Hidden Benefits of Meditation

by

Ari Mc Intyre

Greeting and Salutations

I wanted to give you a reminder of why meditation on a regular basis has hidden benefits on your life.

My name is Ari Mc Intrye.  I have been a Spiritual Life Coach for over 10 years and one of first things I teach my students is to meditate.

What I have found in my journey of life is that most people only meditate in a few restricted places. Usually at home or at places of worship.  Recently major companies like Google have set up quiet meditation stations at work to allow their team members to relax.  The results have been incredible!  Production has increased, because being regenerated gives the mind and body a chance to reconnect.

You see, when we are refreshed and centered we can get more done in a shorter amount of time.  Our minds are clear to think about how to use our energy.  Making meditation a part of your daily life keeps the mind and body deeply connected so you can stay calm.  Which helps you make better choices.  Which keeps you mentally balanced.

What many people don't understand is that meditation doesn't have to be complicated.  It can simply be just focused breathing for at least 5 minutes a day.

Sounds simple, right?  So why don't more people do it?  Because you will have to clear your mind for that 5 minutes and think of nothing but breathing and listening to your own heartbeat.  That's right, you will have to listen to yourself.  Hear what's your body is trying to tell you and, more importantly, slow down and tune out the rest of the world!

The benefit in making this commitment is way beyond what you could imagine.  Your body gets a break from within.  The chemicals in your body get replenished with fresh air and your mind gets a moment to rest.  Think about it - outside of sleep, when do you take mental breaks?  Best of all this is FREE!   You can do meditation at your leisure.  Nothing is needed but you, a safe place, and no distractions. 

The trick is setting up that safe space.  I have been teaching about using affirmations, aromatherapy and colors for years, and these will all help you in your meditation journey.  You would be surprised how a simple adjustment to where, when and how you meditate can lead to manifesting whatever you like on the physical plane, which is the major hidden benefit of meditation.  But you must first start the journey on the mental plane.  You get to create the life you have always dreamed about.  I know this happens because I have witnessed it happening in my students all the time. 

So make the effort to start your meditation journey today and begin reaping the benefits.

How to Expand your Sphere of Availability

In my last article I outlined the concept of the Law of the Sphere of Availability, which came as quite a shock to a number of readers.  Some Law of Attraction gurus view it as a kind of heresy.  If we have the power of the Universe behind us, then how can there be any limits on what we can achieve?  And if there are no limits, then surely the Sphere of Availability is infinite!  If you really want something, then it is available to you right now as long as you use the Law of Attraction properly.

Those who read my article carefully will know that I did state quite clearly that there are no limits on what the Universe can bring us, and that the reason we do not achieve all that we wish to achieve is because of limits we create ourselves.  But just because we have created those limits ourselves, it does not make them any the less real or penetrable.  I am a firm believer in the infinite power of the Universe, and am a great optimist, but I also know that I, for one, cannot simply suddenly decide I want my bank account to expand by a factor of a million, affirm and visualize properly for it, and then expect that to happen overnight.  As has been said many times (and accredited to many different people) "the difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer!"  So be ready to accomplish difficult challenges but don't immediately expect the impossible!

So, is there anything we can do to expand our Sphere of Availability, and expand it rapidly and substantially?

As I have already said in the earlier article, begin expanding your Sphere of Availability by taking full advantage of it, and manifesting the things you desire from within it rather than initially trying for things well outside it.  You could imagine the Sphere as something a bit like the horizon.  If you simply stay where you are, it does not move, but it expands as you move towards it.  Don't sit there saying there is no point in trying to move forward because you can see the limit ahead of you and what you want is beyond that limit.  Start moving towards your goal and watch the Sphere of Availability move and embrace that goal.

Do not underestimate the power of doing this.  Maybe start in a small way until you get used to it.  Even a few steps forward moves the horizon a few steps further forward.  After just those few steps you are unlikely to notice the effect, but believe me it is there!  Get into the habit of congratulating yourself for your small successes, and thanking the Universe for granting them to you.  This will encourage you and you will find you can make larger steps.  And as you make those larger steps the expansion of your Sphere of Availability becomes more and more obvious.

What else can you do?

Going back to the horizon metaphor, if you really want to see it expand more quickly, then ride a bicycle rather than walk, ride a car rather than cycle, fly an airplane rather than drive.  In other words, use the right tools.  If you don't yet have an airplane, use a car, and if you cannot afford a car get a bicycle.  This, too, is using the Law of the Sphere of Availability - use what is available to you now rather than sitting down in the middle of the road crying because you don't have something better and faster.  If you keep your eyes open you will see many tools available to you.  Some are very effective but maybe cost more than you can afford right now.  Some are completely free, but are more like bicycles than airplanes!  Use what you can now, but remain alert and "upgrade" your tools once you are in a position to do so.  Such tools include the use of a personal coach, webinars, courses, blog articles etc.

As well as moving towards your goal and seeing the Sphere expand, start trying to find about about your self-created limits.  What are they?  Why are they there?  How can you remove them?

Some of those limiting beliefs were created in you when you were a small child.  Some you picked up later in life when you fell at a hurdle and came to belief that it is impossible ever to jump over a hurdle.  They are reinforced by you and also often by the people surrounding you.  Initially just try to become aware of what they are and then try to find what is continuing to feed them and keep them strong.

Most of these "Abundance Blocks" are hidden deep inside you, so it can often be very difficult even to find them, let alone to get rid of them.  There is a free masterclass on finding and ridding yourself of abundance blocks which you can study online at a date and time convenient to you.  This is called "Unblock Your Abundance", and it is run by the world-renowned expert on removing Abundance Blocks, Christie Marie Sheldon.   Regard taking that masterclass as riding a bicycle rather than walking.  You can find that masterclass here:

http://mval.li/?a=84&c=1762&p=r&s1=

When you have completed the class you will find there are options for you to upgrade your bicycle to a car or a plane if you are ready and willing to do so.  Or just keep cycling for free - it is certainly a lot better than walking or, even worse, standing still and just moaning that the horizon hasn't moved!

Sphere of Availability

Have you ever tried to use the Law of Attraction and found it simply didn't work for you?  Have you ever tried visualizing really hard for what you want, used good, positive affirmations for it, and still found it never materialized?

There can be many different reasons for not being able to materialize a desire.  The problem is not with the Law of Attraction, which works, but with the way in which you are applying it.

I have covered some of those reasons in other blog articles, but here I am going to cover a Universal Law many Law of Attraction coaches do not mention at all, gloss over, or even downright deny it exists - the Law of the Sphere of Availability.

We are taught not to set limits to our desires, that the Universe has no limits and neither should we.  We are told that the only limits on what we can achieve are the limits we set ourselves.

This is all very true.  There ARE no limits to what the Universe can bring to us.  Universal power is unlimited power.  The limits appear only when that unlimited power tries to express itself through a limited being.

I do not disagree with any of this.  In fact, I teach this myself.  But it is still important to understand and apply the Law of the Sphere of Availability, which seems to contradict everything I have just said above.

First, what is the Law of the Sphere of Availability?  It is a Universal Law that defines what is readily available to you and what is not.

If the Universe is unlimited, how come there is a Universal Law that creates limits on what you can achieve?

One way of looking at this is as the exception that proves the rule.  The Universe has no limits, but we do.  Self-created limits.  Limits we could do something to remove or at least stretch further, but nevertheless real limits that we have to recognize exist.  As long as a limit is there, it is pointless trying to ignore it.

Let me give you an example.  Suppose you want a 5 bedroom house, but at the moment are living with your parents and have no capital or income.  Is the 5 bedroom house within your Sphere of Availability?  If you are like most people, I would say no, it is not within your Sphere of Availability.  It may be that you are so gifted in your use of the Law of Attraction that it IS within your Sphere of Availability, but this would be extremely unusual.  It would make sense in this case to go for something more realistic.

At this point there will probably be Law of Attraction coaches and practitioners screaming at me, telling me not to add to the problem by making people believe there are limits.  Well, there ARE limits!  As I have said, there are ways of removing some limits completely and expanding the Sphere of Availability for others.  But until that is done, those limits are there and we have to respect this.

Work within your own Sphere of Availability.  Have big dreams, and visualize and affirm for those big dreams.  But also work on dreams that are within your current Sphere of Availability.  These will be much easier to achieve, and those early successes will encourage you.  They will also expand your Sphere of Availability, so you can now begin manifesting bigger dreams.  This expansion of your Sphere of Availability happens in two ways. 

Firstly, having acquired or achieved something, this has hopefully brought you closer to your big dream.  For example, the person who was living with his parents and with no income uses the Law of Attraction to get a job.  He now has income, and so he starts to visualize for his own apartment.  When he gets that, then his dream of a 5 bedroom house is very much closer and may now even be within his Sphere of Availability.

Secondly, the small successes make you realize that the Law of Attraction really does work.  This now makes it easier for you to use it for bigger dreams than you could have used it for earlier.  Perhaps not your really big dream yet, but certainly bigger dreams.

Put both of these together and you will find you can expand your Sphere of Availability quicker than you might have thought possible.

Ultimately there ARE no limits.  You ARE worth far more than you give yourself credit for.  You CAN achieve your biggest dreams.  But use your knowledge of the Sphere of Availability properly so that you really CAN get there rather than trying to manifest only "unrealistic" goals and then complaining that the Law of Attraction doesn't work!  As the old adage goes "learn to walk before you run" - but notice it DOESN'T say "you can only walk, so don't ever bother trying to run"!

Why Have an Accountability Partner?

I have previously written about accountability partners, but as that was over three years ago, and as this is such a key concept in any personal development strategy I make no apology for doing so again.

If you have a full-time job let me ask you something.  Why do you bother going to work each and every work day?  Why don't you just stay at home on days you don't feel like going to work?  I hope your answer was that you are morally bound to do so, that if someone is paying you to do something then it is a moral imperative to do it!  But there is also probably another answer - you have to keep going because you are accountable to your boss.  If you just decide you won't turn up because the weather is nice and you want to sunbathe in your garden, then probably your boss will question you about this (at the very least!).

If you run your own business then maybe you feel there is nobody to whom you are accountable?  This is not really the case, though, is it!  Your accountant works for you rather than vice versa, but I imagine when you meet with your accountant and discuss what has happened over the year you feel accountable.  You are also accountable to your suppliers.  If you just decide not to turn up and your business goes downhill, you still have to pay your bills, so you are certainly accountable to them.  It is true, though, that this kind of accountability is not quite the same.  You probably don't get words of encouragement for doing the right thing or suggestions that you may be going in the wrong directions - although if you have a good accountant then perhaps you do get this.

If you are studying, then you are accountable to your teachers or lecturers.  They expect you to arrive in time for your lessons and to be fully prepared to learn.  They expect you to do work in between the lessons, and make you accountable for this, perhaps by handing in an essay.  If you have "off" days when you really don't feel like going in, you probably still go anyway - because you are accountable.  Sometimes you may feel you simply aren't making progress and that you might as well give up - but even then you still put in the effort because you are accountable, and the feeling that what you are trying to do is impossible passes.

The truth is, if we have someone to whom we are accountable this almost certainly makes us do what needs to be done.  It makes the employed person get up early every day no matter whether he or she feels like doing so.  Perhaps most days this is simply a habit you don't think twice about, but on those days when you don't want to get on with it then this accountability makes sure you do!

Hopefully you now recognise just how important accountability is.  That it keeps you going, keeps you on target, makes you achieve what you need to achieve even at those times when you really don't feel you can.

Now let me ask you.  Who is your accountability partner for the goals you wish to achieve?  Do you have one?  If not, why not?

Some people at this point tell me they don't have a partner because they don't need one.  Usually they are deceiving themselves.  We all have days when it just seems too much of a challenge.  We have days when we find we are going backwards rather than forwards.  Those are the days we really need an accountability partner to keep us going.

Others tell me that although they would like to have an accountability partner they cannot find the right one.  Certainly it is true that it shouldn't just be anyone.  It has to be someone who will be positive, and certainly not the kind of person who says "I told you so!" when you pull up at the first hurdle.  You should be surrounding yourself with people who are positive and will support you in going for your dreams.  You need those people around you anyway, not just to have accountability partners, but this is certainly the first place you should look.  But if you haven't yet made much headway in creating that "mastermind group" of like-minded people, there are certainly other ways of finding an accountability partner.  For example, go to a forum that is related in some way to whatever goals you have set yourself and ask someone to do an "accountability exchange".  They will be your accountability partner for your dreams in exchange for you doing the same for theirs.  You should find this a very positive experience.  Many people who do this find they become inspired by the goals of their accountability partner and the way their partner works through the barriers stopping him or her from reaching them.

Give it a go!  Get yourself an accountability partner and see what a difference that makes to your ability to make your dreams become your reality!