Over the past 10+ years that I've been practicing meditation, I've come to a huge realization:

It's one thing to read books, take classes, and gather tools for personal and spiritual growth, and quite another thing to actually use those tools in a way that brings you long-lasting change. 

After years of gathering and dabbling in different practices, with mediocre results, I finally realized: 

To reap the full potential of these meditation tools, I needed to transform them from casual hobbies into regular habits. I needed to practice them CONSISTENTLY.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”

— Aristotle

Welcome to Part 4 of the 5 Part mini-training series, "The Art of Transformation: Using Meditation to Calm your Mind and Change your Life". Here are the previous parts if you missed them- they are foundational pieces to this journey.

We've made it to the last step in the 4 Part process! Before we dive in, let's recap each step in the transformation through meditation process, since each builds on the previous one.

• STEP 1  was using "concentration meditation" to calm and focus your mind, so you have the mental stability to do the deeper work.
• STEP 2 was using "mindfulness meditation" and the "noting" technique to start acknowledging and compassionately being with (vs. judging and running away from) any uncomfortable emotions and experiences in your life, in preparation to start uncovering their causes.
• STEP 3 was first, being willing to take responsibility for your uncomfortable experiences and undesirable circumstances. And second, getting curious and using the practices of "reflection", "journaling", "self-inquiry", and "spiritual community" to understand how you've been living that's been creating and feeding your suffering.

Now, in Step 4 "Transform", we'll talk about using all the deep insight you've gathered thus far, to actually begin to create change in your life! 

So once you go through the step of "looking deeply" (if you haven't read part 2 yet, do it here now) and begin to cultivate more mindfulness in your life, you'll start to notice things that feel off or down-right painful. These uncomfortable "things" could be thoughts, emotions, feelings, actions, or general life circumstances. Normal human nature is to avoid pain or feelings of discomfort by seeking out pleasurable things to take their place. But, as we discussed last week, the stage of "looking deeply" and practicing mindfulness will help you learn to acknowledge and be with those uncomfortable or painful things, in a compassionate and kind way (without judgement).

So as we courageously sit with those painful things, the next step is to get really curious and begin to "Understand" them. 

Welcome to Part 2 of the 5 part mini-training series "The Art of Transformation: Using Meditation to Calm your Mind and Change Your Life". 

For those that want to more actively address situations that don't naturally shift with a basic "concentration meditation" practice, you need to go a step further. If this is you, keep reading as we now dive into STAGE 2 of transformation through meditation "Looking Deeply".

Welcome to "The Art of Transformation: Using Meditation to Calm your Mind and Change your Life" Series. This is Part 1 of a 5 part mini-training series designed to outline the 4 stages of transformation and give you some simple, powerful tools to navigate each stage. And ultimately I've designed it to help you shift from feeling stuck, to feeling empowered in creating deep change in love, work, health, or any other aspect of your life (without having to constantly rely on friends, psychics, and therapists for advice).