Meditation

I recently recommitted to meditation as a daily practice. I vary my method depending on what I feel I need that day. Somedays I use Vipassana - becoming the observer of my thoughts thus giving me the distance I need to realize the real "I" is separate from my worries and fears. Other days I use a mantra or affirmation that I repeat silently. My favourite at the moment is "God is the love that I am." Another way I like to meditate is while hiking to try to be fully present with nature, observing my surroundings and listening to the sounds I hear; all the time being aware of the solidness of the earth beneath my feet.
Of course meditation for some takes the form of a creative activity such as playing an instrument or painting. Its a time they are so absorbed in their task they forget themselves, loose track of time as if they have been absorbed into everything around them and merged as one.
Joseph Campbell says meditation is simply where we place the majority of our thoughts in any given day. He believes we meditate a lot on how to procure money and how to spend it, how to provide for our children, how to improve our lives and of course whats wrong in our world!
This idea I find very interesting because it is my belief that what we focus on grows. Being aware of what occupies the majority of our thoughts can help us realize how we are creating our life circumstances. Ernest Holmes says trained thought is much more powerful than untrained thought, the more one gives conscious power to one's thought the more power it will have. So be watchful today of where your thoughts are going. Where you feel it necessary try to make more of a conscious choice of what thoughts you think. Then observe the difference in how you feel, and how others respond to you. Add to this better posture, speaking with more confidence in your more positive thoughts and really notice the shifts that happen. Have fun with it and know your own power to create.