Spiritual Warrior: Turning Straw Into Gold

Recognize the Spiritual Warrior within by learning how to accept challenges as opportunities for growth and face them with wisdom, equanimity, and compassion. This session is part of the Spiritual Warrior series.

Transcript

Welcome to another StressFit meditation.

This session is part of the Spiritual Warrior Series.

In it,

I will be guiding you through recognizing the spiritual warrior within and connecting with the essence of what a true warrior is in the modern era.

Furthermore,

We will examine the ways in which we can accept challenges as opportunities for growth and face them with wisdom,

Equanimity,

And compassion.

Find a comfortable position for this meditation.

Maintain a comfortable straight back.

And gently close your eyes and mouth.

The way of the warrior has been buried in our modern era.

The samurai was disciplined and used the power of the mind and body to transcend fear and obstacles.

They dedicated their lives toward using this power to help others and cultivate honor and courage in the world.

They understood the path to becoming a powerful warrior would involve many challenges.

They welcomed these challenges with a strong and flexible mind.

Unless we learn how to transcend the brittle,

Rigid,

And analytical mind,

The mind that judges,

Divides,

Categorizes,

Discriminates,

Analyzes,

And feeds us unnecessary information,

Then we run the risk of falling victim to our own selfish nature.

By selfish nature,

I mean that we have no self-awareness or self-control over our energy systems,

No discipline,

No ability to help others,

No true happiness,

A prisoner to oneself.

Being the observer of the thought process,

Impulsive energy,

And unsettled tendencies,

Which all make up the mind's programming,

Raises our self-awareness and ability to not only end our own suffering,

But uplift others as well.

Once we can accept the challenges and perceive the seemingly unpleasant events in life as opportunities for growth,

Enlightenment,

And transformation,

We are released from playing the slave to the mind and we become the conscious observer,

Exercising our strengths and natural grace.

In becoming a modern spiritual warrior,

We must strengthen our ability to accept challenges with the sturdiness and flexibility of the samurai's armor.

The samurai's armor,

Unlike the armor worn by European knights,

Was always designed for mobility.

A good suit of armor had to be resilient yet flexible.

Enough to allow its wear free movement in the battlefield.

The armor was made of lacquered plates of either leather or metal,

Carefully bound together by laces of leather and silk.

The arms were protected by large rectangular shoulder shields and light armored sleeves.

The right hand was often left without a sleeve to allow maximum movement.

Without strong,

Mobile armor,

We will forever feel defenseless when life throws nasty stuff at us.

In becoming a modern spiritual warrior,

We must prepare our mind to accept our challenges with the precision and diligence of the samurai hammering his armor in preparation for battle.

Sometimes the darkest challenges,

The most difficult lessons,

Hold the greatest gems of light.

By Barbara Marcignac Check in with the body,

Whether you're standing,

Sitting,

Or lying down.

Your breath is relaxed and natural and you're just noticing how the body is in this present moment.

Allow your awareness to gather around the body.

Notice any physical sensations that can arise.

Lightness,

Heaviness,

Movement,

Contact,

Pressure,

Restfulness,

Restlessness,

Temperature,

Moisture,

Buzzing or tingling,

And without trying to change anything,

Just observe the body in this present moment.

Start by taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the nose.

Breathing in through the nose.

Breathing out through the nose.

There's no need to control the breath or try to breathe in a certain way.

Slowly relax the body and allow yourself to drop into the present moment.

Instead,

You will be able touff through this present moment and influence theseereal feelings into your body as you practice socialization.

This might be the kind of experience you'll experience once you start,

Once you take Now,

We will be monitoring the thoughts that appear in the mind.

Allow all the thoughts to appear in your field of awareness.

There is no need to resist or identify with any thoughts.

Just simply allow the thoughts to appear and disappear.

Become familiar with the position of being the observer to thoughts.

Thoughts cannot just take over the mind.

You must pay attention to them.

You must allow them to control you.

Your power is in your attention.

Place your attention on the breath.

Rest in the breath for the next few moments.

With each breath cycle,

Feel the body gaining energy through the air you breathe.

Inhale drawing in energy.

Exhale releasing tension from the body.

Use this time to discharge any unwanted energy and recharge.

Inhale drawing in energy.

Exhale releasing tension from the body.

Exhale releasing tension from the body.

Exhale releasing tension from the body.

Inhale drawing in energy.

Think of your attention like a samurai's armor.

Strong,

Flexible,

Impenetrable.

And think of your awareness as your challenge.

Your attention is your presence or where the mind is in each moment.

And your awareness is your consciousness or where your mind can be in each moment.

Channel the impressive qualities of the samurai's armor into your attention through your awareness and transcend the realm of the brittle,

Rigid,

Analytical mind.

Without a strong and flexible presence,

We remain the source of disenchantment and we can complain or regret anything for not going simply the way we want,

Endlessly playing an unfulfilling game of repeating patterns of suffering.

With an open mind,

We see that every challenge can be blissful.

Every moment can be extraordinary.

Every obstacle can be an opportunity to be a warrior.

Are you ready to begin channeling the strength and flexibility of the samurai's armor and realize the spiritual warrior within?

The next part of this meditation will be dealing with a visualization technique.

As you continue the diaphragmatic breathing,

Allow a beautiful and powerful image of the samurai come into your field of awareness.

You can see the bizarre,

Stylized,

Ornate armor gracefully covering the body.

Each piece of the armor is functional and served a purpose.

Imagine now reaching out and touching it,

Examining it.

Feel the different pieces and materials,

Thick leather,

Plates of metal,

Silk laces,

Fine cloths,

Riveted metals.

You feel the power of the armor and it fills you with a sense of beauty and reverence.

The samurai would use their armor both for protection in warfare as well as ornamentation for ceremonial purposes.

It was an integral part of their presence,

Yet they were not attached to it in any way.

They understood that their true power came from within.

They were samurai even without the weapons and armor.

In order to accept challenges as opportunities for growth,

Our mind must be strong and flexible,

Like the armor of the samurai.

Our mind can also be used to interact with life or protect ourselves,

To express ourselves or enable us to overcome the forces.

The mind determines our reality and it's an integral part of our presence,

Yet we don't have to be attached to it like we may think.

We can either learn how to use it and liberate ourselves,

Or we can stay ignorant and suffer.

The choice is ours.

As you continue taking nice,

Deep,

Conscious breaths,

In through the nose,

Out through the nose,

Understand that you have the power to control your attention and expand your awareness.

For the next few moments,

Imagine your image with only wide hokum trousers and a kimono without the armor.

Slowly you add piece by piece all the parts of the armor,

And as you do so,

You're charging your samurai armor with the virtue of self-awareness and the ability to accept all challenges you may face as opportunities to exercise more joy and grace in this world.

Remain focused on charging your armor as your image remains in your field of awareness.

Thank you As you're doing this,

Thoughts or emotions may come to the surface and try to dilute your attention.

That is okay.

Acknowledge any distraction.

Thank it for being a part of your journey.

And then visualize the charged armor deflecting any further distractions.

Do not worry if thoughts keep auditioning for your attention.

Remember you have the power to be the ruler of thoughts,

And only you,

Through your attention,

Can give thoughts power and value.

Remain strong and flexible in the face of opposing forces.

As your image with all the charged armor rests gently in the mind's eye,

Slowly begin taking off each piece and layer of armor and placing it on the floor.

As you do so,

Understand that just as the samurai was a fearless warrior with the armor,

The strength and flexibility to do so was always within them.

The armor was merely a representation of what always lied within themselves.

Our deepest suffering is often our greatest opportunity to learn about ourselves and take action to be better people.

Working through suffering is how you learn to be patient,

Humble,

And grateful.

Having strength and flexibility in the face of painful circumstances teaches you that you don't need to fear the natural ups and downs of life,

And instead can face whatever comes your way with inner calm and grace.

I would like to end with an affirmation.

To live by choice,

Not by chance.

To be motivated,

Not manipulated.

To be useful,

Not used.

To make changes,

Not excuses.

To excel,

Not compete.

I choose self-esteem,

Not self-pity.

I choose to listen to my inner voice,

Not to the random opinions of others.

I choose to do the things that you won't,

So I can continue to do the things you cannot.

Namaste.

Reviews

🪶
Let's face this challenges,
liberate ourselves and be a spiritual warrier from within
🙏🏾Namaste💮

Lovely practice❣️♾️☮️☯️⚛️⚘️☄️
Thank you so kindly❣️⚛️⚘️☄️
Namaste🙏🏼✨️🪔🕯⚛️⚘️☄️

The kingdom of heaven lies within; seek it for yourself.

‘Turning Straw into Gold’ sounds awesomely uplifting. The Spiritual Warrior has always inspired my BE-ing to grow stronger, with grace, motivation and self-esteem.

This meditation has many insights and beautiful lessons to understand and action. I AM humbled to step into a Spiritual Warrior’s shoes because that is exactly where my spiritual path is taking me to.

Challenges shall help with my stability to grow stronger & clarity BEcome clearer as my sufferings are part of my spiritual path’s road map.

My inner compass is taking me right there where the suffering resides - but this is how the warrior's grit and courage are, to fight & win the battles with or without the armour! My challenges & pains shall guide my BE-ing to the treasures within🕊️🙏🏻🧘🤍.

As per Rumi’s quote - “the wound is the place where the light gets in”

Profoundly written and guided meditation has uplifted my spirit to continue to follow my spiritual path like the Spiritual Warrior. ‘Turning Straw into Gold’ is what I shall continue to work harder on each day🕊️.

Thank you Elliott for the transformational practice I have been gifted to listen to this morning. It is truly what I needed, to help me grow stronger and humbler within🙏🏻❣️🕊️🌻✨

The soundscape and the samurai sword clanging noise sound golden⚱️ together with your amazing voice & immaculate guidance❣️

Perfectly produced Elliott & must listen to this golden creation again. 👌🏻🙏🎼🗡️❣️

I really loved this meditation Elliott. It was so empowering and incredibly relaxing at the same time, I feel so refreshed after listening to it. I will definitely bookmark and return to this. I also really loved the affirmations, I’d like to write them down in my journal.

My question is what is the frequency of the background hum/sound you use? I’ve heard it before in your meditations and it puts me in a wonderful trace like hypnotic state. I’ve been trying to find a sleep meditation with this sound only, so I can drift off listening to it.

Thank you for the immaculately produced quality of the audio too. The sound effect of the sword was pure gold.

Your meditations are pure joy and a delight to the senses and soul. Love and gratitude to you Elliott, 🙏🥰🌻

Superb meditation with serious teachings, thank you Elliott🙏💞✨

🙏thank you for giving this meditation 🌺

Very powerful. Extremely helpful guide for my overthinking mind. The affirmations at the end exactly what I needed. Thank you. ✌️

Thank you as always Elliott. I choose to live by choice not by chance. Om Shanti

I loved this, thank you so much❣

Really cool exercise! I will continue to do it.

I’m transforming my life through meditation and the inner strength got from it. Your contribution is being priceless Elliot. Namaste 🙏🏻

Amazing how much wisdom you have Elliott. This brought me one step closer understanding the truth..

Incredible! 🙏🏽 namaste 🙏🏽

Another powerful visualization, this time focused around the armor of a samurai warrior. I’ve seen these suits of armor in a museum and was instantly drawn back to their beauty, intricacy, and ornate design. But Elliott’s guidance helped expand upon their appearance to highlight their strength, yet flexibility. Most importantly he mentions that samurai demonstrated strength and fortitude even without their armor. I’m going to consider how I demonstrate this even beyond the “armor” of my personality, intellect, and technical capabilities. I hope, as Elliott’s closing affirmation guides us, to live today -and all days- by choice and not by chance.

This is everything. Is this series available?

I have a new favorite, this was powerful

I am in Orr of this hypnotic Spiritual Warrior meditation just love it thank You Namaste 🙏🏻

A beautiful meditation, shall come back to this often