Happy Mind: Meditations from the Ancient World to Modernity

Never tried meditation before? Or you have but your mind won't settle down so you don't see the point? Or maybe you meditate regularly but don't seem to get much out of it. Listen to this short introductory guided meditation session to learn by doing it. Learn about the practice for the first time or enhance your understanding if you already are familiar with meditation. The latest discoveries from neuroscience are showing that these ancient masters were definitely on to something! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Everyone knows that feeling of being empty and sad inside. Some people feel that on Friday afternoon with the weekend stretching out in front of them and no plans on the calendar. Other people feel that on Sunday night after a weekend with friends or family. Or if you travel a lot, you might feel it when the jet lag has caught up with you and you seem to feel bad for no reason at all. Often if there is a lot of activity or movement or change, there is a chemical shift that occurs in the brain and body to compensate for that and to prepare for something bad that our lower self believes must lie ahead. There is a loss of where you have been or what you have been doing so underlying that hollowed out feeling there likely will be anxiety or fear. But that doesn’t mean those feelings are going to be permanent or that they are an accurate representation of what is happening in the world around you. When these feelings arise you have three choices. You could give up and wallow in it and suffer through it as you wait for it to pass. Obviously this isn’t the best strategy but ying follows yang and whenever one feeling is present, its opposite is nearby, waiting for its turn. So eventually this strategy will work. You could also bring energy and activity into your life and DO things. This is better than doing nothing but it avoids releasing the feelings and dooms you to repeating the pattern so that you will end up running to stay ahead of your imaginary demons your whole life. That isn’t such a good strategy either. Fortunately, there is a better way: you can turn and face the demons, release them and align yourself with perfection. That is what we do in this meditation. And to do that, we are going to employ three foundational principles of the nature of mind: First, 1) The content of your awareness is not you. Second, 2) You can move your awareness. And third, 3) You can hold your awareness where you choose. Recognizing and employing these three principles requires practice, lots of practice. So in addition to helping you feel better today, think of this guided meditation as training for your mind to get better at feeling great more often. Feeling great, having a sense of purpose and an underlying joy in life on a sustained basis doesn’t just happen. We have to practice developing those neural states. Let’s do that now together. If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our Mid- and Upper backs hold the weight of the world, our world at least. And this weight can bring chronic or periodic pain. Fortunately we can use our bodies and minds to release this pain, to heal ourselves. We just need to know the code. Listen to this or the longer version to help you learn that code.If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. Obviously, if are having a serious traumatic episode and are suffering from whiplash or very real back pain, please seek the help of a professional. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our Mid- and Upper backs hold the weight of the world, our world at least. And this weight can bring chronic or periodic pain. Fortunately we can use our bodies and minds to release this pain, to heal ourselves. We just need to know the code. Scientists have identified and synthesized the parts of marijuana that make people feel so good and along the way they have figured out the answer to the mystery of why all human brains would have evolved a specific receptor in the brain for a plant that until recently only grew in South Asia. It turns out that the cannaboid system is key part of our brain’s regulatory structure. So we didn’t evolve to respond to that particular plant. We, and every other organism down to the lowly sponge uses cannaboids to maintain balance in the body. Amazingly, the effect of our self-produced cannaboids in our bodies, while not as strong as the highly concentrated versions that people consume from the cannabis plant, is the same. Our bodies also produce endorphins and anyone that regularly exercises is familiar with the fact that these chemicals activate the same opioid receptors as morphine and heroin, albeit at a much lower intensity. The point is that we have the power to create these chemicals ourselves. In fact, producing these cannaboids might be the most important physiological system we have for creating and maintaining health in our bodies. These extraordinary compounds, while performing different tasks in different tissues, always have the same goal: the achievement and preservation of a balanced internal environment despite changes in the external environment.So we can synthesize the active agent in marijuana in our own bodies when we choose to and not have the costly side-effects from the over the counter or illicit kinds. But how? We can’t say to our brain “Okay, I’ll have some endorphins now.” We have to go exercise. The same goes for cannaboids. We have to speak the language of our bodies. We do that through movement, touch, music, attention, and love. We’ll bring these insights to releasing tension in our backs in this guided moving meditation. When we speak of chakras and energy and spirit this engages our brain in a conversation with our muscle tissues in a way that we can’t have using everyday language. So even if you don’t believe in a numinal realm and energy channels and chakras and so on, just play along and think of these ideas as simply ways to hack your brain, as ways to take command of the extraordinary chemical factories we have within us. If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. Obviously, if are having a serious traumatic episode and are suffering from whiplash or very real back pain, please seek the help of a professional. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ready to release the tension in your back and shoulders? Having pain and tightness again? You have the power to fix it by taking advantage of the way the brain works, by hacking its mode of operation. The world we perceive isn’t what we think it is. Take the vision processing center of our brain. 90 per cent of all connections coming in to this part of our cortex don’t come from our eyes. They come from other parts of our brain, carrying predictions about what is in the world we “see” out there. Neuroscientists have concluded that this means that we construct our reality in our minds. A small trickle of fresh data from the outside world is used only at the margin to update the model in our mind of what we are “seeing.” This invented reality allows for much faster response to dangers so was evolutionarily advantageous. We are optimized for survival, not for complete and accurate perception of what is “out there.” This world-simulation feature also applies to our model of our bodies and its movement. Unfortunately it means that we often are ready for a "fight or flight" situation far more often than is necessary. But it also means that we can heal our body through simple movements or even without even moving. We can take advantage of this aspect of human consciousness to conjure the world and the self image that is going to be most healthy for us. All we have to do is set our intention in this direction, simulating it in our heads and the physical reality will follow! If you are a beginner, the results may not be instant but this miracle is available to each and every one of us. All it takes is a little practice and when done right you’ll quickly begin to see results. So let’s get started!If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. If are having a serious traumatic episode and are suffering from whiplash or very real back pain, please seek the help of a professional. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Imagine that you have a daughter and she has just come in from playing outside. She has a freshly skinned knee and is crying because the bully who pushed her down also took her dolly. Our bodies are like that. They can’t speak the language we use with each other so they tell us their troubles and fears through pain, soreness and restricted movement. We can learn the language of our bodies and demonstrate mastery of our selves by understanding and practicing this truth. And our sore muscles will feel better in the process! But a tight or spasming muscle can reach a point of complete debilitation so we may have to bring out the full tool box to settle our little girl down. So before you begin, consider deploying some of the other options you have available to you. They include things like: making sure we are drinking plenty of water, massaging in arnica cream or tiger balm, taking ibuprofen or other NSAIDs, using ice packs, a foam roller, calcium-magnesium supplements, hot baths/showers or Jacuzzi/sauanas, and of course eating a high omega 3 fatty acid and alkaline diet. You may have to bring out every tool over several days to deal with a real flare up. But unless we get to the root of the problem, unless we are able to really listen to the message the universe and our bodies have for us, we can count on the pain coming back, maybe even louder next time. So let’s take the time now to see if we can figure out what we need to do to help. If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. Obviously, if are having a serious traumatic episode and are suffering from whiplash or very real pain, please seek the help of a professional. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ever wonder why a hug feels so good? Or a massage? Or hot baths? It is because these are the sorts of “words” our bodies understand. We can’t command a muscle to relax with a thought or a sentence. We have to speak the body’s language. We do this by combining love and attention with movement and touch. Music works too. This is the language our bodies understand. We all carry the stresses of the day and the traumas of our past in our bodies. One of the common but often unrealized spots is our jaw and our mouths. Some of us grind our teeth as we sleep or seem to be more prone to toothaches or cavities than others. Or we square and tighten our jaw to face the challenges and fears and stresses of our day to day life. Avoiding that tension in the first place is the cure but fortunately, we can treat the symptom in a way that not only helps release this muscle tension but also contributes to the cure. By learning the language of our bodies we can practice mastery of our selves and our body and take a giant step forward on our path to rewiring our brains. And our sore muscles feel better in the process!If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We spend most of our lives either doing something or wanting something. We all know the feeling of wanting more money or more leisure time or more love or peace or safety or comfort or whatever it is. Some of us get sucked in to that and struggle to pull out. Most of us believe that the best thing to do isn’t to sit around and wallow in it but to get out there and create our destiny. The self-help gurus tell us that we have the power to do something about our situation. That is true. And doing is better than wanting. But there is are better options. Options that vanquish the feelings of lack and the dysfunctional behavior and negative emotions that inevitably arise from being in lack and doing. And these other options will change our life. One of these options is called Having and alongside this state of being is an inevitable sense of Gratitude. This is something we can practice anytime but driving is an excellent period to do that. There are over 7 billion people on the planet yet fewer than 10% own a car. And only around 2 billion of us have smartphones. So if you are driving and have a smartphone to listen to this on, you are part of the global elite few, the topmost, wealthiest echelons of humanity. And not only your car but the health care and safety and time that allow you to live the kind of life that even kings of old couldn’t dream of. So take a moment and pause to notice this and appreciate just how lucky you are. If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. Obviously, if you are driving the most important thing is your safety so please give your primary attention to the road and the cars around you.Obviously, if you are driving the most important thing is your safety so please give your primary attention to the road and the cars around you. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When we experience suffering of any kind, the great masters tell us that we are the ones creating that suffering in ourselves. But how can that be? Surely some things we can blame others for? These ancient masters suggest that really we are the ones who need to be taking the responsibility. Where better to practice becoming comfortable with this truth than while driving? It seems like every time we drive, ample evidence is provided that other people are to blame. How am I to blame for a traffic jam? Or if someone rear ends me surely it is their fault. This guided meditation will help develop your ability to see the nature of reality and through that shift in awareness and recognition, increase your happiness and sense of personal power.If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. (Obviously, if you are driving the most important thing is your safety so please give your primary attention to the road and the cars around you.) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Driving appears to be the very place where the world conspires against us. We discover that people can become unusually inconsiderate when they feel they are anonymous and are in a rush. Yet we can choose to convert this time from one of frustration and stress into part of our systematic program for retaking control of our life. We are going to use this time and this experience of driving your car to advance on your path of retraining your brain. The great masters have consistently told us that there is an end to suffering and that the world is designed to maximize our individual wellbeing (see the quotes, below). It doesn't look that way because we don’t always recognize what is in our long term best interests. We mistake a push in the right direction as a frustration of our near sighted and self-defined goals.So, in a way, we can use this meditation to deepen our understanding of Buddha’s Four Noble Truths. As a reminder, the First Noble Truth states that suffering (or unsatisfactoriness) is a defining characteristic of this existence of ours. The Second Noble Truth is that the cause of suffering is attachment or craving or resistance to what is happening to us in the world (like a traffic jam). The Third Noble truth is that suffering can end. There is a method that allows a human being to escape the resisting, the holding and the wanting. The Fourth Noble Truth is this method, and it includes following the Noble Eightfold Path, restraining one's self, cultivating discipline, and practicing mindfulness and meditation. Listening to guided meditations like this one is part of that method.Or in the words of the Bhagavad Gita: "Through devotion to [Krishna and the practice of tranquility of self] ... one reaches through my grace an imperishable, unchanging home... Take me alone as your place of rest, and do not grieve, because I will free you from all evils." In the words of the Gospel of Luke: "Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”" And finally, in the words of St. Paul, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness."If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. And obviously, if you are driving the most important thing is your safety so please give your primary attention to the road and the cars around you. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Driving today is yet another illustration of how modern society isolates each of us from one other and from our communities. The facts support this in places like Los Angeles where 70% of commuters choose to drive alone in their vehicle to get to and from work. And when we are in our cars we are surrounded by a bubble of reinforced steel and hardened glass and plastic, separated from our fellow travelers not just by space but by this thick and protective physical barrier. Yet this very barrier can become our link to the rest of the world. We are going to practice using our cars to connect our bodies with the people and energy fields that are all around us all of the time. The universe is built out of energy, out of light. An adult male might have 70kg of mass making up their body. We know from Einstein that E=Mc2. That means that a single human body contains 100,000 times as much energy as was released The the Hiroshima bomb. We can use the energy being generated by our bodies, our driving motion and the motive force in a vehicle’s engine to amplify these sensibilities, to consciously connect us more closely to the unified whole. And at the very least it takes our mind off driving! If you enjoy these practical guided meditations, you may like to listen to the Serena Podcast (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo) which provides the theory behind these practices and where we are headed by doing them. Obviously, if you are driving the most important thing is your safety so please give your primary attention to the road and the cars around you. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Driving seems like an obvious place where we are in control of our movement. So it makes a great place to practice getting used to the two of the most important concepts in achieving lasting peace and happiness: the ideas that we are neither a self nor a doer. We are doing this practice because, as counterintuitive as it sounds, the biggest names in the pantheon of great masters, from Lao Tzu to Buddha to Krishna to Jesus all tell us that we are not the one doing the doing in our life. This is a very deep and subtle teaching and one of the keys to realizing an end to suffering in our life. This podcast is about practice through guided meditation so we are not going to try to explain it. We are just going to practice it. But here are a few quotes so you don't have to take my word for it:“The wise person does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone” – Lao TzuYour true “Self, confused by the idea of an ‘I’, thus thinks, ‘I am the doer.’” – Krishna “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.” – Jesus"‘Don't be afraid! Stand still, and see what the LORD will do to save you today.’ - Moses "All things [and experiences] are thoughts which the Creator thinks... What a joy ... to perceive the unmoved mover moving in all that moves. He who is hidden, manifest through all his works." The Hermetica (The Lost Wisdom of the Pharaohs)“Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit alone [all things are done]," says the Lord Almighty. - Book of Zechariah, Hebrew BibleIf you are interested in more of the theory and explanation around it you can listen to this Podcast's companion, the Serena Podcast series (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The ancient Chinese philosopher and military strategist Sun Tzu is famous for saying: “To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.” His wisdom is surprisingly relevant to the battle against insomnia. The key to winning the battle for sleep, to breaking our wakefulness’s resistance, is not to fight for sleep in the first place. You may be lying in bed wanting to fall asleep but maybe you shouldn’t even be bothering to try. Take these two "supremely excellent" tests to see if the moment is right to break your enemy, insomnia's, resistance. Whether you are someone who meditates or not, these two simple tests will help with your insomnia.If you are interested in more of the theory and explanation around it you can listen to this Podcast's companion, the Serena Podcast series (https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This short talk introduces the Serena Sleep Meditation Series. If you hare suffering from insomnia, your subconscious or lower self doesn’t want to let you fall asleep. There is some worry or fear so deep that your lower self believes that sleep might even lead to your death. It is irrational but the part of our selves that is in charge of putting our bodies to sleep has a different logic. It’s logic is survival. It doesn’t trust your logical self or your higher self that everything is going to be ok. So it is time take another tack. These meditations will help unlock this cycle. It may not work tonight, and that is okay. The extraordinary thing about meditation is that there is an enormous psychological and physical benefit to listening to guided meditations, even if you don't sleep right away tonight. But keep practicing, earn the trust of your lower self, and sleep, nature’s gentle nurse, will soon come.For the companion podcast covering the theory behind why these meditations work, check out the Serena system podcast at https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It is bedtime and once again you can’t sleep. You’ve tried everything you can think of and you’re ready to give up but you don’t even know what that means. It is time take another tack, to earn the trust of your lower self, to help her discover your inner fortress where the best sleep of your life is possible. Using this meditation to find that inner fortress will help unlock the cycle of insomnia that you are stuck in. It may not work tonight, and that is okay. It will come. Sleep, nature’s sweet nurse, awaits. Listen to this meditation to help you enter her care.For the companion podcast covering the theory behind why these meditations work, check out the Serena system podcast at https://goo.gl/Dxu4eo. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.