Meditation & Visualization 101 Learning to meditate and visualize is the cornerstone of spiritual training and practice, but it can often seem a frustrating and daunting skill for the novice to master. This fun and eclectic course will present many different methods for and approaches to stilling and focusing the mind, with the end result being that the student will find a method that works for them! Buddhist breath-counting meditations, secular candle meditations, modern self-hypnosis triggers, Eastern & interfaith chanting, and guided visualizations are all among the various techniques that will be explored. At the conclusion of the course, the student will have found a meditation induction method that is consistently effective for them, and have a good deal of practice with guided visualizations. Both of these skills will prove to be invaluable through the course of the journey down their spiritual path! Enrolment Duration: 3 months Course Level: Novice - Intermediate Course Requirements: * Approx. 3-4 hours / lesson (36-48 hrs total) * Participants will be required to keep a journal of their experiments, so that they can gain an objective overview of their progress. Course Fee: $30 usd Course Outline: Lesson 1: Body Posture & Learning to Relax We start at the very beginning: How to position your body, and how to calm down. The student is asked to experiment with several different methods of relaxation that are presented, to discover what tends to work for them. Lesson 2: Enhancing Your Practice - Creating Sacred Space Taking a bit of time and creativity to craft an area just for you is always helpful in establishing a spiritual and healthful practice. This lesson teaches you how and asks the student to get creative in their own living space. Lesson 3: Using Breath to Still the Mind Now that there is a special area just for relaxation and spiritual endevours, the simple yet amazingly effective meditative methods of breathing are presented. Counted breaths, and conscious breathing are just two exercizes the student will experiment with. Lesson 4: Eliminating Psychic Distraction - Circle Casting and Shielding Cutting out the noises in mind and home is just part of the overall process - the student now learns how to cut out psychic noise, but shielding their energies and casting a circle that will serve many spiritual purposes. Lesson 5: Commiting to Practice - Building a Meditation Altar Having a space set aside for relaxation and spirituality is great, and now the student adds the final touch: an altar that will focus their intents and energies and result in an overall improvement in their meditation practice. Ideas and example pictures are provided. Lesson 6: Gazing Meditations - Candles, Mirrors, Yantras and Mandalas Furthuring the student's exploration into techniques that induce and encourage deeper and more successful meditative states, exercizes from various international cultures are presented that are intended to focus the eyes and mind on a single purpose. Yantras from India, even evoke spiritual principles just by their geometric construction! Learn all about it in this lesson. Students may choose which method they wish to work with, and spend a week with that technique. Lesson 7: Chanting, Singing and Mantra Meditation We've all experienced how repetitive sounds can lull us into a trance-like state. In this lesson the student will learn and experiment with various methods to use repetition, sound and their own voice to induce meditative and light trance states. Material explaining the spiritual science of mantras is also presented. Lesson 8: Focus Props - Using Prayer Beads for Meditation Student's will try incorporating the use of prayer beads into their meditation practice. Using beads to count repetitions of prayers and mantras have been used since ancient times in nearly every culture. Material is presented on how to make one's own string of prayer beads, should the student wish to do that as well. Lesson 9: Transformation Meditation - Self Hypnosis Techniques There is alot of misinformation about hypnosis out there, but in this lesson the student will learn how much it has in common with meditation, and how the use of hypnotic suggestions can help you eliminate bad habits, improve self-esteem, or even increase your intuitive and psychic abilities. Methods for writing effective and safe suggestions is presented, along with many self hypnosis scripts for the student to experiment with. Lesson 10: Introductory Guided Visualizations - Finding Your Spiritual Sanctuary Now that the student has found one, or many, methods for reaching a meditative state, we now delve into guided visualizations. The first task, that will result in successful and productive meditation and visualization sessions for the remainder of one's practice, is establishing a Spiritual Sanctuary - a place in one's mind where they can begin all their Inner Journeys. This guided meditation will aid the student in finding this place. This exercize will remain the main focus of the rest of the course; all other exercizes are presented for experimentation once the Spiritual Sanctuary is firmly established. Lesson 11: Intermediate Guided Visualizations - Meeting Your Spirit Guides This exercize begins at the Spiritual Sanctuary, and then leads the student on a journey to meet their Spirit Guides. Information as to what exactly is meant by "Spirit Guide" is also presented. Lesson 12: Intermediate/Advanced Guided Visualizations - Past Life Regression Again, this exercize begins at the Spiritual Sanctuary, and then takes the student on a journey to discover information regarding their past lives. Learning about one's past life can shed light on this-life issues and aid in healing and integration.