Spiritual Guidance FAQs: Your Questions Answered

What is a quick way to calm myself?

Thich Nhat Hahn’s meditation poem to focus your mind:

Breathing in, I calm my body,

Breathing out, I smile.

Dwelling in the present moment,

I know this is a wonderful moment.

Repeat until calm with a particular focus on smiling while breathing out.

Then get up and walk around — whatever is bothering you is either in the past or the future. Go back to focusing on the now where all is fine, if you are reading this.

Breathing out is also a way to engage the vagus nerve, which will help to calm and center you, and it is fine to really sigh as you breathe out!

If you want to practice with another person and consider adding journaling as a way to create greater calm, please contact me and I can be your spiritual companion as you learn more on your journey.

I just can't get into meditation but think I should, what can I do?

I am finding the work of Jake Eagle and Michael Amster, M.D. to be very helpful. They developed AWE to support health care workers and community members during Covid. I call it “micro meditation.” You can practice it for 10-15 seconds and 4 -5 times a day.

The A.W.E. Method

Attention: Turn your full and undivided attention on things you appreciate, value, or find amazing.
Wait: Slow down and pause.
Exhale and Expand: Amplify whatever sensations you are experiencing.

At first, you might wonder what to “attend to.” Maybe, your cat lying in the sun, your dog looking out the window, your hands, that warm shower on a cold morning. ..

You can find more information at:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shouldstorm/202101/awe-the-instantaneous-way-feel-good-and-relieve-stress

Do you want to practice with someone? Do you learn things about your spiritual self you want to discuss? Please contact me to be your spiritual companion during your learning

I try to live a life of kindness and helpfulness to others, but I find there is a person in my small town who is spreading rumors and untruths about me. What can I do?

Let me first assure you this happens to all of us. Sometimes other people only feel good about themselves if they can put down someone else. There is a large part of the population of the world who believe that all of life is win/lose. They have decided they will look like a winner if they can convince others you are a loser. What a struggle that must be for them to be putting so much energy into that. It means you have something quite precious or they would not be spending their time on you. You may have become a target because they envy your life in some way.

When I feel some suffering due to this, I find some solace in this quote from author Scott Stabile:

“Let them judge you.

Let them misunderstand you.
Let them gossip about you.
Their opinions aren’t your problem.
You stay kind, committed to love,
and free in your authenticity.
No matter what they do or say,
don’t you dare doubt your worth
or the beauty of your truth.
Just keep on shining like you do.”

It is fine to discuss this with trusted friends. Not as a way to poke at the “other,” but as a way to find someone whom you trust and respect and share your feelings with them. I have two good friends who can provide such good wisdom at times like this.

Also, there is a great quotes page on Goodreads with other reflections from Scott Stabile:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1153615.Scott_Stabile

You could turn this into a brief breathing prayer, for example:

I am kind.

I am love.

I am authentic.

I can shine for others.

Create your own!!! You can do it.

To further understand your own mind and the minds of us all, I love Jill Bolte Taylor’s book: Whole Brain Living. I can be available to you as a spiritual companion as you work through the questions about your own brain in her book. See my contact information.

FAQs

What is a quick way to calm myself?

I just can't get into meditation but think I should, what can I do?

I try to live a life of kindness and helpfulness to others, but I find there is a person in my small town who is spreading rumors and untruths about me. What can I do?

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