Many new seekers wonder why they need to practice
exercises for their spiritual development. The truth is that while it
would be nice to just flip some switch and have all our abilities turn
on functionally it doesn't quite work that way. Just as we physically
exercise our bodies, we need to spiritually exercise our
abilities...both build muscles. First of all spiritual abilities may or
may not be known to the individual, may or may not be under control,
may or may not open to them unless they know how to work with them. It
is often haphazard experiences that trigger things and lead us into
events we don't understand. Taking a positive approach helps the
individual avoid wrong turns, pulled mental hamstrings, or worse.
Understanding that exercises are designed to help you do things
properly and gain control over your abilities (we all have them) it
really is going to make a huge difference.
In order to open a channel to guidance, to connect
with your Inner Spirit, to meditate, journey, open to clairsentient
ability or weave energies it's vitally important to be able to
concentrate. By concentrate I mean *all* your attention must be on
accomplishing what you are setting out to do. That means a focused
mind, use of the imagination to get you started and then going beyond
that gradually to explore what you're capable of achieving. It means
study and understanding of how your spiritual nature functions and
learning to work with it. In order to concentrate and focus your mind
you have to gain control of it and exercises help you do just that.
Once you've achieved control meditation and guided visualization will
help you begin to open channels to guidance, other dimensions, and
spiritual growth as you develop yourself.
Doing this leads to self-empowerment and it leads to
many exciting experiences that add to your growth through the knowledge
they bring you. So starting out there's a lot of reading to do on
spiritual topics and there's time that needs to be set aside for
practicing spiritual matters. The time you devote to exercise need not
be intense, in fact, it's always best to keep it short at first and
build to longer periods. By short I mean that 15-20 minute sessions are
enough-we should never push ourselves to the point of exhaustion or
beyond comfortable limits so learn to set a reasonable pace from the
start. It's also important to make it part of your daily routine...a
convenient time set regularly each day is best. It establishes a
routine that your Guides and Spirit Helpers can focus on to assist you
from the Otherside too, at least at first. As time goes on they will
pop in on you as needed. As you get more accomplished and that comfort
level grows you can extend the sessions gradually until you're doing an
hour or more if you like.
You will discover that in taking the approach of
exercises that your awareness sharpens along with your ability to
recall more of what you're learning. Your sensory impressions go right
along with that and as they sharpen you start to expand your awareness
with them like radar. Mental agility, efficiency in getting things done
on a daily basis, responsiveness to energy signatures and shifts etc.
will begin to show and you'll start feeling the control come into not
only your spiritual development but it's very present in daily life
too. Exercises assist you in training your mind to respond to your will
and by that I mean your intentions. This is much better than it trying
to control you with distractions. You're exploring what initially is an
intangible reality and the mind likes tangibility so abstract thought
takes concentration and understanding to accept. The mind is a creature
of habit, it really doesn't favor abstractions so it functions based on
logic. The mind's logic is based in the reality found as we experience
things as well as what we're taught. Concentration on abstract theory
requires experience to accept and that sort of concentration is a
trained focus, a skill we can all develop. It begins by incorporating
relaxation exercises, breathing exercises, and a disciplined routine.
If we don't discipline ourselves and take a haphazard
approach we're not going to gain the control we want and so we don't
get very far. In fact, we usually end up running in circles confusing
ourselves more than ever. This is at first a decision someone needs to
make and stay with if they want to develop their abilities. It does
take dedication to open them up, and it takes practice to bring them
under control, and then we are building muscle. If you are a serious
student then exercises are going to be your best friend because once
you master them they lead to everything else.
It's also important to follow foundational steps
initially in learning to develop spiritually. You will find that while
all traditions offer them, sticking with one (anyone of your choosing)
initially is going to be less confusing. We all explore various
teachings at first until we come to find something that makes sense to
the point that we can relate and our interest is piqued then. There's
nothing like the exhilaration that comes when passion arouses our
interest is there? *Soft smile* Find your initial area of interest and
follow it to where that leads you. You'll find the tradition that you
can understand. Here at Spirit Lodge the Native tradition is what we
focus on to get people started, it's nature-based and so the exercises
in our libraries will be presented in that fashion.
Anyone working with an exercise should be willing to
put in the effort for at least a few weeks to a month before looking
for another one to try in a given area. It's perfectly okay to work on
different areas at the same time too...exercises for say mind control
and sentient abilities for example are great combinations. You should
not be disappointed if you don't get immediate results, sometimes the
door hinges are pretty rusty and they need some oil...repetition in our
effort oils them and the doors to spiritual understanding, your
abilities, and higher awareness will start to open for you. There is
nothing like it when you make connection with your Inner Spirit and
Guides and exercises help you do just that.
Exercises that help you quiet the mind are generally
going to be all about repetition. The mind loves to chatter, it loves
to be in control, and it loves to wander all over the place. If your
mind thinks it is losing control it will jump from one thing to the
next trying to get it back. We have to train it. When the mind starts
to run amok all we have to do is bring it back to the point of focus,
gently or firmly as the case may be, but without judgment or
self-recrimination for a wandering mind, we do all have them and it
doesn't matter how seasoned we are, there are times the mind just
refuses to focus. As a side note, it is always recommended that if you
are stressed or ill it is best not to exercise until you've regained
your composure. In the case of stress, deep breathing helps restore
stability and allows you to get centered properly so it is a release
valve in that sense. You will find that most exercises involve breath
control too.
Breathing exercises train the body to enter into a
more relaxed state, they slow down the system and heart rate promoting
vibratory rate changes to our energy levels calming them. While some
exercises recommend inhaling and holding the breath for a certain count
and exhaling for the same count. Pushing yourself to achieve that can
just as easily create stress so if you are just starting out set your
own pace to a comfortable level. If you can do a count of ten seconds
inhaling, holding and then exhaling that's wonderful, but if your count
is 5 then start there. It will begin to increase with practice. It's
sort of like holding your breath under water, you don't wait until
you're hurting to get to the surface, let it flow gently in, hold and
then release it. If the body is not relaxed and the mind is not relaxed
you have a wandering, fidgeting, fussy condition that hinders
developmental processes by distracting you from what you need to focus
on so training the mind and body are important...that means finding a
comfortable position and environment where you will not be disturbed
too.
Different exercises lead to different experiences and
you may find yourself with several that you want to work with. Mind and
breath exercises can often be found combined together and when they are
you are essentially accomplishing two things at once while entering
into more spiritual experiences at the same time. Different forms of
meditation will bring you to different experiences too and as you
develop your skills you will find that they open the door to shamanic
journeys, deep inner journeys to your spirit, projections and out of
body experiences, all sorts of things. It all begins with the exercises
to achieve a balanced state of disciplined control and with that comes
a growing sense of self-empowerment. Those experiences leading to
journeys and projections all begin with the imagination as you work
with guided visualization exercises and expand from there. By learning
to work this way with energy we can see how to co-create with Spirit or
interact with our Guides and Spirit Helpers. Sensory exercises develop
your sensory awareness raising that into a conscious state and as we
practice them they become a sort of second-nature...we hold them in our
awareness and we are sensitizing ourselves to the triggers that set
them off....learning that our radar picks up blips on the screen of
life and assisting us as we move through it. Spiritual development
enhances mundane life too, it's not restricted to the physical reality;
however the physical reality can block spiritual development. Exercises
help us overcome our fears and blockages or perceptive obstacles.
Daily exercises are important, the steadier you are
with your practice sessions the faster you will achieve your goals.
Daily exercise develops your sensory awareness as well as your
conscious awareness and it brings the two into balance so that you're
able to shift your perspectives as needed and walk between the worlds
(between the physical and spiritual realities) functioning on a much
higher level because of it. That's when the development really takes
off. You will find that by studying the Seven Sacred Directions and the
exercises, as well as advice in the articles in our library on them,
that you will be taking steps in laying the foundations you need. Once
those foundations are in place any tradition you want to explore is
going to make more sense to you because you will have something of your
own to relate those teachings to; that's when you see the universal
truths are everywhere, just presented in a myriad of ways to meet all
the different ways people grasp things. I hope in sharing these
insights that you will find value in practice sessions and see that
they are keys to so much more.
***You are cordially invited to visit our spiritual study center at:
www.spiritlodge.info for workshops, seminars, certified courses,
resources and more.***
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