Actor Jeff Bridges Finds Meditation “Very Effective”

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Actor Jeff Bridges practices meditation almost every day, finding the practice “very effective,” he told contactmusic.com.

“It’s good to block out external stimulus for a set amount of time, because, for one thing, it enhances the experience when you are stimulated by something. It brings dynamics to your life,” he explained.

Bridges was one of the first to use the isolation tank developed by physician and psychoanalyst, John C. Lilly. A lightless, soundproof tank, it allows people to float in salt water at skin temperature, and is often used for meditation, relaxation and in alternative medicine.

“He developed the isolation tank, and I was one of his subjects when he was experimenting with it,” Bridges said. “The idea was to explore what consciousness is when you take away all of the senses and you’re floating. You discover that you’re projecting a lot of energy from within you, but normally you can’t distinguish it.”

Consumer Reports Survey Reveals Most Helpful Alternative Treatments

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Alternative healing treatments continue to gain popularity, and a reader survey by Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports, showed three out of four adults use some form of alternative therapy for general health, according to a report on Seattlepi.com. Also, doctors are more open to alternative therapies than many people realize.

Chiropractic, deep-tissue massage and yoga dominated the lists of helpful alternative treatments for discomfort from conditions such as back pain, neck pain and osteoarthritis, and the reader survey also revealed meditation, deep-breathing exercises and yoga are being used to treat a variety of conditions, including anxiety, headache and migraine, depression and insomnia, the article stated.

Highlights from the survey as reported by Seattlepi.com include the following:

– Meditation and yoga proved equally effective for treating anxiety as 42 percent and 46 percent respectively of those surveyed said these therapies “helped a lot.” The same is true for depression, with 36 percent and 35 percent reporting improvement.

– Yoga did nearly as well as meditation for treating insomnia – 21 percent and 24 percent but, it significantly outperformed meditation for headaches and migraine, and especially for back pain. In fact, for back pain, yoga, deep-tissue massage and Pilates all rated around the same as prescription medication. However, chiropractic therapy outperformed all other treatments.

– For respiratory problems such as cold, flu and allergies, the survey found that very small numbers of readers tried deep-breathing exercises or chiropractic care. However, those who did reported promising results. Although only 2 percent of cold, flu or allergy sufferers sought chiropractic care, more than 40 percent said it helped a lot. The same with the 3 percent who tried deep-breathing for allergies, with 32 percent who reported it helped a lot. Three percent also tried deep-breathing for cold and flu and 35 percent said it helped a lot, the report stated.

– Of alternative treatments used for general health, mainstream vitamins and minerals were the most widely used, with 73 percent of respondents who reported taking them, and approximately one in five reported using mind-body therapies, such as yoga, or hands-on therapies, such as massage.

– Readers are keeping their doctors in the loop to varying degrees about their use of alternative therapies. And some even report turning to these options on a doctor’s recommendation. Twenty-eight percent of readers who used deep-tissue massage, usually for back or neck pain, said their doctors had recommended it; 26 percent of people who used deep-breathing exercises did so on the recommendation of a doctor, and the same was true for the 21 percent who saw a chiropractor.

Thich Nhat Hanh’s New Book “The Novice”

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Thich Nhat Hanh’s new book “The Novice: A Story of True Love” takes an ancient Vietnamese legend and transforms it into a parable filled with thought-provoking lessons. The book follows, Kinh Tam, who is born to an aristocratic family in rural Vietnam and who possesses uncommon beauty and intelligence. From an early age she is drawn to the teachings of Buddha and the rewards of a monastic life, but to please her family she agrees to walk the traditional path of marriage.

However, all Kinh Tam truly desires is to become a monk. Taking a path that will forever change her life, she leaves town disguised as a man – since temples only accept men for ordination – to join a monastery as a novice.

Despite the many challenges of living as a man, Kinh Tam thrives and becomes a beloved member of the community … until the day a local woman accuses the novice of fathering her unborn child. Should she keep her secret and endure brutal punishment, or reveal the truth that will prove her innocence, but put an end to her spiritual path?

Her choice forever changes her life, her country, and her faith.

This parable by Thich Nhat Hanh is meant to remind us that we all face injustices and suffering. However, by connecting with love as Kinh Tam does, we can discover a mind and heart that are peaceful, happy and free.

Finding Synchronicity in a Fortune Cookie

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Just ask my friends, family and everyone at Elevated Existence, and they will tell you – I’m always talking about synchronicity and how the events of our life our so interconnected.

Of course, many times we don’t connect these events until after they happen, and many people don’t even look back to connect the dots at all. Now, I’m not one for dwelling on the past, but when you are looking back constructively to see how the events in your life brought you to where you are today … I think it’s a must!

However, you don’t always have to look backwards because synchronistic events are happening all the time. I always like to tell people the story of my fortune cookie, and I think it helps to illustrate how we can find synchronicity in everyday life.

So here it goes … After eating Chinese takeout for dinner one night, I looked at the array of fortune cookies sitting on the table, and suddenly had a thought – “Wouldn’t it be funny if the cookie I picked had a message intended just for me? Can the universe actually speak to us through a cookie?”

At the time, I was working hard on a number of projects for Elevated Existence, and had spoken to a friend that morning about the common frustration of things not moving fast enough … I’m sure many of you can relate! Patience was never my virtue, although I am learning to cultivate it!

So I summoned my intuition, and chose a cookie. Here is what it said:

“All the effort you are making will ultimately pay off.”

Now, skeptics will tell me half of the fortune cookies in the world probably have the same message, and maybe one or two others on the table had it, too. But I chose to take it as encouragement from the universe telling me to keep doing what I’m doing, and all my goals will be achieved.

Just think about what went into getting that exact fortune onto my kitchen table. The manufacturer had to get it shipped to a distributor. Then that distributor had to pack the exact box with my fortune cookie in it, and decide to deliver it to my local Chinese restaurant. Then I had to decide I wanted Chinese food that evening, and the man or woman who packed the order for food had to choose this exact cookie among a bunch of other cookies to put in my bag. And finally, out of the five sitting on my table, I picked this one. That is one amazing journey for a fortune cookie – which to me is synchronicity at its best!

You see, the universe is always trying to communicate to us, but often we are too busy or too skeptical to pay attention and recognize the messages it sends. And you know what? Even if every fortune cookie on my table had the exact same fortune, the difference is, I chose to believe it was a message for me, and that I would attain my goals. And aren’t we living in a universe created out of our thoughts and beliefs?

Tammy Mastroberte
Founder, Publisher & Editorial Director
Elevated Existence Magazine

“You Can Heal Your Life” Affirmation Tool Kit

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When Elevated Existence Magazine first launched in June 2008, the life-changing movie sweeping the nation was, “You Can Heal your Life,” based on the bestselling book of the same name, by Louise Hay, founder of publishing firm Hay House Inc. The movie features Hay, along with other well-known authors such as Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Gregg Braden, Cheryl Richardson, Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. and Christine Northrup, M.D.

As part of the DVD bonus content is an Affirmation Tool Kit. Louise Hay reads aloud the affirmations below to start viewers on their path to healing. We ran these affirmations in the premiere issue, which you can still get in the digital form online, and since they cover every aspect of life, we wanted to share them online too!

We recommend reading them in the morning before you get out of bed, and at night before you go to sleep – and really any time you think of it in between!

Enjoy the affirmations!

Self

I am one with the power that created me, and this power has given me the power to create my own circumstances.

I am loving and lovable, and I find love everywhere.

All is well in my world.

Relationships

I live in harmony and balance with everyone I know.

I love myself; therefore I attract loving people into my life.

I release the past and therefore I am free to love fully in the present.

Health and Wellness

I listen with love to my body’s messages.

I am healthy, whole and complete.

I feel the vibrant wellness in my body increase every day.

Prosperity

I am blessed beyond my fondest dreams.

I am one with the creative power of the universe, and this connection brings me fulfillment and abundance.

I learn from every experience, and everything I touch is a success.

Work

I work at a job I truly love.

I work with people I love, and who love and respect me.

I express myself creatively through my work, and I earn a good income doing it.

Rapper B.o.B to Produce Meditation CD?

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You know the song “Airplanes” by Bobby Ray Simmons, otherwise known as B.o.B … the one that says, “Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now…”? Well according to an article on Todayonline.com, the rapper, singer, songwriter and producer is looking to produce a country album and … a meditation CD!

“I want to produce a country album for a country singer. I feel like country music has a certain kind of pocket. It all sonically (comes together),” he said in the interview with Todayonline.com. “And then I want to do an album that is completely meditation music. It’s going to be like a little project. It won’t just be for people who like to sleep to it, meditate or are into yoga. It’ll be like even if you weren’t into all that, you’ll be listening
to it and thinking: ‘man this is dope, yeah!’”

We are saying it right here and now … we want to review it when it comes out!