Taking Some Me Time - The Local Buzz - using meditation and stones

Taking some me time is essential. Here we explore how to meditate and how to use stones to bring tranquillity and peace into our lives.

Meditation

Sarita Cameron owns the Solhenge Retreat Centre and teaches ancient shamanic techniques, quantum manifesting, mindfulness and self-healing – all great for taking some me time. She tell us about meditation.

Meditation gives us the opportunity to find peace and harmony within, regardless of exterior circumstances, allowing the mind to let go of worries and negativity. It also helps with conditions such as depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, stress related illness and pain management.

There are many types of meditation but the simplest method for beginners is to focus their attention on the breath.

Sarita Cameron

The following three-minute, heart-based meditation comes from Tibet and is ideal for taking some me time. It has been proven to re-grow telomeres (the little socks on the end of your gene codes that keep you young) and boost your immune system for up to 12 hours! It also stimulates the brain to produce happy hormones such as endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. Science now tells us that the heart has a brain and memory; there are more neuritis (what your brain is made of) in your heart than in your head! In this meditation we learn how to connect to the heart’s brain and feel gratitude in the moment.

How to do Tibetan heart meditation:

Wear warm, comfortable clothes and choose a peaceful place. Unless you are constrained by injury, sit up straight either in a chair or cross-legged on the floor supported by cushions if need be. This is more to keep you awake as meditation changes brainwave function to Alpha state (relaxed) which we normally associate with sleeping.

Close your eyes and focus on your breath, following it on its path in and out of your body. After a few moments your body will begin to relax and settle down. Now you make a conscious decision to drop your awareness from your head’s brain, down your body, into your heart’s brain. Once your conscious thoughts land in your heart, just feel what it is to have this perspective.

Now slow your breath down a little and imagine you are breathing through your heart, that the heart itself is breathing. Do this for a few moments until you have a rhythm. Next, call upon the emotion of gratitude, imagine this emotion rising up inside you and then attach it to the breath. Breathe gratitude through your heart using your breath, your will and your imagination. Do this for three minutes or so. Then gently come back into the room and open your eyes.

New meditators will find that their mind wanders constantly but, in time, the ability to focus will become easier. If your mind has wandered, don’t worry, just bring yourself back to the task in hand.

Notice how you feel at the end of this meditation. If you practise this daily for a week your life will change in extraordinary ways!

Taking some me time with stones is encouraged by Marie-Jo Dehaye, author of “Stars & Life, I choose my stones”. She explains the calming virtues of stones and Lithotherapy, an ancient, alternative medicine that uses the energy from stones to balance and harmonise the body.

Marie-Jo Dehaye

About Stones

Who has never wanted to look at or pick up a stone to feel that special sensation in their hand? Everyone can perceive nature, sky and water through the beauty of a stone, its colour, shape and texture.

Colour: Silver grey or red hematite, the deep blue of Lapis Lazuli, the light and dark violet found in the Amethyst, the earthy brown of the Tiger’s Eye, or the exquisite tint of honey in Amber. They all give us a specific mindset.

Shape: Small and round, oval and thin, or even fitting the hollow of the hand.

Texture: Polished and soft or rough to the touch.

Which Stone?

Each stone has its own properties; some calm, others stimulate and many of them protect us. For example:

Hematite anchors and harmonises the mind, body and spirit. It eliminates stress and calms pain linked to tension.

Amethyst, the “perfect” stone, fosters elevation, appeasement and wisdom, and dissipates anger and anguish. Under a pillow it will ease insomnia and nightmares.

Citrine confers joy, energy and creativity. Wearing a Citrine during an interview or exam helps to bring success. It opens intuition, and energises and strengthens the body.

These three stones recharge their energy on a pile of quartz stones, under the sun or a full moon light. Purification can be carried out with different kinds of water, depending on the stones.

It is important to choose a stone with great care; it will be a friend for life.

First published in the July/August 2019 issue of The Local Buzz

Images: Sarita Cameron, Marie-Jo Dehaye and Shutterstock