SECRETS OF MEDITATION

DEPAK CHOPRA

Day 1 Power of Meditation

Research has shown that meditation offers many benefits, including regulating
your stress and energy levels, improving your creative thinking and helping to
contribute to professional and personal success. And rememberthe more you
meditate, the more likely you are to reap the positive benefits of meditation even
when you are not actively meditating.

Are you ready to get started? Today you will learn a simple but highly effective
way of breathing that will help you clear your mind and relax your body. This
powerful technique is something you can do anywhere, at any time.

JOURNAL

1)
Meditation was developed to give a person a spiritual experience. What
experiences do you consider spiritual?

2)
Meditation has been shown to help people reduce stress, sleep better and
improve energy levels. List three things you hope to gain from this program:

Day 2 Your Inner Universe

Studies have shown that people who participate in mindful meditation training
sessions for as little as 4 days have shown positive changes in their brain function.
These changes occur for people with no prior experience in meditation and are
related to increased relaxation, sense of well-being and mental focus.
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Today you will learn how your brain changes through meditation and how to
harness this power to build a better life and understand your place in the universe.
JOURNAL
1)
What techniques have you used in the past to help quiet your inner universe
those thoughts, emotions, fears and memories that sometimes cause you stress?

2)
You can actually train your brain to create a happier and more fulfilling life.
What things would make your life more happy and fulfilling?

Day 3 Being Present

Have you ever been so distracted by your thoughts, worries, to-do lists and
responsibilities that you lost the simple joy of experiencing what was happening
inside as well as in the world around you? With the chaos of everyday life, being in
the moment is very elusive for each of us.
This concept of being in and experiencing the moment is called mindfulness.
In todays meditation you will learn a simple technique that you can use to bring
yourself back to the present, whether during meditation or daily life.
JOURNAL
1) Describe the last time you were too distracted to enjoy being in the present.
How did that make you feel, and what did you miss out on by not being in the
present?
2) Describe the last time you were truly able to experience being in nature.

Day 4
A Matter of Practice
You may have heard the adage Practice makes perfect quite frequently
throughout your life. Whether or not perfection can truly be achieved, it is certainly
clear that repetition and focus is required to achieve maximum results in most any
pursuit in life.

Many studies show that meditation can provide very real and positive benefits after
as little as four sessions, even for a novice.

Today you will learn how to enhance your meditation practice by discovering the
secret to achieving wholeness while you continue on your path to a place of
comfortable, expanded awareness.

JOURNAL
1) Is there something other than meditation that you practice regularly that has
benefited your life or your health?
2) Is there a habit or habits that you practice daily that you would like to let go of
in order to benefit your life or your health? Describe them here:

Day 5
Introducing Mantras
In meditation, mantras can help to regulate your mind and keep it clear of the
clutter of thoughts that so often wants to come rushing in as you meditate. Mantras
have two components: MeaningThe actual meaning of the word or words and
SoundThe effective sound or vibration that the mantra makes.

Today you will learn how to add the om mantra to your meditation, as part of
your continued journey toward creating a mental environment that allows you to
expand your consciousness.

JOURNAL
1)
Since you started this program, how have you used the meditation
techniques you have learned so far? Please describe:

2)
What resonated with you today once you added the om mantra to your
meditation experience?
Day 6
The Monkey Mind
When you meditate, chaotic streams of thoughts hinder your ability to find the
quiet and focus you are seeking. These streams of thought are also known as the
monkey mindthat endless chattering in your head as your mind jumps from
thought to thought. The best way to tame your monkey mind is through meditation.

Today you will learn a simple, effective technique that will help you manage your
flood of thoughts so that you can quiet your mind and embrace the power of
meditation and your connection with the universe.

JOURNAL
1) To get to know your Monkey Mind, jot down the flood of thoughts running
through your head for two minutes. Are they meaningful, essential or distracting?
2) When your mind is racing, what else have you done to help quiet it and focus?
Have these techniques worked?

Day 7
Find Your True Self
The only way to understand your true self is to begin the work of uncovering it.
But first you must be able to distinguish between your false self and your true self.
When you are feeling secure, accepted, peaceful and certain, you are experiencing
your true self. When you are overwhelmed by stress, crisis, doubts and insecurity,
your false self has control.

Today you will learn to use meditation to help find that peaceful and joyful person
at your core. Relax, without judging or analyzing, and begin to see glimmers of
your true self come shining through.

JOURNAL

1) Describe whom you think your true self is.

2) When was the last time you truly felt peaceful, joyful and happy? How can you
return to this moment?

Day 8
Let Go of Your Ego
Many spiritual traditions define the ego as the false self; that part of you that
cowers behind the layers of conditioning, fear, uncertainty and resistance that hides
your true self.

When your ego speaks to you, listen to it, but identify what you do not want and
what is not serving you.
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Today you will focus on your heart and the sensations you are carrying in your
heart; you will learn how to release hostility and feel gratitude, meanwhile
uncovering more of your true self.

JOURNAL
1) Its time to brainstorm. List everything and all that you feel gratitude for. Take
time to reflect on this list every day.
2) Describe a time when your ego has gotten in the way of a relationship, and how
the outcome might have changed if you had listened to your true self.

Day 9
Living in Your Now
The act of living in and observing the moment is called mindfulness; a state of
actively, openly and intentionally focusing on the present. Being mindful allows
you to experience your life as it happens. In fact, studies show that people who
practice mindfulness are fully enveloped in the present more often and tend to have
higher levels of happiness.

Today you will learn how to achieve mindfulness through the simplest and
automatic of all tasks: breathing. Revel in the simple act of breathing in and out.
Let your mind and your body experience all that is occurring as it happens.

JOURNAL

1) How do you think your life would change if you were more present in every day
moments?
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2) How has your concentration and reactions to situations changed since you
started focusing on yourself through meditation?

Day 10
I Am
The word mantra consists of the Sanskrit root man, which means, to think
and the suffix tra, which means a tool or instrument. You can use mantras as
instruments of thoughts. Mantras are thoughts that have no history.

Today you will learn a mantra that is very effective and that you can use any time.
It is so hum, the mantra of the breath. It carries the meaning I am that (so = I
am; hum = that). Use this mantra to quiet your breath and your mind, and focus
your thinking mind on the mystery of your being.

JOURNAL

1) Think about the mantra so hum and its meaning I am that. What does I am
that mean to you?
2) As you have become more mindful of your thoughts and patterns, describe how
you have been able to steer your mind away from your critical inner voice?

Day 11
The Real You
Who am I? What do I want? These two questions may seem simple but they
can be very difficult to answer because they are influenced by the perceptions,
wishes and desires of those around you. Once you drop the self-image that has
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been defined by others, and become more aware of your true self, it will become
easier and easier.

Today you will learn a meditation that will help you find your answers to Who am
I? and What do I want? As you begin to accept yourself, you will discover that
you do deserve to be happy and content.

JOURNAL
1) When you are asked, Who am I and What do I want, what are your
answers? How easy was it to answer these questions?
2) When you look at your answers to the previous question, do these answers
reflect your true self?

Day 12
Fight or Flight
Stress is an unavoidable part of your life, and it is a source of tremendous wear and
tear on your mind and body. Stress can affect you physically, mentally and
emotionally.

Your physical reaction to stress is tightly connected to the fight or flight response.
A response that was never intended to be active as frequently or as long as it is in
your day to day life.

Today you will learn to release stress from your body by raising your energy
(causing a metaphorical thunderstorm to build up) and then visualizing a cloud
burst of pouring rainthe symbolic release of physical stress from your body.

JOURNAL
1)
Describe What stresses you out here. Rate each on a scale of 1-10 on
whether it is something that is worth stressing about or something you can dismiss.

2)
Describe four things you can do every day to counteract the stress in your
life.
Day 13
Subtle Action
Intentions are powerful tools that can change your life; however, intentions are just
the first step you take on the path to realizing your goals in life. To make your
intentions a reality, you must follow up with actions.

Actions that manifest intentions require that you are mindful and aware of what
you are doing and where you are going.

Today you will learn how to increase your awareness of the now so that you can
bring your intentions to life and discover how subtle action can change your energy
and the five steps you can follow to accomplish this.

JOURNAL
1)

List three intentions that you would like to turn into actions.

2)

What actions do you need to accomplish to make these intentions a reality?

Day 14
Shadow Energies
Shadow energies are the energies derived from the dark part of your soulshame,
guilt and other things you dont want people to know about you. To find your
shadow energy, you have to be willing to take a journey of descent, to parts of your
life that you have left behind because you felt ashamed or guilty.

Today you will use all of the skills you have learned over the course of your
meditation practice to begin letting go so that you can release the toxic emotions
and thoughts that sometimes take control.

JOURNAL
1)
When something or someone triggers shadow energies in you, what is your
typical reaction?

2)
Describe a time when you chose to let go instead of trying to win a fight or
disagreement. How did you feel about the outcome?

Day 15
The Power of Intention
Intentions are powerful tools that can transform your life in tremendous ways.
When you declare an intention, you begin to concentrate your whole being on the
intention you aim to achieve.

Through meditation, you can begin to achieve that optimal statea relaxed body
and clear and focused mindthat brings you closer to realizing your intentions and
being your true self.
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In todays guided meditation, you will learn in even more detail how to allow your
intentions to emerge from your heart, fill the field of consciousness and begin to
manifest themselves in the universe.

JOURNAL
1) When you opened your mind and focused on your heart, what intentions did you
set during todays guided meditation?
2) List three other intentions you can focus on in these areas: health, personal
growth and forgiveness.

Day 16
The Fog of Thoughts
Getting in touch with non-local intelligence, the universal soul that lies within,
connects and is part of all of us, a place of consciousness and pure potentiality,
means finding a way past the fog of distracting thoughts that hide it from us

Today you will learn a common way to gently focus on one thing through the
simple act of breathing. Use this method of accessing non-local intelligence and
clearing the fog of thought whenever you desire.

JOURNAL

1) Think about your breathing. What did you feel when you inhaled? Did you feel
tension in certain areas? Was it easier as you continued to focus on breathing?

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2) Did you experience a release of stress when you exhaled? Were you able to
connect the exhale of your breath to an outpour of love for someone in your life?

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