Relax and Clear Your Mind

This is a side bar to the article, Picture the Behavior and Make It Happen, which is the first article for today, March 7, 2010.

Relaxing and clearing your mind, whether you use prayer, meditation, or animal communication, takes you to a state of mind called the alpha state. According to Jose Silva in his book The Silva Mind Control Method, our mind cycles through four frequencies: Beta, the conscious level in which we take care of business and daily chores; Alpha, a relaxed state in which we can consciously form intentions and solve problems; Theta, a deeper state in which most hypnotism is done; and Delta, a state of very deep sleep. Our minds slip in and out of the Alpha state throughout the day, often when we are not focused on anything. At night, we go through a series of 90-minute cycles from alpha to theta to delta back to theta and then alpha. Whether you call it prayer, meditation or communicating with the animals, the steps for relaxing and clearing our minds are simple and similar. In the beginning, you will find it easier to find a quiet place and sit or lie down, whichever you find more comfortable. If this is new to you, you will probably find it easier to do with some form of entry ritual. Eventually, you will be able to click into a relaxed state without any preliminaries.

Entry rituals may include:
•bowing your head and making a petition to a supreme being;
•taking a series of deep breaths;
•breathing positive energy in and exhaling negative energy;
•counting backwards mentally saying and seeing the numeral for each number;
•scanning your body while focusing on what you feel in each part of your body
and relaxing each part as you proceed;
•listening sounds that are near, then further and further away, then your own
heartbeat and other sounds within yourself,
•and more.

All of the methods depend on being patient and letting go of distractions, thoughts, and pictures of other things. Penelope Smith says that if you are going to communicate with an animal, you also need to feel that the animal is listening to you in the same way that you sense other people are with you in a conversation. During such relaxation, it is normal for your mind to wander. When this happens, just bring your attention back to where you left off. Occasionally, you will fall asleep. This is also normal. As you gain more experience, you will fall asleep less often. No matter how much you increase your concentration and focus, you will always find your mind wandering to some extent. Just accept it and know that this is normal.
While you are in a deep state of relaxation, you can set goals and solve problems. This is done by visualizing the problem or the goal in a picture and by imagining the desired solution or outcome in a picture. When you imagine the solution or outcome, be sure to use all of your senses. The more detail you can put into the picture of your imagined outcome, the more success you will have. Finally, trust that you can do this, and enjoy yourself and your relationship with your dog.