Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Advice for Nerves

"How many times have you expressed anxiety & disgust concerning CPNE prep or performance and some ----- has told you to try meditation? Probably a few. In light of the fact that many suggest meditation but leave it up to the recipient of the advice to figure the rest out I thought I would run through a basic meditation practice that might be helpful.

Find a straight back chair or a big cushion to put under your butt while you sit cross legged on the floor. Put your hands on your knees with your finger tips lying just over your knee caps. Put your elbows out a little and make your back straight. You can just lie down on your back but being upright usually works out better.

Don’t be concerned with what you’re mind is doing and just spend a few minutes watching what your mind is up to from you’re unique vantage point. Listen to the pleasant, reassuring sound of your breathing. Now forget about what you’re mind is doing and concentrate on your breathing. Nice, slow, deep breaths in through the nose and out through the nose. Touching the roof of your mouth with the tip of your tongue makes this feel more natural.

Do that for a couple of minutes. Then do this. Pretend, just imagine, that your breath is going all the way down to right behind your belly button like there is a little pipe going there and you are just concentrating on your breath slowly coming in, settling behind your belly button, resting there, and then rising again to start over.

Now this is where it gets really weird. Imagine, your imagination is a tool for you to use, that you are surrounded by a very gentle but strong blue energy. Kind of like when the energy monster from the old Star Trek attacked except this energy is benevolent. Take a minute or three to get this image strong in your imagination. This energy is peace. You know it from balls to bone. Inhale this peace and let it settle behind your belly button before you exhale. Every time you inhale see yourself in your imagination filling with this cool blue energy until, after a little while, you are full of peace. Every time you exhale send a little thanks and gratefulness out to the universe or God or Isis or Jesus or Buddha or Vishnu for being so cool and letting you hang out and experience life.

If you enjoy that there are a lot of neat things along those lines that are very helpful and effective. A book by this guy named Robert Bruce called Energy Work is very cool. If your path is Christian you may also enjoy a little book by a man named Thomas Keating called Centering Prayer."

This is an except from Dave's CPNE study guide blog. He has lots of good tips, mneumonics, and quotes from conversations with an EC advisor.

Check out Dave's CPNE Study Blog

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