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The Meditation That Changed My LIfe

4/16/2013

2 Comments

 
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How do you say 'Shut Up' in monkey?
Oh, Monkey Mind. It is rampant! Thoughts racing around your brain at mock 6 speeds. You are thinking about roughly 300 things at once and most of them are worries about what might happen, what may be happening, what could have happened, what you should do, what you should've done, what others might think of you, what judgements others might have of you........ Eternal Brain Vomit at the highest extent! You know what I am talking about. You can't focus on what someone is saying to you because those stupid ass monkeys won't shut up. It is as if you need the person in front of you to talk louder so you can hear them over the "Yak Yak Yak" in your head. Thankfully this is not schizophrenia - it is monkey mind and you are not the only one to experience it- most people do.

How do you shut up your monkeys?

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Do you float over a lake when you meditate?
There was a time in my life that it took me about 4 hours to fall asleep, even then it was not deep sleep. Some would say I was an insomniac, I would say I had a huge herd of monkeys on Red Bull and steroids. I would wake up fatiguely panicked. I know that is an oxymoron - but trust me, it is exactly how I felt. My adrenal glands were sobbing, my nerves were shot and you can ask my husband - I was kinda bitchy.  After years of this (yes I know I "should have" handled it sooner) I laid in bed one night and asked in desperation "What can I do to make this stop?" The answer hit me like a brick in the face. It was a meditation format that I had never heard of before. Bye Bye Monkeys!
 

So stay with me: Everything in the universe is energy. It is scientifically proven so we don't need to get into that. The chair you sit on, the food you eat, the people you meet - all energy, it is just how it is expressed. Again, this is scientifically proven - just stick in there. So this image of even the space between the stuff (physical stuff, mental stuff, emotional stuff...) is also energy. There is positive energy, negative energy and neutral land. So in this meditation, you take in the neutral energy (that fills the space) in through your base chakra on the inhale. It is neutral so it does not "put" anything in to you. On the exhale you switch its charge to positive and push it out through each and every pore of your body so it extends from you a full 360 degrees. Visually this looks like Circles coming into your body and plus signs going out. I also like to just mentally pull on the bottom of the circle and smoosh the middle of the top of the circle to make it a heart. So all in all, you are adding the energy of love to everything surrounding you. Every exhale grows the love that you are sending out. Now, I visualize this encompassing my home, then it expands to my neighborhood, then to the city, then to the county, the state, the country, the continent, the entire world, the galaxy and then the universe. Now by the time I get half way through- I am passed out, monkeys all sleeping.  If I am having a particularly chatty cerebellum I try to aim my love at people that tick me off like: certain past presidents, people that don't use their blinkers or poachers. Adding love to the world, in my mind, makes this existence more yummy - I feel that it makes a difference and if I believe it-it IS REAL!
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Sleeping Monkeys are good Monkeys
Understand, it took me a few weeks of doing this and slowly but surely I could focus for 1 minute at a time without the chatting in my head, then 5 minutes, then 15 minutes. Each time a monkey starts gettin cranky during my meditation, I send them some love and remind myself that adding love to this world is WAY more important than laying here in bed worrying about if I have enough coconut milk to make our shakes in the morning. Knowing that I am making the world a better place quiets the monkeys and removes the panic and worry.  Now some may say "That won't help our world, that's a stupid waste of time." To them I say "Shut it!" There are 2 ways to see it: If you are consciously putting out good juju and everything is energy - then how can it not help OR if it doesn't do anything, how would you rather spend your time, Fighting Monkeys or sleeping with love being the last thought of your day?             Hmmmmm??

Monkeys belong in the zoo, not your mind

When your nervous system is taxed and can't handle stress effectively it is like your monkeys are having babies like rabbits. I used to have panic attacks and migraines before I started getting adjusted by a Chiropractor.  I was always in fight or flight mode and it sucked. My poor adrenal glands!:( Not anymore. I am now a much more fully functioning mom, wife and really-just a much more ME than ever before. 
One of the most common testimonials we get from our practice members beside less "symptoms" is that they can handle stress so much better than before they started getting adjusted and that they sleep deeper and more soundly. Oh, how I wished I had Chiropractic my whole life instead of just as an adult! So by having a clear nervous system through Chiropractic adjustments and a regular meditation practice, say goodbye to your gang of monkeys and hello to a new world full of love and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Sweet Dreams~
2 Comments

Vogue Can Suck It

4/3/2013

8 Comments

 
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Not the image of health that I want
I find it quite curious, as I peruse the "fashion" magazines, only to find pictures of what I don't want. Waif-ish girls that look as if they haven't had a nutritious meal in weeks, with a far off "I am so depressed I could die" look on their faces. I wonder, what are the photographers saying to elicit this response "Alright darling, your childhood pet didn't love you" or "all of the blood is draining from your body-work it." Ug, I don't get it. How is this what we call fashion? As if the meth addict look is desirable. The feeling that it evokes in me is pity, not-"I have to rush out and buy what she is wearing." 

How do you feel when you look at these models?
Are the designers creating what the American consciousness is reflecting or moving towards? Eating disorders, emotional anxiety, the look of destitution that has erased the purpose of their existence? It saddens me to see that emotion and potential is wiped off their faces. Designers are artists and clothing is their medium yet I flip through the pages and can't help but remark "Damn, that's nasty!" Art is in the eye of the beholder, but no matter how hard I squint, I just can't see it.

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Do I look happy? I ordered happy!!!!!!!!
On the other hand you have the overly excited models that are selling you weight loss pills, diet soda something or fast food, look a "little" more like you but they seem 1 million times happier. Great marketing to get you to buy their product because it is going to make you SOOOOOO deliriously happy. They forever have you by the pocket book because you want what they have! "I love to workout, I have all the free time in the world, my children listen to every word I say and always pick up after themselves because I saved money at (insert any store name)." 

Both types of modeling/advertising are trying to get you to buy something and at the same time they are telling you something horrible. You are not enough, you are not whole, you must be broken because you don't have what we have. We search for happiness and beauty outside of ourselves when it has to come from within. Sadly this race to find happiness outside of ourselves is what runs people into their medical doctor to get a dose of fake happy since they can't find the real happy. They pop pills to haze their mind from their emotions, which are totally natural (emotions are natural not the popping pills part). We are human, we have feelings - everyone of us.  
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It is one of my greatest joys when the people that seek us out in our office reduce, and then completely get off their anti-depressant and or anxiety drugs. People do not know that Chiropractic can help with depression and anxiety, but it does-everyday. The chemicals that regulate your body (including your emotions) are directed by the brain which sends messages over your nervous system to the glands that secrete these chemicals and hormones. The Chiropractic doctor ensures that there is nothing blocking those messages from getting the dosages right, naturally.  No wonder why drug companies dislike Chiropractors, they are taking their good paying customers and helping them become healthier and happier without the drugs, from the inside out.

So next time you flip through a magazine or see a commercial on TV, remember - Vogue Can Suck It! I am enough and I ROCK because I get adjusted!
8 Comments

    Author

    Bethany Niccum is passionate about educating and inspiring others to live a more authentic experience. She saves lives through Thrive with her husband Trapper, who is the primary chiropractic doctor at the practice. Bethany has 2 boys, 2 cats and lives in paradise-Durango, CO. She also runs the Women's Idea Exchange, which is a brainstorming group  to give functional feedback to small female owned businesses.

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