Today's DailyOM Offerings...
April 22, 2015
Releasing Fire Meditation
Madisyn Taylor
If you've ever found yourself outdoors at night and staring at a campfire, feeling its hypnotic play of flickering light and shadow, fragrant dusky smoke and soothing warmth rooting you to yourself and the Earth and absorbing your worries and fears, then DailyOM co-founder Madisyn Taylor's new guided meditation will be a familiar and welcome journey. As she leads listeners calmly, patiently and assuredly through a series of deep breaths down a path through a tranquil, nurturing forest. We come to a clearing in the woods where a fire has been lit just for us, the "fire is honored to be here with you, to help you release and to heal," Taylor says. And as we emerges from the experience 27 minutes later we have the same sense of unsteady euphoria that a good massage may bring if one hasn't been touched by human hands for what feels like years.
As deft as Taylor is with her guidance and soothing speech pattern, the music and natural ambient effects are a perfect match, with a morphing, dusky melody that cycles through just enough changes to keep the conscious mind occupied, allowing Taylor's guidance to reach your subconscious unimpeded, helping make the experience surprisingly vivid. Even if used in less than ideal meditative circumstances, a quiet lunch break in your parked car, for example, Taylor brings us deep into the visualization so assuredly we quickly move from frazzled to calm to actually feeling the warmth of the flames on our closed eyelids. As the meditation is under a half hour, you'll have time to recover, relax, and be back at your desk ready to face the afternoon like you'd just been on a week vacation. It's only life after all, and there's no problem or umbrage worth compromising one's inner radiance, no time better than the present, and no trouble so weighty as to quench the roaring fire that's ! always there to help you with your stresses and problems.
At the end, "If you want to let out a primal scream," Taylor says, "it's okay to do that. Her earlier advice to keep some tissues handy before beginning turns out to be no idle suggestion as the flood of tears that may result from freeing one's inner self of all the tightly held worries, angers, frustrations and problems can feel like a dam's been burst inside of you. But that's okay - your fire is unquenchable and when all that held back energy is released, burned away, your soul's parameters can widen out from your own soggy shell to an airy circumference that includes all those around you, from trees to friends to passers by. All those sodden concerns that held you inside yourself were just distractions from this glorious openness, and thanks to "Releasing Fire Meditation," its possible to stay in this state: just keep that fire burning.
April 22, 2015
Thriving Bonds
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
A need to be close to your loved ones can come over you today, prompting you to reach out to family and friends. Even if your bonds have proven strong in the past, you may feel compelled to seek out ways of strengthening the ties that bind you and those you care about together. A companionable mood can help you connect with others as you will likely attract social attention more readily today when people perceive you as being jovial and friendly. You may even discover that you feel much more secure in your own life when you are certain of your loved ones' loyalties.
The bonds we share with the individuals we care most about are important to our continuing well-being because it is our loved ones that provide us with the aid and support we need to thrive in our unique circumstances. When we are careful to treat these alliances with the respect and attention they deserve, we can rest assured that our family and friends will be there for us when we need them most. To ensure that our relationships grow as our needs and goals change, we must care for and nurture them by thinking collectively and acting companionably. If we adopt a thoughtful approach to the maintenance of these bonds and keep our loved ones always in our hearts, no force in the universe will have the power to divide us from one another. The sense of togetherness that inspires you today will provide you with the motivation you need to reach out to those you care for.
April 22, 2015
We Are All Connected
Intertwined Fates
by Madisyn Taylor
Being aware of the connection between all things can help you in terms of the broader effect you may be creating.
There are times when we may feel disconnected from the world. Our actions can seem like they are of no major consequence, and we may feel like we exist in our own vacuum. Yet, the truth is that our simplest thought or action - the decisions we make each day, and how we see and relate to the world - can be incredibly significant and have a profound impact on the lives of those around us, as well as the world at large. The earth and everything on it is bound by an invisible connection between people, animals, plants, the air, the water, and the soil. Insignificant actions on your part, whether positive or negative, can have an impact on people and the environment that seem entirely separate from your personal realm of existence. Staying conscious of the interconnection between all things can help you think of your choices and your life in terms of the broader effect you may be creating.
Think of buying a wooden stool. The wood was once part of a tree which is part of a forest. A person was paid to fell the tree, another to cut the wood, and yet another to build the stool. Their income may have had a positive effect on their families, just as the loss of the tree may have had a negative impact on the forest or the animals that made that tree their home. An encouraging word to a young child about their special talent can influence this person to develop their gift so that one day their inventions can change the lives of millions. A poem written “merely” to express oneself can make a stranger reading it online from thousands of miles away feel less alone because there is someone else out there who feels exactly the way they do.
Staying conscious of your connection to all things can help you think of your choices in terms of their impact. We are powerful enough that what we do and say can reverberate through the lives of people we may never meet. Understanding that you are intimately connected with all things and understanding your power to affect our world can be the first step on the road to living more consciously.
Releasing Fire Meditation
Madisyn Taylor
If you've ever found yourself outdoors at night and staring at a campfire, feeling its hypnotic play of flickering light and shadow, fragrant dusky smoke and soothing warmth rooting you to yourself and the Earth and absorbing your worries and fears, then DailyOM co-founder Madisyn Taylor's new guided meditation will be a familiar and welcome journey. As she leads listeners calmly, patiently and assuredly through a series of deep breaths down a path through a tranquil, nurturing forest. We come to a clearing in the woods where a fire has been lit just for us, the "fire is honored to be here with you, to help you release and to heal," Taylor says. And as we emerges from the experience 27 minutes later we have the same sense of unsteady euphoria that a good massage may bring if one hasn't been touched by human hands for what feels like years.
As deft as Taylor is with her guidance and soothing speech pattern, the music and natural ambient effects are a perfect match, with a morphing, dusky melody that cycles through just enough changes to keep the conscious mind occupied, allowing Taylor's guidance to reach your subconscious unimpeded, helping make the experience surprisingly vivid. Even if used in less than ideal meditative circumstances, a quiet lunch break in your parked car, for example, Taylor brings us deep into the visualization so assuredly we quickly move from frazzled to calm to actually feeling the warmth of the flames on our closed eyelids. As the meditation is under a half hour, you'll have time to recover, relax, and be back at your desk ready to face the afternoon like you'd just been on a week vacation. It's only life after all, and there's no problem or umbrage worth compromising one's inner radiance, no time better than the present, and no trouble so weighty as to quench the roaring fire that's ! always there to help you with your stresses and problems.
At the end, "If you want to let out a primal scream," Taylor says, "it's okay to do that. Her earlier advice to keep some tissues handy before beginning turns out to be no idle suggestion as the flood of tears that may result from freeing one's inner self of all the tightly held worries, angers, frustrations and problems can feel like a dam's been burst inside of you. But that's okay - your fire is unquenchable and when all that held back energy is released, burned away, your soul's parameters can widen out from your own soggy shell to an airy circumference that includes all those around you, from trees to friends to passers by. All those sodden concerns that held you inside yourself were just distractions from this glorious openness, and thanks to "Releasing Fire Meditation," its possible to stay in this state: just keep that fire burning.
April 22, 2015
Thriving Bonds
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
A need to be close to your loved ones can come over you today, prompting you to reach out to family and friends. Even if your bonds have proven strong in the past, you may feel compelled to seek out ways of strengthening the ties that bind you and those you care about together. A companionable mood can help you connect with others as you will likely attract social attention more readily today when people perceive you as being jovial and friendly. You may even discover that you feel much more secure in your own life when you are certain of your loved ones' loyalties.
The bonds we share with the individuals we care most about are important to our continuing well-being because it is our loved ones that provide us with the aid and support we need to thrive in our unique circumstances. When we are careful to treat these alliances with the respect and attention they deserve, we can rest assured that our family and friends will be there for us when we need them most. To ensure that our relationships grow as our needs and goals change, we must care for and nurture them by thinking collectively and acting companionably. If we adopt a thoughtful approach to the maintenance of these bonds and keep our loved ones always in our hearts, no force in the universe will have the power to divide us from one another. The sense of togetherness that inspires you today will provide you with the motivation you need to reach out to those you care for.
April 22, 2015
We Are All Connected
Intertwined Fates
by Madisyn Taylor
Being aware of the connection between all things can help you in terms of the broader effect you may be creating.
There are times when we may feel disconnected from the world. Our actions can seem like they are of no major consequence, and we may feel like we exist in our own vacuum. Yet, the truth is that our simplest thought or action - the decisions we make each day, and how we see and relate to the world - can be incredibly significant and have a profound impact on the lives of those around us, as well as the world at large. The earth and everything on it is bound by an invisible connection between people, animals, plants, the air, the water, and the soil. Insignificant actions on your part, whether positive or negative, can have an impact on people and the environment that seem entirely separate from your personal realm of existence. Staying conscious of the interconnection between all things can help you think of your choices and your life in terms of the broader effect you may be creating.
Think of buying a wooden stool. The wood was once part of a tree which is part of a forest. A person was paid to fell the tree, another to cut the wood, and yet another to build the stool. Their income may have had a positive effect on their families, just as the loss of the tree may have had a negative impact on the forest or the animals that made that tree their home. An encouraging word to a young child about their special talent can influence this person to develop their gift so that one day their inventions can change the lives of millions. A poem written “merely” to express oneself can make a stranger reading it online from thousands of miles away feel less alone because there is someone else out there who feels exactly the way they do.
Staying conscious of your connection to all things can help you think of your choices in terms of their impact. We are powerful enough that what we do and say can reverberate through the lives of people we may never meet. Understanding that you are intimately connected with all things and understanding your power to affect our world can be the first step on the road to living more consciously.