Your Delicious Life

by Alison Nancye
One of the benefits of meditation is to enjoy a quiet, still and calm mind. Yet you don't always have to meditate in a quiet space sitting still to create calm thoughts. Infact if you have a lot of head talk going on, you're probably not't going to get a lot from your meditation rituals by spending your entire time trying not to focus on the self chatter you have going on.

Sooooo why not choose a piece of music, a song you love or a CD you find relaxing or enjoyable and 'meditate' to that.

Put your headphones on and sit down or walk in nature and just be. Or if you really want to get out of your head and into your body and heart, dance to your piece of music or favourite CD. I often do this with my kids in our kitchen and no matter how much tension we had before the music goes on, we always come out of our dancing zones smiling, chilled and happy.

When you watch dancers who are purely in the zone, they are in a kind of meditative trance, feeling the music, feeling at one with nature and relaxed and in their heart.

Adding music to your meditation rituals is a great way to release stress and let go of stuff that may be weighing you down. No matter how busy or full on your world is, giving yourself 5 - 10 minutes to listen (and even dance) to music each day will really feed your soul.

Enjoy ☺

Try this soothing track from Lyndal Edwards' Meditation & Relaxation Chill Pill CD to relax and unwind your mind.

Click here to chill out NOW

by Alison Nancye

Have you ever seen a stressed out fisherman? Fishing has to be one of the most relaxing, meditative, calming activities, you can do to de-stress and chill out.

I was away with my family on holidays recently and my husband was teaching our children to fish for the first time (V cute!). Anyway our two-year-old son said 'mummy look at the circles'. He had become mesmerised by the ripples in the water that take effect once you cast the line and watch and wait for a nibble.

When I’m away on vacation I don’t tend to meditate in the ‘traditional’ sense as much as I do at home. But I do find ‘other’ ways to meditate through recreational activities like fishing, swimming, taking a long bath or sitting on the sand and watching the ocean do its glorious thing.

The ‘traditional’ way to meditate isn’t always as natural or enjoyable for all of us all the time, but you can still enjoy the benefits of meditating by calming your mind through relaxed activities such as taking a fishing rod and some bait to a beautiful destination or doing a few laps in a pool.

Whether it's hot, cold or warm, water has to be one of the most calming tools you can use to de-stress and take time out from your busy and full life. Use it for some regular R & R and I'm sure you'll take to it like a 'duck to water'.

by Alison Nancye

Today is the first day of Spring (Down Under) and the sun has truly come out today to remind us there is infact light at the end of the incredibly cold winter we have just had.

Spring is the time for coming out of hibernation and opening up to all the possibilities that lay before you. It's a time to plant new seeds of hope, dreams, and great times ahead.

It's actually the perfect time to Meditate on Your Dreams. Here's how ...

1) Choose a place outside in the warm sunshine or somewhere indoors that is light and overlooks water or nature. (My Kitchen view is exquisite. Every time I look out to the sea from my kitchen I open up to all the possibilities and adventures before me).

2) On a blank page in your notebook, write at the top of the page My Spring Dreams and date the page.

2) Take a moment to breath in the warm sunshine of Spring.

3) Close your eyes and imagine you are truly coming alive and jumping out of your skin and into Spring.

4) Imagine all the things you would love to do, be and experience in the year ahead. Consider areas such as Home Life, Career, Relationships, Family, Wealth & Abundance, Knowledge, Health, etc.

5) Just allow yourself to truly take in all that you would love from now until next Spring.

6) When you feel ready, open your eyes and write down what you saw, felt, experienced and imagined for your Spring Dreams.

7) Now place your notes in a special spot at home or in your wallet and get on with cooking up and savouring those dreams that lay before you.

Happy Dreaming everyone :)

by Alison Nancye

It's interesting that the first and last thing that happens in anyone's life, no matter what goes on in between, is the Breath. Yet somewhere in our life journey, through all the stress, achieving and busyness, we forget the simple, beautiful, incredible gift of our breath.

Ingrid Bacci Ph.D talks about this in her book The Art of Effortless Living. (This really is a wonderful read, do check it out!) One of the meditation exercises in the book talks about focussing on the rise and fall of your breath. Not altering it in anyway, just simply breathing and observing, breathing and observing, and so on. What Dr Bacci suggests is through the simple exercise of doing nothing else other than observing your breath, you can not only feel better inside, but you can also influence people around you to feel better about you too.

This incredibly simple, yet profoundly powerful meditation exercise, can help you whenever you are feeling anxious, stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted in your daily lives.

To simply focus on your breath and be reminded what an incredible gift it is, is a powerful way to shift your focus anywhere, anytime. Try it and receive the benefits right now.