

jthtc@yahoo.com.au or on mobile 0427 152
756.

Natural Alternatives - Detoxify your body, mind and spirit this holiday season with 3 Easy Steps

Detoxify your body, mind and spirit this holiday season.

How? And Why?


Over the next month or two, most people will be celebrating one kind of ceremonial gathering or another, and at each one the symbolic feast will be had. During the festivities there are usually lots of store bought products being consumed that contain preservatives, colours, flavours and enhancers, all geared to make them last longer and appeal to us because of their ‘bright and shiny’ appearances. And of course you don’t want to be a lump of mud and bring down any event by not eating or drinking anything.

Q: What’s the alternative?

A: Ongoing and natural detoxification during the whole season, starting December 1st and finishing 31st January. Two months of taking care of yourself and removing build up gradually, subtly and without any distress on the body.

Number One: simply detoxify your physical body by drinking large amounts of pure, filtered Water.
After each ‘outing’ or event, you can literally flush your system using a few valuable and easy ways. Water is by far the easiest, but you may also‘choose to juice’, using celery, ginger, carrot, beetroot, apples and pears.
There are also some great liver remedies like taking a warm glass of water each morning with either a squeeze of lemon and honey, or apple cider vinegar and honey. Use sparingly at first if you think you have a clogged liver and kidney system, as this is quite a potent remedy if taken in strong doses. You can build up your dose gradually from about 5ml of lemon or acv to 20ml over the two months. The benefits are enormous for your physiology and metabolism, but also you will feel like you have more energy, and your breath will be nicer too!
See more here at http://www.earthclinic.com/

After social engagements, or before, we can tend to suffer from an ‘information overload’ due to meeting lots of people we haven’t seen for a while, or really, just being confronted with that much conversation in the space of a few weeks. It is somewhat out of the ordinary for most of us to attend a large social gathering a few times a week (unless you’re a politician). Giving yourself up to an hour each day to detoxify your mind from an information overload is a wonderful gift.

Number Two: cleansing the mind.
Take time out at any time that suits you. Maybe you won’t get to do this until before bedtime, but if you can, doing a sunset session is very beneficial. Turn off your phone, the TV, the radio, the stereo (whatever), and find a place that is as quiet as possible. Use your backyard, balcony, bedroom, the local park, or even your car, to just ‘switch off’ all other external stimuli. Sit and breathe and keep your focus on your breath. Slow your breath down. Breathe deeply for a while, and then get a relaxed rhythm going. Allow thoughts to pop in and out again. Say a conscious ‘hello’ to each thought as it presents itself, and then say a conscious ‘goodbye’ to it as well. Repeat a word like ‘Peace’, or 'Calm', very slowly, or visualise a peaceful scene in your mind. Imagine a cool, clear pond somewhere beautiful that you can bathe in languidly for your ‘downtime’.

Number Three: nourish the spirit.
Ah the forgotten warrior...battling on with often very little keeping it going. It is because of spiritual neglect that we hear the phrase ‘I feel I have nothing left’ from people who have been ‘busy in life’. Our spirit nourishes us just as food nourishes us, and it is as important to keep it ‘topped up’ as it is to have enough fuel put in your car. Identifying your spiritual food is as easy as identifying what inspires you easily.
A walk in the wilderness or hiking.
Gardening or planting herbs and veges.
Painting, drawing, or any kind of craft.
Cooking and organising family events.
Reading a fantastic book, or writing a fantastic book.
Playing with children.
Cloud watching.
Pampering your body with a home spa.
Meditation, healing, prayer, chant or ceremony.
Each of these can provide a link to your spiritual food, and will renew your appreciation for your environment, and how you are interacting with your Life Experience in the most beneficial way possible.

These three steps will hopefully become part of your natural regime and by the end of January you may feel that ‘this is always the way I have been’, which would be supremely wonderful. The benefits of cleansing and nourishing are obvious, but you may find that the clarity of mind and body enables you to live a vastly improved and more fulfilling Life Experience.

So get out there and enjoy the season by all means! Take part and socialise but you can keep your energy levels up by taking care of each aspect of YOU. Body, mind and spirit. Everything is connected.

Jannette operates her own consultancy, Jannette Tibbs Holistic Therapy Connections, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. She is dedicated to observing and practicing commonsense approaches to good health, in all aspects, and is a passionate advocate of subtle therapies. Her consultancy offers Classical Feng Shui, Reiki Healing, Flower Essences, Meditation Discoveries and some products that effortlessly lift the vibrational energy of any space.
Contact: jthtc@yahoo.com.au or visit the temporary
website http://www.fengshuiconnections.bravehost.com/