Hawaii’s Ancient Meditation Practices ~ 3 Techniques from the Islands

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ALO-HA

The Alo-Ha meditation is a good base technique. ‘When we’re born, we’re very connected to our soul and our physical self, but as we get into our lives we become separated further and further. Meditation can help reunite your body and your soul.’ The meditation is broken into two components – ‘Alo’ means being connected as one, ‘Ha’ is the essence of life, where the evolutionary process unfolds. ‘Meditation is about focus, focus, focus and the Alo-Ha brings the meditator’s attention back to focus’.

Alo-Ha can be performed anywhere. The practitioner should naturally inhale on the Alo and exhale on the Ha. ‘Observe yourself, observe your breath, feel every muscle that moves from the natural movement of the breath.’

KUKULU OKE AO

Known as ‘The Pillar of Light’ and speaks to the native Hawaiians unique relationship with the earth. Both the human and the earth’s templates are the same. ‘Templates are blueprints of all matter’. They are sound and light grids. Often our templates are shut down, limiting our connection to the earth. Kukulu o kea o is used to bring harmony into a dis-harmonic environment.  ‘Our body is programmable by language and thoughts’. Every thought we have affects our body and creates a frequency or combination of density and light. Most of us are stuck in density, unable to access the higher light frequency of our being.

During this meditation, visualise a teardrop. Many symbols were envisioned by kahuna and passed down through the generations in secret. The teardrop represents the energetic fields or ‘encasements’ for our higher bodies, which is linked to our higher level of consciousness. The meditator visualizes a multi-dimensional teardrop moving with the exhale breath like a lizard, from the mind’s eye or pineal gland, along the spine, down to the sacrum, or ‘core of the earth.’ The earth’s piko, or chakra, has a pale silver colour. This colour is brought into the teardrop.

Next, the teardrop is brought about 12 inches below the meditator’s feet or seat if sitting, with a cord that is pale silver and connected to the earth’s core. From here the practitioner ‘opens’ their template that is about four feet in diameter. The cord is expanded to match the diameter of the template and then lifted up and around the body and into the universe. The teardrop is then taken through the spine up to three feet above the head, and then expanded into the earth’s atmosphere.

Ha ‘EHIKU

This final meditation enables hearing. Here, ‘ha’ means the essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds. ”Ehiku’ means seven, the number of times the meditation is to be repeated. Breathing is key. Whether the meditator breathes through their nose or mouth is inconsequential, although it is advised to close the throat a bit to control the breath.

On an inhalation of seven seconds the practitioner is to focus on their desired result or goal through a stated thought such as ‘I am healthy’. The next step is to hold the breath for seven seconds. During a seven second exhale, thanks is given through a stated thought, such as: ‘Thank You’. Your thoughts create many things, and the power behind this meditation is infinite. You are responsible for your personal energies.

Equipped with the knowledge of these three meditations, practitioners should be invigorated and ready to seize the day. There are secrets in our chants that have all the information you really need to be successful in life, healthy in life and to be on a path. It’s not that Hawaiians have all the answers, but we have part of the puzzle.

Dr.Maka’ala Yates, founder of the Hawaiian Healing Academy.

Swadhaya through Pranayama

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Our breathing not only connects us with the outer world, but it also connects our body, mind, emotions and spirit. Sit quietly with eyes closed and spine erect but supple.  Begin to relax more and more into this very simple posture. Simply follow the breath going in and out of one’s nose. Then follow the actual movement of the air into and out of the lungs. Observe the body and sense where the breath is taking place. Does it take place in the shoulders, the chest or the lower abdomen? Do your shoulders go up when you inhale? does your belly go out or in? Do you feel your breathing in your ribs, your back and your pelvis? As you sense your breathing, are your inhalations and exhalations taking place evenly and harmoniously or do they seem to pull in one direction or another? What tensions do you feel? What does your breathing ‘sound’ like? As you sense the location of your breath, do you feel peaceful, agitated, angry, joyful, sad, bored or wilful? Are you being stubborn or rigid in your thinking? What are you thinking and feeling?

In addition, at the more advanced levels of this work with breathing, one can even sense a certain quality of energy that seems to enter with each breath, and one can follow the movement of this energy in one’s body. The purpose here is simply to observe – not to analyze, judge or manipulate.

Do self-study at least 20 minutes at the beginning of each day.

Swadhyaya through Yoga

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Yoga is a philosophy of life, which is not restricted to just Asanas and Pranayama. It is a path of all-round development of an individual’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self. As the Vishnu-Purana states that self-study and yoga are not ultimately two separate things but both arise together from each other. Through Yoga and study, we have a chance to observe how our bodies, breath, mind and emotions have responded. For example, when you do a Yoga pose, you follow instructions. You learn as to how to get into the pose and how to align all body parts in tune with gravity. This is just the knowledge and the foundation of the yoga posture. But the power of the practice comes when we add observation or consciousness to the knowledge i.e Swadhyaya. Though consciousness already exists in the body, it needs to be tapped through Swadhyaya. Then in each pose, we align the body mindfully in tune with gravity for maximum balance, space and freedom to the spine, inner organs and to the breath. This observation leads to a deeper understanding and a communion with each asana. In the same way you can add the quality of curiosity, observation and exploration in each step of your life. Whatever you do, do it mindfully and consciously instead of doing it mechanically. It is true that mechanical repetition only dulls, but where there is profound attention one never stops seeing deeper and deeper. The next time you step into your Yoga pose or into your daily routine, add Swadhyaya to it.

Breathing Meditation

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Generally, the purpose of breathing meditation is to calm the mind and develop inner peace.  We can use breathing meditations alone or as a preliminary practice to reduce our distractions.

Simple Breathing Meditation

The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and make our mind clearer and more lucid. This can be accomplished by practicing a simple breathing meditation. We choose a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. We can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any other position that is comfortable. The most important thing is to keep our back straight to prevent our mind from becoming sluggish or sleepy.

We sit with our eyes partially closed and turn our attention to our breathing. We breathe naturally, preferably through the nostrils, without attempting to control our breath, and we try to become aware of the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. This sensation is our object of meditation. We should try to concentrate on it to the exclusion of everything else.

At first, our mind will be very busy, and we might even feel that the meditation is making our mind busier; but in reality we are just becoming more aware of how busy our mind actually is. There will be a great temptation to follow the different thoughts as they arise, but we should resist this and remain focused single-pointedly on the sensation of the breath. If we discover that our mind has wandered and is following our thoughts, we should immediately return it to the breath. We should repeat this as many times as necessary until the mind settles on the breath.

Benefits of Meditation

If we practice patiently in this way, gradually our distracting thoughts will subside and we will experience a sense of inner peace and relaxation. Our mind will feel lucid and spacious and we will feel refreshed. When the sea is rough, sediment is churned up and the water becomes murky, but when the wind dies down the mud gradually settles and the water becomes clear. In a similar way, when the otherwise incessant flow of our distracting thoughts is calmed through concentrating on the breath, our mind becomes unusually lucid and clear. We should stay with this state of mental calm for a while.

Even though breathing meditation is only a preliminary stage of meditation, it can be quite powerful. We can see from this practice that is is possible to experience inner peace and contentment just by controlling the mind, without having to depend at all upon external conditions.

When the turbulence of distracting thoughts subsides and our mind becomes still, a deep happiness and contentment naturally arises from within.  This feeling of contentment and well-being helps us to cope with the busyness and difficulties of daily life. So much of the stress and tension we normally experience comes from our mind, and many of the problems we experience, including ill health, are caused or aggravated by this stress. Just by doing breathing meditation for ten or fifteen minutes each day, we will be able to reduce this stress. We will experience a calm, spacious feeling in the mind, and many of our usual problems will fall away. Difficult situations will become easier to deal with, we will naturally feel warm and well disposed towards other people, and our relationships with others will gradually improve.

TEN RULES FOR LONG LIFE

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1.   Listen to your body and understand its needs – both physical and emotional

2.   Live in the present – do not worry about the future or hold on to the past

3.   Take time to mediate and silence your internal dialogue

4.   Stop looking for approval from other people – you are the only judge that matters

5.   Learn to deal with anger

6.   Accept that you create your own world – the world ‘out there’ is all a projection of your inner world

7.   Do not judge

8.   Do not contaminate your body with toxins – either through food and drink or negative emotions

9.   Forget old hurts – replace fear motivated behaviour with love motivated behaviour

10. Live in balance with the world, accept that you are linked to all creation

A Smile

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A Smile costs nothing, but gives much

It enriches those who receive it

Without making poorer those who give it

It takes but a moment

But the memory of it lasts forever.

None is so rich or mighty

That he can get along without it

And none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it

A smile creates happiness in the home

Fosters goodwill in business

and is the countersign of friendship

It brings rest to the weary,

Cheer to the discouraged,

Sunshine to the sad

And it is nature’s best antidote for trouble.

Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen

For it is something that is of no value to anyone

Until it is given away.

Some people are too tired to give you a smile,

Give them one of yours,

As none needs a smile so much

As he who has no more to give.

FACTSHEET : 5 kinds of Workfare

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Currently there are five workfare schemes in use in the UK :-

> The Work Programme : coalitions’ flagship workfare scheme which replaced Labour’s Flexible New Deal in Summer 2011. Claimants are referred to private companies who can organise mandatory unpaid work placements for as long as six months. Refusal means loss of benefits.

> Mandatory Work Activity : the Job Centre can order claimants to work up to 30 hrs a week for a period of four weeks without pay. Refusal to comply means loss of benefits.

> Community Action Programme : currently being trialled in some regions and due to be rolled out nationally in 2013. Similar to the Work Programme but claims to focus more on community service work; these roles will replace many of the low-level public sector jobs that are currently being cut by councils. Refusal means loss of benefits.

> Work Experience : This scheme, alongside Sector Based Work Academies (below) are what the government want you to think the term ‘workfare’ means, because are the least offensive of the workfare schemes. They tend to describe it as voluntary work experience for 18-24 year olds organised through the Job Centre.

The degree to which the scheme is genuinely voluntary is disputed as there are countless reports of lies and intimidation to get jobseekers to participate and after one week the scheme becomes mandatory. Although recently, to save face, the government has emphasised the voluntary aspect and stated that sanctions would no longer be used against people who refuse to participate.

> Sector based Work Academies : similar to work experience but this scheme incorporates a training element alongside unpaid work placements; available through the job centre in conjunction with businesses and training providers. Like work experience the scheme is nominally voluntary, however once a claimant accepts a place the scheme becomes mandatory and withdrawal may result in loss of benefits.

In addition to workfare proper, there are also other ways in which the minimum wage is being undercut. A major one of these is the spread of supposed ‘apprenticeships’. Increasingly, entry-level admin jobs are being advertised as apprenticeships, which means they can pay £100 per week (higher than £67 per week jobseekers allowance for workfare, but lower than the minimum wage). Previously these were normal, paid jobs, but now firms can get cheap labour by rebranding entry-level jobs as apprenticeships and giving a low-level NVQ in admin (which doesn’t help find work, as higher-level admin jobs require experience, not NVQs).

 

PSYCHOLOGY (Part 2)

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The scene is now set. We have Mind in Symbolic form. A virtual working model capable of displaying most of the basic principles of unconscious and conscious activity.

Thus:

CONDITIONING:

What does conditioning mean?

It means training the ‘tiny men’ (subconscious response) to react, in a predetermined manner, to stimuli.

The continuous influx of impressions can act as a stimulus, demanding from the group of ‘tiny men’ receiving that stimulus, some kind of response. For some stimuli the ‘tiny men’ have ready-made responses for which they require no training. These are instinctive responses. There are however an infinite number of stimuli for which no ready-made responses are available and thus make it necessary to train (condition) the ‘tiny men’ in order to provide them with a repertoire of suitable responses.

Faculties of the conscious mind (helicopter crew) shoulder the responsiblity of giving the necessary instructions for training the ‘tiny men’. By repeatedly ordering the ‘tiny men’ to respond to a specific stimulus in a certain way, the ‘tiny men’ eventually learn to respond without orders from the ‘helicopter crew’ and are then said to be CONDITIONED.  Being a part of the subconscious mind the ‘tiny men’ are unthinking, unreasoning, completely obedient, and incapable of responding to stimulus in any other way than that of the conditioned response

So now you know that you are quite capable of carrying out some Conditioning. You have always been able to do it. Conditioning is simply the process of learning – as you learn, you automatically condition your ‘tiny men’ (subconscious responses).

THE POWER OF SUGGESTION

Although it is true to say that much of our behaviour is the result of conditioning, it is also true to say that suggestion controls and helps ‘shape’ our behaviour.

Suggestion selects specific conditioned responses, which, in turn, manifest as specific types and patters of behaviour. Often we find ourselves responding in a particular way to a particular situation either as the result of suggestion from an external source or suggestion arising from our own conscious reasoning.

Many psychologists maintain that the subconscious does not have the power to reject suggestion. That is to say that all suggestions reaching the subconscious mind, must produce the intended responses.

Other psychologists are not entirely convinced of the subconscious mind’s indiscriminate responsiveness., but are, nevertheless, prepared to accept that the principle does work when special preparations have been made to provide ideal conditions. Either way, it is obvious that suggestion can influence behaviour.

To the ‘tiny men’, suggestions are stimuli to which they will respond at all times, according to their conditioning or instinct. Why is it then, that when we suggest something to someone, we rarely succeed in making it work the way we want it to work?

The reason for this unsatisfactory state of affairs is the intervention of the conscious mind; and in particular, one of its faculties known as the Censor. When we try to influence someone by suggestion, it must be remembered that we are trying to get the suggestion through to the ‘tiny men’. But, the conscious faculties are always lurking, and if they intervene they could order the ‘tiny men’ to respond in a manner entirely different from the conditioned response, or order them not to respond at all.

There are FOUR ways of dealing with conscious intervention:-

SUBLIMINAL SUGGESTION = with this method the suggestion is delivered to the ‘tiny men’ without attracting the attention (light beam). this means that the suggestion gets through to the ‘tiny men’ without any of the conscious faculties (helicopter crew) being aware of the fact

CONSCIOUS ACCEPTANCE = here we have the salesperson. In using this method, one must present the facts for the approval of the conscious faculties (helicopter crew). If they approve, then the ‘tiny men’ will be allowed to respond according to their conditioning or instinct. everything takes place in the ‘light’ of attention making the conscious mind fully aware of both the suggestion and the response

CONSCIOUS SUSPENSION = conscious suspension is the mental state of heightened suggestibility. Hypnotic techniques are often used to induce this state. By being subjected to a monotonous succession of unchanging sensory stimuli, the conscious faculties (helicopter crew), including the censor, are lulled into a state of complacency. With there being little or no attention, suggestions would pass to the subconscious without the intervention of the conscious faculties.

EMOTION = reason can become impaired or inhibited by emotion. In fact, quite a number of our conscious faculties can become impaired by emotion. How often have you witnessed a situation in which someone is emotionally upset and unable to think clearly? it is on occasions like this that the impaired faculties of the conscious mind allow unreasonable, futile and sometimes harmful suggestions to filter through to the subconscious. Most stimuli arouse some degree of emotion and by choosing to present those stimuli most likely to provoke the strongest feelings of emotion, one can be reasonably certain of making suggestion work.

 

PSYCHOLOGY (part 1)

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Psychology is the study of the mind. It is a vast and complex subject.

Here, we deal with the mind in general, in a very straightforward, easy-to-understand study.

THE MiND

Mind is tangible. It consists mainly of thoughts, ideas, reasoning, awareness, perceptions, concepts, memories. It is creative, calculating, scheming, imaginative. Although completely non-material and non-physical, mind is a kind of receptacle for everything one experiences throughout life.

UNCONSCIOUS MIND

In order to give a little substance to mind, let us, in imagination construct a working model – a representation of mind in symbolic form. Firstly, imagine a sphere, the solid interior of which represents the Unconscious Mind: that part of mind which is normally inaccessible: that part of mind which contains a complete record of all past experience.

SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

The surface of the sphere can represent the Subconscious Mind. The subconscious, although accessible, functions in a very special way – secretive and somewhat obscure. It deals with a continuous influx of impressions drawn in from every direction. As long as the impressions continue to strike the surface of the sphere (sub-conscious) in darkness, they occur as subconscious impressions, incapable of entering consciousness.

Using the imagination once again, imagine a dense population of ‘tiny men’ covering the entire surface of the sphere (subconscious). These ‘tiny men’ represent Subconscious Response to the continuous influx of impressions and are of course influenced by all impressions that reach the subconscious.

Each impression acts as a stimulus, and each stimulus demands some kind of response. A response coming from a group of ‘tiny men’ receiving an impression, could be negative or positive. If positive, it could be either Instinctive or Conditioned. The ability to respond instinctively is inherent in humans from before birth, whereas conditioned responses are the outcome of training or learning (conditioning).

The ‘tiny men’ are most obedient; but they lack such faculties as initiative, reason etc. They are only able to respond as they have always responded to stimuli. In fact, it could be said that they represent that motivating force known as Habit.

CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE CONSCIOUS MIND

Now practically all that has so far been mentioned has been to do with the unconscious and the subconscious. What then of the Conscious Mind and Consciousness?

If we use the imagination yet again and imagine a helicopter of convenient size, in flight around the sphere, at a distance from the sphere’s surface (subconscious) and imagine also, a searchlight fixed to the underside of the helicopter, its beam of light scanning the activities of the ‘tiny men’, then we shall have a fair representation of consciousness. As for the conscious mind, of which consciousness is a part, that can be best represented by the helicopter, its equipment and crew members.

the following explains exactly what each symbol represents:

HELICOPTER – several crew members occupy the helicopter. The Pilot represents the Will, whereas other crew members represent various faculties of the conscious mind such as Reason, Logic, Decision etc

SEARCHLIGHT BEAM – the beam of light from the searchlight represents Attention and can be moved by the helicopter to illuminate any part of the surface of the sphere (subconscious) within its focus

ILLUMINATED AREA – the ‘populated’ area of the sphere’s surface illuminated by the beam of light from the searchlight, represents Consciousness.

SYSTEMS of the BODY

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The various systems of the body are named according to the function they perform.

SKELETAL: this system consists of bones forming a movable framework for the body, and protection for some of the soft organs such as the lungs, brain, etc

ARTICULATORY: the articulatory system is concerned with the joints, or articulations of the skeleton

MUSCULAR: the muscular system consists of muscles, fascia and tendons and is responsible for bodily movement

RESPIRATORY: this system contains the various organs concerned with respiration (breathing).  When we breathe correctly with the mouth closed, the air enters the nostrils and passes to the two lungs (left and right) via the Pharynx (throat), Larynx (upper end of windpipe), the Trachea (windpipe) and finally, the Bronchi (bifurcation of the trachea to each lung). After entering the lungs, the air gives up oxygen which is carried by the red corpuscles in the blood, to the tissues of the body. Carbon dioxide, a waste product, is picked up by the blood and carried back to the lungs where it is expelled during exhalation.

DIGESTIVE: the digestive system deals with the body’s intake of food and with the preparation of that food for assimilation by the body. The digestive system consists of the Alimentary Canal and certain secretory glands. The alimentary canal extends from the mouth to the rectum and is over 9 metres in length. It consists of the following:-

The Mouth

The Pharynx

The Oesophagus (food pipe)

The Stomach

The Small Intestine

The Large Intestine (Colon)

The Rectum

As food passes along the alimentary canal, special juices from glands such as the salivary glands, gastric glands, pancreas etc, pour into the alimentary canal to mix with the food and break it down into simple substances which can be digested and absorbed by the cells of the tissues of the body. The indigestible residue enters the rectum and is excreted as faeces.

CIRCULATORY: the circulatory system is responsible for circulating the blood throughout the body. It consists mainly of the Heart positioned in the Thorax (chest) and three types of tubes – namely, Veins, Arteries and Capillaries. The heart is in fact a pump. It pumps the blood through a network of arteries, capillaries and veins. Carried by the Superior Vena Cava (vein) from the upper parts of the body and by the Inferior Vena Cava (vein) from the lower parts, impure blood enters the right Atrium of the heart, is forced through a valve into the right Ventricle and is pumped from there through the Pulmonary Artery to the lungs. The impurities int he blood are discharged in the lungs as carbon dioxide. Oxygen is picked up by the red corpuscles in the blood and the purified blood passes through four Pulmonary veins, two from each lung, into the left Atrium of the heart. It is then forced through a valve into the left Ventricle, where it is pumped through the Aorta (large artery) into a network of smaller arteries. All arteries branch off into a number of smaller arteries, the smallest being called Arterioles. These get smaller and smaller until they become Capillaries, and give off enriched blood to the tissues through their thin porous walls. Impurities from the tissues are absorbed through the capillary walls and carried into very tiny veins called Venules, eventually entering the larger veins and finally into the heart, thus completing one cycle of this repetitive function. As the blood circulates, it carries oxygen from the lungs to the tissues, and carbon dioxide from the tissue cells to the lungs. It carries digested food from the digestive system to the cells and waste products to the kidneys for excretion It conveys hormones from the glands to the cells and carries heat from the inside of the body to the surface. Also the blood protects the body against disease and germs.

EXCRETORY: this system consists of the Skin, Kidneys, Lungs and Colon

The Skin gives off sweat

The Kidneys excrete urine which is stored in the bladder and voided when the bladder is full

The Lungs eliminate Carbon Dioxide

The Colon excretes certain insoluble substances in the faeces

REPRODUCTIVE: the reproductive system is responsible for the reproduction of the species. It produces spermatozoa in the male and ova in the female.

NERVOUS: the nervous system is responsible for communication between the various parts of the body. It operates as controlling system for governing the activities of the various parts and organs of the body and it makes possible, awareness of response to environment

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

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The Nervous System (for convenience) is divided into two main parts. They are the Central (Cerebrospinal) System and the Autonomic System. Since the autonomic system is dependent on the cerebrospinal nervous system we’ll concentrate on the cerebrospinal system.

the cerebrospinal nervous system consists of the brain, the spinal cord and the peripheral nerves given off by these, to the outer parts of the body. 31 pairs of nerves emerge from the spinal cord, each nerve having two roots / one anterior (front of the spine) carrying motor nerves and one posterior (back of spine) carrying sensory nerves. Motor nerves carry impulses to the muscles having the responsibility for bodily movement whereas the sensory nerves have responsibility for carrying sensory impulses which provide for the brain, information about sensation.

the nerves are named according to the section of the spine from which they emerge:-

8 pairs of cervical nerves

12 pairs of thoracic (dorsal) nerves

5 pairs of lumber nerves

5 pairs of sacral nerves

1 pair of coccygeal nerves

in addition to the Spinal nerves we have 12 pairs of cranial nerves. some of these are motor nerves, some are sensory, some are motor and sensory and others are mixed, possessing both motor and sensory fibres.

the following is a list of the Cranial nerves:-

OLFACTORY: sensory nerve of smell

OPTIC: sensory nerve of sight

OCULO-MOTOR: motor nerve supplying most of the muscles of the eye

TROCHLEAR: motor nerve to the external oblique of the eye

TRIGEMINAL: the largest cranial nerve, it is motor and sensory. mainly a sensory nerve but has a small motor branch to the muscles of mastication. the trigeminal nerve supplies most of the skin of the face and the head, it also supplies the teeth and membranes of the mouth and nose.

ABDUCENS: motor nerve to the lateral rectus muscle of the eyeball.

FACIAL: motor and sensory. mainly a motor nerve to the muscles of expression of the face, and to the scalp, but sensory in that it is concerned with taste

ACOUSTIC: sensory nerve of hearing

GLOSSO-PHARYNGEAL: a mixed nerve. it is a motor nerve to a muscle of the pharynx, secreto-motor to the parotid gland, and sensory to part of the tongue and soft palate. it is the nerve of taste

VAGUS: a mixed nerve supplying larynx, pharynx, lungs, heart, stomach, oesophagus and liver

SPINAL ACCESSORY: usually considered to a be a motor nerve, it divides into two parts. One part accompanying the vagus and the other branching to the trapezius and sterno-mastoid muscles

HYPOGLOSSAL: motor nerve to the muscles of the tongue