Enlightened Living Radio | Enlightened Mind, Healthy Body

There is no denying the fact that we have experienced dramatic change in our world over the past few years.  Many are avoiding it but there is no denying it.  We see a worldview unlike anything most of us have experienced in our lifetime.  This week's podcast looks at how and why the masses lose their mind during times of crisis.  Here is part 1 of a series that looks at the fascinating history of mind control.  let's explore how and why we lose our mind, more importantly, how we can take back control to help the human species evolve 

Even the most practiced and spiritually grounded are having a difficult time staying grounded in these changing times.  Today I offer you a short meditation to help ease anxiety and find some peace of mind.   Use headphones, find a safe and comfortable place to relax.  Do not listen to while driving.    

In today's podcast, Suanne will share her own personal emotional response to the events of the past year.  There is no question that the world has shared a collective trauma.  One year after the media took hold of our minds, we see clearly the attempts made by select groups to leverage existential fear and paranoia in order to craft an artificial reality with the intention of controlling people.  While every single human being has been affected by these events, we're not experiencing these conditions in exactly the same way, each of us is responding based on our unique histories, programmed beliefs, strengths, and vulnerabilities. Past traumas have had an especially powerful effect on reactions to this pandemic. Millions of people with unhealed trauma had severe reactions to the actions of those claiming to have our best interests in mind. What does a trauma response look like?  How can we recognize that we may be having a reactivation of past trauma and what can we do about it?  How do we move forward when, collectively, we have been the victim of trauma? This dark time is, in truth, an opportunity to heal. Today, we look at one step in the direction of healing.

Feeling anxious, unsettled, overwhelmed?  Take a 5 minute break to ease your mind and re-align with the source of your true power.

You are perfectly designed to maintain health and balance. Your body has a natural defense mechanism against invading agents and is constantly working to find homeostasis, often we just need to get out of the way.  The viral pandemic we are facing today is creating unprecedented fear and uncertainty and we are all trying to gain some sense of control.  The mainstream narrative is doing a fantastic job of keeping everyone deeply entrenched in a fear state without giving any practical self care advise outside of "wash your hands."  There has been little, if any, mention of bolstering your immune system so that when, not if, but when you get exposed you'll be better prepared to move through it with ease. The manipulation of information designed to broadcast a message of fear is proving very difficult for us to find a hope or positivity, even though we know how important that is for healthy immune function. In this weeks podcast, we look at ways to protect both your body and your mind against various forms of infection.

Our minds are limited. It is confined by what it has learned, and a fraction of the world that can be conceived by the five senses.  Meditation is a way to see and to know more than your mind can know.  Awaken your innate wisdom to know your eternal teacher and guide that lives within you. May you discover these gifts and fro the experiences you gain there, share them with the world.

In our last podcast, we discussed the power of the placebo and nocebo in affecting the physiology of the body, which shows the power of belief.   This week we look at Dissociative Identity Disorder and how it is proving just how powerful the mind really is. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder, shows us the true power of the mind's ability to affect the body.  People with DID have at least two distinct personalities. That means that completely different people can occupy the very same physical body.  When one "takes over" from another, often a difference in personality is clearly seen by his or her loved ones, but not only personality changes are observed, physical changes as well. In my research, I discovered an interesting article written in the New York Times Science section by Daniel Coleman, published in June 1988, that sheds light on the ability of your mind to heal your body.  A summary of the article is this week's podcast.  It's been over 30 years since this article was written, I can't help but wonder why the medical establishment hasn't spent more time and funding in researching the mind/body connection and the power the mind clearly has to change the body's biology. 

The New Year is a time to create a clean slate, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually and when you do a new year meditation, you open yourself to allowing grace and transformation.   This is a time to let go of the old you and begin afresh.  You can create new goals and breathe new energy and more life into goals that may have been put on a back burner.

Can the mind heal the body and can we prove it?  Do we possess hidden superpowers that can affect our physical, mental, and emotional health?  For the past fifty years, we've seen proof of that in the form of the 'placebo effect.'  And while this may prove challenging to the established medical model, it's great news for you and me.  We have within us an inner healer that we can use to promote a quantum leap in how we think about health and healing.

A meditation on infinite space, which is the field of infinite possibility.  Here is the home of creative energy where you can co-create your deepest desires and manifest your dreams.  Use this meditation to strengthen your ability to access this place and begin building creating the life you'd love to live. Please DO NOT listen to this while driving 

The exploration into consciousness, matter, and our connection to a larger field of energy, or possibility is an honorable journey.  The pioneering work of some frontier scientists has changed our view on a number of deeply ingrained beliefs about ourselves and our place in the world. Dr. Bruce Lipton, Lynn McTaggart, and Gregg Braden are pioneers in the study of consciousness, healing, and other secrets of the Universe.  The new landscape of quantum science is changing the way we view the world in which we live, and it's astonishing!

Breathing Practice - Pranayama. Alternate Nasal Breathing practice to balance the energy and synchronize the brain hemispheres.    Find a comfortable meditative posture and begin with simple breath awareness practice, moving into diaphragmatic breathing and then follow the guided practice. *Please be sure you are free of any health issues that would be contraindicative to breathing practices.  

We've all heard it said that we use only ten percent of our brain.  It turns out to be wrong, I'm sure you assumed that. That urban myth resulted from a misrepresented explanation of nerve cells in the brain.  The truth about the brain and it's potential are still being discovered, and it's truly exciting.  We're going to take a look at some of the emerging research in neuroscience, particularly in the areas of neuroplasticity and how your brain can change.  And we're going to be looking at some practices that help to activate certain parts of the brain, how we can create brain balance, and can we re-wire the brain for better health and wellbeing.  The implications coming from this research should give us all hope!

This meditation practice shifts your focus to your body by asking you to observe its sense perceptions - physical sensations, sight, sounds. Before you begin this meditation you may wish to find a small object to observe during the practice, such as a shell or a leaf.  This is a practice for when you are feeling disconnected with your body, or having trouble taking care of yourself physically.  Please find a comfortable and undisturbed place to practice, do not listen to while driving.

When the mind is free from all conditioning, then you will find that there comes the creativity of reality, of spirit.  And it is only such a mind, a mind which is constantly experiencing this creativity, that can bring about a different outlook, different values, a different world.  According to the wisdom traditions, our source of suffering and dissatisfaction is the first truth of existence.  All the pain we bring to ourselves and others is our own doing.  It comes from our own hearts and minds, out of our confusion and if we don't figure out what the problem is, we are going to perpetuate it, generation after generation.

A 10-minute meditation to help you tap into your inner sense of knowing your true worth.  At your core, you are pure love and you are worthy of receiving all that you desire.  However, if there are any limiting beliefs surrounding your sense of deserving, the dreams and desires you put out into the universe will be muted by the voice of disbelief.  Please find a comfortable and safe place to listen to this meditation, it is best listened to with headphones.  Please do not listen to this while driving

There are a few key principles that must be employed if we are to ensure our dreams manifest as our reality.  When we are feeling stuck and frustrated because our vision doesn't seem to be coming to life, it doesn't mean we should give up on our dreams, it means we need to look at the energy and the thoughts surrounding the vision, are we feeding it with powerful intention and belief?  

In this 15 minute guided meditation, we tap into the past thoughts and beliefs that are stored in the body and learn to express gratitude for the messenger of past experience.  Grateful that now we can do something different, to move toward a different experience.  Allow open acceptance throughout your whole body to bring us into a wholeness again. Please meditate in a quiet place free from distractions. Sit tall and comfortably, take a few deep cleansing breaths, close your eyes.  Please do not listen to this meditation while driving.

In part IV of the Hero's Journey, we learn to listen to the small clues that we receive in our life that something is out of balance.  If we hear the "soft signals" and course correct, we can, potentially, avoid the bumpier terrain.  The question is not if life is sending us signals, it's what are the signals?  In this discussion we see how moving away from the victim mentality and change our perspective, we can use the experience to move forward.

This week on our journey, we talk about finding the gift that the challenges we face come to bring us.  How we can allow our experience to help move us forward rather than take us down.  When we are faced with our dark night, we have one of two choices in how we will respond, one is to become a victim of our story, and the other is see the growth opportunity in the experience and make it a victory story.  We learn to neutralize the energetic charge the experience has on us and in us, and then we are able to look for the learning 

In part II of our Hero's Journey exploration, we talk about taking the long view, keeping our present difficulty in the context of a much bigger picture.  When you can hold what you are going through in a larger perspective it gives you the ability to be bigger than what you are facing.  We draw from the work of Joseph Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces

True peace is always possible, yet it requires strength and practice, particularly in times of great difficulty.  Each of will experience times n our life that are challenging, sometimes referred to as The Dark Night, times when it may feel like the light is not shinning on us.  There are tools and technologies that can help us navigate through life's tougher terrain and difficult moments.  Over the next several weeks, we'll be exploring the possibilities of this particular juncture in life.  We can learn how to have the circumstance without it having us, and we can learn ho to use those experiences to help us move into a higher version of ourselves, a new beginning.  I was blessed to journey through a program called Standing Firm When Your World Is Shaking by my mentor Mary Morrissey a handful of years back. My mind recites the lessons on a daily basis, and I would now love to share them with you. 

A meditation to help you see and accept all aspects of you. Please meditate in a quiet place free from distractions. Sit tall and comfortably, take a few deep cleansing breaths, close your eyes.  Please do not listen to this meditation while driving.

Take a few minutes out of your day to settle down and turn inward.  Find a sense of calm confidence as you move deep within yourself to that place of quiet stillness.  Here you can allow the body and mind to release stress and fear.   This eight minute meditation is best listened to with headphones, but please do not drive while listening.

Self love is where we began.  The wounds of human experience can pull us away from our natural state of self awareness and appreciation. Healing occurs very much like peeling an onion, when we peel away one layer, there are many others beneath. This meditation is powerful and it is important to focus on one layer at a time.  Healing the heart is the doorway back to self love. Begin by taking a deep breath in and focus on your heart.   Listen to this five minute meditation often to heal the layers back to self love.  Please do not listen to this while driving.

A meditation to help you release stress, worry, tension, negative emotions and thoughts.  Give yourself five minutes to just be, without expectations or distractions.  Taking a break from the constant demand of doing.  This short meditation is a perfect rest in the busyness of your day.  Enjoy this while relaxing in a safe place free of distractions, headphones are most effective.  DO NOT listen to this while driving.  Breathe!

The Autumn season finds us moving from the external, expansive nature of summer to the internal, contractive nature of autumn.  This is a perfect time to focus more on the internal - cultivating body and mind and becoming more introspective.  A time to be more mindful and let go of anything you may be holding on to so you can make room for new experiences that help you grow and learn.  It is a time to release thoughts that keep you in a negative place and to cultivate thoughts that will help raise not only your energy, but the energy of the world!  Thoughts become things, choose yours wisely.

We are often very attached to the stories of who we've been told we are, what we've experienced, and what our circumstances and conditioning have made us believe we are capable of.  We wear labels and identities that aren't usually a true reflection of "who we are".  You are not your story.  You are so much more than that which you have allowed yourself to be identified as.  You are not the label you wear and you are more than the circumstances in your life.  How do we begin to find the truth of who we are and dis-identify with the thoughts that we think we are?

Dis-identify from your thoughts.  True liberation, "moksah" comes from being able to live from this dis-identified state, to know "I am not my thoughts"  Then our actions and our words are more mindful and come from a feeling state.  When we can live like this, this is Bliss. Take a comfortable posture for your meditation where you will not be disturbed, allow yourself this time to relax and be with yourself. Please do not listen to this while driving.

A short guided meditation to help you begin to clear the lenses of subjective experience that may be clouding your clear view of the world. To help you focus your attention inward and begin to dis-identify with the contents of the limiting beliefs.  This is the key to finding inner peace. This meditation should not be listened to while driving. Set aside some quiet time for your meditation in a place that is free from distractions and interruption.  Sit comfortably on the floor or in a chair. Now set your intention for your meditation. It may be to understand another persons view of the world, being open to acceptance of different perspectives or opinions, or to remove the clouded lenses of subjective beliefs.

How is it two people can have a completely different view of the exact same experience? Are we sure that what we "see" is true? How do our experiences create our reality?  These are big questions and deep subject matters, but understanding that each of us has a unique view of the world due to perceptions colored by lenses of past experiences, helps us to begin to clear our eyes.  If we are to try and understand how another person navigates their reality, we must begin to recognize that our view isn't the only view and our map of reality is unique and often distorted by what we "think" we know. The journey begins with a willingness to explore, and then the courage to change.

This is a meditation of care, concern, tenderness, loving kindness, friendship and a feeling of warmth for oneself and others. The practice is the softening of the mind and heart, an opening to deeper and deeper levels of the feeling of kindness, of pure love.  Take a comfortable posture for your meditation where you will not be disturbed, allow yourself this time to relax and be with yourself.  Please do not listen to this while driving.

Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian prayer used for healing, transformation and increased inner-pease and self-love.  It's a simple yet powerful way to bring healing and forgiveness into your life stream. Similar to the Metta bhavana, or loving-kindness meditation that comes from the Buddhist tradition, both are methods of developing compassion.  Regardless of your religious affilation, the practice of Ho'oponopono and the loving-kindness meditaiton can be adapted and practiced by anyone as they are essentially about cultivating love without conditions.

Another Breath Awareness Meditation. Tune in, connect, and pay attention to the simple act of your breathing. Feel how awareness of your life force can bring you into the present moment and create a sense of calmness in your body and your mind. Set aside 10 minutes to practice this simple guided meditation in a safe, comfortable place, free of distraction. Headphones are recommended for best experience and please do not listen to this while driving.

Tune in, connect, and pay attention to the simple act of your breathing. Feel how awareness of your life force can bring you into the present moment and create a sense of calmness in your body and your mind.  Set aside 10 minutes to practice this simple guided meditation in a safe, comfortable place, free of distraction. Headphones are recommended for best experience and please do not listen to this while driving.  

The breathing practices we learn in Yoga are very powerful and designed to support the life force energy within the body. Effective breathing patterns are powerful immune system strengtheners as well important tools in the control of consciousness. Learning how to breath properly can help you heal both body and mind.  But how often do you even pay attention to this automatic process in your body?  The way we breathe can affect all the systems on our body as well as our psycho-emotional health, and reversing bad breathing habits can reverse many negative health symptoms. But it all begins by simply tuning in and paying attention.

A 10 minute guided meditation to help you find your center, to help you focus you attention inward and connect with your authentic self. This is the key to finding inner peace. This meditation should not be listened to while driving.  Set aside some quiet time for your meditation in a place that is free from distractions and interruption.  This is time for you, and for being you.  This is the greatest gift you can give yourself and others: your authenticity.  Sit comfortably on the floor or in a chair.  Now set your intention for your meditation.  It may be to find a deeper connection with your true self, to experience true being, to find inner peace, to relax, or to grow in wisdom, compassion, and gratitude.

Finding our true self is one of the most important things we do in our effort to live an authentic life.  There are actions we can take to help us find this place, and there are things we can do to get us back into a good space and to help relieve our suffering and reach enlightenment.  The greatest tool for achieving this is our very own mind.  Today you will hear excerpts from two of my favorite books, just two of many that serve as guidebooks for me. 

This is a guided meditation for clearing out the old, limiting beliefs and thoughts that no longer serve you.  It is an opportunity to plant the seeds of new goals and intentions. This 15 minute meditation should NOT be listened to while driving.  Sit back and enjoy!

Spring is a time for renewal and rebirth, a time for planting seeds for new goals, new beginnings.  But ensuring your dreams and intentions flourish, it's important to weed the field in which they are planted, clear the toxicity that may choke out the possibility for new growth.  Now is the time to literally and metaphorically clean your house.

This is a guided meditation intended to help you achieve a deep state of inner peace.  Find a comfortable, undisturbed and safe place to relax and listen.  Headphones are best, and please remember...DO NOT listen to this while driving.  Enjoy

In this episode, the subject is how we can work to stay centered and grounded in our spiritual practice during difficult times.  In the wake of yet another tragic event that has us questioning the sanity of a nation, the moral fabric of a society, and the existence of a just and loving higher power, it is easy to get pulled into the negative and contracting energy of hate and fear.  How can we maintain an energy of hope and love so that we can be a beacon of light in the dark hours.

This is a guided meditation for emotional cleansing.  This is a 10 minute meditation.  Please find a safe, comfortable place free of distractions to relax and listen.  DO NOT listen to while driving.  Enjoy

Following the discussion on annual detoxification rituals, Suzanne talks about the importance of cleansing the mind of toxic emotions and feelings to ensure an holistic approach to detoxing.

In this episode, Suzanne takes the opportunity to discuss the annual ritual of new year resolution setting, most of which revolve around improving health.  Have you considered, or do you practice a detoxification or cleansing ritual this time of year?  Here are a few thoughts about that. Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

In this welcome episode, you will be introduced to the founder of Enlightened Living and get to know her background as well as her intention in creating the Enlightened Living brand.  We are a nation in need of awakening and healing, and Suzanne and her network of amazing friends and colleagues wish to inspire, empower, and offer you enlightened ideas and resources to help with that mission.  Namaste