The importance of meditation and prayer in my life

The importance of meditation and prayer in my life - Our reporter Laura Ann Hind, loves to travel and take on new adventures. Here she talks to us about her trip to the island of Malta, and how it encouraged her reflections on the importance of meditation and prayer to her life. 

"My trip to Malta was wonderful. The first notable place to mention is Mdina. It is a tiny walled city and the former capital of Malta. It lies on a hilltop about 200m above sea level in the centre of Malta, providing some spectacular views across the island. It is nicknamed the Silent City, by locals and tourists and sounds as peaceful and heavenly and it was. I enjoyed strolling at ease in a slow enough pace that allowed me to notice and experience 'happenings' that go on in 'real' time. Reflecting on this place inspired me to talk about the importance of silence and solitude in our everyday life. 

"For years I've meditated as a route to calming my mind and improving my own conscious contact with my soul, the true part of me that gets obscured by my conditioned mind. After some deep reflection, I notice whenever I stop meditating, journalling and listing all I'm grateful for, my mind becomes scattered and I'm unable to think clearly. 

"I notice my mind's old thought patterns and habits resurface and I find myself looking out and letting in the negativity played out either around me or on 'media' which fills my head with nonsense that pulls me away from my own real life situation. 

"Negativity captures my attention easily and before I know it, I'm sucked in, lost in a maze of madness whilst losing hours of my precious time. 

"Have you ever watched Walt Disney's 'Chitty chitty bang bang' movie? Remember the scary 'child catcher'? Today our media is behaving just like that .. it steals our imagination, joy and innocence and time. "

To mediate is to listen 
To pray is to ask 

"For years I've been meditating to improve my ability to listen, a valuable skill for communication and developing relationships, especially with myself.  It's a skill I previously struggled with due to being so 'outwardly' focused as a protective reaction to external fearful stimuli. 

"When it comes to prayer, it took a while for me to understand the concept and it's true meaning. Growing up 'asking for anything' was difficult. Even in school I wasn't encouraged to ask questions, you just had to learn like a parrot what was taught without any real understanding of why. Over time and repetitiveness, this force of learning pushed down my own inner intelligence. 

"I've found developing this practice harder than meditation because the story, which gets repeated in my mind continually says 'what's the point?' 'You never get what you want so why bother?'. My mind had literally been trained to sabotage my life! 

"In the past I'd have given up and continued in the status quo, or matrix as some call it. That was until I experienced 'transcendence' and learnt to pause, breathe and reflect on the 'negative story' and decided to change it with a positive affirmation. 

"Below is a reminder from Melody Beattie on the value of these two practices. (If you've grown with the belief to 'fear' God I suggest you change the word to universe, divine, beloved or any word that invokes a feeling of peace). 

"Meditation is different than obsessing or worrying. Obsession and worrying are fear connections. Meditation means opening our mind and our spiritual energy to the God connection.

"To connect with God, we need to relax as best we can and open our conscious and subconscious mind to a higher consciousness—one that is available to each of us.

"In the busyness of our day and life, it may seem like a waste of time to slow down, to stop what we're doing, and take this kind of break. It is no more a waste of time than stopping to put petrol in our car when the tank is almost empty. It is necessary, it is beneficial, and it saves time. In fact, meditation can create more time and energy than the moments we take to do it.

"Meditation and prayer are powerful recovery behaviors that work. We need to be patient. It is not reasonable to expect immediate answers, insight, or inspiration.

"But solutions are coming. They are already on the way, if we have done our part—meditate and pray—and then let the rest go. Whether we pray and meditate first thing in the morning, during a coffee break, or in the evening is our choice. When our conscious contact with God improves, our subconscious contact will too. We will find ourselves increasingly tuned in to God's harmony and will for us. We will find and maintain that soul connection, the God connection."

Affirmation 

Today, I will take a moment for meditation and prayer. I will decide when and how long to do it. I am a child and creation of God—a Higher Power who loves to listen and talk to me. God, help me let go of my fears about whether or not you hear and care. Help me know that you are there and that I am able to tap into the spiritual consciousness.

If you find yourself getting lost in a maze of madness and want to seek clearly what's happening in your own life, please feel free to get in touch with Laura at time4calm@gmail.com and discover how these practices can benefit you.