Readings
by Elisa
Resources
Readings are great "snapshots" of the energies within your life. They are valuable navigation tools. But, readings aren't a substitute for needed counseling and/or other therapeutic remedies for overcoming a serious challenge you're facing. So, if you know you need help, do not put it off. Start by visiting the applicable website(s) below, and go from there.
Addiction Recovery
Addictions have lessons to teach us, if we carefully listen to them. For those who are ready to pursue recovery, there are numerous support groups and organizations. These resources provide fellowship, practical information, and referrals to healing and other services. Here are links to a few organizations supportive of the recovery process:
Grief and Survivor Support
It seems like Western culture encourages us to have a short emotional attention span. Even well-meaning loved ones and friends often advise us to "just get over it" and "move on," without even realizing we may need more time to process certain emotions and thoughts, to adjust. Since our needs for closure and resolution are seldom honored, at times we have to seek outside support in order to truly heal and achieve peace with certain issues in our lives.
In my readings, I have noticed that many people are actually grieving about something, without even realizing it. This makes sense when you think about it. We experience so many "deaths" in the course of living, not just those of loved ones passing away. There are deaths of relationships, deaths of lives we may have lived before moving to a new location. Sometimes, we grieve the loss of a job ...and so on. Furthermore, many of us have survived serious, traumatic experiences for which we may need extra help in processing and transcending. So, here are links to grief and survivor support services that I hope will help you achieve the healing you need:
Meditation
Unless you are directed by a healthcare professional not to meditate, a meditation practice will support your efforts to overcome any challenge. Many scientific studies suggest there are physiological and psychological advantages to meditation. Anyone could benefit from it --active children needing to center themselves, busy business people needing to focus and solve problems, students learning and integrating new material, homemakers coordinating hectic schedules and chores.
A lot of people want to mediate but don't know where to start. My approach is to start at the beginning. Every day, even every session, is a new beginning. No matter how distracted you are and how hopeless it feels, just allow each session to unfold as it will, without expecting a "perfect" meditation practice (which doesn't exist, anyway). Little by little, this approach will add confidence to your practice.
As far as what style of meditation to practice, I personally recommend either Chan, Insight, Vipassana or Zen meditation. The simpler, the better. To me, the less emphasis on chanting, incense, and other bells and whistles --and the more emphasis on "just sitting"-- the better.
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How to Practice Vipasanna Meditation - by Shambhala Sun
A Moving Meditation - Relaxing!
These exercises are good to do before beginning your sitting meditation session, to release tension from your body and thereby settle your mind. Movements are taken from various practices, such as Chigong, etc. They stimulate key meridian points that facilitate your ability to sit comfortably for a long time. Also good to do during breaks at work, or between school study sessions, etc.
