TENSTAGE+ Group Meditations

If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to......
LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to past hurts and pains .......
LET IT GO!!!
If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth......
LET IT GO!!!
If someone has angered you.
LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge......
LET IT GO!!!
If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction.... ..
LET IT GO!!!
If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents
LET IT GO!!!
If you have a bad attitude.... ...
LET IT GO!!!
If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better......
LET IT GO!!!
If we're stuck in the past and our child within is trying to take us to a new level .........
LET IT GO!!!
If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship. ....
LET IT GO!!!
If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves.. .....
LET IT GO!!!
If you're feeling depressed and stressed ............
LET IT GO!!!
If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and Child Within is saying 'take your hands off of it,' then you need to......
LET IT GO!!!
The Ten Stage Meditation
During the next 60 seconds, Stop whatever you are doing, and take this opportunity..
(Literally it is only ONE minute!)
All you have to do is the following:
Ten Stages child within meditation practice.
“our child within has arrived, our child within is home.”
This is so beautiful to say to ourself as we breathe in and out whenever we do walking meditation, for each step encourages our  child within to be well and to come home to us. When we walk by a river or in a park, we can recite to ourself:

In-breath: “Our child within has arrived.”
Out-breath: “Our child within is home.”
Through the practice of being present, we will use our conscious breath and concentration to heal, simply by welcoming our child within home. We are capable of arriving in every moment, whether it’s in sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful eating. It’s necessary to cultivate the internal energy of Kindfulness before stopping and looking deeply into what caused the trauma. The practice of being in the moment nurtures that strength, and it provides the clarity and lucidity needed to put to rest the ghosts of the past and the ghosts of future anxiety.
In-breath: “Our child within has arrived.”
Out-breath: “Our child within is home.”
Meditation of understanding for our child within
Meditation to focus on the recovering child within is based on compassion. This meditation nurtures the child within wonderfully and at the same time nurtures our adult being. Prepare for meditation by sitting comfortably with the spine erect. Bring our concentration to the in-breath and the out-breath. After ten or twenty breaths, whenever we feel calm and stable, bring each of the components—love, compassion, joy, equanimity—into yourself, the adult being. The next sequence provides a concentration to water the seeds of Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity within our child within.
In-breath: “We bring Loving Kindness”
Out-breath: “to our child within.”
We can say a loving -kindness name for our child within if we wish. Say silently, “Dear ...” or “Darling....” Feel the energy of love fill us from top to toe and register with the energy for several breaths. Then continue in the same way with:
In-breath: “We bring compassion”
Out-breath: “to our child within.”
In-breath: “We bring joy”
Out-breath: “to our child within.”
In-breath: “We bring autonomy”
Out-breath: “to our child within”
Conclude the meditation by once more bringing love, compassion, joy and equanimity to our adult being. The concentration on these four qualities is an incredibly powerful instrument for healing our children within.If we gather together all the virtuous actions we have realised in this world, they are not equal to practicing kindfulness meditations… If we collect together all the light from the stars, it will not be as bright as the light of the moon. In the same way, practicing kindfulness

meditation is greater than all other virtuous actions combined.

No one will give you credit for picking up someone else's litter

No one will give you credit for picking up someone else's litter — no one may even notice. But where there was ugliness, you restore beauty; where there was thoughtlessness, you show thoughtfulness.

One of our aims in life is to constantly feel the S T R E T C H.

If we are healthy and sometimes when we are not are constantly setting goals outside our comfort zone, constantly putting ourselves in personal growth environments and giving just a little bit beyond our comfort zone.

One of our aims in life is to constantly feel the S T R E T C H.

Not to get too comfortable.

To feel a little uneasy, not as punishment, but as growth.

It’s like mentally working out. We know we’ve REALLY had a great workout when we’ve pushed ourself just beyond our comfort zone.

This is when the exercise is really working.

Same thing in yoga – the yoga stretch begins when it gets uncomfortable.

We don’t think that we should push ourselves so hard that we tear ourselves (or the muscle), but just enough so that it’s a little uncomfortable.

This is a good thing.

Because it is this discomfort that helps us to keep growing.

When things are easy and routine and the same, we feel safe, but we don’t always feel fulfilled or happy.

So, it is the dedication to learning, the dedication to growth and the dedication to living slightly uncomfortably that brings the magic into our life.

This is how it is for anyone who achieves at the highest level of our recovery.

And if you want to add major spiritual, emotional octane to the fuel of our life – then make our life about mutual service.

Serving others is where it’s at. And if we are always growing at that, we are on track for massive inner and outer success this year!

So, where in your life can you S T R E T C H it out? And get a little uncomfortable?

Remember to get out there, take action & make your Purpose real!TODAY

ZEN Yoga Traumastages mitigates the fight-or-flight response through a combination of active asanas, pranayama, and deep relaxation.

Under normal conditions, the body is hardwired to protect us from danger or stressful situations; trouble ensues when its process is interrupted.

The best way to understand the human response is to look at animals in the wild. Sounds a bit far-fetched, perhaps, our nervous system has a lot more in common with our four-hoofed brethren than we might think. A group of deer grazing in a meadow, for example, may appear happy-go-lucky, but they are continually on the lookout for predators lurking in the forest nearby. The very first thing the deer do when they perceive danger is to stop, stay very still, and listen. This hyper-vigilant stage of arrest activates the sympathetic nervous system (in charge of the fight-or-flight response to danger) and serves two purposes. One, it allows them to figure out what the threat might be and where it’s coming from (a smell in the air or a rustle in the bushes), and two, it helps them be more invisible to a predator.

The moment the deer feel a predator’s presence, they take flight, running to safety as fast as they can. If one falters and the coyote catches up to her, her first instinct is to rise up and fight back. If that fails, and she gets caught, she freezes, her muscles stiffening against the assault, and then folds, going limp and numb—helpless to protect herself. The fold or collapse state of hypo-arousal activates the parasympathetic nervous system, shutting down the body’s defenses, allowing her to dissociate from the event, and preventing her from feeling too much pain. If she’s able to fool her predator and race to safety, she’ll tremble, literally shaking off the event, and return to the meadow in time for the next meal. While her brain registers the event and files away a “do not go near those bushes on the right” message, her ordeal is over and done with.

The human nervous system works much the same way. When we perceive danger, the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis mobilize the body’s fight-or-flight resources. Stress hormones pour into the bloodstream so we can react appropriately. They increase our heart rate, divert blood into our large muscle groups (arms and legs), and speed up reaction time. An increase in cortisol releases sugar as fuel into the bloodstream so we can think and move faster. In the meantime, the HPA axis communicates with the rest of the body, instructing the digestive, reproductive, and immune systems to slow down and wait out the danger.

All this activity creates a state of hyper-arousal and fuels the emotions and actions we need to first gain sensory information and then either fight an aggressor (anger) or, if need be, flee the scene to safety (anxiety and fear). Just like our animal friends, humans can also experience complete collapse, or hypo-arousal—when the parasympathetic nervous system activates to help us survive horrific acts of violence. Both the alert and the fold states are designed to be short-lived, functioning to keep us alive and safe from harm.


ZEN Yoga Trauma-stages mitigates the fight-or-flight response through a combination of active asanas, pranayama, and deep relaxation.



As we can see, our autonomic nervous system was designed to be on the lookout for danger and keep us safe. Problems arise when the pain and traumatic residue, or samskara, remains in the body long after the event is over and the brain cannot discriminate between what is in the past and what is a real, present threat. The body’s posture (rigid or collapsed) continues to signal danger, so the nervous system goes in search of the perpetrator, assigning blame wherever it can. Levine says, “If frightening sensations are not given the time and attention they need to move through the body and resolve or dissolve, the individual will continue to be gripped by fear.”
 people who have experienced chronic or repeated trauma “find themselves alternating between being highly sensitised and easily triggered, and feeling numb or disconnected from themselves and other people.”

Bliss Blog - A Trove of Spiritual Wisdom: The Tao of "What Is Real"

Bliss Blog - A Trove of Spiritual Wisdom: The Tao of "What Is Real":



'via Blog this'

Questions and Answers: Breath and Walking Meditations | Wisdom Publications

Questions and Answers: Breath and Walking Meditations | Wisdom Publications:



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Hardcore Zen: Gimme Some Truth | Wisdom Publications

Hardcore Zen: Gimme Some Truth | Wisdom Publications:



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Bodhichitta.: Zen and Recovery in AA - Two Stories

Bodhichitta.: Zen and Recovery in AA - Two Stories:



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Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves

Be a lamp unto Yourself


As the Buddha was dying,
Ananda asked
who would be their teacher after death.
He replied to his disciple -

"Be lamps unto yourselves.
Be refuges unto yourselves.
Take yourself no external refuge.
Hold fast to the truth as a lamp.
Hold fast to the truth as a refuge.
Look not for a refuge in anyone besides yourselves.
And those, Ananda, who either now or after I am dead,
Shall be a lamp unto themselves,
Shall betake themselves as no external refuge,
But holding fast to the truth as their lamp,
Holding fast to the truth as their refuge,
Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves,
It is they who shall reach to the very topmost height;
But they must be anxious to learn."


Quoted in Joseph Goldstein, The Experience of Insight

One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the messiah?"

One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the messiah?"
"No", answered Buddha.
"Then are you a healer?"
"No", Buddha replied.
"Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted.
"No, I am not a teacher."
"Then what are you?" asked the student, exasperated.
"I am awake", Buddha replied.

Zen and The Ten Stages leads to an inner awakening which is given priority

Zen and The Ten Stages leads to an inner awakening which is given priority, and then leads naturally to the transformation of our world—much as the child within first transforms him or herself, and then seeks to transform the outer world, or how the child within first awakens the inner higher self, and then interacts with the more elemental energies and spirits. The idea was well illustrated in a Chinese fable once relayed by Richard Wilhelm, concerning a Taoist monk and a Chinese village suffering the effects of a prolonged drought. The village councillors, desperate for rain, sought the aid of the monk to bring about rain by some ‘supernatural’ method. The Taoist simply asked for a private room and shut himself in for three days. At the end of the third day, rain fell. The monk emerged from his room, whereupon Wilhelm asked him what he had done. The monk replied that prior to visiting the town he had been merged with the Tao. When he arrived in the town, he was not connected to the Tao, but after three days of meditating in the room, he was once again merged with the Tao. He then added that it would be natural for that which was around him (the immediate environment of the town) to also be in Tao.

Needless to say, when we have a strong attachment to being right about things, we stand very little chance of truly waking up

To be proud is not, in this sense, to be confident or to have ‘good self-esteem’, or anything like that. It is rather to be too full of ourselves owing to a great need to always be right about matters. Needless to say, when we have a strong attachment to being right about things, we stand very little chance of truly waking up. Our self-control (and control of others) is suffocating us and making legitimate growth impossible. We need to be right about things either because we have been badly hurt in past relationships (and we now equate ‘being wrong’ with getting hurt), or because the idea of losing control brings up too much anxiety for us. The anxiety and general fear of being shamed, or of losing control, commonly underlies excessive pride.

The old Zen parable of the Zen master serving a cup of tea to a young, intellectually arrogant student holds here.

The old Zen parable of the Zen master serving a cup of tea to a young, intellectually arrogant student holds here. In the parable the master keeps pouring the tea, even as it overflows and spills on the floor. The student eventually asks him what he doing—can he not see that this cup is already full? ‘So too,’ responds the master, ‘is your mind. It is too full of knowledge, and you are too full of yourself. There is no room in you to learn anything new.’

Freedom is pure observation without direction

Freedom is pure observation without direction,

without fear of punishment and reward.
A selection of quotes from J Krishnamurti

When man becomes aware of the movement of his own thoughts he will see the division between the thinker and thought, the observer and the observed, the experience and the experiencer.

He will discover that this division is an illusion.

Then only is there pure observation which is insight without any shadow of the past or of time.

This timeless insight brings about a deep radical mutation in the mind.

To see a World in a grain of sand

To see a World in a grain of sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower.
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour. W.Blake

The Ten Stages seeks a solution that moves us beyond his or her "painful inner dialogue."

The Ten Stages seeks a solution that moves us beyond his or her "painful inner dialogue." and out into the clear blue waters of recovery.The TEN Stages has no religion, no spirituality, is not allied to any group or cult. The Ten Stages is a simple study course.
The course of the Stages we attempt to awaken to our original recovery nature which involves interrupting the ordinary flow of linear, language-based, thinking so that we can rediscover "the mind within the mind".
Focusing on external circumstances or teachings is not what triggers the moment of recovery, in other words. Rather, it is focusing on the absence of internal commentary. Because it is impossible to "think" without words, this practice of stopping the flow of running commentary on our lives involves cultivating a mindset of no-thought in an attempt to experience each moment as it is without silently talking to ourselves about it.
Attempting to gain the mind without the internal voice means starting to deal with the origins of the voice and the trauma it still holds and regurgitates at any pressure to reveal its inner secrets.In the ten stages a dialogue is instituted with the inner voice through the experience of others, and it works, how it works finally it has the potential for us to gain complete freedom.

Meditation to liberate you from stuck ways of seeing a past problem:

Meditation to liberate you from stuck ways of seeing a past problem: 

1. Look at a situation that affected you in your childhood. 2. Imagine seeing the situation from a completely different angle — for example, imagine that you could experience that situation from a bird’s eye view, or even from outer space. 3. Notice how you breathe, and how you feel in your body, as you relax and experience the scene from these very different vantage points. 4. Now see it from yet other vantage points — from the side — from the rear view — and from various angles that are different from your original viewpoint in the scene. 5. As you play with these different vantage points, notice how you breathe, and how you feel in your body as you experience each vantage point. 6. Now you can shift the sound within that scene. Replace the sound with different voices; add an amusing soundtrack; lower the volume on abrupt noises or shouting, so that it becomes very quiet, as if you were using a volume control for the scene. 7. Notice how you breathe, and how you feel in your body as you experience the scene with these entirely different sounds. Look at any detail in the scene, and notice how that aspect begins to feel somewhat different when the scene is accompanied with a different set of sounds, or a quieter set of sounds. 8. Next, shift your size in the scene, so that you are a giant towering over the scene. See the people in the scene as if they were tiny dolls. 9. Breathe, and notice what you feel in your body when you are a giant looking down on the scene. 10. To integrate, breathe gently, breathe into your body, and notice that you are safe in the here-and-now. You are not stuck where you were; you can see and feel that situation in a new way now. You will continue to notice the fascinating shifts in your body and mind. ——————————————————————- Does this meditation produce a complete shift? Probably not entirely — but do notice the subtle shifts in your awareness. Is it easier to breath, and more comfortable in your body when you think of that past scene? Play with this meditation again, and each time you do it, the scene may feel lighter and easier to you. There’s no judgment here. Your way of escaping by fragmenting is what we all do, so you’re not better or worse than anyone else. Everyone divides himself or herself in order to escape from overwhelm. At the same time, everyone has the means of using their consciousness to awaken to their potential. That means that you can bring consciousness to all your parts. You can bring your divine essence to the parts of you that need that blessing.