Manifesting and Meditation, and why I make it a daily priority

Wow I’ll be turning 46 next month! At one point in my life this sounded so old to me, but not anymore. I honestly feel more alive, vibrant, energetic and full of purpose than ever before. And why is that you ask? Because I manifest and meditate every single day!!!

In my 20’s no-one ever told me about manifesting the life I wanted, no-one told me about power of meditation and the health benefits associated with it. Little did I know back then just how vital Manifesting and Meditation would be for my health and happiness.

My life took a huge turn when I was 25 and my middle daughter had her first seizure. I watched her shake uncontrollably for 2 hours and after hours and hours in the hospital we were sent home after being told it was just a fluke and the odd’s of it ever happening again are slim to none.  (This is not a post on Stella or her disease, if you want me to write more about that please send me an email and I’ll share more.)

Needless to say, I was devastate, scared and completely clueless of what was to come.

Over the next 5 or so years my beautiful and innocent 6 month old baby girl quickly turned into a guinea pig while at the same time I started losing more and more of “Amanda”. Her diagnosis was given and her life became an excel spreadsheet of seizures and medications and side effects.

I turned to my daily fitness practice to manage my stress load, and my daily 3 mile run turned into 12 miles until I hit rock bottom. I started fainting and finally I collapsed under the incredible added stress I was putting on my body.

It was about that time when my yoga practice became a stronger influence in my life. I craved the last 5 minutes of class where I could lie still, have no demands to respond to and allow my body to let go. I often walked out of the studio crying my eyes out and it wasn’t until my favourite yoga teacher told me about meditation and the power of healing it can provide.

One thing I tend to do is go down rabbit holes. When I’m researching or really focused on increasing my knowledge in a certain area I go all out and often find myself way off course. It was down a rabbit hole I came across Deepak Chopra and his books, teachings and meditations. Ever since I’ve been a huge fan and 20 years later I’m still meditating daily. (most of the time)

What I’ve learned after 20+ years of pain, more pain than you can ever imagine is how debilitating it is and how quickly depression can take over you life. I was a single momma and I had to be on my game!  I couldn’t let myself crash and burn, I had to be strong for my girls.

Stella’s doctor told me I had to shift my priorities or I would crash. And he was right. I did crash. Stella was 6 and she spent just shy of a month in a coma. On her journey back to recovery I hit rock bottom. My intense workouts were too much, lack of sleep caught up with me, and I had the worst eating habits – they simply didn’t exist.

This was my wake up call. I had to shift my priorities and I had to focus on ME.

There is nothing more vulnerable than opening up to the realization I needed help. I’m a cancer; a caregiver, nurturer and empath at heart. I was used to being the one who took care of everyone else and asking for help seriously destroyed my ego.

When I allowed my friends and family to step in and support me with house chores, meals, picking my older daughter up from school I was able to get out of my head. You see I was my own obstacle. My stubbornness to be in full control, and do everything myself added to the already overwhelming stress my body was under.

If I could tell my 30 year old something self that 16 years later my acute stress would manifest into an autoimmune disease, severe gut problems and adrenal fatigue I would! I would shout it out loud to slow down.

This is why I’ve started this series.

I want YOU to know now the importance of your health is so much more than a diagnosis tomorrow. It’s prevention TODAY. Your health is your beliefs. Your relationships. Your sex life. Your religion or spirituality practice. What you eat and drink. Your daily movement. Your finances and career, and it’s your mindset.

If you are new to the idea of manifesting and meditation being a priority for the good of your health. Let’s start at the beginning.

I get it, closing your eyes and dreaming of your ideal life can sound a little woo woo (I kinda am woo woo though so stick with me here). Meditating can be difficult especially when you are new at it and your mind is constantly getting in your own way (I hear you, and yes this still happens to me too).

When you close your eyes and dream big, of what you want your life to look like, how it feels, tastes and smells? Really go deep here. Ask yourself what is stopping this from becoming a reality.

For me, it was my own story. It was years of being bullied as a child. It was the years I spent proving myself and my talent when I worked as a makeup artist while being the youngest on set. It was the constant judgement from others because I had my first daughter at the age of 21. It was from years of doctors not taking me seriously when I questioned their decisions of treatment regarding Stella’s disease. In a sense it was my own insecurity of not being good enough.

We all do this. We convince ourselves we are not worthy, not good enough and undeserving. I call ‘that’ voice inside my head “Negative Nellie”. For years she was loud and bossy telling me I was too young for… and even now she likes to cast doubt that I’m too old to start a business.

On a subconscious level we sabotage our own opportunities because of fear, doubt, shame, comparison and judgement.

When we can really hear those thoughts, we can lean in and change our path. This is why meditation is so important. When we meditate we allow ourselves to hear what the voices are saying, and we can choose if we want to release them.

This is where incredible change occurs. We are the CEO, director and producer of our own life. We can choose how our life plays out.

My journey has taken years to come to realization we don’t really hear the negative self talk in our subconscious until we truly let go of our ego and listen. The voices are like background music, softly playing in the background casting doubt along the way until it becomes the only voice you hear.

Now I remind myself this is just fear talking and I allow myself to choose differently. I am intentional with my spiritual practice. I allow it to guide me past any roadblocks that come my way. I use it to quieten my thoughts so I sleep well at night. And in times when I’m blinded by sadness because of my Stella’s disease I am able to remind myself there are other ways to look and see life.

Your assignment after making it to the end of this very long post (sorry). Is to simply start. Anywhere, anytime of the day, just start. Start by closing your eyes right now, exactly as you are no matter what is happening in your environment and simply breathe.

It is supposed to be awkward and uncomfortable at first. And yes, those voices might be so loud and all talking at the same time you cannot really hear them. It’s worth it in the end.

Finding someone or something you resonate with is key. By reading this, this might be your nudge, I believe we are guided when we allow ourselves to open up. So just start beautiful, and please let me know how it goes. If you like music, try this or this meditation playlist I created Pop in your ear buds press play, and allow yourself to completely let go and bliss out.

I’ll be back next week to share more. There are so many morning rituals, evening rituals, daily rituals, weekly rituals, seasonal rituals and even yearly rituals I’ve started because of all my great teachers and experiences. I’m happy to share them all with those of you who are curious.

If you enjoyed this manifesting and meditating series let me know and share it with a friend! I’d love you to pin it on Pinterest or share it on Facebook. Post on Instagram. (tag me @achampagneyogi, #achampagneyogi and #healtyissexymovement), I’d love to hear all about your spiritual journey.

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XO

Amanda