Nancy Wagaman's Blog: The Curious Dreamer's Blog - Nancy Wagaman
July 30, 2023
Active Meditation: The Secret Antidote to Quiet your Monkey Mind
Want to meditate but can't seem to quiet Your “monkey mind”? Here's a secret strategy!
Have you ever tried meditation but couldn't manage to quiet your mind? Does your mind go into super-chatter mode whenever you try to calm it down? You're not alone! Many aspiring meditators encounter this common hurdle, often feeling defeated and discouraged before they even begin. But fear not! The path to becoming a great meditator is not reserved for a select few with naturally calm minds; in fact, most people face this very challenge. However, there's a secret strategy to overcome it.
The Myth of the "Empty Mind"
One common misconception about meditation is that to do it correctly, you must "empty your mind." This is probably the most common myth about meditation. In fact, the powerful benefits of meditation can be experienced through the exact opposite: assigning your mind an activity. More specifically, mantra meditation is a mentally active form of meditation that keeps the mind focused and active, thus offering the perfect antidote for Monkey Mind.
What is Mantra Meditation?Mantra meditation is a straightforward practice that involves repeating a word or phrase, either out loud or in your mind. Although you may think of this as some esoteric practice used by monks in remote mountain caves, mantra meditation is accessible to everyone and is simple to do. It has roots in various spiritual traditions worldwide and has been embraced by people from all walks of life. During this meditation, you simply choose a word or phrase that resonates with your intention, and gently repeat it either silently or aloud. The repetitive nature of the mantra focuses the mind, enabling a wide range of benefits throughout all areas of your being.
Choosing a MantraYou can choose any word or phrase as a mantra, and you can even change it whenever you like. I find that choosing a mantra focusing on the Highest Power or "the Divine" or "Source" can bring forward extremely profound results and far-reaching benefits. For example, you could inwardly repeat a name for the Divine such as “Hu” (an ancient name for God, pronounced as “hue”) or “Divine God.” Whatever name you choose, make sure that as you repeat it you hold an intention to reawaken to the highest power by allowing it to fill all areas of your being and by shifting your awareness into “your Self” as a Divine soul.
The Spiritual Mantra Meditation ProcessHow to Enhance Your Meditation Experience:
You can improve your meditation experience and the resulting effects by taking certain steps before and during your process. Before you begin, release any expectation of any particular experience or results. Also, set an intention for the quality of process, such as “I intend to be open to any beneficial effects this process can bring forward” or “I intend to relax and go with the flow during this process.” If you lose focus while meditating, simply redirect your mind to your mantra. Be gentle with yourself and immediately release any self-judgments that arise.
The Process:
Find a quiet and comfortable space and take steps to reduce the chance of distraction (tell others not to disturb you, get a blanket if you’re cold, drink water or eat if you need to, empty your bladder, etc.). If it’s noisy, you can dampen sounds with noise-cancelling headphones, white noise, fan noise, etc. (but not music because it can limit your expansion beyond the mental and emotional levels).
Sit comfortably or lie on your back.
Close your eyes.
Call in the light by saying inwardly something like, “I ask for Divine light to fill, surround, and protect me for the highest good of all concerned.”
Begin inwardly repeating your mantra, while holding an intention to center yourself in the highest power that exists. If a thought appears in your mind, simply observe it until it floats away. If you experience an interruption, gently bring your focus back to your mantra.
Keep going as long as you can. You’ll eventually reach a point when you become aware of your physical surroundings again and feel complete with the process.
Write down anything valuable that came forward and you want to remember.
What to Know Before Starting your Meditation PracticeBefore embarking on your meditation journey, consider the following tips to jumpstart your process, help you stay engaged, and maximize your benefits.
It Takes Practice
When starting meditation, remember that it is a practice, which means the more you practice it, the easier and more natural it will become. Even experienced meditators deal with doubt and resistance. If you think you’ve “failed” or like it “didn’t work” (no such thing in either case), try it again. Practice will help your experience feel more comfortable and natural. (If you were learning baseball and the first time you swung the bat you missed, you’d keep swinging. That’s part of the process. Just keep picking up the bat.)
Commit to the Process
Once you've decided to try meditation, give it a good go: start with a short time (even just a minute) and extend a little longer each session. Be consistent by doing at least one session per day (even if it’s just a few minutes). As you continue, you’ll likely begin to see greater benefits. Be patient with yourself, stick with it, and keep moving through any resistance that may arise.
Boost Benefits Through Repetition and Consistency
With most types of meditation, the longer and more often you meditate, the more enhanced the effects. Practicing meditation can also help you learn to navigate more easily between levels of consciousness, which gives you more flexibility and control over your inner state. For example, your ability to shift into a calm, neutral inner state in any moment can improve your ability to access intuition (which is most accessible when you’re calm).
Moving Through Meditation Resistance
The mind’s resistance to meditation is super common. In fact, resistance and procrastination have become a sort of a running joke among some meditators. It seems that the mind will try to find any excuse to avoid sitting down and meditating. Here are some tips to help you work through resistance anytime you encounter it:
Remind your mind that this is going to be an active process, not a “waste of time” or attempt to deny the mind’s usefulness. In fact the mind is a key player in mantra meditation.
Make a deal with yourself that you’ll do 5 minutes and then you can stop if you still want to. Chance are that you’ll keep going, and even if you stop you’ll still experience benefits.
Shift your mindset. Remind yourself that spiritual mantra meditation is a restorative and healing process in which you get to bask in the luxurious spiritual replenishment of your inner resources. This is the ultimate “me time.”
If you’re tempted to procrastinate, set a specific time (like 5 minutes from now, or after I eat lunch) and stick to it. Practice honoring the promises you make to yourself; integrity is key in building self-trust.
A routine can make it much easier to avoid resistance and procrastination. For example, you might choose to meditate every morning after you wake up, right before you go to sleep each night, or after you eat lunch each day. Then the mind knows what to expect, when.
In this blog post we've explored the incredible benefits of spiritual mantra meditation, including its power to help overcome the challenge of Monkey Mind during meditation. By focusing on a repeated word or phrase, this form of meditation helps focus the mind and prevent it from wandering. We debunked the misconception that meditation requires emptying the mind, emphasizing that active engagement through mantra repetition can be just as effective (or even more so). The steps to begin a spiritual mantra meditation practice were outlined, from selecting a mantra to finding a quiet space and gently refocusing the mind when it wanders.
Remember, don't be discouraged if meditation doesn't feel amazing right away. Stay persistent to experience the incredible transformation it can bring to your life and inner environment over weeks, months, and years. Practiced regularly, spiritual mantra meditation can lead to heightened spiritual- and self-awareness, enhanced intuition, deeper peace, and an ability to shift into profound peace at any moment - ultimately elevating and illuminating your meditation journey.
(WARNING: Do not meditate or chant your mantra while driving, operating heavy equipment, or doing any other activity where your attention or focus is important. Practice meditation only in situations where it’s safe to do so, as in situations where it would be okay if you fell asleep and nothing detrimental would happen.)
(You can read more about spiritual meditation and many other tools for stress management and self-enlightenment in Nancy Wagaman’s book, Soul In the Storm: Stress Management Through Mindfulness and Inner Transformation, available from Amazon and other online booksellers.)
August 30, 2020
New Book to Transform the Way You Relate to Stress
How's your level of stress these days? Is it affecting your dream content?
Like most people right now, I've been experiencing types of stress lately that are completely new to me. With all that's happening on the worldwide stage, in our personal lives we may be left feeling isolated, helpless, or wondering about our future. The resulting stress can affect our dreams (nightmares?), as well as the way we think and make decisions in our daily lives. But there's good news: we can learn to transform that stress.
We all handle stress differently. When COVID-19 came onto the scene, I reacted by getting busy on a new project. Thus was born a new book about (surprise!) stress.
My new practical guide to stress management can completely transform the way you relate to stress. You'll learn how to neutralize stress triggers, shift into the peace of soul at any moment, and remove obstacles to inner peace. You'll also discover how to deal with nightmares, interpret your dreams, and use sleep as a powerful remedy for stress. If this book calls to you and you buy a copy, please do me a favor and post a review on Amazon--thanks!
Sale price $2.99—limited time only!Soul in the Storm: Stress Management Through Mindfulness and Inner Transformation
Learn more
Buy Now
“Motivational and mindful...not just about managing stress, but finding something inside yourself... whatever you call it, its within this book, and yourself....Since the world is in a pandemic chaotic stage...this is a read to help gain some type of peace...a definite recommendation...”
— Amy Shannon (Author & Book Reviewer)
August 24, 2020
IASD Online Dreams Study Program - Register Now
One of the world’s most well known dreams organization, International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), is inviting registration for their virtual Dreams Study Groups, including an opportunity to earn a certificates through their online dream courses:
A History of Dreaming
The Science and Psychology of Dreaming
Dreamwork Methods (Parts 1 and 2)
Program Description“For the first time in IASD's history, members and non-members alike can join the IASD Dream Study Groups Program (DSGP), where like-minded individuals will be able to meet and interact in our Global Dreamers Forum, and will be assigned to small Dream Study Groups with one of IASD's Regional Representatives as a host.
“Dream Study Groups will follow the Foundation Series courses over the period of one year in an engaging and interactive way, with access to forums and discussion questions every week.
The cost for participation in the DSGP, $50 for IASD members and $75 for non-members, will include:
Access to the "DSGP Tea Room," a global forum for dreamers.
Access to our three Foundation Series Courses, detailed below.
A one-year membership in a hosted Dream Study Group where members will interact on forums and discuss course content over the year.
More Information:IASD Online Dreams Study Program - Register Now!
One of the world’s most well known dreams organization, International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), is inviting registration for their virtual Dreams Study Groups, including an opportunity to earn a certificates through their online dream courses:
A History of Dreaming
The Science and Psychology of Dreaming
Dreamwork Methods (Parts 1 and 2)
Program Description
“For the first time in IASD's history, members and non-members alike can join the IASD Dream Study Groups Program (DSGP), where like-minded individuals will be able to meet and interact in our Global Dreamers Forum, and will be assigned to small Dream Study Groups with one of IASD's Regional Representatives as a host.
“Dream Study Groups will follow the Foundation Series courses over the period of one year in an engaging and interactive way, with access to forums and discussion questions every week.
The cost for participation in the DSGP, $50 for IASD members and $75 for non-members, will include:
Access to the "DSGP Tea Room," a global forum for dreamers.
Access to our three Foundation Series Courses, detailed below.
A one-year membership in a hosted Dream Study Group where members will interact on forums and discuss course content over the year.
More Information:August 17, 2020
3 Keys to Mind Mastery - Get a Free Copy
Here’s a great free offer going on right now from NancyWagamanBooks.com. This mini-book is packed with helpful tips for taking charge of your mind and all it can do for you. Here’s the description:
Is your mind working for you or against you?In this free mini-book you’ll learn how to master your mind to work for you rather than against you. You can harness the power of your mind and put it to work creating more of what you want. Discover how to:
Establish yourself as the master of your own mind.
Direct your mind in ways that serve you and your higher purpose.
Choose which thoughts you allow to take root within your mind.
Become aware of and eliminate self-limiting thought patterns.
Transform the negative labels polluting your mind.
Reclaim your mental power you've given over to others.
Get your copy here:
August 4, 2020
Cover Reveal for Soul in the Storm
It’s here… the final cover for my upcoming book, Soul in the Storm. Available within a few weeks, this book will completely transform the way you relate to stress.
About the book:
Transform the way you relate to stress. This practical stress management guide shows how to neutralize stress triggers, shift into the peace of soul at any moment, and remove obstacles to your experience of inner peace.
August 7, 2019
New Dream Approach Explores Adventures at the Edge of Sleep
“Liminal dreaming” is a term coined by Jennifer Dumpert to describe the moments when you drift out of and back into consciousness on the edges of sleep. According to Dumpert, founder of the international dream research group known as Oneironauticum, it’s all about trying to prolong that wild brain state as much as possible. Read more in this intriguing article:
“The Dream Hacker: On the edge of sleep, one woman finds the brain's most mysterious and creative state” by Chris Taylor
https://mashable.com/feature/liminal-dreams-hacking-jennifer-dumpert/
July 25, 2019
FREE July 25-27: Dream Essentials Book
THE CURIOUS DREAMER'S DREAM ESSENTIALS
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SK9ZP9R
Find out what you’re missing in your dreams each night in this practical introduction to dream interpretation. Discover 11 keys to exploring your dreams and unlocking their transformative power, including powerful tips and step-by-step techniques. REVIEWS WELCOME!
"Easily the best book on the subject that I have ever read."
-C. Conn, Reviewer
“The perfect primer...brimming with all of the basics you need..."
-Jacqueline Regler, MLA (The Johns Hopkins University)
Learn Dream Interpretation, Step by Step
Begin with a foundational dream interpretation process and then explore a range of instructive dream topics, including symbolism patterns, analysis techniques, dream intuition, the subconscious mind, dream recall, and nightmares. Browse a concise dream dictionary and top symbol categories that prompt you to explore traditional and personal dream symbol meanings.
This book's hands-on approach to dreams is based in modern psychology disciplines and years of client dreamwork. From the author of The Curious Dreamer's Dream Dictionary and creator of popular dreams website, TheCuriousDreamer.com.
About the Author
Nancy Wagaman is a human technologies innovator specializing in personal growth and transformation. Her practical techniques enable people to transform self-limitations and improve their lives. Rooted in science and intuition, Nancy's transformative techniques are practical and easy to use. Nancy began developing human technologies during her early career at Bell Laboratories, and she has also consulted and conducted research for corporate, university, and private clients. Her work has been featured in magazines, radio, and television. Nancy holds advanced degrees in applied psychology and communications, and bachelor's degrees in psychology and biology. She is the creator of The Curious Dreamer's Dream Dictionary (TheCuriousDreamer.com) and has written extensively on applied psychology, intuition, and other personal growth topics.
FREE July 25-27 - Dream Essentials Book
The new dreams book is FREE for Kindle today through Saturday!
FREE JULY 25-27
THE CURIOUS DREAMER'S DREAM ESSENTIALS
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SK9ZP9R
Find out what you’re missing in your dreams each night in this practical introduction to dream interpretation. You'll discover 11 keys to exploring your dreams and unlocking their transformative power, including powerful tips and step-by-step techniques.
REVIEWS WELCOME!
"Easily the best book on the subject that I have ever read."
-C. Conn, Reviewer
“The perfect primer...brimming with all of the basics you need..."
-Jacqueline Regler, MLA (The Johns Hopkins University)
Learn Dream Interpretation, Step by Step
Begin with a foundational dream interpretation process and then explore a range of instructive dream topics, including symbolism patterns, analysis techniques, dream intuition, the subconscious mind, dream recall, and nightmares. Browse a concise dream dictionary and top symbol categories that prompt you to explore traditional and personal dream symbol meanings.
This book's hands-on approach to dreams is based in modern psychology disciplines and years of client dreamwork. From the author of The Curious Dreamer's Dream Dictionary and creator of popular dreams website, TheCuriousDreamer.com.
About the AuthorNancy Wagaman is a human technologies innovator specializing in personal growth and transformation. Her practical techniques enable people to transform self-limitations and improve their lives. Rooted in science and intuition, Nancy's transformative techniques are practical and easy to use. Nancy began developing human technologies during her early career at Bell Laboratories, and she has also consulted and conducted research for corporate, university, and private clients. Her work has been featured in magazines, radio, and television. Nancy holds advanced degrees in applied psychology and communications, and bachelor's degrees in psychology and biology. She is the creator of The Curious Dreamer's Dream Dictionary (TheCuriousDreamer.com) and has written extensively on applied psychology, intuition, and other personal growth topics.
June 19, 2019
Dream Essentials Featured on Bookzio!
Book:
bookzio.com/the-curious-dreamers-dream-essentials
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