Shards of Consciousness

In Podcast 55 - Meditation Breathing Exercises, I discussed two breathing exercises from yoga that are useful in improving your emotional and physical state and preparing for meditation, alternate nostril breathing and the skull shine breath. There is a third breathing exercise that falls into this category, the victorious breath.The victorious breath is easy to learn, has immediate effects due to the oxygenation that it performs, and can be practiced in any posture. I've found it a useful technique to use when walking or waking up in the morning.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in October, 2007 called The Victorious Breath.If what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We're All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

In Podcast 55 - Meditation Breathing Exercises, I discussed two breathing exercises from yoga that are useful in improving your emotional and physical state and preparing for meditation, alternate nostril breathing and the skull shine breath. There is a third breathing exercise that falls into this category, the victorious breath.The victorious breath is easy to learn, has immediate effects due to the oxygenation that it performs, and can be practiced in any posture. I've found it a useful technique to use when walking or waking up in the morning.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in October, 2007 called The Victorious Breath.If what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We're All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

Personal development means different things to different people. We may relate it to becoming more productive, attaining success in whatever field interests us, spiritual growth, or education. Personal development can relate to all these things, and more, but most of the definitions embody adding to, or taking away from, what we already are or have. I suppose this is inevitable. Much of the western world view is mechanistic. Personal development becomes an exercise in engineering wherein traits are added or subtracted from the personality according to plan.In the eastern view embodied in yoga, evolution is seen in terms of removing obstacles to expression, much as a sculptor removes stone to expose the piece of art that lies within. From this procedes an organic view of personal development, whereby that which already exists is allowed expression by the removal of barriers.In this podcast I emphasize the latter.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in October, 2007 called What Personal Development is to MeIf what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We?re All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

When we look around, metaphors abound. One of my favorite metaphors I found in a giraffe at the zoo and his fear of the wide world around him. This podcast tells his story.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in September, 2007 called Leaving the BoxIf what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We?re All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

Courage. The dictionary defines it asThe state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution; bravery.This definition calls up visions of comic book heroes and men and women facing danger without a doubt they can overcome it. Looking at this definition, it's easy to see why many of us, if asked if we are courageous, would answer no.The Latin root of the word means simply heart. There is no mention of self-possession, confidence, bravery. The implication is that, with courage, we face what we fear, we face danger, we face the vicissitudes of life with heart, even though we do feel fear and in the back of our minds we are telling ourselves I can't do this. But we do.In this podcast I discuss how the Cowardly Lion is a better icon of courage than Superman ever was.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in October, 2007 called Everyday CourageIf what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We're All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

She loves me! I enjoy movies. Let's have fun! I love my new car.I'm poor. This job is the pits. Why do I date him. He's always hurting me.Most of us look at our surroundings and our relationships to find our sources of pain and pleasure, the things that make us unhappy and the things that make us joyful. We react to the events of our lives with happiness and sadness, joy and boredom. Life is a Skinner box containing all our rewards and punishments.It doesn't have to be this way. Each of us holds the secret of happiness. That's the subject of this podcast.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in September, 2007 called Are You Willing to be Free?If what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We?re All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

Not all exercises require us to hit the gym. Sometimes the most effective techniques are also the most simple. Yoga long ago developed techniques that ask you to just sit quietly and breathe in a predetermined manner to experience changes in your health, improve your emotional well-being, and heighten your mental faculties.In this podcast I discuss two yoga breathing exercises that can be highly effective in improving your health and emotional state. These are alternate breathing and the skull shine breath. Take just a few minutes a day for a few months to practice them, and you'll see their benefits in your life.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in September, 2006 called Meditation Breathing ExercisesIf what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We?re All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

Odd as it sound may sound, finding out what we believe isn't always an easy task. It isn't that the beliefs that shape our world are buried deep in our unconscious. They're not. But they do tend to hide in dusky, ill lit corners. They work their magic from the shadows while more obvious beliefs obscure their presence. In this podcast I talk about a way we can use our awareness of the obvious beliefs to sweep some of these shadow beliefs out of the corners and into the light where we can examine them and work with them.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in August, 2007 called How to Learn What Your Beliefs ImplyIf what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We?re All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

Personal growth results from changing our beliefs. Before we can change your beliefs, we have to know what they are. In this podcast I discuss one meditative technique we can use to become aware of the beliefs that are guiding our behavior and emotions.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in July, 2007 called Beliefwork - Meditation on an IssueIf what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We?re All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

Television shows can be the source of a lot of metaphors in our lives. And no wonder, there is an interplay between the fiction of the broadcast and the experience of living in which each shapes the other. In this episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast I touch on cooking shows, and how they can accurately, and inaccurately, act as a metaphor for living.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in July, 2007 called If All Else Fails, Read the DirectionsIf what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We?re All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network

The dictionary defines a hero as A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. We have all had heroes in our lives. They may be someone we know face to face. They may be a character from fiction. They could be a figure from history or mythology.In this podcast I talk a little about heroes - where we find them, and other places they exist that we may not think to look.This episode of the Shards of Consciousness podcast is based on a post I wrote in July, 2007 called Where's Your Hero?.If what you hear is useful to you, subscribe to the Shards of Consciousness podcast through iTunes or the feed. Tell your friends about us. Let me know what you think.Music FeaturedCorey&Cosmo - We're All Stars - Transcontinental Experiment RemixMusic provided by the PodShow Podsafe Music Network