I Heart Meditation

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 12 Meditation: Make your heart a vast, wide-open space. The heart we know as our own can be a small place. Make it bigger. Make your heart a vast, wide-open space, filled with the spirit of love. Stress will not touch your vast heart. Meditation brings you into the subtle dimension of being, eventually bringing you to the realization that your heart is as large as the universe. This brings us to the conclusion of this series. I hope you have found it helpful in reducing holiday stress and making this a time of light and joy.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 11 Meditation: Bring a sense of sacredness to the holidays.Remember that every contact you have with another person is an opportunity to give a blessing. But don't lay a trip on another person. People don't always share the same beliefs, and words like "blessing" can raise flags or be misinterpreted. Meditation gives you a sense of sacredness that turns your atmosphere into a blessing, regardless of what you say or don't say.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 10 Meditation: See things from another point of view. And another. Much of our stress and suffering comes from our narrowness, the self-imposed limitations we have created on our viewpoint, attitude, and understanding. If we could adopt another point of view, how different things would look! It can be small things, like asking how does this experience feel from my child's perspective, or that of my parent, or my friend? Meditation offers a very profound way of seeing through the eyes of another, of feeling deeply what another person feels.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 9 Meditation: Focus on the important, not just the urgent. Cut out the frivolous. Sometimes you can be your own worst enemy. Sometimes the most stressful times are due to your own loading on of additional tasks that aren't really important, they just seem to be at the time. Getting a lot done can be addictive, and it can add to things that aren't necessary. Meditation can help you prioritize, giving you discernment about what is necessary and what is not.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 7 Meditation: Hold your ideal high. The holidays are stressful partly because the reality of the holiday season may reveal how far we are from the ideals of love, friendship, harmony, generosity, and We may feel like giving up, like it would be easier to just forget about all this, and not try so hard. The problem is, giving up is a defeat. The longing behind these ideals doesn’t simply go away, either. It gets distorted into cynicism and bitterness. What we need is to hold the ideals high. An ideal is like a star -- let it shine brightly in the sky. Let the sense of idealism drive you on, even while you recognize that it's unattainable. That is the nature of ideals; if we could attain an ideal, in this limited existence, it wouldn't be ideal. Nonetheless, an ideal reminds us that there is a perfect reality in the world of spirit, a reminder that we sorely need, for it is human nature to strive for perfection. Meditation offers a chance to explore the height of your ideal within your heart.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 6 Meditation: Create a feeling of abundance and possibility. When we feel a sense of abundance, giving to others is easy. Out of that feeling, holidays become a true celebration of the blessed bounty of life. Easier said than done, huh? Heart Rhythm Meditation works with a full, rhythmic breath to create the experience of giving (on the exhalation) and receiving (on the inhalation). As you take a long, deep, full breath in, you will experience a sense of abundance unlike anything you have known.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 5 Meditation: Give more to others. Focus on what you're giving rather than what you're receiving. When you feel stretched, the last thing you want to hear is that you should give more. You're probably saying, "don’t I already give enough? What about my needs?" We often give in a tactical way, as in, "I'll give you this, so that you will then give me that." This isn't really giving, it's more like a transaction. Not only that, it's probably not going to work, because this, so that you will then give me that." This isn't really giving, it's more like a transaction. Not only that, it's probably not going to work, because it's not focused on the real issue at hand. Other people are unlikely to do what we want or expect, leading to disappointment and frustration when your needs are not met. Meditation provides a way to give your heart and soul what you truly need at the deepest level, so that you don't look to the outside to fill inner needs.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 4 Meditation: Allow yourself to be loved. The holidays can bring a frenetic sense of seeking to take in more, which can come from a place of feeling the lack of attention and energy, which is, at its root, a feeling of not being loved. Meditation allows you to take in love, to truly allow yourself to be loved The goal of meditation is to experience infinite, unbounded, eternal love, to become Love itself.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 3 Meditation: Help others be calm by bringing more peace to your heart. Calmness and peace come when you have brought yourself into a slow, stable rhythm. Our culture has many aspects that seem to encourage a rapid, unsustainable rhythm: we stay up late, eat at odd times, eat foods that over-stimulate our senses, and watch TV and movie screens that show us different scenes with increasing rapidity. Heart Rhythm Meditation makes your breath deep, full, and rhythmic, slowing yourself down on all levels, bringing a durable sense of peace that has an impact on others.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 2 Meditation: See the best in others. In this meditation, you'll experience a technique for experiencing the pure qualities of other people, so that you can appreciate people more and experience less aggravation.

Led by Asatar Bair. Day 1 Meditation: Be thankful for all that you have. In this meditation, you'll experience a sense of thankfulness deep within your heart, which will retune your expectations of the holidays and bring those around you into a state of gratitude.

Led by Asatar Bair. This is an introduction and overview of the ways that meditation can help reduce holiday stress and give you more joy. A new meditation will be introduced each day over the next 12 days.