Mindfulness Meditation and the Law of
Attraction
by Kevin Doherty
Do you feel overwhelmed and at odds with
your life? Does it seem like your mind rambles incessantly, as if you
can never experience a moment of peace? Many people in our modern world
describe their lives as frenzied and imbalanced. The good news is that
it doesn't have to be this way. Many Asian cultures have understood
something for the past several thousand years that modern people are
gradually beginning to discover: That we have to learn how to work with
our minds in a conscious and healthy way if we are to attract peace,
abundance, and joy into our lives. Without a consistent method of
cultivating awareness, we will be forever resigned to circumstances that
feel out of our control. That is why so many modern people are
struggling. We have lost the ancient practice of connecting our inner
world of thoughts, feelings, and energy with our outer world of the
circumstances we attract into our lives. Because of this, everything
that appears seems to be random. We lose trust in the unfolding of the
universe. As a result, our minds are filled with anxiety and worry,
which only attracts more seeming chaos and confusion into our lives.
Does this sound familiar?
The law of attraction states that what
you focus on expands. If your thoughts and feelings resonate with
anxiety and confusion, then you will attract more of those qualities to
you through your relationships, work, finances, etc. The key is not to
trick our minds into creating positive thoughts through affirmations or
other methods, but to develop space around the workings of our minds
altogether. Herein lies the magic of mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness
is a method of becoming acutely aware of everything that happens within
the scope of our perception. We shed light on what we think, feel, and
sense. We make conscious all of the subconscious material that typically
sabotages our good intentions. We don't try to change it. Instead, we
just become extremely aware of it. We do this by sitting still and doing
nothing but watching how our mind works without attachment or judgment.
We just sit and witness what takes place within us and we start to draw
parallels between what we believe to be true and what we are constantly
attracting into our lives.
Many people, particularly Westerners, try
meditation for a period of time and then give up after getting
frustrated with the process. This is because we are always looking for
results. We are deeply attached to our expectations of what should
happen. Most of us try to use meditation to shut our minds down, to
dwell in a space of 'no thought.' If you try to use meditation to stop
thinking, you are in for a rude surprise. You simply cannot do it. In
fact, the harder you try to stop thinking, the louder and more obnoxious
your thoughts become. This is not the way. The main intention of
mindfulness is to be fundamentally OK with whatever arises as you
practice. Whether you have a good thought or a bad thought, you give it
the same attention. You remain neutral. By doing this, you stop feeding
the energy of your thoughts. This is the first step in cutting through
the vicious cycle of
thought-feeling-reaction that keeps so
many of us habitually attracting the wrong kinds of energy, people, and
circumstances into our lives. If we believe what we think, the energy of
the thought will evolve into a feeling. The momentum of the feeling will
cause us to react to it, which will create a cause in the world that
will always lead to an effect. The effect will always be a reflection of
that initial thought impulse. So, if your thoughts are habitually
centered around negativity, greed, fear, or narcissism, then the effects
you will see in your life will mirror this back to you.
Mindfulness is a process of becoming
truly proactive for the first time in your life. Most of the time, we
are just reacting to what we think and feel, which brings us endless
cycles of conflict and disappointment. When we remain neutral to our
thoughts and feelings, then we will gradually make contact with an
aspect of ourselves that is spontaneous and awake. We will act (not
react) from this place. We will attract what we truly desire into our
lives based on a conscious process of heightening our senses. And, yes,
at some point the mind does slow down. We experience wonderful and
refreshing moments of peace and openness. The universe is naturally seen
as a benevolent place. Instead of our typical attempts to outsmart the
universe, mindfulness is a humbling process of surrender and gratitude.
Cultivate space, endless space, around
your thoughts and feelings. Allow your spirit to inhabit your body
fully. Don't buy into self-defeating storylines and beliefs. Don't try
to force yourself to see the positive in life or repeat useless
affirmations that you have no innate connection with. Instead, taste the
perfection of this moment as it is. If you can feel in your bones that
you are fundamentally OK and that life is precious, you will attract
much more meaningful relationships with people, better health, more
fulfilling work and more prosperity on all levels of being. That is the
power of mindfulness.
About the Author
Kevin Doherty, L.Ac., MS is a licensed
acupuncturist in private practice in Superior, Co. where he teaches many
of his patients how to meditate to enhance their health and overall
quality of life. For more information on Kevin and his approach to
meditation, go to http://www.mindfulnesscd.net
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