Mastery of Health and Happiness
  • Home
  • Who am I
  • What is Mastery?
  • Pearls of Wisdom
  • Media
  • Store
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Aug
08
2017

Fatigue and Your Rejuvenation

Bev meditating

“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.” ~ Pema Chödrön

If you feel out of balance or busy in your head, or just plain tired, one of the things you may want to consider is a meditation. There are many guided meditations for those of you who have no experience. Today I would like to share with you one of my favourite guided meditations that I learned in Japan. It is one of my “go to” meditations when I feel I need a holiday, but can’t jump on a plane!

Much of the fatigue we all feel is emotional. Our self care is really important these days. There is a lot of stimulation out there and we have ourselves and our minds and habits to deal with as well.

When I was living in Japan I found that it was too expensive to do my hobbies… like a game of golf would be $250. However, sitting on a tatami mat and practicing some meditations was very doable, free and easy! Nowadays I do it for different reasons.

Before you meditate or do a guided meditation, be clear about why you are mediating. It’s not just something you do. You want to know within yourself why you are dong it.

I, personally, have stillness as my intention or connecting to life from the “Big Me”, so I carry more perspective. Although sometimes my intention is just to relax or move from my head to my heart if I am thinking too much.

Before you meditate, find a quiet place that feels good and begin to deepen your breathing… combine abdomen breathing with some deep sighs. Its often recommended you sit, but if that is uncomfortable then lie down. Make sure no limbs are crossed and your jaw is relaxed, then lightly touch your tongue to the back of your front teeth. Quietly ask yourself why you are meditating. What is your intention?

What I do is a softly close my eyes and breathe deeply. I bring the front of my body closer to the back of my body so I am no overextended. I lift my heart as if I am opening it, then consciously drop from my head to my heart. I take a moment to bring in the feeling of love. I picture a beautiful piece of nature that just makes my heart pop open. I love wildflowers in the mountains! I love the stars at night and the moon! For my birthday I was s given a telescope. What do you love and enjoy and that gives you tingling sensations?

Here is a beautiful guided meditation. I don’t know who wrote it. I’ve had it quite some time. It travels with me!

Enjoy it. Read it, breathe and picture it, feel it. If you want, you can record it so that you can play it back.


The Mirror Mind.

When a mountain lake is agitated by winds, the moon that is reflected in it appears in a dozen broken pieces. In it, clouds look distorted, and trees dance.

Taking three deep and slow breaths, I calm my mind and body.
I visualize a calm lake reflecting everything like a mirror.
The moon in the lake is in one piece, and the clouds look the same as they do in the sky.
When my mind is calm, it is like that lake, reflecting things as they are.

As I calm my mind, the outside world also feels calmer; things appear simpler and easier to deal with.

Calm mind, calm world:
Just trees, just clouds, and just the moon.
My mind reflects things as they are.

The steady rhythm of my breath calms me, like the hand that gently rocks the cradle calms a fussing baby.

I let that calmness pervade my whole body and mind.
I sit basking in the pleasant feelings that come from a relaxed body and mind.

Mental states are like cloud formations in the sky.
They depend on the winds of emotion and thought, and change from moment to moment.
States of mind such as certainty, uncertainty, or irritation come and go.
I watch them arise and disappear.

Without breath awareness, a mental state can take up all the space.
Focusing on my breath creates space in my mind.

I made room for my feelings as I observe and accept them.
As I sit, there is just sitting.
As I breathe, just breathing.

On a clear summer day, everything is bathed in light.
The light of my awareness shines like the sun.


Enjoy feeling – the beauty and stillness – of this meditation and carry it into your life.

Tags: Bev Pugh, guided, heart, meditation, mind, perspective, quiet, reflection, self care
Posted in Meditation and Relaxation | 4 Comments »

Aug
09
2016

Keep Your Door Open

“Living as an open door or as a revolving door…the choice is ours.” ~ Beverley Pugh

When I was working in Japan I studied many aspects of Eastern philosophy as a hobby. Many of them have become a way of life for me…not a technique, but a way of being and navigating.

I would like to share with you a way of breaking away from routine. Part of being alive and awake to life is being open and available to the unexpected. This is where change lies. August is a great month for practicing this one.

In the mornings, as part of a quiet awakening to your day, softly say to yourself, “I am going to allow for something new to occur”.

As you say it, place your attention on this beautiful saying. Imagine your heart and your mind opening like a grand door to all possibilities, not just the thinking mind.

I personally don’t say what I want to come in. I just allow for something new to occur. I always have liked surprises!

Today my mindset is on happy expectancy, but when I was growing up, my family carried a great deal of negative expectancy. My learning has been a very personal one as to how to move from negative expectancy to positive expectancy.

When I say “I am gong to allow for something new to occur”, I am actually moving into a welcoming mode…like an invitation. I am declaring this invitation.

Open to possibilities

Remember how you welcome friends when they come to visit. When you open your front door, there is a happy expectancy and a smile inside you. Have that kind of inviting feeling when you say the phrase.

I am so aware of how important our words are. Our words go straight to our subconscious. If we keep unawake, we stay in the same thinking pattern, use the same words and therefore the same things happen. All are related.

Enjoy saying this phrase and keep the doors to your heart and mind open.

Tags: Beverley Pugh, change, happy, heart, life, mind, open, possibilities, think
Posted in change, Self Growth | 2 Comments »

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. NEXT

Beverley Pugh

Beverley Pugh

Beverley Pugh has international experience in Individual, Marital and Family Therapist services. Areas of practice include counselling in: individual, couples, family, anxiety, addictions, grief, depression, pain management, multicultural, workplace and others.

Join Our Mailing List

Mastery Practice Tool

If I feel funky, I know that I have closed down in some way. I probably reacted to one of my thoughts, or to what someone was saying. I actually ask or direct my heart energy to open again by saying this out loud: "My heart is open in the front and the back, and my mind in one with my heart. My heart is connected to the highest part of me." I imagine something I love - often swimming in the ocean - and I savour the love of it so I can feel my heart open again. I have turned my focus to it, and directed my heart energy to open. I do this before I begin an activity, or see anyone that for some reason feel I may be reactive towards. A tip: I have been known to do it in the bathroom when I am taking a break from dynamics, and I come out feeling more open and wiser. This works! The bathroom is a great place to bring yourself back into balance!!

Testimonial

Bev's Laughing and Breathing Belly Workshop for Children was one of the best I have attended. She has a gifted ability to gently connect with children and teach and share with them her techniques of belly breathing, rooting, mind vacations and laughter. These techniques soothe and calm them whenever they feel overwhelmed or anxious - be at school, home or before bed time. Whether you have an overwhelmed pre-schooler or a test-anxious pre-teen, Bev's approach works! I love that she gave parents the tools to model and share these fundamentals of meditation with their children. I would encourage families to take her course...your children will thank you and you will benefit from ways to keep yourself calm and allow wisdom in.

Farrah J. - Mother of 3, West Vancouver

Archives

  • May 2018 (1)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (1)
  • May 2017 (1)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (1)
  • February 2017 (1)
  • January 2017 (1)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • April 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (2)
  • November 2015 (2)
  • October 2015 (2)
  • September 2015 (2)
  • August 2015 (2)
  • July 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (2)
  • March 2015 (2)
  • January 2015 (4)
  • December 2014 (2)
  • November 2014 (2)
  • October 2014 (2)
  • September 2014 (2)
  • August 2014 (2)
  • July 2014 (2)
  • June 2014 (2)
  • May 2014 (2)
  • April 2014 (2)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • January 2014 (2)
  • December 2013 (2)
  • November 2013 (2)
  • October 2013 (2)
  • September 2013 (3)
  • August 2013 (1)
  • July 2013 (2)
  • June 2013 (2)
  • May 2013 (1)
  • April 2013 (2)
  • March 2013 (2)
  • February 2013 (2)
  • January 2013 (2)
  • December 2012 (2)
  • November 2012 (2)
  • October 2012 (2)
  • September 2012 (4)
  • August 2012 (3)
  • July 2012 (3)
  • June 2012 (3)
  • May 2012 (3)
  • April 2012 (4)
  • March 2012 (3)
  • February 2012 (3)
  • January 2012 (2)

Categories

  • awareness (30)
  • Balance (8)
  • change (16)
  • Choice (28)
  • Feeling Gratitude (14)
  • forgiveness (8)
  • Gentleness (10)
  • healing (17)
  • Health and Happiness (35)
  • Health and Wellness (18)
  • holding power (9)
  • Inspirational (32)
  • Learning to Adapt (18)
  • Love (30)
  • managing emotions (20)
  • Meditation and Relaxation (15)
  • Parenting (6)
  • Pearls of Wisdom (21)
    • Breathing (3)
    • Creating What You Want (4)
    • Gratitude (6)
    • Happiness (7)
    • Heart Space (2)
    • Meditation (2)
  • Relationships (4)
  • Self Growth (57)
  • Stress (3)
  • transitions (6)
  • Uncategorized (3)

About Beverley

Beverley Pugh has international experience in Individual, Marital and Family Therapist services. Areas of practice include counselling in: individual, couples, family, anxiety, addictions, grief, depression, pain management, multicultural, workplace and others.

Contact

Telephone:
604-925-1513
Email:
bev@beverleypugh.com
Location:
120-1451 Marine Drive
West Vancouver, BC
V7T 1B8
Canada

Disclaimer: The information presented on this site about various psychological conditions, is of a general nature and is not a substitute for an assessment by a competent therapist and/or medical professional. If you believe that you or an important person in your life is in need of an intervention please seek qualified help as soon as possible.

(c) 2023. Beverley Pugh Counselling Services. All Rights Reserved. Site Designed by Pureze Web Media.