The Magic of Meditation | Jack Canfield

Hi there, Jack Canfield here. And today I want to talk to you about something that has been essential of my path to success, and that's meditation. Meditation is a practice where you train your mind or induce a state of consciousness either to realize some benefits such as relaxation, stress reduction, healing, strengthening your life force, or to develop certain qualities such as love, patience, generosity, and forgiveness. It can also be used to access your inner wisdom from your own higher unconscious or from a universal power often referred to as God, infinite intelligence, universal consciousness, or source energy. It's also a powerful tool for accessing your creativity, your intuition, and your inner wisdom. A meditation can help you achieve success a lot faster because when your mind is clear and focused and your body is relaxed and calm, you can access information, both internal and external, that can help you make much better decisions in your life. And the more you meditate, the more access you have to your intuition. Now, there's a growing body of research that shows meditation and mindfulness training improves health, relationship relationships, learning and memory, athletic performance, and business success. Three of the sources of my greatest successes came to me while I was meditating. The title for Chicken Soup for the Soul, which has become a brand worth several hundred million dollars, and the inspiration for the creation of the Transformational Leadership Council and for our online Train the Trainer program, which teaches people how to teach the success principles. There are many different forms of meditation that have been developed over thousands of years and in many diverse cultures, and I teach several of them in my live Breakthrough success trainings in my Awakening Power audio program. Here are the basics and one of the most powerful ones that I simply call the four part meditation. It's so powerful because it integrates four different forms of meditation into one simple practice. So first, you find a quiet place, close your eyes, and then you focus on slowing down your breathing by taking four long, deep, slow breaths. And then you imagine white or golden light streaming up the left side of your body, starting in your left foot, slowly moving up through the entire left side of your body, across your brain, and then down your right side. You imagine it coming out the bottom and then streaming back up again. You do that three times. The second step, after you complete the circulation of light through your body, is to repeat an uplifting word or phrase such as relax or so hum or I am love or I am in the universe and the universe is in me, silently over and over for about three or four minutes. When you're finished with that, the third step is you stop the repetition of your word or phrase and just move into a state of quiet, receptive observation, just noticing any thoughts, feelings, or physical sensations that arise in your consciousness for about three or four minutes again. And if you find yourself lost in a thought, just return to that neutral witness position of observing the thoughts. It's like you're standing on a river watching boats slowly floating by. And if all of a sudden you find yourself in a boat, just step out back onto the shore and start observing your thoughts or your sensations or your feelings again. And the fourth and final step is to spend a few minutes imagining yourself surrounded by a spotlight like I'm surrounded by a spotlight right now, or a sphere of white light. And then after a minute or two of that, spend the remaining minute or two visualizing your top goals as already achie and this step sends your intention out to the universe and helps attract to you people, resources and opportunities for the fulfillment of your goal. Now, whatever form of meditation you do, remember that you can't do it wrong. Whatever you are experiencing is fine. Don't expect to have a totally clear mind or achieve enlightenment overnight. Meditation is a daily discipline that you practice for years, but I promise you, the benefits are so profound. And when you first start, 12 to 20 minutes is plenty and over time you'll find that you'll want to meditate even longer. It's a natural progression. I usually set the timer on my iPhone for about 20 minutes, but remember this, if you don't have 20 minutes, just five minutes of concentrating on the sensation of your breath, either by focusing on the sensation of the air coming in out of your nose or the sensation of the rise and fall of your chest is better than nothing at all. Now here's your homework to complete after watching this video. Just take a moment to get into a comfortable position and focus on your breath. While you're focusing on your breath, you can also focus your mind on one of your personal affirmations as a repetition. Just say it over and over. Another easy way to calm the mind is by visualizing a peaceful scene, such as clouds floating by or the waves on a windy lake growing calmer and calmer. Just start by doing this for at least five minutes every day. Then build on the amount of time you spend meditating. In a few weeks, reassess how you feel mentally and physically. I guarantee you'll notice increased clarity and increased energy in your life. Now go ahead and leave a comment below and let me know if you've ever tried meditation, and if so, in what ways it has benefited you. Thank you for watching. And remember, nothing will change for the better until you do. Now, if you found this video helpful, make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one. And for some additional resources on using meditation, affirmations and visualization to improve your life, visit my website@jackhamfield.com.