Aloha.
I'm Rev.
Cindy Palos and I wanted to talk about how the spiritual field and finding that inner peace in meditation can help you through the very hard times.
I think a lot of people turn to prayer and meditation when they are seeking answers or when they've gone through stressful times.
And the thing is that I went through that.
I went through it a lot.
I started at a young age and I think probably what drove me more and more into meditation was some of the difficulties and the abuse I experienced in my everyday life.
And there's such love inside when you turn inside to God and you experience that love that it really truly becomes something that it becomes your strength.
Now here's the thing that happens though and after years and years and years of doing this I realized that that strength really has to be then channeled back into your life.
And the hardest part of that is trusting other people after you've been let down or disappointed or hurt,
Really deeply hurt,
You know.
The thing is that we all get hurt and it doesn't necessarily feel like that.
When you're going through some painful situations it really is hard to say,
Well we all get hurt,
But you might even resent that because what you're going through seems so drastic and strong to just what you are going through.
Now I went through a lot of abuse and I went through some very hard times and very difficult situations,
But then I also went through one after kind of getting to a plateau and everything being fairly secure.
I went through a a very difficult situation where I had a stroke after taking out of going through some,
I was actually in surgery and I had the stroke during surgery.
And so all of a sudden it got really difficult again and I knew I could turn within.
I knew I could turn to God.
I could turn within.
The thing is it got so beautiful and so strong inside and that love is there and it's a lot easier to dwell in just that than trying to dwell and deal with the everyday world.
Now a lot of you might have gone through some disappointment when the recent elections that happened and you may have been surprised by what happened or disappointed or concerned.
I think a lot of people probably were,
But the thing is still that this is where our inner strength and knowing that we can go inside and be strong and we can help others who are going through difficult times and who are maybe depressed or that are going through all kinds of difficult things that happen in everyday life,
You know.
I mean everyone has their life challenges.
Everyone has their situations they go through and you know there are many people who are strong enough to be able to really devote their lives and try to help people.
I'm amazed at people who can really get there in the ditches and help people in really,
Really hard situations.
It takes a lot of strength.
It does.
So where do you get that strength?
You get that strength from inside and connecting to that inner source within you.
And if any of you have found that you know what I'm talking about,
Right?
I mean it is so valuable to have that inner connection and experience that inner love and be able to turn to that power within for strength and turn to God and just the power and ability to be able to talk to God and to really release what you're going through is an amazing thing and it's also very healing.
Now the other part of it that I don't always see or even often see is people learning to not just talk to God but to be quiet and to listen and be open to what is given back to you.
I have found over my life that just being in meditation and being open to receive direction and strength and the faith that you need from going within is just one of the greatest gifts you can experience in life.
It is not that difficult once you realize it,
But it is tricky because our mind is a trickster of sorts and our mind will try to always have its dialogue,
As you know,
If you meditate.
You know,
You go supposedly into silence but then your mind starts going,
Right?
So it takes that dedication to go within and have that faith and the strength to go within and be quiet.
Now I'm going to do a little meditation here to give you a chance to experience that and I'll add some guidance along the way.
Don't worry,
Don't worry,
Be happy.
Just let's all breathe and just kind of breathe in and take a deep breath in and just check out yourself.
It's amazing when you're under stress sometimes how you shut off how your body feels,
Right?
Aren't you amazed sometimes if you just not go in with like how does your,
How does your neck feel?
How does your jaw feel?
Ah,
Are you breathing deeply?
Are you breathing deeply in and are you breathing out?
Just be aware of your breath here for a moment.
Just breathing in and breathing out and doing a body scanning.
Ah,
Just realizing how your neck feels.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
How does that whole area of your heart feel?
Is your heart present or have you shut it out?
Give yourself a moment to really be honest with yourself and your heart.
Go into your heart.
Find out what's going on there in your heart of hearts.
There in the silence within your heart,
What is happening?
Just allow it to be present with you.
Allow your heart to speak to you.
Your heart will communicate in some very interesting ways,
But it has to be given a safe place and permission.
So here in this safe place together,
Give yourself and your heart permission.
To let itself speak to you,
To be present in you.
To be in that sacred space so there's an open line,
A feeling,
A safe place to know how your heart feels.
Does your heart feel okay?
Just let it be and feel it.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Breathing into your heart and breathing out.
Feel the relaxation that comes when you're allowing yourself to be in this safe space without blocks or protection from fear.
Just being okay.
Just being here now.
It feels good.
It feels good to allow yourself to just be in this safe space and feel that love there in your heart expanding and expanding and expanding so it expands throughout all of your body.
Feel it and breathe that energy of that love there in your heart in.
Let it make you aware of what it feels like to feel that love there inside you,
Guiding and protecting and giving you strength and direction.
What a wonderful gift your heart of hearts is.
What a beautiful thing that gift is that is there inside you.
Take a moment and thank your heart.
Thank your heart for being there with you.
Thank yourself for giving yourself the time to let your heart communicate to you the feelings there within you.
Let those feelings heal you and feel them giving you strength and love and guidance and know that strength is always there for you to call upon when you need it.
It's one of the greatest gifts you can ever,
Ever,
Ever experience is that love there inside you,
Your heart of hearts that connects you to the love that is the ultimate love of God's love within you.
Call upon that love whenever you need it.
Love whenever you need it.
Don't forget to always go within and allow yourself to experience this great,
Great gift of that inner love.
Thank you.
