4 Cues to Find the Deep Inner Peace of Your Clear Quiet Mind ( By Kevin Schoeninger)

Over 30 years ago I discovered my clear quiet mind on a backpacking trip out West. In this article, I share four simple cues you can use to instantly find the deep inner peace of your clear quiet mind.

In 1984, I had just graduated from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and I was inspired to take a backpacking trip. I was definitely a city-boy, hadn't done anything in the way of backpacking, and had never been west of the Mississippi.

For the month of August that year, I journeyed by car and on foot through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Wyoming with a friend. We explored the Canyonlands, the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone National Park. We spent hours, day after day, in nature, without any TV, radio, news, music, or entertainment. The natural landscape was our primary stimulation.

What struck me most on this trip was the clear spacious sky (you can see for miles in that part of the country), the silence, and the stillness. I absorbed these three qualities deep into my body during that month.

To this day, I recall quite distinctly what I felt as I sat on the plane flying home. I had an overwhelming feeling of contentment. I was completely peaceful, my mind was still, and I felt no sense of worry or struggle. I felt completely free and at ease.

Out of this transcendent experience, three things became clear:

1) I discovered such a state is possible.

2) I found I needed to take a break from my busyness to arrive at this state.

3) I wanted to find ways to reproduce it, deepen it, and expand it. I wanted to cultivate this state as a reliable baseline to live from and return to whenever I need.

This led me on a quest of learning, practicing, and teaching in the disciplines of T'ai Chi, Qigong, Reiki, meditation, Centering Prayer, and other mind-body disciplines. From these years of study, practice, and teaching, I gathered specific techniques that reliably generate deep peace and calm clarity.

The first of these techniques is a set of four cues you can use to have an instant experience of your clear quiet mind. These cues give you a glimpse of what shifting to this perspective feels like, so you can get acquainted with it. You can build on these brief moments moving forward and cultivate a strong and unshakeable perspective of calm clarity that you can return to anytime you need or desire.

You can do each of the following techniques in just a few seconds or up to a few minutes-whichever you prefer. As you try them out, a few words of advice: see if you can let go of trying too hard or questioning what's happening. See if it's possible to let go of preconceptions and be open to what you can discover. Don't worry if you're doing these techniques exactly right. If one doesn't work for you, just move on to the next one.

Four Simple Cues to Find Your Clear Quiet Mind

1. Stillness: feel the stillness underneath all movements in the center of your brain.

Focus into the center of your brain-a point between your ears, directly under the crown point of your head, and halfway between your forehead and the base of your skull. You can imagine sitting in a comfortable chair there.

Once you are seated in the center of your brain, imagine and feel "stillness" there. Imagine sitting there as still as you can be. There is no thought in the center of your brain to disturb you or make you think you need to keep moving to get things done, so it's easy to imagine sitting still there. Go ahead and give this a try for about 15 seconds now.

Imagine and feel yourself sitting in stillness in the center of your brain...

Did your mind become still for a moment?

Let's add Cue #2.

2. Silence: listen to the silence underneath all sounds in the center of your brain.

Sit in the center of your brain again and see if it's possible to listen to the silence underneath the sounds there for about 15 seconds. Listen to silence in the center of your brain...

How did this feel? Did your mind become quiet for a moment?

Now, let's add Cue #3.

3. Space: focus into open, clear space in the center of your brain.

Imagine the center of your brain as open, clear, and spacious. Go ahead and try this for another 15 seconds. Sit in the open clear space in the center of your brain...

Are you getting a feel for what it's like to have a clear quiet mind-if only for a few brief moments?

Let's add Cue #4.

4. Who is having this experience?

Sit in the center of your brain again and ask "Who is having this experience?" Go ahead, give it a try and see what you discover. Ask yourself, "Who is having this experience?"

For a few moments, did your mind go blank? Did your thoughts stop, for just a second or two? Interesting, isn't it? When I do this, it makes me smile, as if I just discovered a secret treasure.

If you'd like to experiment with these four cues a little longer, and get more familiar with them, go ahead and spend a few minutes practicing them now. What happens when you sit in the center of your brain, feel the still, silent, space there, and ask, "Who is having this experience?"

As you practice these four cues together, over time, they'll blend into one experience of still, silent, spacious awareness. If you prefer, you can also use them individually, especially if you find one of them that really works well for you. I think you'll find this very relaxing.

These four cues come from my book "Clear Quiet Mind." They are just a taste of what the deep inner peace of your clear quiet mind is like. To learn how to deepen, live from, and return to this peaceful state of mind anytime you need, see the link below.

https://ezinearticles.com/?4-Cues-to-Find-the-Deep-Inner-Peace-of-Your-Clear-Quiet-Mind&id=9788583

Be Still

It's early morning in my house - all are sleeping, all is quiet. It's one of my favorite times of the day. No rushing, no deadlines, no last-minute search for backpacks and jackets, keys, and purse. There is something about the sense of quiet, the stillness.

In a world of constant noise, I find that "quiet" has become a precious commodity. Did you ever notice that almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes? I think we all need to "unplug" sometimes.

The other day, in the midst of looming deadlines, orders piling in my inbox, church meetings, and school activities, I decided to stop at a little park down the street with my kids. It was a GORGEOUS day. My three-year-old & five-year-old were thrilled! I sat in the grass and stopped to take it all in. I listened to their laughter. I pushed them on the swings. We all sat in a swinging chair and counted the cars on a train that went by us - 133 cars! They thought that was something!

We looked at our little part of the city from up on a hill, then we sat down below on a bench and talked about how the view changed. We listened to a bird with a very interesting call, and soon a few sticks on the ground became staffs that would forge a new path into an unexplored patch of trees. The kids thought they had quite the adventure when a nearby dog began barking at them and they rushed back to the safety of mom's side!

Finally, we all laid in the grass and looked at the clouds. We watched the breeze move through the trees, and let the sunshine warm our faces. How wonderfully therapeutic it is when we "unplug" from the noise of the world and become aware of the unrushed world of God's creation. In the middle of my "busy" God lead me to a pocket of peace, a place of stillness where I could take a deep breath and recharge.

I want to encourage you to find that place of rest today. Take time to quiet your mind and be still. Take time to be aware of your children and your spouse. Be present in your heart and mind. Breathe deeply. Let God speak to you. What a difference it will make in your life when you choose to protect your peace, when you become intentional about being still and at rest.

You've only got one life to live. Don't let deadlines and "to-do" lists drag you through it. You can still be productive - sometimes more productive - when you "stop and smell the roses." Memories aren't made in the "busy-ness" of life, but in the moments that we choose to make special. Make some memories today. Your children will thank you for it later!!

https://ezinearticles.com/?Be-Still&id=9648054

The Art of Noticing: 3 Steps for Returning to Center

My mind is going a million miles a minute, in a dozen directions. As I lie on the yoga mat, I think:

"Stay here."

I manage it for 3-4 seconds and then I'm off on some thought train.

"Find your Stillness."

Yes, for 3-4 seconds more, and off again.

When meditating each morning, I count my breaths. I'm lucky if get to 5 before I lose track and have to start over. As I count, I'm present. I feel the breath come in and out. Then... I'm not.

That's the point. To notice and come back.

To return to center.

On the mat... and in life.

5 Steps for Returning to Center:

1) Notice you're not.

This is the first and most important step. If you don't notice, you'll never get to the others. Because of this, you want to notice with a smile. "Ah!" As Pema Chodron says, "I take delight." You are already returning to center -- just by noticing.

You want to get really good at this first step.

2) Transform Uncentered Moments Into Centering Practices

All the things that are uncentering now -- make each one a centering practice.

• That difficult person, the one who takes your center and runs away with it. "Ah! Thank you very much for this opportunity to practice." For 5 seconds -- can you center that long around this person? 10 seconds? When you make it interesting for yourself, you will begin to look forward to being in this person's presence so that you can practice.
• The driver who forgets to signal, drives too slow (or too fast!), who cuts you off. "Ah! Thank you very much for this moment. I have a choice. I can get hooked by this emotion or I can breathe, center and return to equanimity."
• Bad weather is one of my favorite teachers. Or unexpected frustrations. Being caught without my raincoat or my sense of humor. Once you notice, it is only and always a choice. All that is required is intention.

3) Practice Gratitude: Accept What Is

In the beginning, when I was first learning the art of centering, I would become disgruntled and angry with myself when I forgot to center, when I missed a ki moment that could have turned out so differently... if only... And, of course, I became even more uncentered.

I've learned to center sooner, to smile at myself more often, and to take myself less seriously. You can, too.

One of my favorite mantras is: Thank you very much. When I say this, I look for the gift that is usually present but that I'm missing by attaching myself to some other desire, by resisting what is. This is another way I have of returning to center.

One of my favorite quotations by Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, is this:

Practice the Art of Peace in a vibrant and joyful manner.

Good ki!

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Art-of-Noticing:-3-Steps-for-Returning-to-Center&id=8543042

Osmosis - Letting It All Soak In

Scientific words are wonderful. They not only are handy when learning science facts or observing during experiments, they waltz right out of the textbook or lab and two-step into everyday language and life. Osmosis is a perfect example of this. Remember that time in the laboratory when you and your partner were examining membranes to better understand how nutrients pass from one layer to the next? It is a fascinating process and one that is necessary for survival. After all without this soaking in, absorption activity, plants and animals would die.

In life we encounter osmosis again and again. When sitting in a long, complicated lecture your mind has a few options. One is to check out and daydream about anything except the topic at hand figuring that you can gain the knowledge in another way, perhaps on the Internet after the extremely boring droning ends. Another choice is to scribble copious notes, taking in every word whether there is any sense in them at all. You can then take these notes home, place them neatly under your pillow and wait attentively in the belief that as your snore away the hours, osmosis will intercede, allowing intelligence to flow off the page, filter through the feathers and thus enter the brain. Learning will ensue. Of course, this decisions is folly but sometimes with added study, it can sort of work.

The best osmosis technique for me has been a combination of the above. I take wild and crazy notes, gathering as much information as possible. I add marks and dashes to areas where I know that Internet research or partner discussion will be essential after the lecture is complete. I also permit moments of pause. Hopefully these arrive when the professor or other lecturer takes a breath so that I do not lose critical input, but sometimes I just have to grab a mental break. During this time, from 30-60 seconds, I reread notes, add quick diagrams or illustrations if necessary, and then I allow osmosis to jump into motion. As ideas whirl and churn on the page, off the page, and through my brain, I have the satisfaction of realizing what I am beginning know and understand while also noting what remains a mystery at the moment. As a result, this idea osmosis authorizes big thoughts and complicated concepts to realign in a pattern that extends and advances my understanding.

Arriving home after this exhausting day of learning, I must review my notes, add to them as necessary, read them aloud, and then, of course, tuck them under the pillow. As the night breezes by my mind will continue to soak in the messages and meanings of my diligent pursuit of knowledge. No, the notes do not really have to go under the pillow but there is something about keeping them handy that better inserts them into long-term memory.

My advice to you is to adapt osmosis as a daily routine. It entails those moments of stillness and silence when you allow your mind and your brain, and even your heart, time to regroup, reorganize, relax, and reinvigorate. Reflecting on facts and phenomenon will bring you to a higher level of understanding as it also acts as a stress reliever. Tranquility and wisdom will gently be absorbed as you are revitalized. Try it soon - it is guaranteed to improve outlook and soul.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Osmosis---Letting-It-All-Soak-In&id=8969663

Your Present Moment - Stillness, Choice and Transformation

Your present moment - this moment - the one you are in right now - is the intersection between your past and your future. If you let them, your time choices come alive in this moment.

At once profound and mysterious, your present moment is a place of stillness. As you allow yourself to settle in and fully experience the stillness, your moment reveals itself as both an opening and a turning point.

Always, your present moment offers you the potential for deep insight and transformation. But the paradox is that it doesn't work to aggressively mine your moments for meaning.

No, it's with openness and stillness that you need to start. I'm not talking about developing a time management skill or implementing a productivity tool but rather about letting yourself experience an encounter.

That is where you need to start, to truly live the power of your present moment. As Marianne Williamson has written:

The present moment, if you think about it, is the only time there is. No matter what time it is, it is always now.

The past is gone and the future has not yet arrived. You are alone with yourself and a wealth of powerful choices as you pause and let yourself just BE in the present moment.

Last week I wrote about living mindfully in your present moment, and one of the things I noted is that:

Living in your moments, breathing in what they have to offer, you get to know yourself. Your wants, needs, and interests are constantly evolving, and they emerge from your moments if you let them.

I'd like to continue and build on that idea today by picking up on an article from zenhabits titled Savor Discipline: Merge the Interests of Your Future & Present Selves. Here Leo Babauta explores the challenge that being disciplined presents us with in our moments. What do we do - how do we choose - when, essentially, our present and future interests aren't in sync?

The first thing that he does - and I love this - is to frame this as a relational issue. We have our present and our future self in dialogue about whatever choice we're wrestling with.

Next, he removes the self-critical component that so often trips us up and keeps us stuck by suggesting that we treat this conversation as an exchange between two friends.

"Imagine you were going to lunch with your friend, and you had to decide where to eat. You each have different preferences. Choosing one over the other - going to Japanese food (your friend's preference) instead vegan Mexican (yours) - isn't fair. So maybe you pick a third choice that you both like (a place that serves sushi burritos, perhaps). Or maybe you choose this time, and your friend chooses the next time. Either way, both are happy."

You pause, in your present moment, and your present and future self work out a compromise. As soon as you pause, you are introducing an element of mindfulness. This, in and of itself is transformative, no matter what you decide.

And of the options available, Savor Discipline is a path that opens new doors that your present and future self hadn't even known existed. I'll explore this exciting option further in my next post, so stay tuned.

And in the meantime, here's to your time success!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Your-Present-Moment---Stillness,-Choice-and-Transformation&id=8959220